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131-603: The first German troops despatched to assist the Ottoman Army in 1914 and 1915 were Pioneers, who assisted in the construction of roads in Sinai . In December 1914, a Tropical Medical expedition was sent to work with Ottoman sanitary units in Palestine to combat epidemics of typhoid , typhus , dysentery and cholera . Once Serbia had been conquered, it became possible to send large quantities of equipment and munitions to

262-622: A compound from " Aἰγαίου ὑπτίως " Aegaeou huptiōs , meaning " Below the Aegean ". " Miṣr " ( Arabic pronunciation: [misˤɾ] ; " مِصر ") is the Classical Quranic Arabic and modern official name of Egypt, while " Maṣr " ( Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [mɑsˤɾ] ; مَصر ) is the local pronunciation in Egyptian Arabic . The current name of Egypt, Misr/Misir/Misru, stems from

393-435: A metropolitan area with a population of over 20 million. On 17 November 1997, 62 people, mostly tourists, were massacred near Luxor . In late February 2005, Mubarak announced a reform of the presidential election law, paving the way for multi-candidate polls for the first time since the 1952 movement . However, the new law placed restrictions on the candidates, and led to Mubarak's easy re-election victory. Voter turnout

524-738: A middle power worldwide. It is a developing country . Egypt is a founding member of the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement , the Arab League , the African Union , Organisation of Islamic Cooperation , World Youth Forum , and a member of BRICS . The English name "Egypt" is derived from the Ancient Greek " Aígyptos " (" Αἴγυπτος "), via Middle French "Egypte" and Latin " Aegyptus ". It

655-516: A semi-presidential republic led by Abdel Fattah el-Sisi since he was elected in 2014, has been described by a number of watchdogs as authoritarian and responsible for perpetuating the country's poor human rights record . Islam is the official religion and Arabic is official language. Egypt is considered to be a regional power in the Middle East, North Africa and the Muslim world , and

786-533: A Corps headquarters within the Ottoman Eighth Army in Palestine, which was also termed the "Asia Corps", although it is also referred to in Turkish histories as the "Left Wing Group", commanded by Colonel Gustav von Oppen . Austria-Hungary also sent detachments of specialists and supporting arms to Ottoman Empire. The first units were sent to Gallipoli : Between the summer of 1916 and the end of

917-611: A cash-crop monoculture before the end of the century, concentrating land ownership and shifting production towards international markets. Muhammad Ali 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. His military ambition required him to modernise

1048-644: A crop of the Columbian Exchange . Cactus hedges – both intentionally planted and wild garden escapes – formed an important part of defensible positions during the Sinai and Palestine campaign of World War I. Some unfamiliar soldiers even tried eating them, to negative result. Dromedary herding is important here. Trypanosoma evansi is a constant concern and is transmitted by several vectors . Although ticks have not been proven to be among them, Mahmoud and Gray 1980 and El-Kady 1998 experimentally demonstrate survival of T. evansi in camel ticks of

1179-618: A deputy to Egypt to govern for him. In 828 another Egyptian revolt broke out, and in 831 the Copts joined with native Muslims against the government. Eventually the power loss of the Abbasids in Baghdad led for general upon general to take over rule of Egypt, yet being under Abbasid allegiance, the Tulunid dynasty (868–905) and Ikhshidid dynasty (935–969) were among the most successful to defy

1310-719: A few days. In March 1957, Israel withdrew its forces from Sinai, following strong pressure from the United States and the Soviet Union . Thereafter, the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) was stationed in Sinai to prevent any further conflict in the Sinai. On 16 May 1967, Egypt ordered the UNEF out of Sinai and reoccupied it militarily. Secretary-General U Thant eventually complied and ordered

1441-557: A large ransom. Under President el-Sisi , Egypt has implemented a rigorous policy of controlling the border to the Gaza Strip , including the dismantling of tunnels between Gaza and Sinai. The two governorates of North Sinai and South Sinai have a total population of 597,000 (January 2013). This figure rises to 1,400,000 by including Western Sinai, the parts of the Port Said , Ismailia and Suez Governorates lying east of

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1572-507: A military unit to be reckoned with. The resentment for the military way of life eventually faded from the men and a new ideology took hold, one of nationalism and pride. It was with the help of this newly reborn martial unit that Muhammad Ali imposed his rule over Egypt. The policy that Mohammad Ali Pasha followed during his reign explains partly why the numeracy in Egypt compared to other North-African and Middle-Eastern countries increased only at

1703-532: A population (January 2013) of 597,000. Three more governates span the Suez Canal, crossing into African Egypt: Suez (el-Sewais) is on the southern end of the Suez Canal, Ismailia (el-Isma'ileyyah) in the centre, and Port Said in the north. The largest city of Sinai is Arish , capital of the North Sinai, with around 160,000 residents. Other larger settlements include Sharm El Sheikh and El-Tor , on

1834-618: A remarkably small rate, as investment in further education only took place in the military and industrial sector. 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) who encouraged science and agriculture and banned slavery in Egypt. Egypt under the Muhammad Ali dynasty remained nominally an Ottoman province. It

1965-522: A report alleging that Egypt had become an international centre for torture, where other nations send suspects for interrogation, often as part of the War on Terror . Egypt's foreign ministry quickly issued a rebuttal to this report. Constitutional changes voted on 19 March 2007 prohibited parties from using religion as a basis for political activity, allowed the drafting of a new anti-terrorism law, authorised broad police powers of arrest and surveillance, and gave

2096-456: A seasonal basis for thousands of years. Modern attempts to exploit the deposits have been unprofitable. These may be the first historically attested mines. The fortress Tjaru in western Sinai was a place of banishment for Egyptian criminals. The Way of Horus connected it across northern Sinai with ancient Canaan . At the end of the time of Darius I , the Great (521–486 BCE) Sinai was part of

2227-792: A sovereign union known as the United Arab Republic . The union was short-lived, ending in 1961 when Syria seceded. During most of its existence, the United Arab Republic was also in a loose confederation with North Yemen (or the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen), known as the United Arab States . In the early 1960s, Egypt became fully involved in the North Yemen Civil War . Despite several military moves and peace conferences,

