The Origins of Ancient Egyptians

The Origins
Egyptians history may have started in the paleolithic era even though that part of its history must consist entirely of hypotheses and suppositions. At that period the valley of the Nile was very different from what it is today. The river must have covered almost the whole region and this fact, together with a climate which was undoubtedly much more humid, would have resulted in unlimited expanses of marshland stretching right up to the Delta. The climate started to change at the end of the paleolithic period and this caused the Nile to change its course to that which it follows today.

The Origins of Ancient Egyptians

The slow but progressive change of the neighbouring areas into desert led to human life being concentrated along the fertile banks of the river. In the neolithic period whose beginning can be taken to be about 10,000 B.C., there were already two distinct ethnic groups originating from two very different regions. A group of African race from central Africa and a second group of Mediterranean race which had its origins in the heart of Asia. To these two must be added a third group, believed to come from the legendary Atlantis, which must have arrived in the Nile valley via Libya. Two centres of civilisation developed, one in the north of the country concentrated in the Delta where it created the first urban centre Merimda, the other in the south around Tasa.

The Origins of Ancient Egyptians

Thus the Egyptian population was divided into two even at this remote period and not withstanding the subsequent unification of the country this has left its mark in the division into « hesep » or provinces which the Greeks called « nomi », Upper Egypt having 22 and Lower Egypt 20. This was the dawn of Egyptian civilisation, the period which the Egyptians themselves called the « time of God » when Osiris sat on the throne of Egypt. This terrestrial reign is described in documents known as The Pyramid Texts. Osiris, according to legend, united the two parts of the population but the unity did not last long. It is only from about 3200 B.C. that one can start to talk about Egyptian history in any serious sense.

The Origins of Ancient Egyptians

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