Contained within several historical texts from the Sumerian and Babylonian periods, we see indications that pre-dynastic Egyptian culture was merely a somewhat unique extension of Mesopotamian civilization. One that budded from the many conflicts of the Babylonian (Part I) period of history in which Marduk, unsatisfied with his own little fiefdom there, coveted the rule of the entirety of civilization. Marduk's arrogance and ambition eventually led to the fall of his city-state of Babylon (The first one). The writer can only assume that Enlil and Ninurta were directly responsible for this episode, as it was they who were most directly threatened by Marduk's actions and intentions.

The many cultural correlations between the two civilizations are illustrated in several coincidences and stark similarities existing between the myths of Osiris-Seir of Egypt (Possibly Ninurta, son of Enlil. But, also possibly Enki/Ea himself) and the sons of Enki from the Mesopotamian mythology, as well as the military struggles between Enki’s son, Marduk and his brother, Thoth (Ningishzidda in Sumerian lore). Marduk, according to some accounts, usurped the throne of the Sumerian Empire by subversion, revised the ‘sacred’ histories to favor himself, and established Babylon as his seat of power. He was evidently unseated during the first war of the gods, imprisoned (inside a pyramid of all things), and later returned to cause even more trouble and wars before eventually settling for usurping Egyptian rulership from the deity known as Thoth, (Ningishzidda in Mesopotamia). This Thoth (Ningishzidda) is, by many accounts, also a son of Enki (with Ereshkagil) and therefore, would have been half-brother to Marduk/Ra. Other accounts put him in a different family line, which makes little sense because only the lines of Enki and Enlil would generally be considered for rulership.

In some interpretations of the stories, it is suggested that Thoth was for a time, close to the goddess Hathor. Thoth was a god of science and many of the arts, while Hathor was considered the goddess of music among many other things, mentioned below. Their rumored interludes allegedly bore fruit in the form of a daughter. However, the child's name escapes the many sources of information on Hathor's many children. This is odd because, this child would have been a fairly high-ranking, full-blood in that society. Hathor was the main consort of Ra(Marduk) who as you may recall, was also a son of Enki. This factoid makes the story a little more skeevy in my estimation. But, when you live for thousands of years... Well, perhaps you get my meaning.

Thoth was the god of the moon, wisdom, writing, language, science, magic, art, and judgment. He was depicted with the head of an Ibis and often with a stylus in his hand keeping records of the histories of civilization.

Nevertheless, Marduk eventually wrested control of Egypt from its rightful ruler, Thoth who had done a magnificent job bringing the civilization up to speed and, was deeply adored by the people he ruled. The salient point here is that Marduk apparently became the god/pharoah of Egypt and took the name of 'Ra', also appropriating the sacred myths as well as the reputation of Osiris for himself. This would have included all of the liturgy and music of Ra worship. He then made sweeping, revisionst changes to the social order to solidify his power and associate his name with every significant cultural legacy. This is the same thing he did in Babylon by altering the sacred texts and practices to make himself the grand-high god of all creation. In other words, he was a malignant narcissist with delusions of empire. Nothing original of any note apparently resulted from 'Ra' or his reign; except that religious practice were once again, along with all art and music, intentionally altered. And, this time, the changes stuck.

Man! Talk about a Game of Thrones!

Interestly, and because I simply cannot resist yet-another completely unrelated-but-great story; Thoth reportedly took all of his best people from Egypt, and went off to South America where he established a new civilization with a completely different language-base that none of the other 'gods' could understand. Thoth/Ningishzidda thus became Kukulkan of the Olmec and Maya as well as eventually taking the name Quetzcoatl of the Aztec. This stuff is written down on clay tablets, I'm not making it up!

The details are convoluted, disputed, and subject to much debate and alternative interpretation. Thus, we cannot be absolutely positive this was the exact sequence of historical/mytholgical events. However, the intended takeaway here is that; Predynastic Egypt (Zep Teppi through the time of the gods - lower-case 'g') was nothing more than a branching-off of Mesopotamian civilization because, the principle ‘deities’ involved in early Egyptian development were all of Mesopotamian origin. And Thoth is the one who did all the heavy lifting to get Egyptian civilization up and running smoothly... only to lose it all to the aspirations of his own ungrateful half-brother.

Thus, many of the same cultural themes ran through Pre-dynastic Egyptian culture as were to be found in Sumer, Ninevah, Ur, Uruk, Eridu, etc. Many of these themes continued well into the Old Kingdom and Middle Kingdom periods while others were irrevocably altered after the time of the 'Second Pyramid Wars' involving Marduk vs. Isis, Horus, and especially Ishtar, among a cast of Mesopotamian deities who were finally fed up with Marduk's entitled tantrums. Thus began the dynastic period where mere annointed humans were allowed to rule in Egypt. Because, obviously the so-called 'gods' weren't able to manage their internal affairs any better than us mere mortals have. But, which traditions of these eras may be exclusive to which culture, cannot be reliably determined as the entire history of these periods is rife with war and dynastic struggle among the so-called gods themselves (But, of course, the people did the actual fighting and dying). As in all struggles between humans and their gods, it is the people who suffer the greatest losses.