The majority of these photos were not taken in Egypt
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on February 3, 2021 at 09:45
- 7 min read
- By Richard KANG, AFP South Korea
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The photos were shared here on Facebook on January 29, 2021. The post has been shared more than 300 times and garnered more than 3,000 likes.
The post's Korean-language caption translates to English as: “Egypt where it snowed for the first time in 112 years.”
Identical images have been shared in multiple other Facebook posts and articles, including here, here and here, alongside a similar claim.
Snow has previously been recorded in Egypt, where stifling heat can push temperatures past 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). In December 2013, a regional winter storm left suburbs in the capital Cairo with light snowfall for the first time in years, as reported here by AFP.
Reverse image searches found that six of the eight photos shared in the first misleading Facebook post were not taken in Egypt, while the other two images show evidence of photo manipulation.
Large snowball
The first image of a man playing with a snowball was published on the website for British newspaper The Telegraph on December 22, 2008. The photo is credited to Reuters.
The caption reads: “Men play with snow in after a rare heavy snowstorm in Amman, Jordan, on January 31.”
Heavy snow hit the Jordanian capital Amman on January 30, 2008, causing the closure of schools, universities and banks, according to this AFP report on January 31, 2008.
Ice sphinx
The photo of an ice-covered sphinx was in fact taken in the Chinese city of Harbin in 2013, as seen here on photo-sharing site Flickr. The photo tags include “Harbin ice festival” and “Harbin snow festival”.
The website of the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival also explains the sculpture is a snow artwork by artist La Priz.
Kneeling man
The photo of a man kneeling in the snow was taken by AFP on December 13, 2013 in Israel, not Egypt.
The caption reads: “A Palestinian worshiper prays outside the Dome of the Rock at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem following a snowstorm on December 13, 2013.”
Snowball fight
Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock features in another Facebook post purporting to show photos of Egypt.
The image was included in a video on the website for UK newspaper The Guardian on December 14, 2013. It is headlined: “Heavy snowfall prolongs emergency in Israel and West Bank”.
Desert camels
Another image in the misleading posts shows a man wearing a keffiyeh in the desert. Camels can be seen in the background of the photo. The original photo was taken by Reuters news agency in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia on March 3, 2012.
The caption reads: “A Saudi man plays with snow after a heavy snowstorm in the desert, near Tabuk, 1500 km (932 miles) from Riyadh March 3, 2012.”
Snow-covered mosque
The photo in the misleading posts that shows a snow-covered mosque was taken by Reuters in Homs, Syria on December 11, 2013.
“A view of Khalid bin al Walid Mosque covered with snow in Homs December 11, 2013,” the caption reads.
Desert snow
The photo of two men walking in a snow-covered desert was also taken by Reuters in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia on February 1, 2013.
The photo's caption reads: “Saudis walk through snow after a snowstorm in the desert, near Tabuk, 1,500 km (932 miles) from Riyadh February 1, 2013.”
White pyramids
Another photo purports to show Egypt’s pyramids covered in a blanket of snow, but there is evidence it has been manipulated. The photo has circulated online since at least 2013, as seen here.
This blog post, which was published in September 2011, shows a similar image of the pyramids without snow, indicating it may have been doctored in the misleading posts.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo in the misleading Facebook post (L) and the image published in the blog in 2011 (R).
Various fact-checking articles, including from France 24, also state the photo has been manipulated.
Snow-covered sphinx
The final photo purports to show the Great Sphinx of Giza, which is located in Giza Necropolis, Egypt. The photo has circulated online as early as 2013, as seen here on Pinterest, a photo-sharing website.
A similar photo of the Giza Sphinx has been published on the website of MISR TRAVEL, a national tour operator of Egypt. A side-by-side comparison of the two images indicates the snow is likely to have been added to the first image using photo editing software.
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