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| *Travel Tips>>>Egypt Travel Tips |
Why Ancient Egypt is called "the gift of the Nile"? |
Travel Info Guided questions: ---what did the Nile provide to Ancient Egyptians? ---other comminers ---soldiers ---the government officials ---farmers ---merchants ---the Pharaoh PLEASE I NEED HELP!!!!!!! NOW!!!!!!! Travel Tips Right - other than the nice copy and paste job up there, let me just point out that you should have put this in the homework help category. The ancient Egyptian society and culture is referred to as The Gift of the Nile because it was the Nile river that allowed the society to exist in enough comfort that they were able to turn their attention to other matters: namely, developing systems of writing, irrigation and agriculture, of law, of heirarchy. Without such a rich and vast water supply, Ancient Egypt would never have developed into the awesome society that it was. Others Egypt Encyclop忙dia Britannica Article Feluccas on the Nile River, near Luxor in Upper Egypt. Robert Frerck/Odyssey Productions officially Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic Misr or Jumhuriyah Misr al-'Arabiyah country located in the northeastern corner of Africa. Its land frontiers border Libya in the west, The Sudan in the south, and Israel in the northeast. (Israeli forces occupied the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip in eastern Egypt after the Arab鈥揑sraeli War of 1967. In 1982 the Sinai was returned to Egypt.) In the north its Mediterranean coastline is about 620 miles (1,000 kilometres), and in the east its coastline on the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba is about 1,200 miles. The capital is Cairo. Egypt was the home of one of the principal civilizations of the ancient Middle East and, like Mesopotamia, of one of the very earliest urban and literate societies. Its culture had an important influence on both ancient Israel and ancient Greece, which in turn helped to form the civilization of the modern West. Egypt also provided Africa with its earliest civilization and may well have had considerable influence on the development of other African cultures. The special character evident in the civilization of ancient Egypt over a period of 3,000 years developed very rapidly at the time when the country first achieved unity. This great event happened in about 3100 BC, and, while some of the seeds of Egyptian culture had sprouted before this time, it is proper to regard the start of the 1st dynasty as the virtual beginning of Egypt as the country and its civilization are now generally envisaged. Perhaps the first and most important quality that typified this civilization was continuity. In every aspect of Egyptian life, in every manifestation of its culture, a deep conservatism can be observed. This clinging to the traditions and ways of earlier generations was the particular strength of the Egyptians. It can also be regarded as a weakness; but for a relatively primitive culture there was more to be gained than lost in attachment to the past. Regularity was a built-in characteristic of Egypt; life in the Nile Valley was determined to a great extent by the behaviour of the river itself. The pattern of inundation and falling water, of high Nile and low Nile, established the Egyptian year and controlled the lives of the Egyptian farmers鈥攁nd most Egyptians were tied to a life on the land鈥攆rom birth to death, from century to century. On the regular behaviour of the Nile rested the prosperity, the very continuity, of the land. The three seasons of the Egyptian year were even named after the land conditions produced by the river; akhet, the 鈥渋nundation鈥? peret, the season when the land emerged from the flood; and shomu, the time when water was short. When the Nile behaved as expected, which most commonly was the case, life went on as normal; when the flood failed or was excessive, disaster followed. Egypt has always been a hub for routes鈥攚estward along the coast of North Africa, northwest to Europe, northeast to the Levant, south along the Nile to Africa, and southeast to the Indian Ocean and the Far East. This natural advantage was enhanced in 1869 by the opening of the Suez Canal, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. The concern of the European powers to safeguard the Suez Canal for strategic and commercial reasons has probably been the most important single factor influencing the history of Egypt since the 19th century. During the Cold War, for example, the increasing presence of the United States and the Soviet Union in the Mediterranean kept Egypt in the international spotlight. Egypt's traditional significance to the balance of power, however, also lay in its location in Africa and along the Red Sea passage to the Indian Ocean. Both during and after the Cold War, Egypt's central role in the Arabic-speaking world increased its geopolitical importance as Arab nationalism and inter-Arab relations became powerful and emotional political forces in the Middle East and North Africa. The land Relief Al-Qasr, Egypt, in the oasis of ad-Dakhilah in the Western Desert. 漏 Georg Gerster鈥擯hoto Researchers, Inc. The topography of Egypt is dominated by the Nile. For about 750 miles of its northward course through the country, the river cuts its way through bare desert, its narrow valley a sharply delineated strip of green, abundantly fecund in contrast to the desolation that surrounds it. From Lake Nasser, the river's entrance into southern Egypt, to Cairo in the north, the Nile is hemmed into its trenchlike valley by bordering cliffs, but at Cairo these disappear, and the river begins to fan out into its delta. As many as seven branches of the river once flowed through the Delta, but its waters are now concentrated in two, the Damietta Branch to the east and the Rosetta Branch to the west. Though totally flat apart from an occasional mound projecting through the alluvium, the Delta is far from featureless; it is crisscrossed by a maze of canals and drainage channels. The Nile divides the desert plateau through which it flows into two unequal sections鈥攖he Western Desert (Arabic as-Sahra' al-Gharbiyah), between the river and the Libyan frontier; and the Eastern Desert (Arabic as-Sahra' ash-Sharqiyah), extending to the Suez Canal, the Gulf of Suez, and the Red Sea. Each of them has its own character, as does the third and smallest of the Egyptian deserts, the Sinai. The Western (Libyan) Desert is arid and without wadis (dry beds of seasonal rivers), while the Eastern Desert is extensively dissected by wadis and fringed by rugged mountains in the east. The desert of central Sinai is open country, broken by isolated hills and scored by wadis. Egypt is not, as is often believed, an unrelievedly flat country. Mountainous areas occur in the extreme southwest of the Western Desert, along the Red Sea coast, and in southern Sinai. The high ground in the southwest is associated with the 'Uwaynat mountain mass, which lies just outside Egyptian territory. A number of peaks in the Red Sea Hills (Itbay) rise to more than 6,000 feet (1,800 metres), and the highest, Mount Shaiyb al-Banat, reaches 7,175 feet (2,187 metres). The sharply serrated crests of the mountains of southern Sinai reach elevations of more than 8,000 feet; among them is Mount Catherine (Jabal Katrina), Egypt's highest mountain, which has an elevation of 8,668 feet (2,642 metres). The coastal regions of Egypt, with the exception of the Delta, are everywhere hemmed in either by desert or by mountain; they are arid or of very limited fertility. The coastal plain, in both the north and east, tends to be narrow; it seldom exceeds a width of 30 miles. With the exception of the cities of Alexandria, Port Said, and Suez and a few small ports and resorts, the coastal regions are sparsely populated and underdeveloped. Drainage and soils Apart from the Nile, the only natural perennial surface drainage consists of a few small streams in the mountains of southern Sinai. Most of the valleys of the Eastern Desert drain westward to the Nile. They are eroded by water but normally dry; only after heavy rainstorms in the Red Sea Hills do they carry torrents. The shorter valleys on the eastern flank of the Red Sea Hills drain toward the Red Sea; they, too, are normally dry. Drainage in the Sinai mountains is toward the gulfs of Suez and Aqaba; as in the Red Sea Hills, torrent action has produced valleys that are deeply eroded and normally dry. The central plateau of Sinai drains northward toward Wadi al-'Arish, a depression in the desert that occasionally carries surface water. One of the features of the Western Desert is its aridity, as shown by the absence of drainage lines. There is, however, an extensive water table beneath the Western Desert. Where the water table comes near the surface it has been tapped by wells in some oases. Outside the areas of Nile silt deposits, the nature of such cultivable soil as exists depends upon the availability of the water supply and the type of rock in the area. Almost one-third of the total land surface of Egypt consists of Nubian sandstone, which extends over the southern sections of both the Eastern and Western deserts. Limestone deposits of the Eocene Epoch (from 38,000,000 to 54,000,000 years old) cover a further one-fifth of the land surface, including central Sinai and the central portions of both the Eastern and Western deserts. The northern part of the Western Desert consists of Miocene limestone (from 7,000,000 to 26,000,000 years old). About one-eighth of the total area, notably the mountains of Sinai, the Red Sea, and the southwest part of the Western Desert, consists of ancient igneous and metamorphic rocks. The Nile River at Aswan, Egypt. Erika Stone/Photo Researchers The silt, which constitutes the present-day cultivated land in the Delta and the Nile Valley, has been carried down from the Ethiopian Highlands by the Nile's upper tributary system, consisting of the Blue Nile and the 'Atbarah rivers. The depth of the deposits ranges from more than 30 feet in the northern Delta to about 22 feet at Aswan. The White Nile, which is joined by the Blue