From c.1300 as to go, move, depart; move (someone or something), transport. Sense of to alter, to change appeared mid-13c. (cf. shiftless). Meaning change the gear setting of an engine is from 1910; to shift gears in the figurative sense is from 1961. Related: Shifted; shifting.
The African Egg-Eating Snake. The African egg-eating snake is one of Egyptâs more benevolent species. These tree-dwelling snakes have a wide range throughout Africa and parts of Arabia, but in Egypt they primarily inhabit the southern Nile Valley.f thereâs one snake in all of Egypt most likely to be mistaken for a devil, itâs the horned viper. This highly venomous desert snake has a hornlike scale protruding above each of its eyes, giving it a truly demonic appearance.
Some new threat lurked at every corner: asps hiding in clay jars, rats spoiling massive amounts of stored grain, venomous scorpions creeping under cradles. In this time and place-- Ancient Egypt-- one creature existed that could make the world safe from these little monsters: the cat. The same graceful creatures that now sleep on our pillows were life-saving companions to the people of ancient Egypt. It's no wonder that generations of Egyptians were drawn to worship them.