2358-466: A word only known from two occurrences in the Hebrew Bible , in both cases referring to the burning bush . Rabbi Eliezer opines that Mount Horeb only received the name Sinai after God appeared to Moses in the shape of a burning bush. Its modern Arabic name is سِينَاء Sīnāʼ  ( Egyptian Arabic سينا Sīna ; IPA: [ˈsiːnæ] ). The modern Arabic is an adoption of

2489-631: Is a peninsula in Egypt , and the only part of the country located in Asia . It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Africa . Sinai has a land area of about 60,000 km (23,000 sq mi) (6 percent of Egypt's total area) and a population of approximately 600,000 people. Administratively, the vast majority of

2620-561: Is also the capital of the South Sinai Governorate of Egypt . As another Arabic word for "mass of very high land going up to a peak – mountain" is "Ṭūr". The English name came from Latin, ultimately from Hebrew סִינַי‎, pronounced /siˈnái/ ( see- NIGH , in English phonetic spelling). In English , the name is now usually pronounced / ˈ s aɪ n aɪ / . An alternative, now dated pronunciation in English

2751-419: Is reflected in early Greek Linear B tablets as "a-ku-pi-ti-yo". The adjective "aigýpti-"/"aigýptios" was borrowed into Coptic as " gyptios ", and from there into Arabic as " qubṭī ", back formed into " قبط " (" qubṭ "), whence English " Copt ". Prominent Ancient Greek historian and Geographer , Strabo , provided a folk etymology stating that " Αἴγυπτος " (Aigýptios) had originally evolved as

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2882-566: Is the Akkadian "mi-iṣ-ru" ("miṣru") related to miṣru/miṣirru/miṣaru , meaning "border" or "frontier". The Neo-Assyrian Empire used the derived term [REDACTED] , Mu-ṣur . There is evidence of rock carvings along the Nile terraces and in desert oases. In the 10th millennium BCE , a culture of hunter-gatherers and fishers was replaced by a grain -grinding culture. Climate changes or overgrazing around 8000 BCE began to desiccate

3013-587: The Hyalomma for several hours in the real bio-climatic conditions of Sinai. Egypt Egypt ( Arabic : مصر Miṣr [mesˁr] , Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [mɑsˤr] ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt , is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and the Sinai Peninsula in the southwest corner of Asia . It is bordered by

3144-690: The 1948 Arab–Israeli War . During the 1967 war, an Emergency Law was enacted, and remained in effect until 2012, with the exception of an 18-month break in 1980/81. Under this law, police powers were extended, constitutional rights suspended and censorship legalised. At the time of the fall of the Egyptian monarchy in the early 1950s, less than half a million Egyptians were considered upper class and rich, four million middle class and 17 million lower class and poor. Fewer than half of all primary-school-age children attended school, most of them being boys. Nasser's policies changed this. Land reform and distribution,

3275-451: The 2011 Egyptian revolution , unrest has become more prevalent in the area including the August 2012 Sinai attack in which 16 Egyptian soldiers were killed by militants. (See Sinai insurgency .) Also on the rise are kidnappings of refugees . According to Meron Estifanos, Eritrean refugees are often kidnapped by Bedouin in the northern Sinai, tortured, raped, and only released after paying

3406-597: The Ancient Semitic name for it. The term originally connoted " Civilization " or " Metropolis ". Classical Arabic Miṣr (Egyptian Arabic Maṣr ) is directly cognate with the Biblical Hebrew Miṣráyīm (מִצְרַיִם / מִצְרָיִם), meaning "the two straits", a reference to the predynastic separation of Upper and Lower Egypt . Also mentioned in several Semitic languages as Mesru , Misir and Masar . The oldest attestation of this name for Egypt

3537-552: The Anglo-Egyptian Treaty was concluded and British troops withdrew from Egypt, except for the Suez Canal. The treaty did not resolve the question of Sudan , which, under the terms of the existing Anglo-Egyptian Condominium Agreement of 1899, stated that Sudan should be jointly governed by Egypt and Britain, but with real power remaining in British hands. Britain used Egypt as a base for Allied operations throughout

3668-687: The Arab League , but it was supported by most Egyptians. Sadat was assassinated by an Islamic extremist in October 1981. Hosni Mubarak came to power after the assassination of Sadat in a referendum in which he was the only candidate. He became another leader to dominate the Egyptian history . Hosni Mubarak reaffirmed Egypt's relationship with Israel yet eased the tensions with Egypt's Arab neighbours. Domestically, Mubarak faced serious problems. Mass poverty and unemployment led rural families to stream into cities like Cairo where they ended up in crowded slums, barely managing to survive. On 25 February 1986 ,

3799-628: The Camp David Accords , which recognised Israel in exchange for its withdrawal from the occupied Sinai. After the Arab Spring , which led to the 2011 Egyptian revolution and overthrow of Hosni Mubarak , the country faced a protracted period of political unrest ; this included the election in 2012 of a brief, short-lived Muslim Brotherhood -aligned Islamist government spearheaded by Mohamed Morsi , and its subsequent overthrow after mass protests in 2013 . The current government,

3930-478: The Egyptian 3rd Army , and occupied a section of the Suez Canal's west bank. The war ended following a mutually agreed-upon ceasefire. After the war, as part of the subsequent Sinai Disengagement Agreements , Israel withdrew from immediate proximity with the Suez Canal, with Egypt agreeing to permit passage of Israeli ships. The canal was reopened in 1975, with President Anwar Sadat leading the first convoy through

4061-696: The Fall of Baghdad to the British Army, the Ottoman Army assembled an Army Group codenamed Yildirim to recover Baghdad. The German Army increased the strength of the detachments with the Ottoman troops by despatching a second expedition, "Pasha II" under Major General Werner von Frankenberg zu Proschlitz, in August. Following Ottoman defeats in the Battle of Beersheba and Third Battle of Gaza in late October,

