Egypt and Africa

Thanks to the adventures of Belzoni and his like, and magnifi cent discoveries like Tutankhamun’s tomb, ancient Egypt casts a magical spell over many people. All the ingredients of adventure and romance lie along the Nile: golden pharaohs’ tombs, high pyramids, and spectacular temples. Of all ancient civilizations, Egypt is the best known and perhaps the most misunderstood. Many people assume that Egyptian civilization developed and fl ourished in isolation in the Nile Valley, cut off from the rest of the ancient world. In fact, Egyptian civilization owed much to both Asia and tropical Africa and was a major political player in the eastern Mediterranean world of the second millennium BC. This chapter describes the origins and development of this most remarkable of ancient civilizations and its relationships with the wider ancient world.