Nile at Khartoum, in The Sudan, supplies important chemical constituents. The composition of the soil varies and is generally more sandy toward the edges of the cultivated area. A high clay content makes it difficult to work, and a concentration of sodium carbonate sometimes produces infertile black-alkali soils. In the north of the Delta, salinization has produced the sterile soils of the so-called barari (鈥渂arren鈥? regions. Climate Egypt lies within the North African desert belt; its general climatic characteristics, therefore, are low annual rainfall and a considerable seasonal and diurnal (daily) temperature range, with sunshine occurring throughout the year. In the desert, cyclones stir up sand or dust storms, called khamsins, which occur most frequently from March to June; these are caused by tropical air from the south that moves northward as a result of the extension northeastward of the low-pressure system of The Sudan. A khamsin is accompanied by a sharp increase in temperature of 14 to 20 掳F (8 to 11 掳C), a drop in relative humidity (often to 10 percent), and thick dust; it can reach gale force. The climate is basically biseasonal, with winter lasting from November to March and summer from May to September, with short transitional periods intervening. The winters are cool and mild, and the summers are hot. Mean January minimum and maximum temperatures show a variation between 48 and 65 掳F (9 and 18 掳C) in Alexandria and 48 and 74 掳F (9 and 23 掳C) at Aswan. The summer months are hot throughout the country, with mean midday June maximum temperatures ranging from 91 掳F (33 掳C) at Cairo to 106 掳F (41 掳C) at Aswan. Egypt enjoys a very sunny climate, with some 12 hours of sunshine per day in the summer months and between eight and 10 hours per day in winter. Extremes of temperature can occur, and prolonged winter cold spells or summer heat waves are not uncommon. Humidity diminishes noticeably from north to south and on the desert fringes. Along the Mediterranean coast the humidity is high throughout the year, but it is highest in summer. When high humidity levels coincide with high temperatures, oppressive conditions result. The rainfall in Egypt occurs largely in the winter months; it is meagre on average but highly variable. The amount diminishes sharply southward; the annual average at Alexandria is about seven inches (178 millimetres), Cairo has about one inch, and Aswan receives only about one-tenth of an inch. The Red Sea coastal plain and the Western Desert are almost rainless. The Sinai Peninsula receives somewhat more rainfall: the northern sector has an annual average of about five inches. Plant and animal life In spite of the lack of rainfall, the natural vegetation of Egypt is varied. Much of the Western Desert is totally devoid of plant life of any kind, but where some form of water exists the usual desert growth of perennials and grasses is found; the coastal strip has a rich plant life in spring. The Eastern Desert receives sparse rainfall; it supports a varied vegetation that includes tamarisk, acacia, and markh (a leafless, thornless tree with bare branches and slender twigs), as well as a great variety of thorny shrubs, small succulents, and aromatic herbs. This growth is even more striking in the wadis of the Red Sea Hills and of Sinai and in the Elba Mountains in the southeast. The Nile and irrigation canals and ditches support many varieties of water plants; the lotus of antiquity is to be found in drainage channels in the Delta. There are more than 100 kinds of grasses, among them bamboo and halfa' (a coarse, long grass growing near water). Robust perennial reeds such as the Spanish reed and the common reed are widely distributed in Lower Egypt, but the papyrus, cultivated in antiquity, is now found only in botanical gardens. The date palm, both cultivated and subspontaneous, is found throughout the Delta, in the Nile Valley, and in the oases. The doum palm (an African fan palm) is identified particularly with Upper Egypt and the oases, although there are scattered examples elsewhere. There are very few native trees. The Phoenician juniper is the only native conifer, although there are several cultivated conifer species. The acacia is widely distributed, as are eucalyptus and sycamore. The casuarina, one of the most important timber trees in the country, was introduced in the 19th century. Other foreign importations, such as jacaranda, poinciana (a tree with orange or scarlet flowers), and lebbek (a leguminous tree), have become a characteristic feature of the Egyptian landscape. Domestic animals include buffalo, camels, donkeys, sheep, and goats, the last of which are particularly noticeable in the Egyptian countryside. The animals that figure so prominently on the ancient Egyptian friezes鈥攈ippopotamuses, giraffes, and ostriches鈥攏o longer exist in Egypt; crocodiles are found only south of the Aswan High Dam. The largest wild animal is the mountain sheep, which survives in the southern fastnesses of the Western Desert. Other desert animals are the dorcas gazelle, the miniature desert fox, the mountain goat, the Egyptian hare, and two kinds of jerboa (a mouselike rodent with long hindlegs for jumping). The Egyptian jackal still exists, and the cony (a small rodent) is found in the Sinai mountains. There are two carnivorous mammals: a species of wildcat and the striped Egyptian mongoose. Several varieties of lizard are found, including the large monitor. Poisonous snakes include more than one species of viper; the speckled snake is found throughout the Nile Valley and the Egyptian cobra in agricultural areas. Scorpions are common in desert regions. There are numerous species of rodents, among which can be found the powerfully built Pharaoh's rat. Many varieties of insects are to be found, including the Egyptian locust. Egyptian vultures (Neophron percnopterus). 漏E.R. Degginger Egypt is rich in bird life. Many birds pass through in large numbers on their spring and autumn migrations; in all, there are more than 200 migrating types to be seen, as well as more than 150 resident birds. The hooded crow is a familiar resident, and the black kite is a characteristic resident along the Nile Valley and in al-Fayyum. Among the birds of prey are the lanner falcon and the kestrel. Lammergeier and golden eagles are residents of the Eastern Desert and Sinai. The sacred ibis (a long-billed wading bird) is no longer found, but the great egret and buff-backed heron are residents of the Nile Valley and al-Fayyum, as is the hoopoe (a bird with an erectile, fanlike crest). Resident desert birds are a distinct category, numbering about 24 kinds. The Nile contains about 190 varieties of fish, the most common being bulti (a coarse-scaled, spiny-finned fish) and the Nile perch. The lakes on the Delta coast contain mainly buri (gray mullet). Lake QaIun in al-Fayyui muhafazah (governorate) has been stocked with buri and Lake Nasser with bulti, which grow very large in its waters. Settlement patterns Physiographically, Egypt is usually divided into four major regions鈥攖he Nile Valley and Delta, the Eastern Desert, the Western Desert, and Sinai. When both physical and cultural characteristics are considered together, however, the country may be divided into six subregions鈥攖he Nile Delta; the Nile Valley from Cairo to south of Aswan; the Nubian Valley (since the early 1970s filled by Lake Nasser); the Eastern Desert and the Red Sea coast; Sinai; and the Western Desert and its oases. The Delta The Nile Delta, or Lower Egypt, covers an area of 9,650 square miles. It is 100 miles long from Cairo to the Mediterranean, with a coastline stretching 150 miles from Alexandria to Port Said. Much of the Delta coast is taken up by the brackish lagoons of Lakes Maryut, Idku, Burullus, and Manzilah. The conversion of the Delta to perennial irrigation has made possible the raising of two or three crops a year, instead of one, over more than half of its total area. About half of the population of the Delta are peasants (fellahin)鈥攅ither small landowners or labourers鈥攍iving on the produce of the land. The remainder live in towns or cities, the largest of which is Cairo. As a whole, they have had greater contact with the outside world, particularly with the rest of the Middle East and Europe, than the inhabitants of the more remote southern valley and are generally less traditional and conservative. The Valley The cultivated portion of the Nile Valley between Cairo and Aswan varies from five to 10 miles in width, although there are places where it narrows to a few hundred yards and others where it broadens to 14 miles. Since the completion of the Aswan High Dam in 1970, the 2,500,000-acre valley has been under perennial irrigation. The inhabitants of the Valley from Cairo up to Aswan muhafazah are referred to as Sa'idi (Upper Egyptians) and are more conservative than the Delta people. In some areas women still do not appear in public without a veil; family honour is very important, and vendetta laws apply. Until the building of the High Dam, the Aswan muhafazah was one of the poorest in the Valley and the most remote from outside influences. The Nubian Valley, or Lake Nasser Until it was flooded by the waters impounded behind the High Dam to form Lake Nasser, the Nubian Valley of the Nile extended for 160 miles between the town of Aswan and the Sudanese border鈥攁 narrow and picturesque gorge with a limited cultivable area. The 100,000 inhabitants were resettled, mainly in the government-built villages of New Nubia, at Kawm Umbu (Kom Ombo), north of Aswan. Lake Nasser was developed during the 1970s for its fishing and as a tourist area, and settlements have grown up around it. The Eastern Desert A seminomadic camp near St. Paul's monastery in Al-Bahr al-Ahmar governorate, Egypt. Kurt Scholz/Shostal Associates The Eastern Desert comprises almost one-fourth of the land surface of Egypt and covers an area of about 85,690 square miles. The northern tier is a limestone plateau, consisting of rolling hills, stretching from the Mediterranean coastal plain to a point roughly opposite Qina on the Nile. Near Qina, the plateau breaks up into cliffs about 