I think the reason maps were different in ancient Egypt is because they didn't "evolve" from navigational aids, as have European and other western civilization's cartology endeavors. If you think about it, for all practical purposes, the Nile only had two directions. You would sail along until you saw "something". The geography was fairly narrow as well, and much of the inhabitable region of the valley is clearly visible from the Nile itself.

Instead, map making in ancient Egypt probably came from their artistic background. That school had the norm of twisting 3-dimensional reality into 2-dimensions, based on both what we could see of an object (perspective) and what we know about the actual independent structure of the object (content). So, you get bodies facing one way, heads facing another, and arms attached in biologically impossible fashions.

The maps are also a "perspective" based construct, but with injected elements of content. The AE mindset is a fascinating thing. So different in its form, but so familiar in its workings.

Anthony

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him think.