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عربي About Egypt
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Name :
The English name Egypt was borrowed from Middle French Egypte, from Latin Aegyptus, from ancient Greek Aígyptos. The adjective aigýpti-, aigýptios was borrowed into Coptic as gyptios, kyptios, and from there into Arabic as قبطي qubṭī, back formed into قبة quba, whence English Copt. The Greek forms were borrowed from Late Egyptian (Amarna) Hikuptah "Memphis", a corruption of the earlier Egyptian name Hwt-ka-Ptah, meaning "home of the ka (soul) of Ptah.
Misr, the Arabic and modern official name of Egypt (Egyptian Arabic: Masr), is of Semitic origin, directly cognate with other Semitic words for Egypt such as the Hebrew (Mitzráyim), literally meaning "the two straits" (a reference to the dynastic separation of upper and lower Egypt). The word originally connoted "metropolis" or "civilization" and means "country", or "frontier-land".
The ancient Egyptian name of the country is Kemet (km.t) , which means "black land", referring to the fertile black soils of the Nile flood plains, distinct from the deshret (dšrt), or "red land" of the desert.The name is realized as kēme and kēme in the Coptic stage of the Egyptian language, and appeared in early Greek as Χημία (Khēmía).[14] Another name was tꜣ-mry "land of the riverbank".The names of Upper and Lower Egypt were Ta-Sheme'aw (tꜣ-šmꜥw) "sedgeland" and Ta-Mehew (tꜣ mḥw) "northland", respectively.
Geographic data:
Egypt officially known as the Arab republic of Egypt and located on North –eastern Africa and southwestern Asia. Cairo, the capital and largest city, is the most modern in the Middle East and Africa. Remarkable is the very narrow inhabitable Nile Valley going from south to north, while more than 95% of the country consists of deserts. The main part of Egypt lies on the African continent but the Sinai belongs to Asia.
It's bounded on the north by the Mediterranean Sea, on the East by Israel and the Red Sea, on the south by Sudan and on the west by Libya.
Many Egyptian settled very near from Delta and Nile "the source of life in Egypt" and in the west found oasis like Siwa , Kharga , Dakhla and Bahareya . In the east the Arabian Desert called eastern desert which found many costs in Sharm El Sheikh, Hurgada ….Etc.
Geographically the Nile valley is divided into two regions, Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt which found many monuments in Luxor, Aswan, Edfu , Kom Ombo and Abu Simbel .
Egypt officially known as the Arab republic of Egypt and located on North –eastern Africa and southwestern Asia. Cairo, the capital and largest city, is the most modern in the Middle East and Africa. Remarkable is the very narrow inhabitable Nile Valley going from south to north, while more than 95% of the country consists of deserts. The main part of Egypt lies on the African continent but the Sinai belongs to Asia.
It's bounded on the north by the Mediterranean Sea, on the East by Israel and the Red Sea, on the south by Sudan and on the west by Libya.
Many Egyptian settled very near from Delta and Nile "the source of life in Egypt" and in the west found oasis like Siwa , Kharga , Dakhla and Bahareya . In the east the Arabian Desert called eastern desert which found many costs in Sharm El Sheikh, Hurgada ….Etc.
Geographically the Nile valley is divided into two regions, Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt which found many monuments in Luxor, Aswan, Edfu , Kom Ombo and Abu Simbel .
Administrative divisions:
Egypt is divided into 27 governorates. The governorates are further divided into regions. The regions contain towns and villages. Each governorate has a capital, sometimes carrying the same name as the governorate.
In April 2008, Cairo and Giza were subdivided into 4 governorates, namely the governorates of Cairo, Giza, 6 October and Helwan. As of April 2011, 6 October and Helwan governorates were again incorporated into Giza and Cairo respectively.[70] In 2009, the city of Luxor was declared an independent governorate.
The Upper governorates are located south of Cairo, while the Lower governorates are located in the Delta of the Nile, north of Cairo
Egypt is divided into 27 governorates. The governorates are further divided into regions. The regions contain towns and villages. Each governorate has a capital, sometimes carrying the same name as the governorate.
In April 2008, Cairo and Giza were subdivided into 4 governorates, namely the governorates of Cairo, Giza, 6 October and Helwan. As of April 2011, 6 October and Helwan governorates were again incorporated into Giza and Cairo respectively.[70] In 2009, the city of Luxor was declared an independent governorate.
The Upper governorates are located south of Cairo, while the Lower governorates are located in the Delta of the Nile, north of Cairo
The Flag:
As a result of their conditional independence from Great Britain in 1922, the Egyptian royal family issues a Royal Decree establishing a national flag. This first flag was a major step for Egypt, and its colors were green with a white crescent and three stars in the middle.
The next version of the flag was established in 1958 by Presidential Decree, to incorporate aspects of Syria and Egypt, since they were merged into one country, the United Arab Republic. This new flag had three colors: red, white with two green stars, and black. The rectangular flag had a width of 1/3 the size of its length.
The flag was changed once again in 1972, with an amendment to the law. This new flag had the stars removed, and replaced with a golden hawk. The hawk was replaced in 1984 by the golden eagle of Salah El Dine, the Ayubbid Sultan of the Crusades who ruled Egypt and Syria in the 12th century. This is the same flag that still waves over Egypt today.
As a result of their conditional independence from Great Britain in 1922, the Egyptian royal family issues a Royal Decree establishing a national flag. This first flag was a major step for Egypt, and its colors were green with a white crescent and three stars in the middle.
The next version of the flag was established in 1958 by Presidential Decree, to incorporate aspects of Syria and Egypt, since they were merged into one country, the United Arab Republic. This new flag had three colors: red, white with two green stars, and black. The rectangular flag had a width of 1/3 the size of its length.
The flag was changed once again in 1972, with an amendment to the law. This new flag had the stars removed, and replaced with a golden hawk. The hawk was replaced in 1984 by the golden eagle of Salah El Dine, the Ayubbid Sultan of the Crusades who ruled Egypt and Syria in the 12th century. This is the same flag that still waves over Egypt today.
Climate:
Most of Egypt's rain falls in the winter months. Snow falls on Sinai's mountains and some of the north coastal cities such as Damietta, Baltim, etc. and rarely in Alexandria.
Temperatures average between 80 °F (27 °C) and 90 °F (32 °C) in summer, and up to 109 °F (43 °C) on the Red Sea coast. Winter temperatures average between 55 °F (13 °C) and 70 °F (21 °C). A steady wind from the northwest helps lower temperatures near the Mediterranean coast. The Khamaseen is a wind that blows from the south in spring, bringing sand and dust, and sometimes raises the temperature in the desert to more than 100 °F (38 °C).
Most of Egypt's rain falls in the winter months. Snow falls on Sinai's mountains and some of the north coastal cities such as Damietta, Baltim, etc. and rarely in Alexandria.
Temperatures average between 80 °F (27 °C) and 90 °F (32 °C) in summer, and up to 109 °F (43 °C) on the Red Sea coast. Winter temperatures average between 55 °F (13 °C) and 70 °F (21 °C). A steady wind from the northwest helps lower temperatures near the Mediterranean coast. The Khamaseen is a wind that blows from the south in spring, bringing sand and dust, and sometimes raises the temperature in the desert to more than 100 °F (38 °C).
Clothing:
In early summer and fall, cotton and Dacron dresses and slacks for women, and slacks and suits for men are suggested, in summer, only pure cotton dresses, blouses, shirts and trousers are recommended. it is also advisable to include light wool or knitted suits and dresses with long sleeves along with light weight coat or stole or a warm wrap for the evenings during winter.
In early summer and fall, cotton and Dacron dresses and slacks for women, and slacks and suits for men are suggested, in summer, only pure cotton dresses, blouses, shirts and trousers are recommended. it is also advisable to include light wool or knitted suits and dresses with long sleeves along with light weight coat or stole or a warm wrap for the evenings during winter.
Currency:
Egyptian pound ( L.E or EGL) = 100 piaster.
The Egyptian is available in 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100
The piaster is available in 05, 10, 25, 50
Egyptian pound ( L.E or EGL) = 100 piaster.
The Egyptian is available in 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100
The piaster is available in 05, 10, 25, 50
Communication:
All hotels have international lines. Be warned that hotel room telephones are connected with a computer system that operates automatically. After the third (fourth) ring, you will be charged the minimum charge even if no one is answering. Hotel telephone prices are on international level and rather expensive. If you want to save money, you can buy a telephone card from shops and call from the public phone booths on the streets. Most of the mobile phones operated with GSM system can be used in Egypt? Please check with your local GSM operator before departure.