1,600 feet high and is deeply scored by wadis, which make the terrain very difficult to traverse. The outlets of some of the main wadis form deep bays, which contain small settlements of seminomads. The second tier includes the sandstone plateau from Qina southward. The plateau is also deeply indented by ravines, but they are relatively free from obstacles, and some are usable as routes. The third tier consists of the Red Sea Hills and the Red Sea coastal plain. The hills run from near Suez to the Sudanese border; they are not a continuous range but consist of a series of interlocking systems more or less in alignment. They are geologically complex, with ancient igneous and metamorphic rocks. These include granite that, in the neighbourhood of Aswan, extends across the Nile Valley to form the First Cataract鈥攖hat is, the first set of rapids on the river. At the foot of the Red Sea Hills the narrow coastal plain widens southward, and parallel to the shore there are almost continuous coral reefs. In popular conception and usage, the Red Sea Littoral can be regarded as a subregion in itself. The majority of the sedentary population of the Eastern Desert live in the few towns and settlements along the coast, the largest being Ra's Gharib. No accurate figures are available for the nomadic population, but they are believed to constitute about 12 percent of the region's total population. They belong to various tribal groups, the most important being鈥攆rom north to south鈥攖he Huwaytat, Ma'azah, 'Ababdah, and Bisharin. There are more true nomads in the Eastern than the Western Desert because of the greater availability of pasture and water. They live either by herding goats, sheep, and camels or by trading鈥攎ainly with mining and petroleum camps or with the fishing communities on the coast. The Western Desert Moving sands in the Sahara near Al-Jadidah, Egypt. Georg Gerster/Photo Researchers The Western Desert comprises two-thirds of the land surface of Egypt and covers an area of about 262,800 square miles. From its highest altitude鈥攎ore than 3,300 feet鈥攐n the plateau of al-Jilf al-Kabir in the southeast, the rocky plateau slopes gradually northeastward to the first of the depressions that are a characteristic feature of the Western Desert鈥攖hat containing the oases of al-Kharijah and ad-Dakhilah. Farther north are oases of al-Farafirah and al-BahIiyah. Northwestward from the latter the plateau continues to fall toward the Qattara Depression (Munkhafad al-Qattarah), which is uninhabited. West of the Qattara Depression and near the Libyan border is the largest and most populous oasis, that of Siwa. It has been inhabited for thousands of years and is less influenced by modern development. South of the Qattara Depression, and extending west to the Libyan border, the Western Desert is composed of great ridges of blown sand, interspersed with stony tracts. Beyond the Qattara Depression northward, the edge of the plateau follows the Mediterranean, leaving a narrow coastal plain. Outside the oases, the habitable areas of the Western Desert, mainly near the coast, are occupied by the Awlad 'Ali tribe. Apart from small groups of camel herders in the south, the population is no longer totally nomadic. Somewhat less than half are seminomadic herdsmen; the remainder are settled and, in addition to maintaining herds of sheep and goats, pursue such activities as fruit growing, fishing, trading, and handicrafts. The Western Desert supports a much larger population than the Eastern Desert. Matruh, an important summer resort on the Mediterranean, is the only urban centre. Other scattered communities are found mainly near railway stations and along the northern cultivated strip. The oases, though geographically a part of the Western Desert, are ethnically and culturally distinct. The southern oases of al-Kharijah and ad-Dakhilah have been developed to some extent as part of a reclamation project centred on exploiting underground water resources. Other oases are al-Farafirah, al-Bahriyah, and Siwa. Sinai Sinai comprises a wedge-shaped block of territory with its base along the Mediterranean coast and its apex bounded by the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba; it covers an area of approximately 23,000 square miles. Its southern portion consists of rugged, sharply serrated mountains. The central area of Sinai consists of two plateaus, at-Tih and al-'Ajmah, both deeply indented and dipping northward toward Wadi al-'Arish. Toward the Mediterranean, the northward plateau slope is broken by dome-shaped hills; between them and the coast are long, parallel lines of dunes, some of which are more than 300 feet high. The most striking feature of the coast itself is the 60-mile-long salt lagoon, Lake Bardawil. The majority of the population are Arabs, many of whom have settled around al-'Arish and in the northern coastal area, although substantial numbers in the central plateau and the Sinai mountains continue to be nomadic or seminomadic. Another concentration of sedentary population is found at al-Qantarah, on the east side of the Suez Canal. Rural settlement The settled Egyptian countryside, throughout the Delta and the Nile Valley to the High Dam, exhibits great homogeneity, although minor variations occur from north to south. Farmland near Cairo, Egypt. 漏Robert Holmes The typical rural settlement is a compact village surrounded by intensively cultivated fields. The villages range in population from 500 to more than 10,000. They are basically similar in physical appearance and design, except for minor local variations in building materials, design, and decoration. The date palm, sycamore, eucalyptus, and casuarina are common features of the landscape. Until comparatively recently, the only source of drinking water was the Nile; in consequence, many of the villages are built along the banks of its canals. Some of the oldest villages are situated on mounds鈥攁 relic of the days of basin irrigation and annual flooding. In the Delta the houses, one or two stories high, are built of mud bricks plastered with mud and straw; in the southern parts of the Valley more stone is used. The houses are joined to one another in a continuous row. In a typical house the windows consist of a few small round or square openings, barely permitting enough air or light to enter. The roofs are flat, built of layers of dried date leaves, with date-palm rafters; they are used to store corn (maize) and cotton stalks, as well as dung cakes used for fuel. Roofs are also a favourite sleeping place on hot summer nights. For grain storage small cone-shaped silos of plastered mud are built on the roof and are then sealed to prevent the ravages of insects and rodents. The houses of the poorer peasants usually consist of a narrow passageway, a bedroom, and a courtyard; part of the courtyard may be used as an enclosure for farm animals. Furniture is sparse. Ovens are made of plastered mud and are built into the wall of the courtyard or inside the house. In the larger and more prosperous villages, houses are built of burnt bricks reinforced with concrete, are more spacious, and often house members of an extended family. Furniture, running water, bathroom installations, and electricity are additional signs of prosperity. Typical features of the smaller Egyptian village, in both the Delta and the Valley, are the mosque or the church, the primary school, the decorated pigeon cote, service buildings belonging to the government, and a few shops. Most of the people in the smaller villages are engaged in agriculture. In the larger villages, there may be some professional and semiprofessional inhabitants as well as more artisans, skilled workers, and shopkeepers. Outside the larger settlements, 鈥渃ombined service units鈥濃€攃onsisting of modern buildings enclosing the social service unit, village cooperative, health unit, and school鈥攁re sometimes found, standing in striking contrast to the mud houses of the village itself. Egyptian agricultural worker wearing a traditional djellaba (鈥? 漏1992 Bill Lyons The population density of the inhabited area is such that the presence of people is obvious everywhere, even in the open countryside. In the early morning and the late afternoon, the peasants can be seen in large numbers on the roads, going to or coming from the fields with their farm animals. During the entire day the men, with their long tunics (gallabiyahs) tucked up around the waist, can be seen working the land with age-old implements such as the fas (hoe) and minjal (sickle); occasionally a modern tractor is seen. In the Delta older women in long, black robes, younger ones in more colourful cottons, and children over six years of age help with the less laborious tasks. In some parts of the Valley, however, women over age 16 do not work in the field, and their activities are confined to the household. They seldom appear in public except with a black muslin headdress covering their heads and faces. Young children can be seen everywhere鈥攁n omnipresent reminder of the high birthrate. Unless situated on a highway, villages are reached by unpaved dirt roads. Inside the villages the roads consist mainly of narrow, winding footpaths. All villages, however, have at least one motorable road. The Western Desert oases are not compact villages but small, dispersed agglomerations surrounded by green patches of cultivation; they are often separated from each other by areas of sand. Al-Kharijah, for example, is the largest of five scattered villages. Traditionally, the houses in the oases were up to six stories high, made of packed mud, and clustered close together for defense. Modern houses are usually two stories high and farther apart. Urban settlement Although for census purposes Egyptian towns are considered to be urban centres, some of them are overgrown villages, containing large numbers of peasants and persons engaged in work relating to agriculture and rural enterprises. Some of the towns that have acquired urban status in the second half of the 20th century continue to be largely rural, although they have government officials, people engaged in trade and commerce, industrial workers, technicians, and