The Gods Of Egypt

Ancient Egypt
When we speak of Sumeria, we are still so close to the beginning of extra-biblical recorded history, that it is difficult to determine the priority or sequence of the many related civilizations that developed in the Ancient Near East.
Until recently, the oldest written records known to us were Sumerian. But according to an Associated Press Report of December 15, 1998, clay tablets discovered in southern Egypt may represent the earliest known writings. They were found in the tomb of a king named Scorpion, and date from the pre-dynastic period (that is, the time before Egypt was unified into one kingdom and there were rulers known as pharaohs). Gunter Dreyer, of the German Archaeological Institute, announced that the tablets thus far discovered and deciphered record linen and oil deliveries made about 5300 years ago, paid as taxes to Scorpion. These tablets have been dated to between 3300 and 3200 BC. This discovery, thus challenges the widely held belief that the first people to write were the Sumerians of Mesopotamia.
However, it remains clear that the Egyptians derived certain aspects of their culture from Sumeria and Babylonia (though writing might have been independently invented in both places). We know for certain that trade passed between the two regions. A look at a map explains why Egypt throughout its known history has belonged more to western Asia than to Africa: trade and culture could pass from Asia along the Mediterranean to the Nile, but shortly beyond that it was blocked by the desert which, with the cataracts of the Nile, isolated Egypt from the remainder of Africa.


				*The Gods Of Egypt*



	Amen (Amon) and Amen-Ra, King of the Gods \| Forms of Amen-Ra \| Osiris, Asar \| Worship of Osiris \| Isis \| Anpu, or Anubis \| Horus \| Nephthys \| Asar-Hapi, or Serapis \| Nut \| The Gods of Heliopolis \| Egyptian Mythology \| Hieroglyphics \| Galery