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4192-701: The Gulf of Aqaba . This line has served as the de jure eastern border of Egypt ever since. In 1956, Egypt nationalised the Suez Canal , a waterway marking the boundary between Egyptian territory in Africa and the Sinai Peninsula. Thereafter, Israeli ships were prohibited from using the Canal, owing to the state of war between the two states. Egypt also prohibited ships from using Egyptian territorial waters on

4323-496: The Levant (the present-day territories of Syria , Lebanon , Jordan , Israel and Palestine ), which, due largely to its strategic geopolitical location and cultural convergences, has historically been the center of conflict between Egypt and various states of Mesopotamia and Asia Minor . In periods of foreign occupation, the Sinai was, like the rest of Egypt, also occupied and controlled by foreign empires, in more recent history

4454-870: The Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt from 1260 until 1517, when the Ottoman Sultan, Selim the Grim , defeated the Egyptians at the Battles of Marj Dabiq and al-Raydaniyya , and incorporated Egypt into the Ottoman Empire . From then until 1906, Sinai was administered by the Ottoman provincial government of the Pashalik of Egypt , even following the establishment of the Muhammad Ali dynasty 's rule over

4585-464: The Mediterranean Sea to the north , the Gaza Strip of Palestine and Israel to the northeast , the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south , and Libya to the west . The Gulf of Aqaba in the northeast separates Egypt from Jordan and Saudi Arabia . Cairo is the capital and largest city of Egypt , while Alexandria , the second-largest city, is an important industrial and tourist hub at

4716-725: The Mediterranean coast . At approximately 110 million inhabitants, Egypt is the 14th-most populated country in the world , and the third-most populated in Africa. 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 , the Ancient Egypt saw some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanisation, organised religion and central government. Egypt

4847-847: The Ottoman Empire ( 1517–1867 ) and the United Kingdom ( 1882–1956 ). Israel invaded and occupied Sinai during the Suez Crisis (known in Egypt as the Tripartite Aggression due to the simultaneous coordinated attack by the UK, France and Israel) of 1956, and during the Six-Day War of 1967. On 6 October 1973, Egypt launched the Yom Kippur War , seizing most of the east bank of the Suez Canal and negotiating

4978-651: The Ottoman Turks , Egyptian Mamluks who had ruled Egypt for centuries, and Albanian mercenaries in the service of the Ottomans. After the French were expelled, power was seized in 1805 by Muhammad Ali Pasha , an Albanian military commander of the Ottoman army in Egypt. Muhammad Ali massacred the Mamluks and established a dynasty that was to rule Egypt until the revolution of 1952. The introduction in 1820 of long-staple cotton transformed its agriculture into

5109-711: The Ottoman railway authorities on the lines of communication. In April, the 300th Flying Detachment ("Pasha") was stationed in Beersheba with 14 Rumpler C.I aircraft. The other troops of the expedition joined them there in April. The Flying Detachment was subsequently stationed in El Arish and Bir El 'Abd. After Turkish defeats in the First Suez Offensive and Battle of Romani , they subsequently fell back to Beersheba and Ramallah . On 11 March 1917, after

5240-408: The Persian province of Abar-Nahra , which means 'beyond the river [Euphrates]'. Cambyses successfully managed the crossing of the hostile Sinai Desert, traditionally Egypt's first and strongest line of defence, and brought the Egyptians under Psamtik III , son and successor of Ahmose , to battle at Pelusium . The Egyptians lost and retired to Memphis ; the city fell to the Persian control and

5371-401: The Ptolemaic line was Cleopatra VII , who committed suicide following the burial of her lover Mark Antony , after Octavian had captured Alexandria and her mercenary forces had fled. The Ptolemies faced rebellions of native Egyptians and were involved in foreign and civil wars that led to the decline of the kingdom and its annexation by Rome. Christianity was brought to Egypt by Saint Mark

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5502-575: The Ptolemaic dynasty . 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 centre 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

5633-415: The Roman Empire went on to control all shores of the Mediterranean Sea . The Sinai Peninsula became part of the Roman province of Arabia Petraea . Saint Catherine's Monastery on the foot of Mount Sinai was constructed by order of the Emperor Justinian between 527 and 565. Most of the Sinai Peninsula became part of the province of Palaestina Salutaris in the 6th century. During the Crusades it

5764-437: The Third Dynasty pyramid of Djoser and the Fourth Dynasty Giza pyramids . The First Intermediate Period ushered in a time of political upheaval for about 150 years. Stronger Nile floods and stabilisation of government, however, brought back renewed prosperity for the country in the Middle Kingdom c.  2040 BCE, reaching a peak during the reign of Pharaoh Amenemhat III . A second period of disunity heralded

5895-421: 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 8 March 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 22 February 1922. Following independence from the United Kingdom, Sultan Fuad I assumed

6026-425: The Yom Kippur War (known in Egypt as the October War ). Egyptian engineering forces built pontoon bridges to cross the Suez Canal, and stormed the Bar Lev Line , Israel's defensive line along the Suez Canal's east bank. Though the Egyptians maintained control of most of the east bank of the Suez Canal, in the later stages of the war, the Israeli military crossed the southern section of the Suez Canal, cutting off

6157-448: The ancient Mesopotamian moon-god Sin . The moon-deity Sin is associated with the area; the ancient Egyptian moon-god Thoth is also associated with Sin, and his worship was widespread throughout the south tip of the Sinai Peninsula. The Jewish Encyclopedia (1901-1906) quotes a Rabbinic source , the 8th- or 9th-century Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer , which derives the name from the biblical Hebrew word seneh ( Hebrew : סֶ֫נֶּה ),

6288-548: The elections of June 2014 El-Sisi won with a percentage of 96.1%. On 8 June 2014, Abdel Fatah el-Sisi was officially sworn in as Egypt's new president. Under President el-Sisi, Egypt has implemented a rigorous policy of controlling the border to the Gaza Strip, including the dismantling of tunnels between the Gaza strip and Sinai. In April 2018, El-Sisi was re-elected by a landslide in election with no real opposition. In April 2019, Egypt's parliament extended presidential terms from four to six years. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi

6419-408: The 1990s an Islamist group, Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya , engaged in an extended campaign of violence, from the murders and attempted murders of prominent writers and intellectuals, to the repeated targeting of tourists and foreigners. Serious damage was done to the largest sector of Egypt's economy—tourism —and in turn to the government, but it also devastated the livelihoods of many of the people on whom

6550-402: The Abbasid Caliph. Muslim rulers remained in control of Egypt for the next six centuries, with Cairo as the seat of the Fatimid Caliphate . With the end of the Ayyubid dynasty , the Mamluks , a Turco - Circassian military caste, took control about 1250. By the late 13th century, Egypt linked the Red Sea, India, Malaya, and East Indies. The mid-14th-century Black Death killed about 40% of

6681-468: The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium Agreement was signed: the Agreement stated that Sudan would be jointly governed by the Khedivate of Egypt and the United Kingdom. However, actual control of Sudan was in British hands only. In 1906, the Denshawai incident prompted many neutral Egyptians to join the nationalist movement. In 1914 the Ottoman Empire entered World War I in alliance with the Central Empires; Khedive Abbas II (who had grown increasingly hostile to

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6812-432: The Asian mainland, is around 200 kilometres (120 mi) wide. The peninsula's eastern shore separates the Arabian Plate from the African Plate . The southernmost tip is the Ras Muhammad National Park . Most of the Sinai Peninsula is divided among the two governorates of Egypt : South Sinai (Ganub Sina) and North Sinai (Shamal Sina). Together, they comprise around 60,000 square kilometres (23,000 sq mi) and have

6943-425: 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 BCE. A unified kingdom

7074-404: The Biblical name; the 19th-century Arabic designation of Sinai was Jebel el-Tūr , and the name of the mountain is derived from the town of El Tor (formerly called "Tur Sinai"), whose name comes from the Arabic term for the mountain where the prophet Moses received the Tablets of the Law from God, thus this mountain is designated as " Jabal Aṭ-Ṭūr ( Arabic : جبل الطّور )", and the town

7205-435: The British in preceding years) decided to support the motherland in war. Following such decision, the British forcibly removed him from power and replaced him with his brother Hussein Kamel . Hussein Kamel declared Egypt's independence from the Ottoman Empire, assuming the title of Sultan of Egypt . Shortly following independence, Egypt was declared a protectorate of the United Kingdom. After World War I , Saad Zaghlul and

7336-415: The Council of Regency, led by Prince Muhammad Abdel Moneim was formed. The council, however, held only nominal authority and the real power was actually in the hands of the Revolutionary Command Council , led by Naguib and Nasser. Popular expectations for immediate reforms led to the workers' riots in Kafr Dawar on 12 August 1952. Following a brief experiment with civilian rule, the Free Officers abrogated

7467-405: The Egyptian Auxiliary Police were observed helping the guerrillas. In response, on 25 January, General George Erskine sent out British tanks and infantry to surround the auxiliary police station in Ismailia. The police commander called the Interior Minister, Fouad Serageddin , Nahas's right-hand man, to ask if he should surrender or fight. Serageddin ordered the police to fight "to the last man and

7598-550: 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

7729-418: The Evangelist in the 1st century. Diocletian 's reign (284–305 CE) 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 CE 451, a distinct Egyptian Coptic Church was firmly established. The Byzantines were able to regain control of

7860-452: The Israelis had founded as Ofira during their occupation of the Sinai Peninsula) was not dismantled. The Treaty allows monitoring of Sinai by the Multinational Force and Observers , and limits the number of Egyptian military forces in the peninsula. Article 2 of Annex I of the Peace Treaty called for the Sinai Peninsula to be divided into zones. Within these zones, Egypt and Israel were permitted varying degrees of military buildup: Since

7991-452: The Italian army invaded Egypt. The Egyptian army did no fighting. In June 1940 the King dismissed Prime Minister Aly Maher, who got on poorly with the British. A new coalition Government was formed with the Independent Hassan Pasha Sabri as prime minister. Following a ministerial crisis in February 1942, the ambassador Sir Miles Lampson , pressed Farouk to have a Wafd or Wafd-coalition government replace Hussein Sirri Pasha 's government. On

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8122-429: The Muslim Brotherhood leaders and activists have either been sentenced to death or life imprisonment in a series of mass trials. On 18 January 2014, the interim government instituted a new constitution following a referendum approved by an overwhelming majority of voters (98.1%). 38.6% of registered voters participated in the referendum a higher number than the 33% who voted in a referendum during Morsi's tenure. In

8253-572: The Muslim Brotherhood. Liberal and secular groups walked out of the constituent assembly because they believed that it would impose strict Islamic practices, while Muslim Brotherhood backers threw their support behind Morsi. On 22 November 2012, President Morsi issued a temporary declaration immunising his decrees from challenge and seeking to protect the work of the constituent assembly. The move led to massive protests and violent action throughout Egypt. On 5 December 2012, tens of thousands of supporters and opponents of President Morsi clashed, in what

8384-502: 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. In 525 BCE, the Achaemenid Empire , led by Cambyses II , began their conquest of Egypt, eventually capturing the pharaoh Psamtik III at the battle of Pelusium . Cambyses II then assumed the formal title of pharaoh , but ruled Egypt from his home of Susa in Persia (modern Iran), leaving Egypt under

8515-463: The Ottoman Armies via the Danube River and Balkan railways. A detachment of specialist troops and officers, the Asia Korps, was assembled to increase the Ottoman Army's effectiveness in the use of equipment they hitherto lacked. In March 1916, the "Pasha I Expedition" set out for Palestine. The various units of the expedition included: Fortress Railway Construction Company No. 11 and Railway Operating Companies Nos. 44 and 48 were also deployed to assist