professional people among their residents. One characteristic of towns and, indeed, of the larger cities is their rural fringe. Towns and cities have grown at the expense of agricultural land, with urban dwellings and apartment buildings mushrooming haphazardly among the fields. There is little evidence of town or city planning or of adherence to building regulations; often mud village houses are embraced within the confines of a city. Buildings in towns and smaller cities are usually two-storied houses or apartment blocks four to six stories high. The better ones are lime washed, with flat roofs and numerous balconies; other houses and buildings are often of unpainted red brick and concrete. Whereas most of the cities of Egypt do not have many distinctive features, some such as Cairo, Alexandria, and Aswan have special characteristics of their own. Cairo is a complex and crowded metropolis, with architecture representing more than 1,000 years of history. Greater Cairo (including al-Jizah and other suburban settlements) and Alexandria, together with the most important towns along the Suez Canal鈥擯ort Said, Ismailia, and Suez鈥攁re modern and Western in appearance. Extensive rebuilding of the towns in the canal zone, severely damaged in the fighting between 1967 and 1973, followed the peace treaty with Israel in 1979. The people Linguistic composition A street scene in Cairo, Egypt. The billboard is an advertisement for an Egyptian film. Sean Sprague鈥擯anos Pictures For almost 13 centuries Arabic has been the written and spoken language of Egypt. Before the Arab invasion in AD 639, Coptic, the language descended from ancient Egyptian, was the language of both religious and everyday life for the mass of the population; by the 12th century, however, it had been totally replaced by Arabic, continuing only as a liturgical language for the Coptic Orthodox Church. Arabic has become the language of both the Egyptian Christian and Muslim. The written form of the Arabic language, in grammar and syntax, has remained substantially unchanged since the 7th century. In other ways, however, the written language has changed鈥攖he modern forms of style, word sequence, and phraseology are simpler and more flexible than in classical Arabic and are often directly derivative of English or French. This modern literary Arabic, which is developing out of classical or medieval Arabic, is the lingua franca shared by educated persons throughout the Arab world. Alongside it there exist the various regional dialects of Arabic, which differ widely from it as well as from one another. Within the amorphous grouping referred to as Egyptian colloquial, a number of separate dialects can be discerned鈥攅ach fairly homogeneous but with further strata of variation within the group. One of these is the dialect of the Bedouin of the Eastern Desert and of Sinai; the Bedouin of the Western Desert constitute a separate dialect group. Upper Egypt has its own vernacular, markedly different from that of Cairo. The Cairo dialect is used, with variations, throughout the towns of the Delta; the rural people have their own vernacular. Direct contact with foreigners over a long period has led to the incorporation of many loanwords into Cairene colloquial Arabic. The long contact with foreigners and the existence of foreign-language schools also explains the polyglot character of Egyptian society. Most educated Egyptians are fluent in English or French or both, in addition to Arabic. There are other minor linguistic groups. The Hamitic Beja of the southern section of the Eastern Desert use Badawi. At Siwa Oasis in the Western Desert there are groups whose language is related to Berber. Nubians speak a language containing both Sudanic and Hamitic features. There are other minority linguistic groups, notably Greek, Italian, and Armenian, although they are much smaller than they once were. Ethnic composition The population of the Nile Valley and the Delta (comprising about 99 percent of Egypt) forms a fairly homogeneous group whose dominant physical characteristics are the result of the admixture of the indigenous African population with those of Arab ancestry. The peasant, or fellah, is less racially mixed than the town dweller. In the towns鈥攖he northern Delta towns especially鈥攖he foreign invader, Persian, Roman, Greek, Crusader, and Turk, has left behind a more heterogeneous mixture. The inhabitants of the middle Nile Valley up to Aswan are the Sa'idi (Upper Egyptians). Nubians differ culturally from other Egyptians in that their kinship structure goes beyond the lineage; they are divided into clans and broader segments, whereas among other Egyptians of the Valley and Lower Egypt known members of the lineage are the only ones recognized as kin. The deserts of Egypt contain nomadic, seminomadic, or sedentary but formerly nomadic groups, with distinct ethnic characteristics. Apart from a few tribal groups of non-Arab stock and the mixed urban population, the inhabitants of Sinai and the northern section of the Eastern Desert are all fairly recent immigrants from Arabia. They bear some physical resemblances to Arabian Bedouins. Their social organization is tribal, each group conceiving of itself as being united by a bond of blood and as having descended from a common ancestor. Originally tent dwellers and nomadic herders, many have become seminomads or even totally sedentary, as in northern Sinai. The southern section of the Eastern Desert is inhabited by the Hamitic Beja. They bear a distinct resemblance to the surviving depictions of predynastic Egyptians. The Egyptian Beja are divided into two tribes鈥攖he 'Ababdah and the Bisharin. The 'Ababdah occupy the Eastern Desert south of a line between Qina and al-Ghurdaqah; there are also several groups settled along the Nile between Aswan and Qina. The Bisharin live mainly in The Sudan, although some dwell in the Elba Mountain region, their traditional place of origin. Both the 'Ababdah and Bisharin people are nomadic pastoralists who tend herds of camels, goats, and sheep. The inhabitants of the Western Desert, outside the oases, are of mixed Arab and Berber descent. They are divided into two groups, the Sa'adi and the Murabitin. The Sa'adi regard themselves as descended from Banu Hilal and Banu Sulayman, the great Arab tribes that immigrated into North Africa in the 11th century. The most important and numerous of the Sa'adi group are the Awlad 'Ali. The Murabitin clans occupy a client status in relation to the Sa'adi and may be descendants of the original Berber inhabitants of the region. Originally herders and tent dwellers, the Bedouin of the Western Desert have become either seminomadic or totally sedentary. They are not localized by clan, and members of a single group may be widely dispersed. The original inhabitants of the oases of the Western Desert were Berber. Many peoples have since mixed with them, including Egyptians from the Nile Valley, Arabs, Sudanese, Turks, and, particularly in the case of al-Kharijah, black Africans鈥攆or this was the point of entry into Egypt of the caravan route from Darfur, the Darb al-Arba'in. In addition to the indigenous groups, there are in Egypt a number of small foreign ethnic groups. In the 19th century there was rapid growth of communities of unassimilated foreigners, mainly European, living in Egypt; these acquired a dominating influence over finance, industry, and government. In the 1920s, which was a peak period, the number of foreigners in Egypt was in excess of 200,000, the largest community being the Greeks, followed by the Italians, British, and French. Since Egypt's independence the size of the foreign communities has been greatly reduced. Religions Mosques and other religious architecture in Egypt. Encyclop忙dia Britannica, Inc. Islam is the official religion of Egypt, and a large majority of the population embrace the Sunni, or orthodox, branch of Islam. A strong sense of piety is a characteristic of the Egyptian Muslim. Prayer is observed punctiliously, particularly public prayer in the mosques, and fasting during the month of Ramadan (the ninth month of the Islamic calendar) is strictly observed. Almsgiving and pilgrimage to Mecca are, if possible, also enjoined. The majority of the Christian population of Egypt are Copts. In language, dress, and way of life they are indistinguishable from Muslim Egyptians; their church ritual and traditions, however, date from before the Arab conquest in the 7th century. Ever since it broke with the Eastern Church in the 5th century, the Coptic Orthodox Church has maintained its autonomy, and its beliefs and ritual have remained basically unchanged. The Copts have traditionally been associated with certain handicrafts and trades and, above all, with accountancy, banking, commerce, and the civil service; there are, however, rural communities that are wholly Coptic, as well as mixed Coptic鈥揗uslim villages. As a result of marrying almost exclusively within their community, many Copts are thought to preserve in their physical features the characteristics of the people of Pharaonic Egypt. The Copts are most numerous in the middle Nile Valley muhafazat of Asyut, al-Minya, and Qina. About one-fourth of the total Coptic population lives in Cairo. Among other religious groups are the Coptic Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic, Armenian Orthodox and Catholic, Maronite, Syrian Catholic, Anglican, and Protestant. There is also a small Jewish community. Demographic trends Most of Egypt's people live along the banks of the Nile River, where the population density, estimated to be more than 2,700 persons per square mile (1,100 persons per square kilometre), is one of the highest in the world. The rapidly growing population is young, with more than one-third of the total under 15 years of age. Despite improvements in health care, infant mortality is high and about half of all deaths occur among children less than five years of age. Life expectancy, however, increased from only about 33 years in 1927 to almost 63 years by 2000. Almost half of the population lives in urban areas. Laila Shukry El Hamamsy Marsden Jones Derek Hopwood Charles Gordon