In Ancient Egypt (as in Mesopotamia) the development of civilization and life in cities depended on the presence of a river, the Nile, whose yearly flood (called the inundation) left behind a rich deposit of soil which provided a rich source of nutrients for the crops that would feed the expanding population who founded the great cities of the Ancient Egyptian world.

Early in Egyptian society the great themes that animated Egyptian culture became apparent:

• a rich mythology with a pantheon of gods who maintained the balance within the universe and whose presence explained the mysteries of the cosmos
• a fascination with life after death
• a strong, centralized monarchy focused on god-kings or pharaohs

The Cosmology (the theory of the origin and structure of the universe) was conceived by the Egyptians as an earth as a flat platter floating on the waters of the underworld.  According to Egyptian mythology, at the beginning of time, the Nile’s primordial waters brought forth a mound of silt, out of which emerged the self-generating sun god; from that god, the rest of Egypt’s gods were born.

The Ancient Egyptians believed that their pharaohs were the divine agents of the gods.  This is called a theocracy.  It means that the people are ruled by the gods or by the god’s representative.  The monarch or in this case the pharaoh represents the divine will of the gods. In Ancient Egypt the pharaohs ruled in the name of the sungod, Re.  The pharaoh was revered as the living representative of the sungod.  The pharaohs were also identified with the god Horus who was represented by the falcon.