Egypt has one of the longest histories of any country, tracing its heritage along the Nile Delta back to the 6th–4th millennia BCE. Considered a cradle of civilisation, Ancient Egypt saw some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanisation, organised religion and central government. Egypt was an early and important centre of Christianity, later adopting Islam from the seventh century onwards. Alexandria, Egypt's former capital and currently second largest city, was a hub of global knowledge through its Library. Cairo became the capital of the Fatimid Caliphate in the tenth century and of the subsequent Mamluk Sultanate in the 13th century. Egypt then became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1517, until its local ruler Muhammad Ali established modern Egypt as an autonomous Khedivate in 1867. The country was then occupied by the British Empire along with Sudan and gained independence in 1922 as a monarchy.
The Mediterranean campaign of 1798 was a series of major naval operations surrounding a French expeditionary force sent to Egypt under Napoleon Bonaparte during the French Revolutionary Wars. The French Republic sought to capture Egypt as the first stage in an effort to threaten British India and support Tipu Sultan, and thus force Great Britain to make peace. Departing Toulon in May 1798 with over 40,000 troops and hundreds of ships, Bonaparte's fleet sailed southeastwards across the Mediterranean Sea. They were followed by a small British squadron under Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson, later reinforced to 13 ships of the line, whose pursuit was hampered by a lack of scouting frigates and reliable information. Bonaparte's first target was the island of Malta, which was under the government of the Knights of St. John and theoretically granted its owner control of the Central Mediterranean. Bonaparte's forces landed on the island and rapidly overwhelmed the defenders, securing the port city of Valletta before continuing to Egypt. When Nelson learned of the French capture of the island, he guessed the French target to be Egypt and sailed for Alexandria, but passed the French during the night of 22 June without discovering them and arrived off Egypt first.
Unable to find Bonaparte, Nelson turned back across the Mediterranean, eventually reaching Sicily on 19 July. While Nelson was returning westwards, Bonaparte reached Alexandria and stormed the city, capturing the coast and marching his army inland. His fleet, entrusted to Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers, was anchored in a line of battle in Aboukir Bay. On 1 August, Nelson, who had returned to the Egyptian coast after reports gathered at Coron revealed the French invasion, arrived off Aboukir Bay. Although it was late afternoon and the British fleet had no accurate charts of the bay, Nelson ordered an immediate attack on the French van. Brueys was unprepared, and his ships were unable to manoeuvre as the British split into two divisions and sailed down either side of the French line, capturing all five ships of the vanguard and engaging his 120-gun flagship Orient in the centre. At 21:00, Orient caught fire and exploded, killing most of the crew and ending the main combat. Sporadic fighting continued for the next two days, until all of the French ships had been captured, destroyed or fled. At the Battle of the Nile, eleven French ships of the line and two frigates were eliminated, trapping Bonaparte in Egypt and changing the balance of power in the Mediterranean. (Full article...)
Image 13Farmland in the Egyptian countryside (from Egypt)
Image 14Umm Kulthum, an icon of Egyptian music, often referred to as "Egypt's Fourth Pyramid". In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Umm Kulthum at number 61 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time. (from Egypt)
Image 26Change in per capita GDP of Egypt, 1820–2018. Figures are inflation-adjusted to 2011 International dollars. (from Egypt)
Image 27Rectangular fishpond with ducks and lotus planted round with date palms and fruit trees, Tomb of Nebamun, Thebes, 18th Dynasty (from Ancient Egypt)
Image 28Egyptians celebrated feasts and festivals, accompanied by music and dance. (from Ancient Egypt)
Image 32A tomb relief depicts workers plowing the fields, harvesting the crops, and threshing the grain under the direction of an overseer, painting in the tomb of Nakht. (from Ancient Egypt)
Image 77Megaliths from Nabta Playa, constructed by Neolithic populations, located in Aswan, Upper Egypt. (from Ancient Egypt)
Image 78E1b1b is the most common paternal haplogroup across Africa, including Egypt, with modern genetic studies rooting the origin of the E haplogroup in East Africa. (from Ancient Egypt)
Image 79Tutankhamun's burial mask is one of the major attractions of the Egyptian Museum. (from Egypt)
... that a Picasso sculpture at University Village was called "half as high and twice as sexy as the Great Sphinx of Egypt"?
... that the trope of the found manuscript, in which a fictional work refers to another fictional work of literature, dates as far back as ancient Egypt?
Born in Alexandria, Cleopatra was the daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes, who named her his heir before his death in 51 BC. Cleopatra began her reign alongside her brother Ptolemy XIII, but a falling-out between them led to a civil war. Roman statesman Pompey fled to Egypt after losing the 48 BC Battle of Pharsalus against his rival Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator, in Caesar's civil war. Pompey had been a political ally of Ptolemy XII, but Ptolemy XIII had him ambushed and killed before Caesar arrived and occupied Alexandria. Caesar then attempted to reconcile the rival Ptolemaic siblings, but Ptolemy XIII's forces besieged Cleopatra and Caesar at the palace. Shortly after the siege was lifted by reinforcements, Ptolemy XIII died in the Battle of the Nile. Caesar declared Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy XIV joint rulers, and maintained a private affair with Cleopatra which produced a son, Caesarion. Cleopatra traveled to Rome as a client queen in 46 and 44BC, where she stayed at Caesar's villa. After Caesar's assassination, followed shortly afterwards by the sudden death of Ptolemy XIV (possibly murdered on Cleopatra's order), she named Caesarion co-ruler as Ptolemy XV. (Full article...)
The cuisine of ancient Egypt covers a span of over three thousand years, but still retained many consistent traits until well into Greco-Roman times. The staples of both poor and wealthy Egyptians were bread and beer, often accompanied by green-shooted onions, other vegetables, and to a lesser extent meat, game and fish. (Full article...)
... that the Lavon Affair was a failed Israeli false flag operation in which bombs were planted inside Egyptian-, American-, and British-owned civilian targets such as cinemas, libraries, and American educational centers?
... that governors of Roman Egypt were given a unique title, Praefectus Augustalis, to signify that they governed in the personal name of the emperor?
... that the entrance of Djoser’s pyramid complex features columns fashioned to resemble bundled reeds and ceiling blocks carved into the shape of tree trunks?
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