Smith The economy Harvested cotton being collected near al-Fayyum, Egypt. Yann Arthus-Bertrand鈥擟orbis The economy of Egypt, according to the constitution of 1971, is one based on socialism, with the people controlling all means of production. The progress of socialism after 1952 was initially hesitant, despite land-reform measures, but it gathered momentum after 1961, when major nationalization steps were taken in an attempt to curb the private sector and destroy the political power of Egyptian capitalists. Until the early 1970s almost all important sectors of the economy either were public or were strictly controlled by the government. This included large-scale industry, communications, banking and finance, the cotton trade, foreign trade as a whole, and many other sectors. Private enterprise came gradually to find its scope restricted, but some room for maneuver was still left in real estate and in agriculture and, later, in the export trade. Personal income, as well as land ownership, was strictly limited by the government. Some of these restrictions have been relaxed, permitting greater private sector participation in various economic areas. The public sector and the role of government As the role of the private sector lessened in the 1950s and '60s, that of the government continuously expanded. The government, when not actually in possession, regulates all important aspects of production and distribution. It imposes controls on agricultural prices, controls rent, runs the internal trade, regulates foreign travel and the use of foreign exchange, and appoints and supervises the boards of directors of corporations. The government initiates projects and allocates investment. Although the everyday running of corporations is left to the boards of directors, these receive instructions from public boards, and the chairmen of boards receive their instructions from the appropriate minister. The government formulates five-year development plans to guide economic development. Taxation With the majority of the population earning very low incomes, direct taxation falls on the few rich; income-tax rates are made sharply progressive in an attempt to achieve a degree of equality in income distribution. Direct taxes on income, mostly levied on businesses, account for about two-thirds of governmental revenue. Trade unions and employer associations Trade unions are closely controlled by the government. Workers obtain a share of the profits earned by corporations and elect their representatives to boards of directors; they are also heavily represented in the National Assembly. In all these activities, however, official selection works side by side with free elections. Trade unions are often vocally active in national policies but are seldom the instrument for negotiating higher wages or better work conditions. There are a few employers' associations, but they have little industrial power. Contemporary economic policies In the early 1970s the Egyptian government campaigned for increased foreign investment and began receiving financial aid from the oil-rich Arab states. Although Arab aid was suspended after the signing of the 1979 peace treaty with Israel, the subsequent return of several Western and Japanese corporations, associated with the normalization of Egyptian relations with Israel, increased the potential for further foreign investment in the country. Much of the effort exerted by the government in the early 1980s was devoted to adjusting the economy to the situation resulting from the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. With decreased expenditure on defense, increased allocations were made available for development. Egypt's economy began to be more resilient, primarily because of discoveries of oil and increased Western aid. Increases in population have put pressure on resources, however, and underemployment has become endemic. Wages and cost of living The general standard of living in Egypt is rather low; in relation to the size of its population, its economic resources are limited. Land remains its main source of natural wealth, but the amount of land is insufficient to support the population adequately. The realization of the need to curb the rate of population increase led, in 1964, to a national family planning program, which has had only limited success. The rural population, especially the landless agricultural labourers, has the lowest standard of living in the country. Industrial and urban workers enjoy, on the whole, a higher standard. The highest wages are earned in such industries as the petroleum and manufacturing industries; many workers in industry receive additional benefits by way of social insurance and extra health and housing facilities. The salaries of professional groups are also low. Low wage levels have to some extent been offset by the low cost of living, but by the late 1970s this advantage was eliminated by high inflation rates. Resources About 96 percent of Egypt's total area is desert. Lack of forests, permanent meadows, or pastures places a heavy burden on the available arable land, which constitutes only about 3 percent of the total area. This limited area, which sustains on the average almost seven persons per acre, is, however, highly fertile and is cropped more than once a year. Although a large percentage of the population derives its livelihood from agriculture, a growing proportion of the labour force is engaged in manufacturing, and the contribution of the manufacturing and mining sectors to the domestic product has grown to twice that of agriculture鈥攚ith service activities contributing most of the remainder. Because of the shortage of land, underemployment of labour began to be manifest in agriculture early in the 20th century, and the development of nonagricultural production since then has failed to provide full employment to the increasing labour force. Mineral resources Compared with the physical size of the country and the level of its population, the mineral resources of Egypt are scanty. The search for petroleum began earlier in Egypt than elsewhere in the Middle East, and production on a small scale began as early as 1908, but it was not until the mid-1970s that significant results were achieved. By the early 1980s Egypt had become an important oil producer, although total production was relatively small by Middle Eastern standards. Several of Egypt's major known phosphate deposits are mined at Isna, Hamrawayn, and Safajah. Coal deposits are located in the partially developed Maghara mines in the Sinai Peninsula. Manganese deposits located in the Eastern Desert have been the primary source for manganese production since 1967, and there are also reserves of manganese on the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt mines iron ore from deposits at Aswan, and development work has continued at al-Wahat al-Bahriyah Oasis. Chromium, uranium, and gold deposits are also found in the country. Biological resources Egypt's biological resources, centred around the Nile, have long been one of its principal assets. There are no forests or any permanent vegetation of economic significance, apart from the land under cultivation. Water buffalo, cattle, asses, goats, sheep, and camels are the most important livestock. Animal husbandry and poultry production have continued to increase. Hydroelectric and other power resources The Nile constitutes an incomparable source of energy; further sources are represented by coal, oil, and gas deposits. Almost half of Egypt's electrical energy comes from thermal stations; hydroelectric plants, including those at the Aswan High Dam, supply the remainder. Agriculture and fishing A stand of sugarcane on the west bank of the Nile River, near Dandarah, Egypt. Bob Burch/Bruce Coleman Inc. Agriculture is an important sector of the Egyptian economy. It contributes substantially to the gross national product, employs a large part of the labour force, and provides the country鈥攖hrough agricultural exports鈥攚ith an important part of its foreign exchange. Increased pressure of population has led to an intensification of cultivation almost without parallel elsewhere. Heavy capital is invested in the form of canals, drains, dams, water pumps, and barrages; the investment of skilled labour, commercial fertilizers, and pesticides is also great. Thus, despite multiple cropping, the yields of the land are exceptionally high. Strict crop rotation鈥攊n addition to government controls on the allocation of area to crops, on varieties planted, on the distribution of fertilizers and pesticides, and on marketing鈥攃ontributes to the high productivity of agriculture. Unlike the situation in comparable developing countries, Egyptian agriculture has an overwhelmingly commercial rather than subsistence basis. Field crops contribute some three-fourths of the total value of Egypt's agricultural production, while the rest comes from livestock products, fruits and vegetables, and other specialty crops. Egypt has two seasons of cultivation, one for winter and another for summer crops. The main summer field crop is cotton, which occupies more than one-fifth of the season's arable land, absorbs much of the available labour, and represents a sizable portion of the value of exports. Egypt is the world's principal producer of long-staple cotton (1 1/8 inches [2.85 centimetres] and longer), normally producing about one-third of the world crop, although total Egyptian production is only about 3 percent of all cotton produced in the world. Among other principal field crops are corn (maize), rice, wheat, millet, and broad beans. Despite a considerable output, the cereal production in Egypt falls short of the country's total consumption; a substantial proportion of foreign exchange is spent annually on the import of cereals and milling products. Other important crops include sugarcane, alfalfa (lucerne), potatoes, and onions鈥攖he latter being normally an export item. Many varieties of fruit are grown, and some, such as citrus, are also exported. Traditional irrigation methods in rural Egypt. Encyclop忙dia Britannica, Inc. In 1960鈥?1 and 1968鈥?9 about 896,100 acres were reclaimed. The total