All hotels have international lines. Be warned that hotel room telephones are connected with a computer system that operates automatically. After the third (fourth) ring, you will be charged the minimum charge even if no one is answering. Hotel telephone prices are on international level and rather expensive. If you want to save money, you can buy a telephone card from shops and call from the public phone booths on the streets. Most of the mobile phones operated with GSM system can be used in Egypt? Please check with your local GSM operator before departure.
Shopping:
The most interesting shopping area for tourists in Cairo is the old bazaar, khan-el khalili, specializing in reproductions of antiquities. Jewellery, spices, copper utensils and Coptic cloth are some of the special items.
Especially in the bazaar area, you are advised to bargain, aim at almost around 50-60 percent of the first price asked.
There are also modern shopping centers available, particularly near Tehrir square.
Shopping hours: winter: 09:00-21:00 every day except Monday and Thursday when shops close at 20:00.
During Ramadan, hours vary, with shops often closing on Sunday as well. Summer: 0900-1230 and then 16:00-20:00 Saturday to Thursday (closed on Sunday).
The most interesting shopping area for tourists in Cairo is the old bazaar, khan-el khalili, specializing in reproductions of antiquities. Jewellery, spices, copper utensils and Coptic cloth are some of the special items.
Especially in the bazaar area, you are advised to bargain, aim at almost around 50-60 percent of the first price asked.
There are also modern shopping centers available, particularly near Tehrir square.
Shopping hours: winter: 09:00-21:00 every day except Monday and Thursday when shops close at 20:00.
During Ramadan, hours vary, with shops often closing on Sunday as well. Summer: 0900-1230 and then 16:00-20:00 Saturday to Thursday (closed on Sunday).
Language :
Arabic is the official language of Egypt. English is widely spoken and understood, as well as French and German. Italian and Spanish are starting to be widely used in the tourist areas, especially at the Red Sea.
Arabic is the official language of Egypt. English is widely spoken and understood, as well as French and German. Italian and Spanish are starting to be widely used in the tourist areas, especially at the Red Sea.
Religion:
Egypt hosts two major religious institutions, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria established in the middle of the 1st century by Saint Mark the Evangelist, and Al-Azhar University founded in 970 CE by the Fatimids as the first Islamic University in the world
Egypt hosts two major religious institutions, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria established in the middle of the 1st century by Saint Mark the Evangelist, and Al-Azhar University founded in 970 CE by the Fatimids as the first Islamic University in the world
Islam:
Egypt is a predominantly Sunni Muslim country with Islam as its state religion. The percentage of the adherents of various religions is a controversial topic in Egypt, with different sources citing different figures. Around 90% are identified as Muslim. A significant number of Muslim Egyptians also follow native Sufi orders, and there is a minority of Shi'a. Islam plays a central role in the lives of most Egyptian Muslims. The Adhan (Islamic call to prayer) is heard five times a day, and has the informal effect of regulating the pace of everything from business to media and entertainment. Cairo is famous for its numerous mosque minarets and is justifiably dubbed "the city of 1,000 minarets". Cairo also comprises a significant number of church towers.
Egypt is a predominantly Sunni Muslim country with Islam as its state religion. The percentage of the adherents of various religions is a controversial topic in Egypt, with different sources citing different figures. Around 90% are identified as Muslim. A significant number of Muslim Egyptians also follow native Sufi orders, and there is a minority of Shi'a. Islam plays a central role in the lives of most Egyptian Muslims. The Adhan (Islamic call to prayer) is heard five times a day, and has the informal effect of regulating the pace of everything from business to media and entertainment. Cairo is famous for its numerous mosque minarets and is justifiably dubbed "the city of 1,000 minarets". Cairo also comprises a significant number of church towers.
Christianity:
There is a significant Christian minority in Egypt, who make up between 5% and 18% of the population. Over 90% of Egyptian Christians belong to the native Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, an Oriental Orthodox Church. Other native Egyptian Christians are adherents of the Coptic Catholic Church, the Evangelical Church of Egypt and various other Protestant denominations. Non-native Christian communities are largely found in the urban regions of Cairo and Alexandria.
Coptic Christians face discrimination at multiple levels of the government, ranging from a disproportional representation in government ministries to laws that limit their ability to build or repair churches. The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life ranks Egypt as the fifth worst country in the world for religious freedom. The Pew Forum also ranks Egypt among the 12 worst countries in the world in terms of religious violence against religious minorities and in terms of social hostilities against Christians. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has placed Egypt on its watch list for religious freedom that requires close monitoring due to the nature and extent of violations of religious freedom engaged in or tolerated by the government.
Coptic Christians are minimally represented in law enforcement, state security and public office, and are being discriminated against in the workforce on the basis of their religion. The Coptic community, as well as several human rights activists and intellectuals, maintain that the number of Christians occupying government posts is not proportional to the number of Copts in Egypt. They are also the victims of discriminatory religious laws, anti-Christian judges, and anti-Christian state police. Anti-Christian laws include laws governing repairing old churches or constructing new ones, which are usually impossible tasks, requiring presidential permission to build a new church, and a governor’s permission to renovate even the bathroom in an already-built church. Anti-Christian judges tend to "legislate from the bench". An example includes an Egyptian court's refusal to grant Muslim Egyptians who convert to Christianity identity cards that display their new religion.
There is a significant Christian minority in Egypt, who make up between 5% and 18% of the population. Over 90% of Egyptian Christians belong to the native Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, an Oriental Orthodox Church. Other native Egyptian Christians are adherents of the Coptic Catholic Church, the Evangelical Church of Egypt and various other Protestant denominations. Non-native Christian communities are largely found in the urban regions of Cairo and Alexandria.
Coptic Christians face discrimination at multiple levels of the government, ranging from a disproportional representation in government ministries to laws that limit their ability to build or repair churches. The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life ranks Egypt as the fifth worst country in the world for religious freedom. The Pew Forum also ranks Egypt among the 12 worst countries in the world in terms of religious violence against religious minorities and in terms of social hostilities against Christians. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has placed Egypt on its watch list for religious freedom that requires close monitoring due to the nature and extent of violations of religious freedom engaged in or tolerated by the government.
Coptic Christians are minimally represented in law enforcement, state security and public office, and are being discriminated against in the workforce on the basis of their religion. The Coptic community, as well as several human rights activists and intellectuals, maintain that the number of Christians occupying government posts is not proportional to the number of Copts in Egypt. They are also the victims of discriminatory religious laws, anti-Christian judges, and anti-Christian state police. Anti-Christian laws include laws governing repairing old churches or constructing new ones, which are usually impossible tasks, requiring presidential permission to build a new church, and a governor’s permission to renovate even the bathroom in an already-built church. Anti-Christian judges tend to "legislate from the bench". An example includes an Egyptian court's refusal to grant Muslim Egyptians who convert to Christianity identity cards that display their new religion.
Literature:
Literature is an important cultural element in the life of Egypt. Egyptian novelists and poets were among the first to experiment with modern styles of Arabic literature, and the forms they developed have been widely imitated throughout the Middle East. The first modern Egyptian novel ynab by Muhammad Husayn Haykal was published in 1913 in the Egyptian vernacular. Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz was the first Arabic-language writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Egyptian women writers include Nawal El Saadawi, well known for her feminist activism, and Alifa Rifaat who also writes about women and tradition. Vernacular poetry is perhaps the most popular literary genre among Egyptians, represented by the works of Ahmed Fouad Negm (Fagumi), Salah Jaheen and Abdel Rahman el-Abnudi..
Literature is an important cultural element in the life of Egypt. Egyptian novelists and poets were among the first to experiment with modern styles of Arabic literature, and the forms they developed have been widely imitated throughout the Middle East. The first modern Egyptian novel ynab by Muhammad Husayn Haykal was published in 1913 in the Egyptian vernacular. Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz was the first Arabic-language writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Egyptian women writers include Nawal El Saadawi, well known for her feminist activism, and Alifa Rifaat who also writes about women and tradition. Vernacular poetry is perhaps the most popular literary genre among Egyptians, represented by the works of Ahmed Fouad Negm (Fagumi), Salah Jaheen and Abdel Rahman el-Abnudi..
Music:
Egyptian music is a rich mixture of indigenous, Mediterranean, African and Western elements. In antiquity, Egyptians were playing harps and flutes, including two indigenous instruments: the ney and the oud. Percussion and vocal music also became an important part of the local music tradition ever since. Contemporary Egyptian music traces its beginnings to the creative work of people such as Abdu-l Hamuli, Almaz and Mahmud Osman, who influenced the later work of Egyptian music giants such as Sayed Darwish, Umm Kulthum, Mohammed Abdel Wahab and Abdel Halim Hafez.
