interesting - egypt influencing - and to prove a point to a gentleman

somethings i don't have quotes for as i originally read this in a book. (it explained why and how religion evolved in ancient times). and i am by no means an expert, but this what i've come to know-->
a long time ago everyone was pagan-from our earliest knowledge of civilization
these ideas were similar, people worshipped the sun and the earth and the moon etc
creation stories were then made, and they explained how we were made from the earth (like humans made tools)/nourished by the sun(like plants)/given life by water(floods)/sex. the stories varied, but the first creation story is said to have been made in egypt (apparently egypt influenced other cultures' religious and pagan ideas).
****"The civilization of Ancient Egypt lasted longer than the entire span of what we have come to accept as 'recorded history': over three thousand years. During these millenia the Egyptians developed a multitude of gods and goddesses, as well as esoteric practices that we are still unravelling the meaning of. Besides this, Egypt was the source of the first true monothestic religion, under the pharaoh Akhenaton."*****http://www.sacred-texts.com/egy/index.htm**

****"LEGENDS OF BABYLON AND EGYPT
IN RELATION TO HEBREW TRADITION" (1920)
http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/beheb.htm******
[intro]"The myths and legends of ancient Egypt are also to some extent
involved. The trend of much recent anthropological research has been
in the direction of seeking a single place of origin for similar
beliefs and practices, at least among races which were bound to one
another by political or commercial ties. And we shall have occasion to
test, by means of our new data, a recent theory of Egyptian influence."****

now egypt had a lot of power, and as they battled with more people, other cultures adopted their religion and so on and so forth- ideas began to clash. and interestingly as other people became in power, the religion changed - so it was known who was in power- and who was "right" (hence different gods of different societies that had the same religion).
in the book i read it explained this exact thing occurring with babylon/sumerian and egypt, including how the stories involving gods changed many times..
so wars created new ideas and spread old ones
(but of course contact between two cultures would create a mix of ideas also)

..then hebrew came
***"It must be admitted that both Egypt and Babylon bear a bad name in
Hebrew tradition. Both are synonymous with captivity, the symbols of
suffering endured at the beginning and at the close of the national
life. And during the struggle against Assyrian aggression, the
disappointment at the failure of expected help is reflected in
prophecies of the period. These great crises in Hebrew history have
tended to obscure in the national memory the part which both Babylon
and Egypt may have played in moulding the civilization of the smaller
nations with whom they came in contact. To such influence the races of
Syria were, by geographical position, peculiarly subject.
************ The country has often been compared to a bridge between the two great continents of Asia and Africa."**


and again on another site-->
**"it is probably more accurate to call these early hebrews pagans.."pg71
"a significant number of hebrew were later enslaved in egypt, thereby absorbing aspects of egyptian theology" pg 72 **
(and we all know hebrew turned into jewish and christian, and islam- as i have now learnt)

asia was pagan long ago and had the same ideas as the mediterranean- mother earth. but then due to war things changed-->*** "many of the mother goddesseS were demoted or eliminated from positions of central worship by male godS who were either promoted from minor status or adopted outright from invading cultures"

(from the last two quotes it is then plausible that egypt also influenced the east.... i have not researched asia and europe yet as the middle east seems to have done the brunt of it- so my next project ;) ).
http://books.google.com/books?id=z2zbkWEXRCwC&pg=PA70&lpg=P...


so politics changed philosophy into religion
politics also allowed the same ideas to spread
politics allowed the religion to change stories

egypt also influenced others with early pagan ideas through cosmology of the stars

i have heard what i have written here many times (always focusing on different topics of it)
i have seen a few things on youtube
but zeitgeist part 1 (only)
shows how egyptian ideas influenced and are seen in many religions that we know today
and that basically many many religions are based on pagan ideas and they don't even know what they're believing in... harsh stuff if you're christian/jew/muslim
-if you are watch it only if you're having doubts :( and its fine to believe in what you will

i didn't include the actual stories or believes, just the jist and things that i myself know- there's most definitely more.. and i only posted up introductions (for the most part)