land reclaimed as a result of the Aswan High Dam project reached more than 1,000,000 acres by 1975, in addition to 700,000 acres converted from basin (one crop a year) irrigation to perennial irrigation. During the same period, however, an area almost as large was lost to agriculture as industry and towns grew. Egypt has been the scene of one of the most successful attempts at land reform. In 1952 a limit of 200 acres was imposed on individual ownership of land, and this was lowered to 100 acres in 1961 and to 50 acres in 1969. By 1975 less than one-eighth of the total cultivated area was held by owners with 50 acres or more. The success of Egyptian land reform is indicated by the substantial rise of land yields after 1952. This was partly the result of several complementary measures of agrarian reform, such as regulation of land tenure and rent control, that accompanied the redistribution of the land. Following the construction of the Aswan High Dam, the Egyptian government encouraged the development of a thriving fishing industry. Construction of such projects as a fish farm and fishery complex at Lake Nasser have led to a considerable increase in the number of freshwater fish and in the size of the yearly total catch. At the same time, catches of sea fish in the waters off the Nile Delta have declined. This is thought to be a consequence of the change in the flow and character of Nile water after the construction of the Aswan High Dam. Industry The development of the manufacturing industry was handicapped by the policy of free trade imposed on Egypt from the middle of the 19th century until about 1930. Nationalism and World War II gave great impetus to the foundation of industrial projects that are largely agriculturally based and oriented toward import substitution. During the 1950s the country's manufacturing sector began to grow, and manufacturing and mining now account for a substantial portion of the gross domestic product. Emphasis was placed on the development of heavy industry after a long-term agreement was signed with the Soviet Union in 1964. Another agreement with the Soviet Union, signed in 1970, provided aid for the expansion of the iron and steel complex at Hulwan; the establishment of a number of power-based industries, including an aluminum complex to utilize the power generated by the High Dam; and the electrification of the countryside. An ammonium nitrate fertilizer plant was opened in 1971, based on the gases generated in the coking unit of the steel mill at Hulwan. There is also a nitrate fertilizer plant at Aswan. Egypt has made great achievements in increasing industrial production in such traditional industries as spinning and weaving, as well as in modern industries like engineering and iron and steel production. Food processing and the manufacture of chemical products also are important to the Egyptian economy. Before the completion of the Aswan High Dam power station in 1970, the bulk of Egypt's electricity was generated in thermal stations using coal or diesel fuel, but some hydroelectric power was also generated by the old Aswan Dam. The 12 turbines of the High Dam power station have a capacity of about 2,000,000 kilowatts and are capable of producing 10,000,000,000 kilowatt-hours a year; the capacity of the thermal stations is about 45 percent of that of the High Dam. Transmission lines carry the current from Aswan to Cairo and to points farther north for use in urban centres and in manufacturing. The production of electric power from the High Dam has been limited, however, by the need to reconcile demands for power with the demands for irrigation water. The bulk of Egypt's petroleum comes from the rich Morgan, Ramadan, and July fields (both onshore and offshore) in the Gulf of Suez, which are operated by the Gulf of Suez Petroleum Company, and from the Abu Rudays area of the Sinai on the Gulf of Suez. In cooperation with Phillips Petroleum Company, Egypt also extracts oil from fields at al-'Alamayn and Razzaq in the Western Desert. Active drilling for oil, involving several international interests, including those of the United States and several European nations, has continued in both the Eastern and the Western deserts. In the process of searching for oil, some significant natural gas deposits have been located. Phillips has located wells in the Abu Qir area, northeast of Alexandria. A joint Egyptian-Italian gas discovery was made in the north Delta near Abu Madi in 1970; this was developed partly to supply a fertilizer plant and partly to fuel the industrial centres in the north and northwest Delta. In 1974 Abu Madi became the first Egyptian gas field to begin production. Other natural gas fields are located in the Western Desert and the Gulf of Suez. Egypt has several oil refineries, two of which are located at Suez. The first of Egypt's twin crude pipelines, linking the Gulf of Suez to the Mediterranean near Alexandria, was opened in 1977. This Suez鈥揗editerranean pipeline, known as Sumed, has an annual capacity for transmitting 80,000,000 tons of oil. The Sumed pipeline was financed by a consortium of Arab countries, primarily Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Egypt. In 1981 a crude oil pipeline was opened to link Ras Shuqir, on the Red Sea coast, with the refinery at Musturud, north of Cairo. An additional oil pipeline links Musturud with Alexandria. Finance The banking system of Egypt is centred on the Central Bank of Egypt, created in 1960 from the issue department of the National Bank of Egypt. In 1961 all banks operating in Egypt were nationalized, and their operations were concentrated in five commercial banks, in addition to the Central Bank, the government-sponsored Public Organization for Agricultural Credits and Co-operatives, the Development Industrial Bank, and three mortgage banks. The government again reorganized the banking system in the early 1970s, merging some of the major banks and assigning special functions to each of the rest. Two new banks were created, and foreign banks were again permitted in the country as part of a program aimed at liberalizing the economy. Of particular interest were joint banking ventures between Egyptian and foreign banks. The stock exchanges at Cairo and Alexandria, which had been closed since the early 1960s, were reopened. The cotton exchanges in Cairo and Alexandria, which had also been closed, were replaced by a supervisory council responsible for regulating the cotton industry. In 1980 Egypt's first international bank was opened and a national investment bank was established. The supply of money has, in general, followed the development of the economy; the authorities have aimed at tolerable increases in the price level, although since the 1973 war some prices have soared and inflation rates have risen sharply. Egypt is a member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Since World War II the international liquidity of the Egyptian economy, including the Special Drawing Rights, added in 1970, has been depressed. In the late 1970s both internal and external debts rose, primarily because of large government subsidies to the private sector. In the 1980s the government gradually introduced price increases on goods and services, with the goal of eventually reducing subsidies. Trade Imports into Egypt average about one-third and exports about one-tenth of the gross domestic product. Since World War II exports have tended to fall short of imports. The trade deficit reached a peak in 1966 and was particularly sizable from 1960 to 1965 as expenditure on development rose. After the 1973 war there was a decided effort to restrict imports and stimulate exports, but this met with little success. The trade deficit continued to rise to record highs in the early and mid-1980s, largely because of the decline in revenue from petroleum exports and the increase in food imports. Almost two-thirds of imports consist of raw materials, mineral and chemical products, and capital goods (machinery, electrical apparatus, and transport equipment), more than one-fourth are foodstuffs, and the remainder are other consumer goods. More than one-half of the exports by value consist of petroleum and petroleum products, followed by raw cotton, cotton yarn, and fabrics. Raw materials, mineral and chemical products, and capital goods are also exported. Among agricultural exports are rice, onions, garlic, and citrus fruit. Italy and France are among Egypt's largest markets. The United States, however, is the major source of Egypt's imports, followed by Germany, Italy, and France. The economic boycott by other Arab states, which resulted from the 1979 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, did not have a serious effect on Egypt's economy. In the early and mid-1980s Egypt's revenue fluctuated, however, in response to changes in oil sales and tourist revenue, and the country continued to have deficits in its foreign-trade balance. The deficit has been financed by international borrowing (primarily from the International Monetary Fund), transfers from Arab oil-producing countries, revenue from expatriate remittances, Suez Canal revenue, and changes in foreign assets and liabilities. E.I.U. Derek Hopwood Charles Gordon Smith Transportation Almost the entire communications system is state-owned. It is adequate in terms of coverage, but stresses arise from excessive usage. The main patterns of transport flow reflect the topographical configuration of the country鈥攖hat is to say, they follow the north鈥搒outh course of the Nile, run along the narrow coastal plain of the Mediterranean Sea, and expand into a more complex system in the Delta. Road network About half of Egypt's total road network is paved. Rural roads are of dried mud, usually following the lines of the irrigation canals; many of the desert roads are little more than tracks. The Cairo鈥揂lexandria highway runs via Banha, Tanta, and Damanhur. The alternate desert road to Cairo from Alexandria has been extensively improved, and a good road links Alexandria with Libya by way of Matruh on the Mediterranean coast. There are paved roads between Cairo and al-Fayyum, and good roads