Egyptian music is a rich mixture of indigenous, Mediterranean, African and Western elements. In antiquity, Egyptians were playing harps and flutes, including two indigenous instruments: the ney and the oud. Percussion and vocal music also became an important part of the local music tradition ever since. Contemporary Egyptian music traces its beginnings to the creative work of people such as Abdu-l Hamuli, Almaz and Mahmud Osman, who influenced the later work of Egyptian music giants such as Sayed Darwish, Umm Kulthum, Mohammed Abdel Wahab and Abdel Halim Hafez.
Festivals:
Egypt celebrates many festivals and religious carnivals, also known as mulid. They are usually associated with a particular Coptic or Sufi saint, but are often celebrated by all Egyptians irrespective of creed or religion. Ramadan has a special flavor in Egypt, celebrated with sounds, lights (local lanterns known as fawanees) and much flare that many Muslim tourists from the region flock to Egypt during Ramadan to witness the spectacle.
The ancient spring festival of Sham en Nisim has been celebrated by Egyptians for thousands of years, typically between the Egyptian months of Paremoude (April) and Pashons (May), following Easter Sunday.
Egypt celebrates many festivals and religious carnivals, also known as mulid. They are usually associated with a particular Coptic or Sufi saint, but are often celebrated by all Egyptians irrespective of creed or religion. Ramadan has a special flavor in Egypt, celebrated with sounds, lights (local lanterns known as fawanees) and much flare that many Muslim tourists from the region flock to Egypt during Ramadan to witness the spectacle.
The ancient spring festival of Sham en Nisim has been celebrated by Egyptians for thousands of years, typically between the Egyptian months of Paremoude (April) and Pashons (May), following Easter Sunday.
History :
Pre-historic Egypt
There is evidence of rock carvings along the Nile terraces and in desert oases. In the 10th millennium BC, a culture of hunter-gatherers and fishers replaced a grain-grinding culture. Climate changes and/or overgrazing around 8000 BC began to desiccate the pastoral lands of Egypt, forming the Sahara. Early tribal peoples migrated to the Nile River where they developed a settled agricultural economy and more centralized society.
By about 6000 BC a Neolithic culture rooted in the Nile Valley. During the Neolithic era, several predynastic cultures developed independently in Upper and Lower Egypt. The Badarian culture and the successor Naqada series are generally regarded as precursors to dynastic Egypt. The earliest known Lower Egyptian site, Merimda, predates the Badarian by about seven hundred years. Contemporaneous Lower Egyptian communities coexisted with their southern counterparts for more than two thousand years, remaining culturally distinct, but maintaining frequent contact through trade. The earliest known evidence of Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions appeared during the predynastic period on Naqada III pottery vessels, dated to about 3200 BC.
Ancient Egypt
The Great Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza, built during the Old Kingdom, are modern national icons that are at the heart of Egypt's thriving tourism industry.
The First Intermediate Period ushered in a time of political upheaval for about 150 years. Stronger Nile floods and stabilization of government, however, brought back renewed prosperity for the country in the Middle Kingdom c. 2040 BC, reaching a peak during the reign of Pharaoh Amenemhat III. A second period of disunity heralded the arrival of the first foreign ruling dynasty in Egypt, that of the Semitic Hyksos. The Hyksos invaders took over much of Lower Egypt around 1650 BC and founded a new capital at Avaris. They were driven out by an Upper Egyptian force led by Ahmose I, who founded the Eighteenth Dynasty and relocated the capital from Memphis to Thebes.
The New Kingdom c. 1550–1070 BC began with the Eighteenth Dynasty, marking the rise of Egypt as an international power that expanded during its greatest extension to an empire as far south as Tombos in Nubia, and included parts of the Levant in the east. This period is noted for some of the most well-known Pharaohs, including Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti, Tutankhamun and Ramesses II. The first historically attested expression of monotheism came during this period as Atenism. Frequent contacts with other nations brought new ideas to the New Kingdom. The country was later invaded and conquered by Libyans, Nubians and Assyrians, but native Egyptians eventually drove them out and regained control of their country.
The Thirtieth Dynasty was the last native ruling dynasty during the Pharaonic epoch. It fell to the Persians in 343 BC after the last native Pharaoh, King Nectanebo II, was defeated in battle.
Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt The Ptolemaic Kingdom was a powerful Hellenistic state, extending from southern Syria in the east, to Cyrene to the west, and south to the frontier with Nubia. Alexandria became the capital city and a center of Greek culture and trade. To gain recognition by the native Egyptian populace, they named themselves as the successors to the Pharaohs. The later Ptolemies took on Egyptian traditions, had themselves portrayed on public monuments in Egyptian style and dress, and participated in Egyptian religious life.
The last ruler from the Ptolemaic line was Cleopatra VII, who committed suicide with her lover Mark Antony, after Caesar Augustus had captured them. The Ptolemies faced rebellions of native Egyptians often caused by an unwanted regime and were involved in foreign and civil wars that led to the decline of the kingdom and its annexation by Rome. Nevertheless Hellenistic culture continued to thrive in Egypt well after the Muslim conquest.
Christianity was brought to Egypt by Saint Mark the Evangelist in the 1st century. Diocletian's reign marked the transition from the Roman to the Byzantine era in Egypt, when a great number of Egyptian Christians were persecuted. The New Testament had by then been translated into Egyptian. After the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451, a distinct Egyptian Coptic Church was firmly established.
Arab and Ottoman Egypt The Byzantines were able to regain control of the country after a brief Persian invasion early in the 7th century, until in AD 639, Egypt was absorbed into the Islamic Empire by the Muslim Arabs. When they defeated the Byzantine Armies in Egypt, the Arabs brought Sunni Islam to the country. Early in this period, Egyptians began to blend their new faith with indigenous beliefs and practices, leading to various Sufi orders that have flourished to this day. These earlier rites had survived the period of Coptic Christianity.
Muslim rulers nominated by the Islamic Caliphate remained in control of Egypt for the next six centuries, with Cairo as the seat of the Caliphate under the Fatimids. With the end of the Kurdish Ayyubid dynasty, the Mamluks, a Turco-Circassian military caste, took control about AD 1250. By the late 13th century, Egypt linked the Red Sea, India, Malaya, and East Indies. They continued to govern the country until the conquest of Egypt by the Ottoman Turks in 1517, after which it became a province of the Ottoman Empire. The mid-14th-century Black Death killed about 40% of the country's population.
After the 15th century, the Ottoman invasion pushed the Egyptian system into decline. The defensive militarization damaged its civil society and economic institutions. The weakening of the economic system combined with the effects of plague left Egypt vulnerable to foreign invasion. Portuguese traders took over their trade. Egypt suffered six famines between 1687 and 1731. The 1784 famine cost it roughly one-sixth of its population
Muhammad Ali dynasty The brief French invasion of Egypt led by Napoleon Bonaparte began in 1798. The expulsion of the French in 1801 by Ottoman, Mamluk, and British forces was followed by four years of anarchy in which Ottomans, Mamluks, and Albanians who were nominally in the service of the Ottomans, wrestled for power. Out of this chaos, the commander of the Albanian regiment, Muhammad Ali (Kavalali Mehmed Ali Pasha) emerged as a dominant figure and in 1805 was acknowledged by the Sultan in Istanbul as his viceroy in Egypt; the title implied subordination to the Sultan but this was in fact a polite fiction: Ottoman power in Egypt was finished and Muhammad Ali, an ambitious and able leader, established a dynasty that was to rule Egypt until the revolution of 1952. In later years, the dynasty became a British puppet.
His primary focus was military: he annexed Northern Sudan (1820–1824), Syria (1833), and parts of Arabia and Anatolia; but in 1841 the European powers, fearful lest he topple the Ottoman Empire itself, forced him to return most of his conquests to the Ottomans, but he kept the Sudan and his title to Egypt was made hereditary. A more lasting result of his military ambition is that it required him to modernize the country. Eager to adopt the military (and therefore industrial) techniques of the great powers, he sent students to the West and invited training missions to Egypt. He built industries, a system of canals for irrigation and transport, and reformed the civil service.
The introduction in 1820 of long-staple cotton, the Egyptian variety of which became notable, transformed its agriculture into a cash-crop monoculture before the end of the century. The social effects of this were enormous: land ownership became concentrated and many foreigners arrived, shifting production towards international markets.
Muhammad Ali was succeeded briefly by his son Ibrahim (in September 1848), then by a grandson Abbas I (in November 1848), then by Said (in 1854), and Isma'il (in 1863). Abbas I was cautious. Said and Ismail were ambitious developers, but they spent beyond their means. The Suez Canal, built in partnership with the French, was completed in 1869. The cost of this and other projects had two effects: it led to enormous debt to European banks, and caused popular discontent because of the onerous taxation it required.
