As the number of years I spend in Japan increases, I sometimes find myself thinking about the effect that living in other countries has on those who emigrate. . . . What cultural beliefs and customs do they bring with them or leave behind when they settle in a new place? How do they adapt and utilise the ideas of their new home to forge fresh identities for themselves? I also wonder how those who migrate influence their surrogate societies in the long term.
Despite more people living abroad now than at any other time in human history, and the topic of immigration being ever present in the news, it is far from a recent phenomenon. Humans have been crossing borders and settling in foreign lands for thousands of years. Recently, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to write about the subject in the context of my favourite historical civilisation for The Collector.
Ancient Egypt’s Third Intermediate Period is one of the civilisation’s most mysterious and least understood. Beginning around 1070 BCE, it was characterised by political instability, foreign rule and mass immigration. During that epoch, a group of nomadic peoples from beyond Egypt’s western border would settle in the country and go on to rise to the highest echelons of power. Click here to discover the connection between their arrival and a momentous religious development involving two of ancient Egypt’s most important deities. (Link redirects to full article on The Collector.)
Escape & Adventure 