connect the various Delta and Suez Canal towns. A paved road parallels the Nile from Cairo south to Aswan, and another paved road runs from Asyut to al-Kharijah and ad-Dakhilah in the Western Desert. The coastal Red Sea route to Marsa al-'Alam is poorly paved, as are the connecting sections inland. Railways Railways connect Cairo with Alexandria and with the Delta and canal towns and also run southward to Aswan and the High Dam. Branch lines connect Cairo with al-Fayyum and Alexandria with Matruh. A network of light railways connects the Fayyum area and the Delta villages with the main lines. Diesel-driven trains operate along the main lines; electric lines connect Cairo with the suburbs of Hulwan and Heliopolis. Navigable waterways Cargo ship in the Suez Canal near Ismailia, Egypt. Hubertus Kauns/SuperStock Feluccas on the Nile River, near Luxor in Upper Egypt. Robert Frerck/Odyssey Productions The Suez Canal, closed in 1967, was reopened in 1975; it serves as a major link between the Mediterranean and Red seas. The Nile and its associated navigable canals provide an important means of transportation, primarily for heavy goods. There are roughly 2,000 miles of navigable waterways鈥攁bout one-half of this total on the Nile, which is navigable throughout its length. The inland-waterway freight fleet consists of tugs, motorized barges, towed barges, and flat-bottomed feluccas (two- or three-masted lateen-rigged sailing ships; seephotograph). Ports and shipping In spite of its long coastline, Egypt has only three ports of any significance鈥擜lexandria, Port Said, and Suez. Alexandria, with a fine natural harbour, handles most of the country's imports and exports, as well as the bulk of passenger traffic. Port Said, at the northern entrance to the Suez Canal, lacks the berthing and loading facilities of Alexandria. Suez's main function is that of an entry port for petroleum and minerals from the Egyptian Red Sea coast and for goods from the Far East. Air transport Cairo is an important communication centre for world air routes. The enlarged airport at Heliopolis, with its modern terminal building, is used by major international airlines, as is Nuzhah airport at Alexandria. The national airline, Egypt Air, runs external services throughout the Middle East, as well as to Europe, North America, Africa, and the Far East; it also operates a domestic air service. Government and social conditions Government Before the 1952 revolution, Egypt was a constitutional monarchy; the 1923 constitution, which followed the declaration of the end of the British protectorate, stated that Egypt was an independent sovereign Islamic state with Arabic as its language and provided for a representative parliament. This constitution was abolished in 1952, political parties were dissolved in 1953, and a new constitution was introduced in 1956. The Republic of Egypt was declared. Between 1958 and 1961 Egypt and Syria were merged into one state, called the United Arab Republic; the name was retained by Egypt upon Syria's secession in 1961. The National Union, organized in 1957 in place of the political parties abolished in 1953, became the Arab Socialist Union (ASU) in 1962. In 1971 Egypt, Libya, and Syria agreed to establish the Confederation of Arab Republics. A draft constitution was accepted by the heads of state of each country and was approved by referenda in each of the three member states. The capital of the confederation was Cairo. In 1979, however, deteriorating relations between Egypt and other Arab nations led to the end of the confederation; following the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, most Arab economic ties with Egypt also were suspended. On Sept. 11, 1971, a new constitution for Egypt was approved by referendum. It proclaimed the Arab Republic of Egypt to be 鈥渁 democratic, socialist state鈥?with Islam as its state religion and Arabic as its national language. It recognized three types of ownership鈥攑ublic, cooperative, and private. It guaranteed the equality of all Egyptians before the law and their protection against arbitrary intervention in the processes of law. It also affirmed the rights to peaceful assembly, education, and health and social security and the right to organize into associations or unions and to vote. According to the constitution and its subsequent amendments, the president of the republic is the head of state and, together with the Cabinet, constitutes the executive authority. The president must be Egyptian, born of Egyptian parents, and not less than 40 years old. The presidential term is six years and may be extended to additional terms. The president has the power to appoint and dismiss one or more vice presidents, the prime minister, ministers, and deputy ministers. The legislative body is composed of the People's Assembly, which nominates the presidential candidate by a two-thirds majority. The candidate is then confirmed by national plebiscite. The president is the supreme commander of the armed forces and has the right to grant amnesty and reduce sentence, the power to appoint civil and military officials and to dismiss them in a manner prescribed by the law, and the authority to call a referendum on matters of supreme importance. The president can, in exceptional cases and by investiture of the assembly, issue decrees having the force of law鈥攂ut only for a defined time period. Legislative power resides in the People's Assembly, which is composed of 444 elected members, some of whom must be women, and 10 additional members appointed by the president. The assembly is elected, under a complex system of proportional representation, for a five-year term. All males 18 years of age and older are required to vote, as well as all women on the register of voters. The president convenes and closes the sessions of the People's Assembly. The People's Assembly's main function is to approve policy. Its members must ratify all laws and examine and approve the national budget. It also approves the program of each newly appointed Cabinet. Should it withdraw its confidence from the Cabinet or any of its members, that person is required to resign. The president cannot dissolve the assembly except under special circumstances and after a vote of approval by a people's referendum. Elections for a new assembly must be held within 60 days of dissolution. The constitution also provides for a judiciary, independent of other authorities, whose functions and authority are governed by special legislation, and, as a result of an amendment approved by a 1980 referendum, for the Shura Assembly, a partially elective national advisory body. The National Defence Council, presided over by the president of the republic, is responsible for matters relating to security and defense. Local government and administration Until 1960, government administration was highly centralized; in that year, however, the local-government administrative system was established to promote decentralization and greater citizen participation in local government. The 1960 Local Administration Law provides for three levels of local administration鈥攖he muhafazat (governorates), the markaz (districts or counties), and the qariyah (villages). The structure combines features of both local administration and local self-government. There are two councils at each administrative level: a mostly elected people's council and an appointed executive council. Although these councils exercise broad legislative powers, they are controlled by the central government. The country is divided into 26 muhafazat. Five cities鈥擟airo, Alexandria, Ismailia, Port Said, and Suez鈥攈ave muhafazah status. The governor is appointed and can be dismissed by the president of the republic. He is the highest executive authority in the muhafazah has administrative authority over all government personnel except judges in his muhafazah and is responsible for implementing policy. The muhafazah council is composed of a majority of elected members. Although it has not been possible in practice, according to law at least one-half of the members of the muhafazah council are to be farmers and workers. The town or district councils and the village councils are established on the same principles as those underlying the muhafazah councils. The local councils perform a wide variety of functions in education, health, public utilities, housing, agriculture, and communications; they are also responsible for promoting the cooperative movement and for implementing parts of the national plan. Local councils obtain their funds from national revenue, a tax on buildings and lands within the muhafazah, miscellaneous local taxes or fees, profits from public utilities and commercial enterprises, and national subsidies, grants, and loans. The political process After 1962 all popular participation and representation in the political process was through the Arab Socialist Union. In 1976, however, the ASU lost its status as the sole legal political organization, and other political parties soon formed; their right to exist was recognized by a law adopted in June 1977. The ASU was abolished by constitutional amendment in 1980. The National Democratic Party (NDP), formed by Pres. Anwar el-Sadat in 1978, serves as the official government party and holds a majority of seats in the People's Assembly. The left-wing opposition is the National Progressive Unionist Party and the Socialist Labour Party. The prerevolutionary Wafd Party has been re-formed, and one religious party, the Umma, has been licensed. Officially unrepresented are the Communists, extreme religious groups, and avowed Nasserists. Justice The Egyptian constitution emphasizes the independent nature of the judiciary. There is to be no external interference with the due processes of justice. Judges are subject to no authority other than the law; they cannot be dismissed and are disciplined in the manner prescribed by law. Judges are appointed by the state, with the prior approval of the Supreme Judicial Council under the chairmanship of the president. The council is also responsible for the affairs of all judicial bodies; its composition and special functions are specified