In 1875 Ismail was forced to sell Egypt's share in the canal to the British Government. Within three years this led to the imposition of British and French controllers who sat in the Egyptian cabinet, and, "with the financial power of the bondholders behind them, were the real power in the Government."
Modern Egypt
Local dissatisfaction with Ismail and with European intrusion led to the formation of the first nationalist groupings in 1879, with Ahmad Urabi a prominent figure. In 1882 he became head of a nationalist-dominated ministry committed to democratic reforms including parliamentary control of the budget. Fearing a reduction of their control, the UK and France intervened militarily, bombarding Alexandria and crushing the Egyptian army at the battle of Tel el-Kebir. They reinstalled Ismail's son Tewfik as figurehead of a de facto British protectorate.
In 1914 the Protectorate was made official, and the title of the head of state, which had changed from pasha to khedive in 1867, was changed to sultan, to repudiate the vestigial suzerainty of the Ottoman sultan, who was backing the Central powers in World War I. Abbas II was deposed as khedive and replaced by his uncle, Hussein Kamel, as sultan.
In 1906, the Dinshaway Incident prompted many neutral Egyptians to join the nationalist movement. After the First World War, Saad Zaghlul and the Wafd Party led the Egyptian nationalist movement to a majority at the local Legislative Assembly. When the British exiled Zaghlul and his associates to Malta on March 8, 1919, the country arose in its first modern revolution. The revolt led the UK government to issue a unilateral declaration of Egypt's independence on February 22, 1922.
Kingdom
The new government drafted and implemented a constitution in 1923 based on a parliamentary system. Saad Zaghlul was popularly elected as Prime Minister of Egypt in 1924. In 1936 the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty was concluded. Continued instability due to remaining British influence and increasing political involvement by the king led to the dissolution of the parliament in a military coup d'état known as the 1952 Revolution. The Free Officers Movement forced King Farouk to abdicate in support of his son Fuad. British military presence in Egypt lasted until 1954.
Republic
On June 18, 1953, the Egyptian Republic was declared, with General Muhammad Naguib as the first President of the Republic. Naguib was forced to resign in 1954 by Gamal Abdel Nasser – the real architect of the 1952 movement – and was later put under house arrest. Nasser assumed power as President in June, 1956. British forces completed their withdrawal from the occupied Suez Canal Zone on June 13, 1956. He nationalized the Suez Canal on July 26, 1956, prompting the 1956 Suez Crisis.
Three years after the 1967 Six Day War, during which Israel invaded and occupied of the Gaza Strip, which Egypt had occupied since the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and the Sinai Peninsula from Eygpt, Nasser died and was succeeded by Anwar Sadat in 1970. Sadat switched Egypt's Cold War allegiance from the Soviet Union to the United States, expelling Soviet advisors in 1972. He launched the Infitah economic reform policy, while violently clamping down on religious and secular opposition.
In 1973, Egypt, along with Syria, launched the October War, a surprise attack against the Israeli forces occupying the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights. It was an attempt to regain part of the Sinai territory Israel had captured 6 years earlier. Sadat hoped to seize some territory through military force, and then regain the rest of the peninsula by diplomacy. The conflict sparked an international crisis between the US and the USSR, both of whom intervened. The second UN-mandated ceasefire halted military action. While the war ended with a military stalemate, it presented Sadat with a political victory that later allowed him to regain the Sinai in return for peace with Israel.
Sadat made a historic visit to Israel in 1977, which led to the 1979 peace treaty in exchange for Israeli withdrawal from Sinai. Sadat's initiative sparked enormous controversy in the Arab world and led to Egypt's expulsion from the Arab League, but it was supported by most Egyptians. A fundamentalist military soldier assassinated Sadat in Cairo in 1981. He was succeeded by Hosni Mubarak.
In 2003, the Egyptian Movement for Change, popularly known as Kefaya, was launched to oppose the Mubarak regime and to establish democratic reforms and greater civil liberties.
In January 2011, a popular uprising began against the Mubarak government. The objective of the protest was the removal of Mubarak from power. On 11 February 2011, the Vice President of Egypt Omar Suleiman announced that Mubarak had stepped down as President of Egypt as a result of the popular protests starting on January 25.
On February 13, 2011, the high level military command of Egypt announced that both the constitution and the parliament of Egypt had been dissolved. The parliamentary election was to be held in September.
Pre-historic Egypt
There is evidence of rock carvings along the Nile terraces and in desert oases. In the 10th millennium BC, a culture of hunter-gatherers and fishers replaced a grain-grinding culture. Climate changes and/or overgrazing around 8000 BC began to desiccate the pastoral lands of Egypt, forming the Sahara. Early tribal peoples migrated to the Nile River where they developed a settled agricultural economy and more centralized society.
By about 6000 BC a Neolithic culture rooted in the Nile Valley. During the Neolithic era, several predynastic cultures developed independently in Upper and Lower Egypt. The Badarian culture and the successor Naqada series are generally regarded as precursors to dynastic Egypt. The earliest known Lower Egyptian site, Merimda, predates the Badarian by about seven hundred years. Contemporaneous Lower Egyptian communities coexisted with their southern counterparts for more than two thousand years, remaining culturally distinct, but maintaining frequent contact through trade. The earliest known evidence of Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions appeared during the predynastic period on Naqada III pottery vessels, dated to about 3200 BC.
Ancient Egypt
The Great Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza, built during the Old Kingdom, are modern national icons that are at the heart of Egypt's thriving tourism industry.
The First Intermediate Period ushered in a time of political upheaval for about 150 years. Stronger Nile floods and stabilization of government, however, brought back renewed prosperity for the country in the Middle Kingdom c. 2040 BC, reaching a peak during the reign of Pharaoh Amenemhat III. A second period of disunity heralded the arrival of the first foreign ruling dynasty in Egypt, that of the Semitic Hyksos. The Hyksos invaders took over much of Lower Egypt around 1650 BC and founded a new capital at Avaris. They were driven out by an Upper Egyptian force led by Ahmose I, who founded the Eighteenth Dynasty and relocated the capital from Memphis to Thebes.
The New Kingdom c. 1550–1070 BC began with the Eighteenth Dynasty, marking the rise of Egypt as an international power that expanded during its greatest extension to an empire as far south as Tombos in Nubia, and included parts of the Levant in the east. This period is noted for some of the most well-known Pharaohs, including Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti, Tutankhamun and Ramesses II. The first historically attested expression of monotheism came during this period as Atenism. Frequent contacts with other nations brought new ideas to the New Kingdom. The country was later invaded and conquered by Libyans, Nubians and Assyrians, but native Egyptians eventually drove them out and regained control of their country.
The Thirtieth Dynasty was the last native ruling dynasty during the Pharaonic epoch. It fell to the Persians in 343 BC after the last native Pharaoh, King Nectanebo II, was defeated in battle.
Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt The Ptolemaic Kingdom was a powerful Hellenistic state, extending from southern Syria in the east, to Cyrene to the west, and south to the frontier with Nubia. Alexandria became the capital city and a center of Greek culture and trade. To gain recognition by the native Egyptian populace, they named themselves as the successors to the Pharaohs. The later Ptolemies took on Egyptian traditions, had themselves portrayed on public monuments in Egyptian style and dress, and participated in Egyptian religious life.
The last ruler from the Ptolemaic line was Cleopatra VII, who committed suicide with her lover Mark Antony, after Caesar Augustus had captured them. The Ptolemies faced rebellions of native Egyptians often caused by an unwanted regime and were involved in foreign and civil wars that led to the decline of the kingdom and its annexation by Rome. Nevertheless Hellenistic culture continued to thrive in Egypt well after the Muslim conquest.
Christianity was brought to Egypt by Saint Mark the Evangelist in the 1st century. Diocletian's reign marked the transition from the Roman to the Byzantine era in Egypt, when a great number of Egyptian Christians were persecuted. The New Testament had by then been translated into Egyptian. After the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451, a distinct Egyptian Coptic Church was firmly established.
Arab and Ottoman Egypt The Byzantines were able to regain control of the country after a brief Persian invasion early in the 7th century, until in AD 639, Egypt was absorbed into the Islamic Empire by the Muslim Arabs. When they defeated the Byzantine Armies in Egypt, the Arabs brought Sunni Islam to the country. Early in this period, Egyptians began to blend their new faith with indigenous beliefs and practices, leading to various Sufi orders that have flourished to this day. These earlier rites had survived the period of Coptic Christianity.
