FOREIGN DOMINATION AND CULTURAL ABSORPTION: A COMPARISON OF EGYPT’S AFRICAN PHARAOHS (DYNASTY 25) AND CHINA’S MONGOL OVERLORDS (YUAN DYNASTY)

One of the recurring situations in world history involves the tension between settled, primarily agricultural populations and those of the desert, steppe or semi-arid environments that serve as a home to mainly pastoral or nomadic groups. Since much of recorded written history comes from the region of settled societies, our view of these events is often one-sided and many times is seen (by the writers of these annals, and, alas, too often by their readers) as a conflict between civilization and barbarism.