Travel times matter.
“Levant was closer to Mesopotamia (mostly present-day Iraq) and Anatolia (mostly present-day Turkey) so Egypt could not hold that territory for long after empires emerged there. For example, the Achaemenid Empire (Persia) emerged close to Mesopotamia, conquered all the area, and then reached Egypt. The Greek also followed Anatolia, then the Levant, then Egypt, (supported by the sea), like the Romans afterwards (from the sea).”
https://unchartedterritories.tomaspueyo.com/p/transportation-tech-shaped-empires