Ancient Egypt

Nefertiti, queen of Egypt

Egypt's at the very north-eastern corner of Africa, so before 10,000 BC people from West Asia who spoke a Hamitic language (related to Semitic languages like Hebrew and Arabic) had migrated into Egypt and across North Africa. Thanks to the long Nile River that runs from central Africa through Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea, it was easy for these West Asian people to trade and visit with the African people to their south, and so Egypt has always mixed West Asian and African culture.

The Egyptian Old Kingdom and Middle Kingdom pharaohs were mostly Africans, from southern Egypt. During the Second Intermediate Period, Hyksos people from West Asia invaded and ruled for a while, but by the New Kingdom Africans were back in charge again. During the New Kingdom, Egyptian pharaohs even ruled a big part of West Asia, including Israel and Phoenicia. But at the end of the New Kingdom, Egypt began to be overrun by new people - Indo-Europeans coming from Central Asia - first the Persians, then the Greeks, and finally the Romans.

Ancient Egypt was always a very rich country, thanks to the Nile River. Egyptians traveled north and south on the Nile. They traded ivory and gold from Africa to West Asian traders, and got silk and spices in return. The Nile also irrigated their fields so they could grow plenty of wheat and barley.

Because they were so rich, the ancient Egyptians were among the first people in the world that could spare people from farming to do other things. These richer people invented hieroglyphic writing, built the Pyramids, and carved beautiful reliefs and sculptures. They wore beautiful linen dresses and gold jewelry.

Everything in Egypt was a mixture of West Asian and African ideas. Egyptian People ate West Asian figs and wheat and barley, but also African palm oil and dates. People worshipped African gods like Bes, but also had West Asian ideas about monotheism. Ancient Egypt was where Asia met Africa.