8646-454: The Ottomans, but this was abandoned. In the Battle of Megiddo , the Ottoman forces west of the Jordan River were engulfed by the Allied offensive. The surviving German and Austrian detachments fought their way northward towards Damascus amid the routed Turkish armies. Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula , or simply Sinai ( / ˈ s aɪ n aɪ / SY -ny ; Arabic : سِينَاء ; Egyptian Arabic : سينا ; Coptic : Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ ),

8777-438: The Pharaoh was carried off in captivity to Susa in Persia. Rhinocorura ( Greek for " Cut-off Noses ") and the eponymous region around it were used by Ptolemaid Egypt as a place of banishment for criminals, today known as Arish . After the death of the last Nabatean king, Rabbel II Soter , in 106, the Roman emperor Trajan faced practically no resistance and conquered the kingdom on 22 March 106. With this conquest,

8908-503: The Security Police started rioting, protesting against reports that their term of duty was to be extended from 3 to 4 years. Hotels, nightclubs, restaurants and casinos were attacked in Cairo and there were riots in other cities. A day time curfew was imposed. It took the army 3 days to restore order. 107 people were killed. In the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, terrorist attacks in Egypt became numerous and severe, and began to target Christian Copts , foreign tourists and government officials. In

9039-442: The Shura Council and installed a temporary interim government. On 4 July 2013, 68-year-old Chief Justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt Adly Mansour was sworn in as acting president over the new government following the removal of Morsi. The new Egyptian authorities cracked down on the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters, jailing thousands and forcefully dispersing pro-Morsi and pro-Brotherhood protests. Many of

9170-418: The Sinai Peninsula border with Israel, and on 23 May he closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping. On 26 May Nasser declared, "The battle will be a general one and our basic objective will be to destroy Israel". This prompted the beginning of the Third Arab Israeli War (Six-Day War) in which Israel attacked Egypt, and occupied Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip , which Egypt had occupied since

9301-811: The Soviet advisors in 1972. Egypt was renamed as Arab Republic of Egypt in 1971. Sadat launched the Infitah economic reform policy, while clamping down on religious and secular opposition. In 1973, Egypt, along with Syria, launched the Fourth Arab-Israeli War (Yom Kippur War), a surprise attack to regain part of the Sinai territory Israel had captured 6 years earlier. In 1975, Sadat shifted Nasser's economic policies and sought to use his popularity to reduce government regulations and encourage foreign investment through his programme of Infitah. Through this policy, incentives such as reduced taxes and import tariffs attracted some investors, but investments were mainly directed at low risk and profitable ventures like tourism and construction, abandoning Egypt's infant industries. Because of

9432-550: The Suez Canal on 26 July 1956; his hostile approach towards Israel and economic nationalism prompted the beginning of the Second Arab-Israeli War (Suez Crisis), in which Israel (with support from France and the United Kingdom) occupied the Sinai peninsula and the Canal. The war came to an end because of US and USSR diplomatic intervention and the status quo was restored. In 1958, Egypt and Syria formed

9563-417: The Suez Canal. As the British refused to leave their base around the Suez Canal, the Egyptian government cut off the water and refused to allow food into the Suez Canal base, announced a boycott of British goods, forbade Egyptian workers from entering the base and sponsored guerrilla attacks. On 24 January 1952, Egyptian guerrillas staged a fierce attack on the British forces around the Suez Canal, during which

9694-493: The Suez Canal. Port Said alone has a population of roughly 500,000 people (January 2013). Portions of the populations of Ismailia and Suez live in west Sinai, while the rest live on the western side of the Suez Canal. The population of Sinai has largely consisted of desert-dwelling Bedouins with their colourful traditional costumes and significant culture. Large numbers of Egyptians from the Nile Valley and Delta moved to

9825-640: The Wafd for the Black Saturday riot, and dismissed Nahas as prime minister the next day. He was replaced by Aly Maher Pasha . On 22–23 July 1952, the Free Officers Movement , led by Muhammad Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser , launched a coup d'état ( Egyptian Revolution of 1952 ) against the king. Farouk I abdicated the throne to his son Fouad II , who was, at the time, a seven-month-old baby. The Royal Family left Egypt some days later and

9956-643: The War. Anti-monarchy sentiments further increased following the disastrous performance of the Kingdom in the First Arab-Israeli War . The 1950 election saw a landslide victory of the nationalist Wafd Party and the King was forced to appoint Mostafa El-Nahas as new prime minister. In 1951 Egypt unilaterally withdrew from the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936 and ordered all remaining British troops to leave

10087-636: The Yildirim Army Group was diverted to prevent further collapse in Palestine. After the capture of Jerusalem by the British in December, further reinforcements were despatched, including substantial fighting ground formations. The German troops forming Pasha II , and subsequent reinforcements were under the administrative control of the 201st Infantry Brigade commanded by Major General Werner von Frankenberg zu Proschlitz, and included: German staff officers with signal and other personnel formed

10218-511: The area of the Sinai Peninsula is divided into two governorates : the South Sinai Governorate and the North Sinai Governorate . Three other governorates span the Suez Canal , crossing into African Egypt: Suez Governorate on the southern end of the Suez Canal, Ismailia Governorate in the center, and Port Said Governorate in the north. In the classical era, the region was known as Arabia Petraea . The peninsula acquired

10349-680: The area to work in tourism, but development adversely affected the native Bedouin population. In order to help alleviate their problems, various NGOs began to operate in the region, including the Makhad Trust , a UK charity that assists the Bedouin in developing a sustainable income while protecting Sinai's natural environment, heritage and culture. Since the Israeli–Egyptian peace treaty, Sinai's scenic spots (including coral reefs offshore) and religious structures have become important to

10480-542: 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 BCE 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 BCE began with

10611-524: The battle of Heliopolis. Amr next proceeded in the direction of Alexandria, which surrendered to him by a treaty signed on 8 November 641. Alexandria was regained for the Byzantine Empire in 645 but was retaken by Amr in 646. In 654 an invasion fleet sent by Constans II was repulsed. The Arabs founded the capital of Egypt called Fustat , which was later burned down during the Crusades. Cairo

