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~All Roads Lead to Kemet~
From 1881-1840 BC, in the middle of the 12th Dynasty, Khakaure Senusret III ruled over Egypt. Largely forgotten now, he is widely considered to the primary inspiration to a likely mythical Pharaoh of great renown in ancient times, Sesostris.

The Histories of Herodotus is the first detail the story of this Sesostris, as he claimed was told to him by Egyptian priests. Herodotus details how Sesostris sailed into the Indian Ocean, where he was supposed to have subdued the coastal tribes as far as he could sail, before returning home to Egypt. But this is far from the end of the story, as Herodotus details how Sesostris marched his army northwards, first into Asia Minor and then on westwards into Europe where he defeated the Thracians and Scythians. Victorious, Sesostris marched home once more, accompanied by scores of prisoners of war, and, having left part of his army at Colchis, set about reforming and reorganising his new empire, though not before adding Ethiopia to it as well.

Centuries later Diodorus Siculus and Strabo also wrote of Sesostris, in their works the Bibliotheca Historica and the Geographica respectively. Both went a step further than their more famous predecessor and wrote that he conquered the whole world, even Scythia, divided his lands into administrative districts, or nomes, was a great law-giver and introduced a caste system into Egypt and the worship of Serapis to his empire. Sesostris is generally dismissed now as a mythical figure and is somewhat akin to an Ancient Egyptian King Arthur, a legendary conqueror and pinnacle of the virtues held dear by his culture.

But, as already indicated Sesostris has a historical basis in a trio of Pharaohs, Seti I and Ramesses II of the Nineteenth Dynasty and, most directly, Senusret III. There are several reasons for this tying of the great conqueror to this particular Pharaoh. Firstly, Sesostris is the hellenised form of Senusret. There is, though, 2 other Senusret's in the Twelfth Dynasty so why Senusret III over his predecessors? Two things. His conquests and campaigns in both Nubia and Palestine, extending the Egyptian empire beyond previous borders and his apparent historical reputation as a reformer and centraliser of power in the royal court, both things that Sesostris was purported to have done, only to even greater lengths.

Now, it is not possible to argue that Sesostris was really a historical figure, there is nothing in the way of confirmed evidence and much of what Herodotus cites has been disproved, but what if he were? What if he had led the Egyptians to the conquest of an empire to rival that of the Romans, let alone the Persians or Alexander the Great? How would the Ancient World evolve differently?

Plan:
My plan here is to first detail the story of Sesostris' conquests, for which I will draw heavily on both the campaigns of Senusret III and the story of Sesostris from Herodotus. Having done this, I will begin the story of the world after Egypt's campaigns. Hopefully this will be the most interesting bit, how will history be shaped by having Egypt as a unifying force instead of the Persians, Greeks or Romans?

Now, given this is essentially the Ancient Egyptian version of a King Arthur TL the central idea is a slightly ASB one, but I will be using several conceits to try and make it slightly more plausible.

Firstly, an earlier introduction of chariots to Egypt. IOTL, they were introduced by the Hyksos in 1650 BC and would go on to form a central part of the New Kingdom's military success. However, chariots developed over many centuries and the Hyksos originated to the north of Palestine, lands which the Egyptians traded with. As such, whilst not necessarily likely, it is possible for the chariots to have made their way south earlier, or indeed for the Hyksos themselves to have travelled south earlier.

Secondly, that Senusret III was, as considered by some Biblical scholars, the Pharaoh who made Joseph a vizier. This serves two purposes, it helps explain the reforms and domestic success of Sesostris in Herodotus and it also ties into the above as the Joseph story in the Bible describes him riding in chariot.

Final Thought:
So as you might have guessed, this will be slightly different to your average TL, given that, by its very nature, it is a significant wank of one country/culture. As a result its focus will be on the legend of Sesostris and the Egypt that is created, at least initially. Nonetheless, I hope it will be an interesting read!
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