It is a well-established fact that the population of Ancient Egypt was a multicultural one, and that the nation's history is closely linked with that of it's neighbours. `It has been recognized since the early years of Egyptology that by New Kingdom times the population of Egypt was liberally sprinkled with families of foreign origin.' (Ward: 1994.). These `foreigners' included groups such as Nubians, Canaanites, `Asiatics,' (people of Semitic origin to the north-east of Egypt), and Libyans.

In geographical terms the land of Egypt is fairly isolated, and cut off from most of its neighbouring countries by harsh desert. (Gardiner: 1964). This must have had an effect on the ideology of its inhabitants, who in early times probably had an insular view of the world. In the Egyptian creation myths Heliopolis is described as the centre of the world, as the first dry land to emerge from the...