10742-470: The bulk of the swelling middle class in Egypt under Nasser. During the 1960s, the Egyptian economy went from sluggish to the verge of collapse, the society became less free, and Nasser's appeal waned considerably. In 1970, President Nasser died and was succeeded by Anwar Sadat . During his period , Sadat switched Egypt's Cold War allegiance from the Soviet Union to the United States, expelling

10873-441: The canal aboard an Egyptian Navy destroyer. In 1979, Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in which Israel agreed to withdraw from the entirety of the Sinai Peninsula. Israel subsequently withdrew in several stages, ending in 1982. The Israeli pull-out involved dismantling almost all Israeli settlements, including the settlement of Yamit in north-eastern Sinai. The exception was that the coastal city of Sharm el-Sheikh (which

11004-534: The control of a satrapy . The entire Twenty-seventh Dynasty of Egypt , from 525 to 402 BCE, save for Petubastis III , was an entirely Achaemenid-ruled period, with the Achaemenid emperors all being granted the title of pharaoh. A few temporarily successful revolts against the Achaemenids marked the fifth century BCE, but Egypt was never able to permanently overthrow the Achaemenids. The Thirtieth Dynasty

11135-691: The country after a brief Sasanid Persian invasion early in the 7th century amidst the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 during which they established a new short-lived province for ten years known as Sasanian Egypt , until 639–42, when Egypt was invaded and conquered by the Islamic caliphate by the Muslim Arabs. When they defeated the Byzantine armies in Egypt, the Arabs brought Islam to

11266-505: The country's population. Egypt was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1517, after which it became a province of the Ottoman Empire . The defensive militarisation 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. Between 1687 and 1731, Egypt experienced six famines. The 1784 famine cost it roughly one-sixth of its population. Egypt

11397-399: The country. Some time during this period, Egyptians began to blend in 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 . In 639 an army was sent in Egypt by the second caliph , Umar , under the command of Amr ibn al-As . They defeated a Roman army at

11528-465: The country: he built industries, a system of canals for irrigation and transport, and reformed the civil service. He constructed a military state with around four percent of the populace serving the army to raise Egypt to a powerful positioning in the Ottoman Empire in a way showing various similarities to the Soviet strategies (without communism) conducted in the 20th century. Muhammad Ali Pasha evolved

11659-428: The dramatic growth in university education, and government support to national industries greatly improved social mobility and flattened the social curve. From academic year 1953–54 through 1965–66, overall public school enrolments more than doubled. Millions of previously poor Egyptians, through education and jobs in the public sector, joined the middle class. Doctors, engineers, teachers, lawyers, journalists, constituted

11790-492: The early 2000s, Sinai has been the site of several terror attacks against tourists , the majority of whom are Egyptian. Investigations have shown that these were mainly motivated by a resentment of the poverty faced by many Bedouin in the area. Attacking the tourist industry was viewed as a method of damaging the industry so that the government would pay more attention to their situation. (See 2004 Sinai bombings , 2005 Sharm El Sheikh bombings and 2006 Dahab bombings ). Since

11921-533: The eastern side of the peninsula to travel to and from Israel, effectively imposing a blockade on the Israeli port of Eilat . In October 1956, in what is known in Egypt as the Tripartite Aggression , Israel Defense Forces troops, aided by the United Kingdom and France (which sought to reverse the nationalization and regain control over the Suez Canal), invaded Sinai and occupied much of the peninsula within

12052-644: The election of Nasser in 1956. In October 1954, Egypt and the United Kingdom agreed to abolish the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium Agreement of 1899 and grant Sudan independence; the agreement came into force on 1 January 1956. Nasser assumed power as president in June 1956 and began dominating the history of modern Egypt . British forces completed their withdrawal from the occupied Suez Canal Zone on 13 June 1956. He nationalised

12183-458: The elimination of subsidies on basic foodstuffs, it led to the 1977 Egyptian Bread Riots . Sadat made a historic visit to Israel in 1977 , which led to the 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty in exchange for Israeli withdrawal from Sinai. In return, Egypt recognised Israel as a legitimate sovereign state. Sadat's initiative sparked enormous controversy in the Arab world and led to Egypt's expulsion from

12314-469: The first President of the Republic, serving in that capacity for a little under one and a half years. Republic of Egypt (1953–1958) was declared. Naguib was forced to resign in 1954 by Gamal Abdel Nasser  – a Pan-Arabist and the real architect of the 1952 movement – and was later put under house arrest . After Naguib's resignation, the position of president was vacant until

12445-461: The formation of the first nationalist groupings in 1879, with Ahmed ʻUrabi a prominent figure. After increasing tensions and nationalist revolts, the United Kingdom invaded Egypt in 1882, crushing the Egyptian army at the Battle of Tell El Kebir and militarily occupying the country. Following this, the Khedivate became a de facto British protectorate under nominal Ottoman sovereignty. In 1899

12576-633: The group depended for support. During Mubarak's reign, the political scene was dominated by the National Democratic Party , which was created by Sadat in 1978. It passed the 1993 Syndicates Law, 1995 Press Law, and 1999 Nongovernmental Associations Law which hampered freedoms of association and expression by imposing new regulations and draconian penalties on violations. As a result, by the late 1990s parliamentary politics had become virtually irrelevant and alternative avenues for political expression were curtailed as well. Cairo grew into

12707-559: 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." Other circumstances like epidemic diseases (cattle disease in the 1880s), floods and wars drove the economic downturn and increased Egypt's dependency on foreign debt even further. Local dissatisfaction with the Khedive and with European intrusion led to

12838-524: The last bullet". The resulting battle saw the police station levelled and 43 Egyptian policemen killed together with 3 British soldiers. The Ismailia incident outraged Egypt. The next day, 26 January 1952 was "Black Saturday" , as the anti-British riot was known, that saw much of downtown Cairo which the Khedive Ismail the Magnificent had rebuilt in the style of Paris, burned down. Farouk blamed

