Egyptian land preserves one of the oldest traces of human cultures, almost as old as south Asian Mohenjo Daro and Harappa on the Indus valley India, and today is in the region of Sindh Pakistan. Also The Sumerian at the valley of Tigris and Euphrates rivers which is today belong to the region of Iraq. Unlike the Indus culture which was already disappeared around 1.500 BC, the Egyptian continued from 2558 to around the time of the emergence of Greek Empire in 232 BC. The 3 centers of the culture, the Egypt, Iraq and Pakistan have the same natural resource such as river, only the Tigris and Euphrates were not continually flowing water, only during wet season were enough to inundate the valley, yet all of those rivers have together giving a great inspiration to human cultures known so far with no comparation at those times, with their heritages of art writing, and social system. The Sphinx, The Pharaohs and Pyramids are like the mark of the Egyptian with Nile river as the back ground. Various findings of ancient egyptian culture have given much light on history of culture and put Egypt as one of the most important country in the world to be respected, not just because of its value for economy for local people, but for the development of our knowledge about the existence of human culture.

Egypt is also known for its vast desert called Sahara which is believed by scientists as a result of up lifting sea be. The region of the desert is believed to contain water in the depth, yet the thickness of the sand is also a great obstacle to grow any plant. The stream of the Nile is a blessing to the people from 3.500 years BC. The ancient cities such as Giza or Memphis near current Cairo, Thebes now Luxor, Karnak, Aswan, along the Nile are proofs of the prosperous settlements of the past.

Experts divided the history of Egypt into some eras, such as the Old kingdom ( 3000 - 2200 BC ), Intermediate era ( 2200 - 2000 BC ), Middle kingdom ( 2000 - 1792 BC ), Second Intermediate era ( 1792 - 525 BC ). It is believed that the hyrogliph writing, sphinx and pyramid have been made since the old kingdom with the center of culture at Giza on the Nile delta. It was probable that between 3000 to 2200 BC the Nile delta was the only place that developed into center of culture under the king god of Pharaoh. Archaeologists revealed that old kingdom was founded by king Khufu, who had 2 sons, Khafre and Djedefre. Khufu was then replaced by Djedefre, but only on a short era, to be soon replaced by his brother Khafre. There are 2 opinions that the sphinx was built by king Khufu and the others say that is Khafre who built the it. As for the pyramid, both Khafre and Djedefre found to have each.

The word sphinx is from Greek myth of winged lion with human head and as for the sphinx of Egypt the head is with man head standing on the side of the pyramid in Giza, the ancient town of Thebes at the Nile Delta. It is said that this creature guarded the world or some said it is the symbol of strength and wisdom. As it is known that Africa preserves the biggest population of lions and it was possible that the king was symbolized to have strong body like lion who can keep the kingdom under total control and respected by their people and enemy. Just like lion on their territory as the highest predator and is respected by the rest of the animal living on the territory.

Archaeological researches found that the relation between ancient Egypt is close with the Sumerian, and an opinion says that it was a possibility that the Sumerian that gave influence to the Egyptian. As already known the Sumerian inhabited an area called crescent starting from the delta of Tigris and Euphrates rivers up to the Palestine and Israel regions. The ruins of Ur, Babylon, and Niviveh have long history of human culture. If the Egyptian had introduced the wiring called Hyrogliph written on papyri, the Sumerian had cuneiform carved in ostraca.

Starting 1292 BC a dynasty called Ramses took control in Egypt which is classified as dynasty no.19 in the whole history of Egypt, from the style of the sculpture showing similarity with classical age of India, especially the art of Gupta dynasty. It is quiet different from those found during 16th dynasty ( 1483 - 1292 BC ), it can be compared with the sculpture of Pharaoh Tutankhamun on gold, the last 18th dynasty. On this fact some opinions related the ancient India with Egypt, as the name of Ramses reminds of the name of Rama, and Sahara reminds the name of Sagara of Sanskrit meaning sea.

Readings :

Stuart C. Easton : The Western Heritages, From Earliest Times to the Present, Holt, Reinhart and Watson, Inc., 1965
Etendorff G. and Stele., K.C. : When Egypt Ruled the East, Chicago University Press, 1957
Wislon, James A. : The Burden of Egypt, Chicago University Press, 1951
James B. Pritchard ( Ed. ) : The Ancient Near East, An Anthology of Texts and Pictures, Princeton Unviersity Press, 1958
Ken R. Weeks : Valley of the Kings, National Geographic, 194 No. 3