Muslim rulers nominated by the Islamic Caliphate remained in control of Egypt for the next six centuries, with Cairo as the seat of the Caliphate under the Fatimids. With the end of the Kurdish Ayyubid dynasty, the Mamluks, a Turco-Circassian military caste, took control about AD 1250. By the late 13th century, Egypt linked the Red Sea, India, Malaya, and East Indies. They continued to govern the country until the conquest of Egypt by the Ottoman Turks in 1517, after which it became a province of the Ottoman Empire. The mid-14th-century Black Death killed about 40% of the country's population.
After the 15th century, the Ottoman invasion pushed the Egyptian system into decline. The defensive militarization damaged its civil society and economic institutions. The weakening of the economic system combined with the effects of plague left Egypt vulnerable to foreign invasion. Portuguese traders took over their trade. Egypt suffered six famines between 1687 and 1731. The 1784 famine cost it roughly one-sixth of its population
Muhammad Ali dynasty The brief French invasion of Egypt led by Napoleon Bonaparte began in 1798. The expulsion of the French in 1801 by Ottoman, Mamluk, and British forces was followed by four years of anarchy in which Ottomans, Mamluks, and Albanians who were nominally in the service of the Ottomans, wrestled for power. Out of this chaos, the commander of the Albanian regiment, Muhammad Ali (Kavalali Mehmed Ali Pasha) emerged as a dominant figure and in 1805 was acknowledged by the Sultan in Istanbul as his viceroy in Egypt; the title implied subordination to the Sultan but this was in fact a polite fiction: Ottoman power in Egypt was finished and Muhammad Ali, an ambitious and able leader, established a dynasty that was to rule Egypt until the revolution of 1952. In later years, the dynasty became a British puppet.
His primary focus was military: he annexed Northern Sudan (1820–1824), Syria (1833), and parts of Arabia and Anatolia; but in 1841 the European powers, fearful lest he topple the Ottoman Empire itself, forced him to return most of his conquests to the Ottomans, but he kept the Sudan and his title to Egypt was made hereditary. A more lasting result of his military ambition is that it required him to modernize the country. Eager to adopt the military (and therefore industrial) techniques of the great powers, he sent students to the West and invited training missions to Egypt. He built industries, a system of canals for irrigation and transport, and reformed the civil service.
The introduction in 1820 of long-staple cotton, the Egyptian variety of which became notable, transformed its agriculture into a cash-crop monoculture before the end of the century. The social effects of this were enormous: land ownership became concentrated and many foreigners arrived, shifting production towards international markets.
Muhammad Ali was succeeded briefly by his son Ibrahim (in September 1848), then by a grandson Abbas I (in November 1848), then by Said (in 1854), and Isma'il (in 1863). Abbas I was cautious. Said and Ismail were ambitious developers, but they spent beyond their means. The Suez Canal, built in partnership with the French, was completed in 1869. The cost of this and other projects had two effects: it led to enormous debt to European banks, and caused popular discontent because of the onerous taxation it required.
In 1875 Ismail was forced to sell Egypt's share in the canal to the British Government. Within three years this led to the imposition of British and French controllers who sat in the Egyptian cabinet, and, "with the financial power of the bondholders behind them, were the real power in the Government."
Modern Egypt
Local dissatisfaction with Ismail and with European intrusion led to the formation of the first nationalist groupings in 1879, with Ahmad Urabi a prominent figure. In 1882 he became head of a nationalist-dominated ministry committed to democratic reforms including parliamentary control of the budget. Fearing a reduction of their control, the UK and France intervened militarily, bombarding Alexandria and crushing the Egyptian army at the battle of Tel el-Kebir. They reinstalled Ismail's son Tewfik as figurehead of a de facto British protectorate.
In 1914 the Protectorate was made official, and the title of the head of state, which had changed from pasha to khedive in 1867, was changed to sultan, to repudiate the vestigial suzerainty of the Ottoman sultan, who was backing the Central powers in World War I. Abbas II was deposed as khedive and replaced by his uncle, Hussein Kamel, as sultan.
In 1906, the Dinshaway Incident prompted many neutral Egyptians to join the nationalist movement. After the First World War, Saad Zaghlul and the Wafd Party led the Egyptian nationalist movement to a majority at the local Legislative Assembly. When the British exiled Zaghlul and his associates to Malta on March 8, 1919, the country arose in its first modern revolution. The revolt led the UK government to issue a unilateral declaration of Egypt's independence on February 22, 1922.
Kingdom
The new government drafted and implemented a constitution in 1923 based on a parliamentary system. Saad Zaghlul was popularly elected as Prime Minister of Egypt in 1924. In 1936 the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty was concluded. Continued instability due to remaining British influence and increasing political involvement by the king led to the dissolution of the parliament in a military coup d'état known as the 1952 Revolution. The Free Officers Movement forced King Farouk to abdicate in support of his son Fuad. British military presence in Egypt lasted until 1954.
Republic
On June 18, 1953, the Egyptian Republic was declared, with General Muhammad Naguib as the first President of the Republic. Naguib was forced to resign in 1954 by Gamal Abdel Nasser – the real architect of the 1952 movement – and was later put under house arrest. Nasser assumed power as President in June, 1956. British forces completed their withdrawal from the occupied Suez Canal Zone on June 13, 1956. He nationalized the Suez Canal on July 26, 1956, prompting the 1956 Suez Crisis.
Three years after the 1967 Six Day War, during which Israel invaded and occupied of the Gaza Strip, which Egypt had occupied since the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and the Sinai Peninsula from Eygpt, Nasser died and was succeeded by Anwar Sadat in 1970. Sadat switched Egypt's Cold War allegiance from the Soviet Union to the United States, expelling Soviet advisors in 1972. He launched the Infitah economic reform policy, while violently clamping down on religious and secular opposition.
In 1973, Egypt, along with Syria, launched the October War, a surprise attack against the Israeli forces occupying the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights. It was an attempt to regain part of the Sinai territory Israel had captured 6 years earlier. Sadat hoped to seize some territory through military force, and then regain the rest of the peninsula by diplomacy. The conflict sparked an international crisis between the US and the USSR, both of whom intervened. The second UN-mandated ceasefire halted military action. While the war ended with a military stalemate, it presented Sadat with a political victory that later allowed him to regain the Sinai in return for peace with Israel.
Sadat made a historic visit to Israel in 1977, which led to the 1979 peace treaty in exchange for Israeli withdrawal from Sinai. Sadat's initiative sparked enormous controversy in the Arab world and led to Egypt's expulsion from the Arab League, but it was supported by most Egyptians. A fundamentalist military soldier assassinated Sadat in Cairo in 1981. He was succeeded by Hosni Mubarak.
In 2003, the Egyptian Movement for Change, popularly known as Kefaya, was launched to oppose the Mubarak regime and to establish democratic reforms and greater civil liberties.
In January 2011, a popular uprising began against the Mubarak government. The objective of the protest was the removal of Mubarak from power. On 11 February 2011, the Vice President of Egypt Omar Suleiman announced that Mubarak had stepped down as President of Egypt as a result of the popular protests starting on January 25.
On February 13, 2011, the high level military command of Egypt announced that both the constitution and the parliament of Egypt had been dissolved. The parliamentary election was to be held in September.
Maps of Egypt
Important Cities
Cairo :
The name of which means "The Triumphant" , is the capital city of Egypt. Though Al-Qahirah is the official name of the city, in Egyptian Arabic it is simply known by the name of the country, Masr (Egypt).
Cairo which can be traced back to 1000 years was founded on the site of Babylon near the ruins of ancient Memphis . With a population of about 16.1 million people, it's the largest city in Africa having a rich historical past. Being in the heart of the city it encompasses many former cities and monuments like the pyramids of the Pharaohs ; early Christian monasteries and churches; Salah Al-Dins Citadel ; mosques of the Mamluk and Ottoman Sultans.
Cairo :
The name of which means "The Triumphant" , is the capital city of Egypt. Though Al-Qahirah is the official name of the city, in Egyptian Arabic it is simply known by the name of the country, Masr (Egypt).
Cairo which can be traced back to 1000 years was founded on the site of Babylon near the ruins of ancient Memphis . With a population of about 16.1 million people, it's the largest city in Africa having a rich historical past. Being in the heart of the city it encompasses many former cities and monuments like the pyramids of the Pharaohs ; early Christian monasteries and churches; Salah Al-Dins Citadel ; mosques of the Mamluk and Ottoman Sultans.
Luxor :
A city in Upper Egypt and the capital of the Al Uqsur governorate , with population approximately 200,000 , has often been called the world's greatest open air museum. One of Egypt's favorite tourist destinations it's built on the site of the ancient city of Thebes . Just opposite the Nile River on the West Bank , stands the spectacular tomb ofNefertari and Tutankhamun , the ruins of the temple complexes at Karnak and also theValley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens . These monuments, temples and tombs all attract tourists round the world.
