I really like the idea here. I tried making a nile-area map myself a while back, but never was really satisfied with it. It was also small (good for 1 on 1), but it was very north-south oriented, with the western desert and red sea as boundary areas. There were just a couple of start locations allowed for either side, so it would be like a papyrus vs lotus battle between the two middle kingdom powers.
Good idea to pre-place some important thematic sites there. With the Pyramid at Giza there you could add the Catacombs around Abu Simbel / Aswan for balance for the Nubian faction
Sill