Le Premier Nome de Haute-Egypte Du Iiie Siecle Avant J.-C. Au Viie Siecle Apres J.-C. D'Apres Les Sources Hieroglyphiques Des Temples Ptolemaiques Et

The first ancient Egyptian administrative district which, as had been the case for the Greeks, was called a 'nome', was the result of a historic geography created by the very conditions of the human presence in southern Egypt. It was linked from its origin to the limits between East Africa and the natural limit formed by the last cataract that blocked the Nile's route and was also the receiver for the vital miracle of the annual flood. The ancient Egyptians considered this natural event to be the proof of a divine solicitude towards their nation and those places where it occurred acquired unequalled sanctity. Three thousand years of the Mediterranean region's history would be marked by the destiny of Egypt itself as a result of the strategic influence of Nubia and East Africa. There is an abundance of ancient documents on this subject but few details on the geographic areas that made up the first southern nome, and they are almost mute in respect of theological data which was the basis for the intense religious influence of the divine players involved in the miracle of the salvation flood throughout the length of the valley. The writing of sacred archives on temple walls, which now provides us with more valuable sources, only started to become common in High Egypt around the 4th century BC.