12969-455: The military from one that convened under the tradition of the corvée to a great modernised army. He introduced conscription of the male peasantry in 19th century Egypt, and took a novel approach to create his great army, strengthening it with numbers and in skill. Education and training of the new soldiers became mandatory; the new concepts were furthermore enforced by isolation. The men were held in barracks to avoid distraction of their growth as

13100-480: The monarchy and the 1923 constitution and declared Egypt a republic on 18 June 1953. Naguib was proclaimed as president, while Nasser was appointed as the new prime minister. Following the 1952 Revolution by the Free Officers Movement , the rule of Egypt passed to military hands and all political parties were banned. On 18 June 1953, the Egyptian Republic was declared, with General Muhammad Naguib as

13231-588: The name Sinai in modern times due to the assumption that a mountain near Saint Catherine's Monastery is the Biblical Mount Sinai . Mount Sinai is one of the most religiously significant places in the Abrahamic faiths . The Sinai Peninsula has been a part of Egypt from the First Dynasty of ancient Egypt ( c.  3100 BC). This comes in stark contrast to the region north of it,

13362-606: The news. The Egyptian military then assumed the power to govern. Mohamed Hussein Tantawi , chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces , became the de facto interim head of state . On 13 February 2011, the military dissolved the parliament and suspended the constitution. A constitutional referendum was held on 19 March 2011. On 28 November 2011, Egypt held its first parliamentary election since

13493-460: The night of 4 February 1942, British troops and tanks surrounded Abdeen Palace in Cairo and Lampson presented Farouk with an ultimatum . Farouk capitulated, and Nahhas formed a government shortly thereafter. Most British troops were withdrawn to the Suez Canal area in 1947 (although the British army maintained a military base in the area), but nationalist, anti-British feelings continued to grow after

13624-758: 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 centralised society. By about 6000 BCE, a Neolithic culture took root 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

13755-625: The president power to dissolve parliament and end judicial election monitoring. In 2009, Dr. Ali El Deen Hilal Dessouki, Media Secretary of the National Democratic Party ( NDP ), described Egypt as a " pharaonic " political system, and democracy as a "long-term goal". Dessouki also stated that "the real center of power in Egypt is the military". On 25 January 2011, widespread protests began against Mubarak's government. On 11 February 2011, Mubarak resigned and fled Cairo. Jubilant celebrations broke out in Cairo's Tahrir Square at

13886-499: The previous regime had been in power. Turnout was high and there were no reports of major irregularities or violence. Mohamed Morsi , who was affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood , was elected president on 24 June 2012. On 30 June 2012, Mohamed Morsi was sworn in as Egypt's president. On 2 August 2012, Egypt's Prime Minister Hisham Qandil announced his 35-member cabinet comprising 28 newcomers, including four from

14017-592: The region, especially the battles in North Africa against Italy and Germany. Its highest priorities were control of the Eastern Mediterranean, and especially keeping the Suez Canal open for merchant ships and for military connections with India and Australia. When the war began in September 1939, Egypt declared martial law and broke off diplomatic relations with Germany. It broke diplomatic relations with Italy in 1940, but never declared war, even when

14148-598: The rest of Egypt in 1805. In 1906, the Ottoman Porte formally transferred administration of Sinai to the Khedivate of Egypt , which essentially meant that it fell under the control of the British Empire , who had occupied and largely controlled Egypt since the 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War . The border imposed by the British runs in an almost straight line from Rafah on the Mediterranean shore to Taba on

14279-453: The rest of Sinai. In 1982, as a result of the Egypt–Israel peace treaty of 1979, Israel withdrew from all of the Sinai Peninsula except the contentious territory of Taba , which was returned after a ruling by a commission of arbitration in 1989. Today, Sinai has become a tourist destination due to its natural setting, rich coral reefs , and biblical history. Because the Sinai Peninsula

14410-405: The southern coast. Inland Sinai is arid (effectively a desert), mountainous and sparsely populated, the largest settlements being Saint Catherine and Nekhel . Sinai is one of the coldest provinces in Egypt because of its high altitudes and mountainous topographies. Winter temperatures in some of Sinai's cities and towns reach −16 °C (3 °F). A cave with paintings of people and animals

14541-429: The title of King of Egypt ; despite being nominally independent, the Kingdom was still under British military occupation and the UK still had great influence over the state. The new government drafted and implemented a constitution in 1923 based on a parliamentary system. The nationalist Wafd Party won a landslide victory in the 1923–1924 election and Saad Zaghloul was appointed as the new prime minister. In 1936,

14672-656: The tourism industry. The most popular tourist destination in Sinai are Mount Sinai ( Jabal Musa ) and St Catherine's Monastery , which is considered to be the oldest working Christian monastery in the world, and the beach resorts of Sharm el-Sheikh , Dahab , Nuweiba and Taba . Most tourists arrive at Sharm El Sheikh International Airport , through Eilat, Israel and the Taba Border Crossing , by road from Cairo or by ferry from Aqaba in Jordan. Cacti – especially cactus pears – are grown in Sinai. They are

14803-519: The war sank into a stalemate. In mid May 1967, the Soviet Union issued warnings to Nasser of an impending Israeli attack on Syria. Although the chief of staff Mohamed Fawzi verified them as "baseless", Nasser took three successive steps that made the war virtually inevitable: on 14 May he deployed his troops in Sinai near the border with Israel, on 19 May he expelled the UN peacekeepers stationed in

14934-560: The war, the following artillery units were serving on the Palestine front: Major Adolf Wilhelm Marno von Eichenhorst commanded this artillery group until 1917, after which it was commanded by Captain Wladislaw Ritter von Truszkowski. The overall commander of Austro-Hungarian troops in the Ottoman Empire was Feldmarschall-Leutnant Joseph Ritter von Pomiankowski. It was planned in 1917 and 1918 to send an "Orient-Korps" to

15065-479: The west bank of the canal, led to high civilian casualties (including the virtual destruction of Suez), and contributed to the flight of 700,000 Egyptian internal refugees. Ultimately, the war concluded in 1970 with no change in the front line. On 6 October 1973, Egypt commenced Operation Badr to retake the Sinai, while Syria launched a simultaneous operation to retake the Golan Heights, thereby beginning