A city in Upper Egypt and the capital of the Al Uqsur governorate , with population approximately 200,000 , has often been called the world's greatest open air museum. One of Egypt's favorite tourist destinations it's built on the site of the ancient city of Thebes . Just opposite the Nile River on the West Bank , stands the spectacular tomb ofNefertari and Tutankhamun , the ruins of the temple complexes at Karnak and also theValley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens . These monuments, temples and tombs all attract tourists round the world.
Giza :
Situated on the west bank of the Nile River , some 20 km south-west of central Cairo , it's now a part of the greater Cairo metropolis. Capital of the Al Jizah Governorate, Giza is a vibrant city and an administrative, cultural, and commercial centre with about 2.7 million inhabitants. Industries here include chemicals, machinery, movies and cigarettes. Well-known as the location of the Giza Plateau for some of its most impressive ancient monuments in the world, including a complex of ancient Egyptian royal mortuary and sacred structures, including the Great Sphinx , the Great Pyramid of Giza, that is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, it's a must visit tourist destination.,
Situated on the west bank of the Nile River , some 20 km south-west of central Cairo , it's now a part of the greater Cairo metropolis. Capital of the Al Jizah Governorate, Giza is a vibrant city and an administrative, cultural, and commercial centre with about 2.7 million inhabitants. Industries here include chemicals, machinery, movies and cigarettes. Well-known as the location of the Giza Plateau for some of its most impressive ancient monuments in the world, including a complex of ancient Egyptian royal mortuary and sacred structures, including the Great Sphinx , the Great Pyramid of Giza, that is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, it's a must visit tourist destination.,
Kom Ombo :
Is an agricultural town in Egypt famous for the Temple of Kom Ombo. It was originally an Egyptian city called Nubt, meaning City of Gold (not to be confused with the city north of Naqada that was also called Nubt/Ombos). It became a Greek settlement during the Greco-Roman Period. The town's location on the Nile 50 km north of Aswan (Syene) gave it some control over trade routes from Nubia to the Nile Valley, but its main rise to prominence came with the erection of the temple in the 2nd century BC.
Is an agricultural town in Egypt famous for the Temple of Kom Ombo. It was originally an Egyptian city called Nubt, meaning City of Gold (not to be confused with the city north of Naqada that was also called Nubt/Ombos). It became a Greek settlement during the Greco-Roman Period. The town's location on the Nile 50 km north of Aswan (Syene) gave it some control over trade routes from Nubia to the Nile Valley, but its main rise to prominence came with the erection of the temple in the 2nd century BC.
Aswan :
Egypt's southernmost city and the capital of the Aswan Governorate, it's located about 81 miles south of Luxor. Aswan, the sunniest southern city and the driest in the world, has a distinctively African atmosphere and has long been the country's gateway to Africa. With a population of 200,000 , the pace of life here is slow and relaxing. People visiting are all spellbound by the beauty of the Nile, flowing through amber desert and granite rocks, round emerald islands covered in palm groves and tropical plants.
Egypt's southernmost city and the capital of the Aswan Governorate, it's located about 81 miles south of Luxor. Aswan, the sunniest southern city and the driest in the world, has a distinctively African atmosphere and has long been the country's gateway to Africa. With a population of 200,000 , the pace of life here is slow and relaxing. People visiting are all spellbound by the beauty of the Nile, flowing through amber desert and granite rocks, round emerald islands covered in palm groves and tropical plants.
Nubia:
is the part located between High Dam in Aswan and Sudan border, Many sites were saved by relocation to higher ground through an international effort, but others are lost to the waters of the lake. The most famous site to be saved in this way is Abu Simbel, but there are others that can be visited from a cruise on Lake Nasser, which we took in July 2000. Starting from Aswan, we visited Kalabsha, El Sebuoa and Dakka, Amada and El Derr, Qasr Ibrim and finally Abu Simbel. The temples are quite fascinating, many showing a distinctive style of statuary found in Nubia, and many that were built into the rock either partly or wholly, like small versions of the temples at Abu Simbel. We thoroughly enjoyed the cruise, you get to visit some of the less well known but still amazing sites and the finale of sailing up to Abu Simbel is unforgettable - highly recommended
is the part located between High Dam in Aswan and Sudan border, Many sites were saved by relocation to higher ground through an international effort, but others are lost to the waters of the lake. The most famous site to be saved in this way is Abu Simbel, but there are others that can be visited from a cruise on Lake Nasser, which we took in July 2000. Starting from Aswan, we visited Kalabsha, El Sebuoa and Dakka, Amada and El Derr, Qasr Ibrim and finally Abu Simbel. The temples are quite fascinating, many showing a distinctive style of statuary found in Nubia, and many that were built into the rock either partly or wholly, like small versions of the temples at Abu Simbel. We thoroughly enjoyed the cruise, you get to visit some of the less well known but still amazing sites and the finale of sailing up to Abu Simbel is unforgettable - highly recommended
Alexandria:
The second largest city of Africa, and named after ‘Alexander the Great' , it extends about 20 miles along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in north-central Egypt. Alexander came to Egypt in 331 BC after conquering Greece and found this small fishing village on the Mediterranean coast to establish his new capital, Alexandria . It's Egypt's most important sea port and industrial centre because of its natural gas and oil pipelines from the Suez . It is home to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina , the New Library of Alexandria, and the once famous legendary lighthouse that was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. In ancient times, the city was known for the Lighthouse of Alexandria.
The second largest city of Africa, and named after ‘Alexander the Great' , it extends about 20 miles along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in north-central Egypt. Alexander came to Egypt in 331 BC after conquering Greece and found this small fishing village on the Mediterranean coast to establish his new capital, Alexandria . It's Egypt's most important sea port and industrial centre because of its natural gas and oil pipelines from the Suez . It is home to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina , the New Library of Alexandria, and the once famous legendary lighthouse that was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. In ancient times, the city was known for the Lighthouse of Alexandria.
Port Said :
Situated on the Mediterranean Sea , and at the northern end of the Suez Canal , Port Said has a population of about 650,000 inhabitants . Founded in 1859 as a harbor, the city is considered quite young by Egyptian standards. Being geographically remote from other places, it's situated on a low, sandy ground west of the Suez Canal and east of Lake Manzila . The economic base of Port Said is fishing and industries such as chemicals, processed food, and cigarettes. It's an important harbor not only for exports of Egyptian products like cotton and rice, but also for fuelling station for ships that pass through the Suez Canal.
Situated on the Mediterranean Sea , and at the northern end of the Suez Canal , Port Said has a population of about 650,000 inhabitants . Founded in 1859 as a harbor, the city is considered quite young by Egyptian standards. Being geographically remote from other places, it's situated on a low, sandy ground west of the Suez Canal and east of Lake Manzila . The economic base of Port Said is fishing and industries such as chemicals, processed food, and cigarettes. It's an important harbor not only for exports of Egyptian products like cotton and rice, but also for fuelling station for ships that pass through the Suez Canal.
The Siwa Oasis :
Is an oasis in Egypt, located between the Qattara Depression and the Egyptian Sand Sea in the Libyan Desert, nearly 50 km east of the Libyan border, and 560 km (348 mi) from Cairo. About 80 Km in length and 20 km wide, Siwa Oasis is one of Egypt's isolated settlements, with 23,000 people, mostly ethnic Berbers who speak a distinct language of the Berber family known as Siwi. Its fame lies primarily in its ancient role as the home to an oracle of Amon, the ruins of which are a popular tourist attraction which gave the oasis its ancient name Ammonium. Historically, it is part of Ancient Libya.. Agriculture is the main activity of modern Siwi, particularly the cultivation of dates and olives. Handicrafts like basketry are also of regional importance. Tourism has in recent decades become a vital source of income. Much attention has been given to creating hotels that use local materials and play on local styles.
Is an oasis in Egypt, located between the Qattara Depression and the Egyptian Sand Sea in the Libyan Desert, nearly 50 km east of the Libyan border, and 560 km (348 mi) from Cairo. About 80 Km in length and 20 km wide, Siwa Oasis is one of Egypt's isolated settlements, with 23,000 people, mostly ethnic Berbers who speak a distinct language of the Berber family known as Siwi. Its fame lies primarily in its ancient role as the home to an oracle of Amon, the ruins of which are a popular tourist attraction which gave the oasis its ancient name Ammonium. Historically, it is part of Ancient Libya.. Agriculture is the main activity of modern Siwi, particularly the cultivation of dates and olives. Handicrafts like basketry are also of regional importance. Tourism has in recent decades become a vital source of income. Much attention has been given to creating hotels that use local materials and play on local styles.
