The Egyptians described foreign places in terms of Egypt. Thus, the rivers of Mesopotamia ran "backwards," from north to south unlike the Nile, which runs south to north. Some parts of Syria-Palestine were described as "difficult" because they were hilly, unlike the Nile valley and delta. Sometimes, though, the Egyptians could appreciate the beauty of another place. In the epoch poem called Sinuhe, the hero -described what he saw in the Land of Yaa, modern Syria-Palestine:

It was a wonderful land called Yaa. There were cultivated figs in it and grapes, and more wine than water. Its honey was abundant, and its olive trees numerous. On its trees were all varieties of fruit. There were emmer corn and barley, and there was no end to all varieties of cattle.

Source: "The Story of Sinuhe," translated by R. O. Faulkner in The...