at one point but aren't now? what happened throughout history throughout history that stopped Egypt and other middle eastern/north african civilization from being as advanced as they were at one point?
They were cursed by God for cursing Jews. Egypt was a powerful nation until they forced Jews into slavery for 430 years until Moses led them out of Egypt. Same with Babylon (present-day Iraq) and Persia (present-day Iran), Roman Empire, Nazi Germany, British Empire, and Soviet Union all were destroyed because they cursed Jews in the past. That is easy answer.
Both of these areas blame foreign conquerors for this.
The North Africans blame the Arabs, since when they conquered North Africa, they destroyed the sophisticated irrigation system that had taken centuries to build. The area was once tremendously fertile, being the granary of the ROman empire, but the conquest reduced this to mostly desert.
The people of the Middle East blame the Turks, for keeping them in centuries of backward subjection.
