It's interesting to think about how much more "gone" ancient Egypt is than ancient Rome. Sure, much of ancient Egypt was really ancient, but the present culture of Egypt owes very little even to the Ptolemies.
I think there are many reasons but a large part is the religious aspect... pre approximately 500 AD Egyptian Culture was more or less wiped out during the spread of islam. I dont know how much pre common era egyptian culture was related to ancient egypt culture...
Meanwhile on the european side catholocisms spread only increased the influence of (certain parts of) roman culture. The renaissance which was significantly due to 'italian' culture further served to increase the influence of roman culture (especially in architecture and the arts)
