The
regularity and richness of the annual
Nile River flood, coupled with semi-isolation
provided by deserts to the east and west,
allowed for the development of one of
the world's great civilizations. A unified
kingdom was founded circa 3200 BC by King
Menes, and a series of dynasties ruled
in Egypt for the next three millennia.
(Judaism celebrates a holiday, Passover,
which is based on, according to Jewish
tradition, the freeing of ancient Hebrews
from servitude under one of those kings,
even though there is no definite archaeological
evidence for such an event.) The last
native dynasty, known as the Thirtieth
Dynasty, fell to the Persians in 341 BC
who dug the predecessor of the Suez canal
and connected the Red Sea to the Mediterranean.
Later, Egypt fell to the Greeks, Romans,
Byzantines and Persians again. It was
the Muslim Arabs who introduced Islam
and the Arabic language in the seventh
century changing Egypt into a linguistically
"Arab" nation. Muslim rulers
nominated by the Islamic Caliphate remained
in control of Egypt for the next six centuries.
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