15196-525: The withdrawal without Security Council authorisation. In the course of the Six-Day War that broke out shortly thereafter, Israel occupied the entire Sinai Peninsula , and Gaza Strip from Egypt, the West Bank (including East Jerusalem ) from Jordan (which Jordan had controlled since 1949 ), and the Golan Heights from Syria . The Suez Canal, the east bank of which was now occupied by Israel,

15327-540: Was / ˈ s aɪ n ɪ aɪ / SY -nih-eye . Sinai is triangular in shape, with its northern shore lying on the southern Mediterranean Sea , and its southwest and southeast shores on the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba of the Red Sea . It is linked to the African continent by the Isthmus of Suez , 125 kilometres (78 mi) wide strip of land, containing the Suez Canal . The eastern isthmus, linking it to

15458-421: Was also allowed to run for a third term in the next election in 2024. Under El-Sisi Egypt is said to have returned to authoritarianism. New constitutional reforms have been implemented, meaning strengthening the role of military and limiting the political opposition. The constitutional changes were accepted in a referendum in April 2019. In December 2020, final results of the parliamentary election confirmed

15589-596: Was always a difficult province for the Ottoman Sultans to control, due in part to the continuing power and influence of the Mamluks , the Egyptian military caste who had ruled the country for centuries. Egypt remained semi-autonomous under the Mamluks until it was invaded by the French forces of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798. After the French were defeated by the British, a three-way power struggle ensued between

15720-499: Was an early and important centre of Christianity , later adopting Islam from the seventh century onwards. Cairo became the capital of the Fatimid Caliphate in the tenth century, and of the provincial capital of the Mamluk Sultanate in the 13th century. Egypt then became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1517, before its local ruler Muhammad Ali established modern Egypt as an autonomous Khedivate in 1867. The country

15851-477: Was closed. Israel commenced efforts at large scale Israeli settlement in the Sinai Peninsula. Following the Israeli conquest of Sinai, Egypt launched the War of Attrition (1967–70) aimed at forcing Israel to withdraw from the Sinai. The war saw protracted conflict in the Suez Canal Zone, ranging from limited to large-scale combat. Israeli shelling of the cities of Port Said , Ismailia , and Suez on

15982-476: Was described as the largest violent battle between Islamists and their foes since the country's revolution. Mohamed Morsi offered a "national dialogue" with opposition leaders but refused to cancel the December 2012 constitutional referendum . On 3 July 2013, after a wave of public discontent with autocratic excesses of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood government, the military removed Morsi from office, dissolved

16113-535: Was discovered about 30 kilometres (19 mi) north of Mount Catherine in January 2020, dates back to the Chalcolithic Period, c.  5th –4th millennium BCE. From the time of the First Dynasty or before, the Egyptians mined turquoise in Sinai at two locations, now called by their Egyptian Arabic names Wadi Maghareh and Serabit el-Khadim . The mines were worked intermittently and on

16244-508: Was founded c.  3150 BCE by King Menes , leading to a series of dynasties that ruled Egypt for the next three millennia. Egyptian culture flourished during this long period and remained distinctively Egyptian in its religion , arts , language and customs. The first two ruling dynasties of a unified Egypt set the stage for the Old Kingdom period, c.  2700–2200 BCE, which constructed many pyramids , most notably

16375-443: Was granted the status of an autonomous vassal state or Khedivate (1867–1914) in 1867. The Suez Canal , built in partnership with the French, was completed in 1869. Its construction was financed by European banks. Large sums also went to patronage and corruption. New taxes caused popular discontent. In 1875 Isma'il avoided bankruptcy by selling all Egypt's shares in the canal to the British government. Within three years this led to

16506-414: Was later built in the year 986 to grow to become the largest and richest city in the Arab caliphate , second only to Baghdad . The Abbasid period was marked by new taxations, and the Copts revolted again in the fourth year of Abbasid rule. At the beginning of the 9th century the practice of ruling Egypt through a governor was resumed under Abdallah ibn Tahir , who decided to reside at Baghdad , sending

16637-424: Was less than 25%. Election observers also alleged government interference in the election process. After the election, Mubarak imprisoned Ayman Nour , the runner-up. Human Rights Watch's 2006 report on Egypt detailed serious human rights violations under Mubarak's rule, including routine torture , arbitrary detentions and trials before military and state security courts. In 2007, Amnesty International released

16768-457: Was the last native ruling dynasty during the Pharaonic epoch. It fell to the Achaemenids again in 343 BCE after the last native Pharaoh, King Nectanebo II , was defeated in battle. This Thirty-first Dynasty of Egypt , however, did not last long, as the Achaemenids were toppled several decades later by Alexander the Great . The Macedonian Greek general of Alexander, Ptolemy I Soter , founded

16899-467: Was the main region where mining of turquoise was carried out in Ancient Egypt, it was called Biau (the "Mining Country") and Khetiu Mafkat ("Ladders of Turquoise") by the ancient Egyptians. The origin of the modern name is a source of contention (see Biblical Mount Sinai for a fuller discussion). The name Sinai ( Hebrew : סִינַי , Classical Syriac : ܣܝܢܝ ) may have been derived from

17030-453: Was then occupied by the British Empire along with Sudan and gained independence in 1922 as a monarchy . Following the 1952 revolution , Egypt declared itself a republic . For a brief period between 1958 and 1961 Egypt merged with Syria to form the United Arab Republic . Egypt fought several armed conflicts with Israel in 1948 , 1956 , 1967 and 1973 , and occupied the Gaza Strip intermittently until 1967. In 1978, Egypt signed

17161-486: Was under the control of Fatimid Caliphate . Later, Sultan Saladin abolished the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt and took this region under his control too. It was the military route from Cairo to Damascus during the Crusades. And in order to secure this route, he built a citadel on the island of Pharaoh (near present Taba) known by his name ' Saladin's Citadel '. The peninsula was governed as part of Egypt under

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