Marsa Alam :
Is a town in south-eastern Egypt, located on the western shore of the Red Sea. It is currently seeing fast increasing popularity as a tourist destination and development following the opening of Marsa Alam International Airport in 2001.
Marsa Alam is situated near the Tropic of Cancer where the Arabian Desert meets the Red Sea, and it has the appearance of a tropical paradise with its palm trees, mangroves and sea coasts fringed with barrier coral reefs. It has already gained a strong reputation amongst scuba divers due to its numerous and unspoilt diving sites both along the coast and offshore. Sightings of spinner dolphins,dugongs and hammerhead sharks are a frequent occurrence for those who venture into its waters. Marsa Alam also has some inland attractions, such as the Emerald Mines and the Temple of Seti I at Khanais
Is a town in south-eastern Egypt, located on the western shore of the Red Sea. It is currently seeing fast increasing popularity as a tourist destination and development following the opening of Marsa Alam International Airport in 2001.
Marsa Alam is situated near the Tropic of Cancer where the Arabian Desert meets the Red Sea, and it has the appearance of a tropical paradise with its palm trees, mangroves and sea coasts fringed with barrier coral reefs. It has already gained a strong reputation amongst scuba divers due to its numerous and unspoilt diving sites both along the coast and offshore. Sightings of spinner dolphins,dugongs and hammerhead sharks are a frequent occurrence for those who venture into its waters. Marsa Alam also has some inland attractions, such as the Emerald Mines and the Temple of Seti I at Khanais
Sharm El Sheikh :
Is a city situated on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in South Sinai Governorate, Egypt, on the coastal strip along the Red Sea. Its population is approximately 35,000 (2008). Sharm el-Sheikh is the administrative hub of Egypt's South Sinai Governorate which includes the smaller coastal towns of Dahab and Nuweiba as well as the mountainous interior, Saint Catherine's Monastery and Mount Sinai.
Sharm el-Sheikh is sometimes called the "City of Peace", referring to the large number of international peace conferences that have been held there.
Is a city situated on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in South Sinai Governorate, Egypt, on the coastal strip along the Red Sea. Its population is approximately 35,000 (2008). Sharm el-Sheikh is the administrative hub of Egypt's South Sinai Governorate which includes the smaller coastal towns of Dahab and Nuweiba as well as the mountainous interior, Saint Catherine's Monastery and Mount Sinai.
Sharm el-Sheikh is sometimes called the "City of Peace", referring to the large number of international peace conferences that have been held there.
Dendera :
Is a little town in Egypt. It is situated on the west bank of the Nile, about 5 km south from Qena, on the opposite side of the river.
Located rather isolated on the desert edge, about 2.5 km south-west of the Town, lay what endera is known for, the mostly Greco-Roman Temple Complex, Dendera, known in ancient Egyptian as Iunet or Tantere. It was once the capital of the 6th Nome (Pharaonic province) of Upper Egypt, also named Nikentori or Nitentori, which signifies willow wood or willow earth. Others give the derivation from the sky and fertility goddess Hathor, also associated with the Greek Aphrodite, who was specially worshiped there.
Is a little town in Egypt. It is situated on the west bank of the Nile, about 5 km south from Qena, on the opposite side of the river.
Located rather isolated on the desert edge, about 2.5 km south-west of the Town, lay what endera is known for, the mostly Greco-Roman Temple Complex, Dendera, known in ancient Egyptian as Iunet or Tantere. It was once the capital of the 6th Nome (Pharaonic province) of Upper Egypt, also named Nikentori or Nitentori, which signifies willow wood or willow earth. Others give the derivation from the sky and fertility goddess Hathor, also associated with the Greek Aphrodite, who was specially worshiped there.
Minya :
Is the capital of Minya Governorate in Upper Egypt. It is located approximately 245 km south of Cairo on the western bank of the Nile River, which flows north through the city. The name of the city is derived from its Ancient Egyptian name Men'at Khufu meaning the nursing city of Khufu, linking it to the Pharoah Khufu or Cheops, founder of the Great Pyramid at Giza.
The name Minya may also have originated from the city's name in Sahidic Coptic Tmoone in Bohairic Thmonē , meaning "the residence", in reference to an early monastery formerly in the area.
Minya is dubbed by the locals "Bride of Upper Egypt", in reference to its strategic location in Middle Egypt as a vital link between the north and the south of Egypt. Minya has one of the highest concentrations of Christian Coptic population in Egypt (approximately 50% of total population).
Is the capital of Minya Governorate in Upper Egypt. It is located approximately 245 km south of Cairo on the western bank of the Nile River, which flows north through the city. The name of the city is derived from its Ancient Egyptian name Men'at Khufu meaning the nursing city of Khufu, linking it to the Pharoah Khufu or Cheops, founder of the Great Pyramid at Giza.
The name Minya may also have originated from the city's name in Sahidic Coptic Tmoone in Bohairic Thmonē , meaning "the residence", in reference to an early monastery formerly in the area.
Minya is dubbed by the locals "Bride of Upper Egypt", in reference to its strategic location in Middle Egypt as a vital link between the north and the south of Egypt. Minya has one of the highest concentrations of Christian Coptic population in Egypt (approximately 50% of total population).
Beni Hasan :
Is an Ancient Egyptian cemetery site. It is located approximately 20 kilometers to the south of modern-day Minya in the region known as Middle Egypt, the area between Asyut and Memphis. While there are some Old Kingdom burials at the site, it was primarily used during the Middle Kingdom, spanning the 21st to 17th centuries BCE (Middle Bronze Age).
To the south of the cemetery is a temple constructed by Hatshepsut and Thutmose III, dedicated to the local goddess Pakhet. It is known as the Cave of Artemis, because the Greeks identified Pakhet with Artemis, and the temple is subterranean.
Is an Ancient Egyptian cemetery site. It is located approximately 20 kilometers to the south of modern-day Minya in the region known as Middle Egypt, the area between Asyut and Memphis. While there are some Old Kingdom burials at the site, it was primarily used during the Middle Kingdom, spanning the 21st to 17th centuries BCE (Middle Bronze Age).
To the south of the cemetery is a temple constructed by Hatshepsut and Thutmose III, dedicated to the local goddess Pakhet. It is known as the Cave of Artemis, because the Greeks identified Pakhet with Artemis, and the temple is subterranean.
Suez :
is a seaport town (population ca. 497,000) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same boundaries as Suez governorate. It has three harbors, Adabya, Ain Sokhna and Port Tawfiq, and extensive port facilities. Together they form a metropolitan area. Railway lines and highways connect the city with Cairo, Port Said, and Ismailia. Suez has a petrochemical plant, and its oil refineries have pipelines carrying the finished product to Cairo.
is a seaport town (population ca. 497,000) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same boundaries as Suez governorate. It has three harbors, Adabya, Ain Sokhna and Port Tawfiq, and extensive port facilities. Together they form a metropolitan area. Railway lines and highways connect the city with Cairo, Port Said, and Ismailia. Suez has a petrochemical plant, and its oil refineries have pipelines carrying the finished product to Cairo.
Taba :
Is a small Egyptian town near the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba. Taba is the location of Egypt's busiest border crossing with neighboring Israel. Taba is a frequent vacation spot for Egyptians and tourists, especially those from Israel on their way to other destinations in Egypt or as a weekend getaway. It is the northernmost resort of Egypt's Red Sea Riviera.
Is a small Egyptian town near the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba. Taba is the location of Egypt's busiest border crossing with neighboring Israel. Taba is a frequent vacation spot for Egyptians and tourists, especially those from Israel on their way to other destinations in Egypt or as a weekend getaway. It is the northernmost resort of Egypt's Red Sea Riviera.
Arish :
is the capital and largest city (with 114,900 inhabitants as of 2002) of the Egyptian governorate of North Sinai, lying on the Mediterranean coast of the Sinai peninsula, 344 kilometers northeast of Cairo. Al `rīsh is distinguished by its clear blue water, widespread fruitful palmy wood on its coast, and its soft white sand. It has a marina, and many luxury hotels.
is the capital and largest city (with 114,900 inhabitants as of 2002) of the Egyptian governorate of North Sinai, lying on the Mediterranean coast of the Sinai peninsula, 344 kilometers northeast of Cairo. Al `rīsh is distinguished by its clear blue water, widespread fruitful palmy wood on its coast, and its soft white sand. It has a marina, and many luxury hotels.
Amarna :
is an extensive Egyptian archaeological site that represents the remains of the capital city newly–established and built by the Pharaoh Akhenaten of the late Eighteenth Dynasty (c. 1353 BC), and abandoned shortly afterwards. The name for the city employed by the ancient Egyptians is written as Akhetaten (or Akhetaton – transliterations vary) in English transliteration. Akhetaten means "Horizon of the Aten."
