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Background and History

There is not another country in existence with a greater history than Egypt. The first evidence of intelligent life in the country, dates back to ten thousand BC when a culture of hunter-gathers and fishers drew rock carvings along the Nile River. Ever since then the country has been changing rulers along with systems of government. The major historic events of Egypt can be broken down into four parts: Ancient Egypt, Roman Egypt, Ottoman Egypt, and British Egypt.

Ancient Egypt

The next significant historical information known about Egypt comes a few millennia later around 3150 BC. This was when King Menes united the country and led a series of dynasties starting with The Old Kingdom and lasting the next three thousand years. During this period, the country was further divided by time frames into sub-sections, known as the Old Kingdom, The Middle Kingdom and The New Kingdom.

Old Kingdom

It was during the period of the Old Kingdom under King Menes descendants, that Egyptian culture thrived especially in areas of art religion and language. Egypt’s ancient landmarks, which power the country’s tourism industry, The Giza Pyramids, and the Great Sphinx were created during this time of accomplishment.

Middle Kingdom

The next period known as the middle kingdom began with stronger floods from the famous Nile River which ran through the ancient city. It was also the period that saw the first foreign ruling dynasty in Egypt, the Semitic Hyksos. These invaders took over much of Lower Egypt around 1650 BC but were eventually driven out by an Upper Egyptian force led by Ahmose I determined to take back their land(8).

New Kingdom

The New Kingdom came to be with a clash of ideas from frequent contact with outside nations. It was the first time religious views switched to an expression of monotheism. Egypts most well known Pharaoh’s such as Nefertiti, Tutankhamun and Ramesses II ruled during this period. Towards the end of this period the kingdom was conquered by Libyans, however native Egyptians again drove the invaders out(8).

Greek Egypt

Alexander the great’s empire(1)

Alexander the Great extended the Greek empire into Egypt and named Ptolemy, in charge of the section of what we now call Egypt. After Alexander’s death in 323 BC(1), Ptolemy named himself and his heirs successors to the Pharaohs. This started the The Ptolemaic Kingdom whose rulers were often portrayed in Egyptian style and dress.  Cleopatra VII was the last ruler of the Ptolemaic line around 30 BC.

Byzantine and Ottoman Egypt

The next major conquers of Egypt were the Byzantines who controlled the region in the 7th century, until 639–42, when Egypt was invaded and conquered by the Islamic Empire led by Muslim Arabs(8). These Arabs brought Sunni Islam to the country causing native Egyptians to blend their new faith with indigenous beliefs and practices. The country was again conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1517, after which it became a province of the Ottoman Empire. The Black Death hit Egypt hard in the 14th century killing about 40% of the country’s population.  This made the country again vulnerable to foreign invasion.

British and Republic

The French led by Napoleon Bonaparte  in 1798 briefly invaded Egypt until control was regained by the Ottomans in 1801.  Internal struggles continued for four years until the commander of the Albanian regiment, Muhammad Ali  emerged as a dominant figure and made the position hereditary. His descendants continued to rule Egypt, with British advisory, until the Egyptian people revolted in 1952, making Egypt a republic and expelling  British control(8).

The Egyptian Republic was officially declared on 18 June 1953. By 1967 Israel forces successfully invaded and occupied Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. Six years later Egypt launched The October War, an attack against the Israeli forces occupying the Sinai Peninsula which ended in a stalemate. In 1977, president of the republic Anwar Sadat made a visit to Israel which led to the 1979 peace treaty in exchange for Israeli withdrawal from Sinai. Sadat’s initiative sparked controversy in the Arab world and lead to his assassination in 1981 as well as Egypt’s expulsion from the Arab League. The next president was Hosni Mubarak who resigned in 2011 when the country again revolted to remove him from power. The current president is Mohamed Morsi who was elected in November of 2011 after Mubarak’s resignation.