Egypt: A Land Like a Garden of Herbs

Abstract

The patriarchs immigrated to Egypt as this country is watered by the perennial flow of the Nile, the sources of which are in subequatorial East Africa where the climate is humid tropical and subtropical. While the people of Egypt were of African origin the ruling classes might have been conquerors from Mesopotamia and the religion was thus an amalgamation of the natives’ cults with that of the conquerors. The history of Egypt starts at the end of the Chalcolithic Period ca. 5200 B.P, when the lower and upper regions were unified, and hieroglyphics were developed. Later came the Early Dynastic period 3200 and 2686 B.C., during which the capital was established at Memphis, the cult center of the god Ptah. During the period of the Old Kingdom, which followed (Dynasties 3–6, from 2686 to 2181 B.C.) the first pyramids were built. During the period termed the First Intermediate Period (Dynasties 7–10, 2181–2050 B.C.) Egypt went through a stage of social and political strife. This helped foreign peoples, driven from their lands by famine, to penetrate and settle in Egypt. The period of the Middle Kingdom, which followed (Dynasties 11 and 12, 2050–1786 B.C.), was one of internal peace and prosperity. At the end of the Middle Kingdom, foreign rulers established themselves on the throne of the Pharaohs and ruled Egypt for about 100 years.