How did the Egyptians create a prosperous and long-lasting society?

AAT ABOUT THE SAME TIME that Sumerian city-states expanded and fought with one another in the Tigris and Euphrates Valleys, a more cohesive state under a single ruler grew in the valley of the Nile River in North Africa. This was Egypt, which for long stretches of history was prosperous and secure behind desert areas on both sides of the Nile Valley.

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King Menkaure and QueenIn this sandstone sculpture made around 2500 B.C.E., the king and his wife look serenely toward the horizon. Stability and permanence were qualities prized by Egyptians in the Old Kingdom, and the sculptor captures them here. The figures are almost equal in size, suggesting the important role that queens sometimes played. (King Menkaura (Mycerinus) and queen. Egyptian, Old Kingdom, Dynasty 4, reign of Menkaura, 2490–2472 B.C. Findspot: Egypt, Giza, Menkaura Valley Tample. Greywacke. Overall: 142.2 × 57.1 × 55.2 cm, 676.8 kg (56 × 22½ × 21¾ in., 1492.1 lb.). Block (Wooden skirts and two top): 53.3 × 180 × 179.7 cm (21 × 707/8 × 70¾ in.). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Harvard University-Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition. 11.1738. Photograph © 2013 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.)