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African History

Africa's history has gone through a variety of stages; it is considered by many to be the place of origin for all human life, was brutally taken over in the 'Scramble for Africa' by many European countries interested in exploiting the continent's resources, and is now, on the whole, very poor and one of the least developed areas in the world.

Ancient Egypt

The Ancient Egyptians were one of the world's first great civilisations. It was based upon the Nile almost entirely, its floodplains providing arable land.

Geography of Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was divided into the 'Black Land' and the 'Red Land'. The Black Land was the fertile area on the banks of the Nile - most Egyptian cities and towns were located around here. The Red Land was the desolate areas in the deserts. Interestingly, the two main subdivisions - Upper and Lower Egypt - are misaligned with modern geography. This is due to the orientation of the Nile.

Religion

Ancient Egyptian religion, aside for a brief period during the reign of pharaoh Akhenaten, was polytheistic; that is, having many gods and goddesses. Some of the most important gods and goddesses were:

• Ra, the Sun god
• Geb, the god of vegetation
• Isis, the goddess of fertility and love
• Nephthys, the goddess of divine assistance
• Nut, the goddess of the sky
• Osiris, the god of death
• Seth, the god of evil
• Shu, the god of wind
• Tefnut, the goddess of rain

Language

The Ancient Egyptians used a linguistic system known as hieroglyphics. Over 2000 distinct hieroglyphs are known. Vowels were rarely written except in occasions of possible ambiguity. The writing became known to archaeologists through work on the Rosetta Stone.