The area is located on the east bank of the Nile River in the modern Egyptian province of Minya, some 58 km south of the city of al-Minya, 312 km (194 miles) south of the Egyptian capital Cairo and 402 km (250 miles) north of Luxor. The site of Amarna includes several modern villages, chief of which are el-Till in the north and el-Hagg Qandil in the south.
The area was also occupied during later Roman and early Christian times, excavations to the south of the city have found several structures from this period.
is an extensive Egyptian archaeological site that represents the remains of the capital city newly–established and built by the Pharaoh Akhenaten of the late Eighteenth Dynasty (c. 1353 BC), and abandoned shortly afterwards. The name for the city employed by the ancient Egyptians is written as Akhetaten (or Akhetaton – transliterations vary) in English transliteration. Akhetaten means "Horizon of the Aten."
The area is located on the east bank of the Nile River in the modern Egyptian province of Minya, some 58 km south of the city of al-Minya, 312 km (194 miles) south of the Egyptian capital Cairo and 402 km (250 miles) north of Luxor. The site of Amarna includes several modern villages, chief of which are el-Till in the north and el-Hagg Qandil in the south.
The area was also occupied during later Roman and early Christian times, excavations to the south of the city have found several structures from this period.
Sinai :
Is triangular peninsula in Egypt about 60,000 km2 in area. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south, and it is the part of Egyptian territory located in Asia as opposed to Africa.
The region has historically been the center of conflict between various political factions, based largely on its location. In addition to periods of direct rule by Egyptian governments (including the Ayyubids, the Mamluks, the Muhammad Ali Dynasty, and the modern Egyptian republic), it was like the rest of Egypt also occupied and controlled by the Ottoman Empire, and the United Kingdom which occupied Egypt from 1882 onwards. Israel gained control of the Sinai in the Suez Crisis of 1956 and during the Six Day War of 1967.
In the October War of 1973, it was the site of fierce fighting between Egyptian and Israeli forces. In 1982, after the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty of 1979, Israel withdrew from the entirety of Sinai. Today, Sinai has become a tourist destination due to its natural setting, rich coral reefs, and biblical history. Mount Sinai is one of the most religiously significant places in Abrahamic faiths.
Is triangular peninsula in Egypt about 60,000 km2 in area. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south, and it is the part of Egyptian territory located in Asia as opposed to Africa.
The region has historically been the center of conflict between various political factions, based largely on its location. In addition to periods of direct rule by Egyptian governments (including the Ayyubids, the Mamluks, the Muhammad Ali Dynasty, and the modern Egyptian republic), it was like the rest of Egypt also occupied and controlled by the Ottoman Empire, and the United Kingdom which occupied Egypt from 1882 onwards. Israel gained control of the Sinai in the Suez Crisis of 1956 and during the Six Day War of 1967.
In the October War of 1973, it was the site of fierce fighting between Egyptian and Israeli forces. In 1982, after the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty of 1979, Israel withdrew from the entirety of Sinai. Today, Sinai has become a tourist destination due to its natural setting, rich coral reefs, and biblical history. Mount Sinai is one of the most religiously significant places in Abrahamic faiths.
Saint Catherine :
Is the capital city of Saint Katherine Markaz and a natural protectorate in the South Sinai Governorate in Sinai inEgypt. It is located at the outskirts of El-Tur Mountains Province at an elevation of 1586 m 120 km away from Nuweiba, at the foot of Mount Sinai and the Saint Catherine's Monastery.
Saint Catherine City is one of the newest cities in Egypt, with all amenities of a modern place: there are several schools, including a high school, a hospital, police and fire brigade, a range of hotels, Post Office, Telephone Center, bank and all other important establishments. The city's oldest settlement is Wadi El Sybaiya, east of the city's monastery, where the Roman soldiers, whose descendants the Jebeliya are, were accommodated. It started growing into a city after the tarmac road was completed in the 1980s and the tourist trade begun. Many of the nomad Bedouins moved to small settlements around the city's monastery, which collectively make up St. Katherine's City.
Saint Catherine is the capital city of the Municipality of Saint Katherine includes these outlying areas as well. The city's monastery lies in Wadi el Dier, opposite Wadi Raha (Wadi Muka’das, the Holy Valley). Mt Sinai (Jebel Musa) can be reached from the monastery or, alternatively, from Wadi el Arbain where the Rock of Moses (Hajar Musa) and the Monastery of the Forty Martyrs are.
Is the capital city of Saint Katherine Markaz and a natural protectorate in the South Sinai Governorate in Sinai inEgypt. It is located at the outskirts of El-Tur Mountains Province at an elevation of 1586 m 120 km away from Nuweiba, at the foot of Mount Sinai and the Saint Catherine's Monastery.
Saint Catherine City is one of the newest cities in Egypt, with all amenities of a modern place: there are several schools, including a high school, a hospital, police and fire brigade, a range of hotels, Post Office, Telephone Center, bank and all other important establishments. The city's oldest settlement is Wadi El Sybaiya, east of the city's monastery, where the Roman soldiers, whose descendants the Jebeliya are, were accommodated. It started growing into a city after the tarmac road was completed in the 1980s and the tourist trade begun. Many of the nomad Bedouins moved to small settlements around the city's monastery, which collectively make up St. Katherine's City.
Saint Catherine is the capital city of the Municipality of Saint Katherine includes these outlying areas as well. The city's monastery lies in Wadi el Dier, opposite Wadi Raha (Wadi Muka’das, the Holy Valley). Mt Sinai (Jebel Musa) can be reached from the monastery or, alternatively, from Wadi el Arbain where the Rock of Moses (Hajar Musa) and the Monastery of the Forty Martyrs are.
Dakhla Oasis :
Spelt Dakhleh and known colloquially as the inner oasis, is one of the seven oases of Egypt's Western Desert (part of the Libyan Desert). Dakhla Oasis lies in the New Valley Governorate, 350 km from the Nile and between the oases of Farafra and Kharga. It measures approximately 80 km from east to west and 25 km from north to south. In fact, the drier climate didn't mean that there was no more water in what is now known as the Western Desert. The south of the Libyan Desert has the most important supply of subterranean water in the world, and the first inhabitants of the Dakhla Oasis had access to surface water sources.
Spelt Dakhleh and known colloquially as the inner oasis, is one of the seven oases of Egypt's Western Desert (part of the Libyan Desert). Dakhla Oasis lies in the New Valley Governorate, 350 km from the Nile and between the oases of Farafra and Kharga. It measures approximately 80 km from east to west and 25 km from north to south. In fact, the drier climate didn't mean that there was no more water in what is now known as the Western Desert. The south of the Libyan Desert has the most important supply of subterranean water in the world, and the first inhabitants of the Dakhla Oasis had access to surface water sources.
El Alamein :
Which means "the two flags" is a town in the northern Matrouh Governorate of Egypt. Located on the Mediterranean Sea . As of 2007, it has a local population of 7,397 inhabitants. El Alamein has pleasant weather all year long, with cold winters and warm-to-hot summers. Alamein is also known for its outstanding unpolluted environment, air, and beaches.
Which means "the two flags" is a town in the northern Matrouh Governorate of Egypt. Located on the Mediterranean Sea . As of 2007, it has a local population of 7,397 inhabitants. El Alamein has pleasant weather all year long, with cold winters and warm-to-hot summers. Alamein is also known for its outstanding unpolluted environment, air, and beaches.
Hurghada :
It is a main tourist center and second largest city (after Suez) in Egypt located on the Red Sea coast. The city was founded in the early 20th century, and since the 1980s has been continually enlarged by Egyptian and foreign investors to become the leading seashore resort on the Red Sea. Holiday villages and hotels provide aquatic sport facilities for sailboarders, yachtsmen, scuba divers and snorkelers.
The city is served by the Hurghada International Airport with scheduled passenger traffic to and from Cairo and direct connections with several cities in Europe. The airport has undergone massive renovations to accommodate rising traffic. Hurghada is known for its watersports activities, nightlife and warm weather.
It is a main tourist center and second largest city (after Suez) in Egypt located on the Red Sea coast. The city was founded in the early 20th century, and since the 1980s has been continually enlarged by Egyptian and foreign investors to become the leading seashore resort on the Red Sea. Holiday villages and hotels provide aquatic sport facilities for sailboarders, yachtsmen, scuba divers and snorkelers.
The city is served by the Hurghada International Airport with scheduled passenger traffic to and from Cairo and direct connections with several cities in Europe. The airport has undergone massive renovations to accommodate rising traffic. Hurghada is known for its watersports activities, nightlife and warm weather.
