The Sacred Books and the Early Literature of the East: Volume II Egypt

The civilization of Egypt may possibly be as ancient as that of Babylonia. Recent scholars incline to regard that of Babylonia as the older of the two, and the other as perhaps an off-shoot from it; but in that case the younger branch outgrew the parent in both wisdom and culture. Perhaps the swifter blossoming of Egyptian thought - if we may call a progress swift when it extended over unknown thousands of years - was due to the more secluded character of Egypt's situation.