Japan was always a perifery or reciever of elite culture from elsewhere. This helped facilitate modernization. Egypt being stuck in one river vally isolated and invaded by neighbors made them too conservative and they were always behind in metalworking to the middle east.
"the people are nothing but a great beast...
I have learned to hold popular opinion of no value."
-Alexander Hamilton
The Egyptians were behind in metalworking because the lower Nile valley
doesn't have copper or iron. They went to the Sinai to mine
copper, and they never really found a permanent source of iron; it
always had to be imported. The iron dagger found on the mummy of
Tutankhamen was probably a gift from the Hittites.
To what Tobodai said above, I would add that Egypt had a geography that
encouraged unity. With the Nile flowing northward, and the
prevailing wind blowing the other way, it is easy to travel both
upstream and downstream. The result was that the Egyptians didn't
bunch up near the mouth of the Nile, the way the Sumerians did in
southern Iraq, but spread up the valley evenly. And because the
desert concentrated everyone where the water was, it was that much
easier to build cities and bring everyone together under one
government. I believe that's why we see Egypt united centuries
before we see a united Mesopotamia. Compare that with Greece,
which had a geography (lots of mountains, peninsulas and islands) that
discouraged unity.
Regarding Japan, I notice that those islands are poor in resources but
rich in beautiful scenery. How much do you think that affected
the character of the Japanese?
Nothing truly great is achieved through moderation.--Prof. M.A.R. Barker
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