The island of Meroe

Hi Ian,

Probably the word Atlantis never appeared in Egyptian language. It was certainly a late Greek word.

The Roman author Pliny the Elder (23-79 A.D.) wrote in his Natural History, book VI, 35  :

"In the days of the Ethiopian (Kushite) dominion, the island of Meroe enjoyed great renown. It was in the habit of maintaining 200 000 armed men, and 4 000 artisans. The whole of this country has successively had the names of Ætheria, Atlantia and last of all, Ethiopia.”

The form Kush appeared only in the Bible, in Egyptian hieroglyphs it is Kash. This name evoques the name Gash a great river North-East of Sudan and Erytrea, which often provokes catastrophic inundations.
See : http://www.emro.who.int/Sudan/pdf/floodwatch_18aug07.pdf

Therese