Ariane wrote: Thanks for your reply
The ancient Egyptians thought the Earth was a cube, but the ancient Greeks were sure that it was a sphere. Ancient Greek mathematicians, astrologers and philosophers had a number of scientific theories to support their idea that the world is round.
Example: "That ships disappear over the horizon from the bottom upward. Rather from the top down or getting ever smaller proving that the Earth was curved".
Example: "The shadow of the Earth on the moon was a circle and can only be a sphere which casts a circle shadow, As a disk may cast a more elliptical shadow".
Example: "The shadow of a ditch would vary in shape as the sun hit the wall of the ditch. Digging more ditches you can work out that the ground has curvature".
There were many Greeks who were sure Earth was a ball but we are in same position as the ancient Greeks were, today.
The Flat Earth
One reason that the ancient Greek knowledge of a spherical Earth was dismissed for some time, is that in the fifth century, Christian monks wanted the earth to fit into their religious descriptions and the destruction, suppression of knowledge happened.
Um... I'm not prepared to dispute your sources, but I don't think that bit about the Egyptians is true, just on the grounds that it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The Egyptians had frequent contact with the Greeks, and if such a view ever was held, it was likely long before the time of regular interactions from across the sea (it's also well known that they were recognized as an advanced civilization, with knowledge at least equal to that of the Greeks).
I'm not aware of ANY ancient civilization believing the earth to be flat...
I know America's convinced they did, but we like to believe ancient people were dumb as rocks, anyway. The start of all this seems to be traceable to the myth of Columbus trying to prove the earth was round ( he set sail the same year some people started creating globes, of the earth). But, some guy wrote a book that people mistook for a biography, and we've been sharing the myth ever since.
And here's a good video
https://youtu.be/2gFsOoKAHZg
