"In this time they said that the sun had moved four times from his accustomed place of rising, and where he now sets he had thence twice had his rising, and in the place from whence he now rises he had twice had his setting; and in the meantime nothing in Egypt had been changed from its usual state, neither that which comes from the earth nor that which comes to them from the river nor that which concerns diseases or deaths. "
The History of Herodotus
Macmillan, London [1890]
So according to Herodotus (according to the Egyptians) there had been flips prior to the fifth century BC. Egypt would, in theory, not suffered from the calamities much of the globe would have been afflicted with because of its geographical location. I'm 'guessing' they figured out that they had gotten off 'lucky' compared to other civilizations since they mentioned as much. No disease no death & the rivers still runnin'.