Quote Originally Posted by The Wizard
Egypt
I don't know what happened to the ethnic ancient Egyptians, but what I do know, is this:

The Ptolemaic Empire and its culture were, as so many others, integrated into the Roman empire and culture. It remained a prosperous and peaceful province for by far most of the duration of the Roman empire.

However, in the 7th century the province of Aegyptus was lost by the Byzantines to the onslaught of the Muslims. My belief is that the nearness of Egypt to Arabia caused many Arabs to migrate there, and as you are sure to know, many of Egypt's inhabitants have a lot of Arab blood in them. The Berbers are a large minority in modern-day Egypt.
I believe that Pharonic Egypt declined gradually, much in the same fashion as Rome. During the end of the New Kingdom it was traded around by many middle-eastern empires that often installed "false" pharoahs which sometimes lasted longer than the empires that put them on the throne! Examples of these forces include Nubia, Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, and Macedonia. By the time the Romans finally took it, Egypt, while it might not yet have lost the advantages and wealth of the Nile valley, had lost its identity as a major ancient power.