by law. The court structure can be regarded as falling into four categories, each of which has a civil and criminal division. These courts of general jurisdiction include district tribunals, tribunals of the first instance, courts of appeal, and the Court of Cassation. Court sessions are public, except where consideration of matters of public order or decency decides otherwise. Sentence is passed in open session. In addition, there are special courts, such as military courts and courts of public security鈥攖he latter dealing with crimes against the well-being or security of the state. The Council of State is a separate judicial body, dealing especially with administrative disputes and disciplinary actions. The Supreme Constitutional Court in Cairo is the highest court in Egypt. Its functions include judicial review of the constitutionality of laws and regulations and the resolution of judicial conflicts among the courts. Law enforcement The Ministry of the Interior has direct control and supervision over all police and security functions at the muhafazah, district, and village levels. At the central level, the deputy minister for public security is responsible for general security, emigration, passports, port security, criminal investigation, ministerial guards, and emergency services. The deputy minister for special police is responsible for civil defense, traffic, prison administration, tourist police, and police transport and communications. Education At the end of the 19th century there were only three secondary and nine 鈥渉igher鈥?schools in Egypt; the educational structure continued to be based on the kuttabs, or Qur'an schools. In 1916 the latter were turned into elementary schools, and in 1923 a law was passed providing free compulsory education between the ages of seven and 12. A sharp increase in the annual budgetary allocation devoted to education occurred after World War II. Following the revolution of 1952, educational progress already achieved was accelerated and was accompanied by both the Egyptianization and Arabicization of the educational system. One of the most significant features of this progress has been the spread of women's education. By the late 1970s almost one-third of the students attending university were women. Women are no longer confined to the home; many fields of employment, including the professions and even politics, are now open to them. A further result of the expansion of education has been the emergence of an intellectual elite and the growth of a middle class, consisting of members of the professions, government officials, and businessmen. In spite of the rapid advance in the provision of education services, however, illiteracy has remained relatively high. There are three stages of state general education鈥攑rimary (six years), preparatory (three years), and secondary (three years). Primary education between the ages of six and 12 is compulsory. Pupils who are successful in examinations have the opportunity to continue their education first at the preparatory and then at the secondary level. There are two types of secondary school, general and technical; most technical schools are either commercial, agricultural, or industrial. Al-Azhar Mosque (domed building on right), with adjoining buildings of al-Azhar University Robert Frerck/Odyssey Productions Mausoleum and madrasah of Sultan Qala'un, 鈥? 漏A.F. Kersting Alongside the Ministry of Education's system of general education, there is that provided by the institutes associated with al-Azhar University, centred on al-Azhar Mosque in the medieval quarter of Cairo. Al-Azhar has been a teaching centre for the entire Muslim world for nearly a millennium. Instruction is given at levels equivalent to those of the state schools, but in order to allow for greater emphasis on traditional Islamic subjects, the duration of training is lengthened by one year at the preparatory stage and two at the secondary. A large-scale modernization of the college-level curriculum, making it comparable to those of other state universities, has been carried out since 1961. In the 1950s there were almost 300 foreign schools in Egypt, the majority of them French; many of these have since become, to varying degrees, Egyptianized. Pupils who attend these schools, at all levels, sit for the same state certificate examinations as those in the normal state system. The major state universities are Cairo, Alexandria, 'Ayn Shams, and Asyut. In addition to the state university system, there is one private university, the American University in Cairo. There are many institutes of higher learning, excluding institutes attached to universities or affiliated to the Ministry of Culture鈥攕uch as the Institute of Dramatic Arts, the Cinema Institute, and the Institute of Ballet. These institutes specialize in commerce, industry, agriculture, the arts, physical culture, social service, domestic economy, and languages. Courses of study lead to a degree. Health and welfare The budget of the Ministry of Health has reflected a steadily increasing expenditure on public-health programs, and the numbers of government health centres, beds in public hospitals, doctors, and dentists have increased dramatically. An important aspect of this development has been the expansion of health facilities in the rural areas of the country. In 1953 the government introduced what are termed combined service units; these differ from health centres in that they combine the functions of health centre, school, social-welfare unit, and agricultural extension services. In addition, rural health units further extend the health services available in rural communities. Each unit is operated by a team of seven or eight people, including one physician. Well-trained physicians and specialists are available in large numbers in the cities and larger towns. The medical profession has prestige, and only the better qualified high school graduates are accepted into medical schools. Significant efforts have been made to promote preventive medicine. Compulsory vaccination against smallpox, diphtheria, tuberculosis, and poliomyelitis is enforced for all infants during their first two years. Schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease that is widespread among the rural population, presents a serious health problem. All health centres offer treatment against it, but reinfection can easily occur. Epidemics of malaria have been eliminated, but the disease still exists in endemic form, mainly in southern Egypt. Treatment for malaria is provided at all health centres, and the spraying of houses in mosquito-breeding areas is carried out regularly. Attention has also been given to the problem of tuberculosis; centres have been established in every muhafazah, and mass X-ray and immunization campaigns have been carried out. The government has attempted to socialize medicine through such measures as the nationalization and control of pharmaceutical industries, the nationalization of hospitals run by private organizations and associations, and expanded health insurance. A health insurance law was passed in 1964; it provides for compulsory health insurance for workers in firms employing more than 100 persons, as well as for all governmental and public employees. Housing Egypt has faced a serious urban housing shortage since World War II. The situation subsequently became aggravated by increased immigration from rural to urban areas, resulting in extreme urban overcrowding. Although there is considerable concern over the housing problem, the combined efforts of both public and private sectors have been unable to meet the growing demand. Between 1970 and 1980, for example, approximately 300,000 housing units were built; this represented an increase of more than one-fourth of the total number of housing units. The increase in the urban population, however, was estimated at more than 40 percent during the same period; i.e., for every new housing unit built, 13 persons were added to the urban population. In the rural areas villagers build their own houses at little cost with the materials available. The government has experimented in aiding self-help projects with state loans. Ambitious rural housing projects have been carried out on newly reclaimed land: entire villages with all the necessary utilities have been built. Cultural life The outer court of the Temple of Luxor in Thebes, Egypt, with giant statues of King Ramses II. 漏 1997; AISA, Archivo Iconogr谩fico, Barcelona, Espa帽a In spite of the many ancient civilizations with which it has come into contact, Egypt unquestionably belongs to a sociocultural tradition that is Arabic and Islamic. This tradition remains a constant factor in determining Egyptian views both of itself and of the world. The story of the cultural development of modern Egypt is, in essence, that of the response of this traditional system to the intrusion into it, at first by conquest and later by the penetration of ideas, of the alien and materially superior civilization of the West. The response covered a broad spectrum鈥攆rom the rejection of new ideas and reversion to traditionalism through self-examination and reform to an uncritical acceptance of new concepts and the values that went with them. The result has been the emergence of a cultural identity devoid of self-consciousness, which has assimilated much that is new, while remaining distinctively Egyptian. The process is to be seen at work in all branches of contemporary culture. The state of the arts The impact of the West is one of the recurring themes in the modern Egyptian novel, as in Tawfiq al-Hakim's 'Usfur min ash-Sharq (鈥淭he Bird from the East鈥? and Yahya Haqqi's novella Qindil Umm Hashim (鈥淭he Lamp of Umm Hashim鈥?. A further theme is that of the Egyptian countryside鈥攔omantically handled at first, as in Muhammad Husayn Haykal's Zaynab, and later realistically, as in 'Abd al-Rahman ash-Sharqawi's al-Ard (The Land) and al-Fallah (鈥淭he Peasant鈥? and in Yusuf Idris' al-Haram (鈥淭he Forbidden鈥?. A Dickensian capacity to catch the colour of life among the urban poor is a characteristic quality of the early and middle work of Egypt's greatest modern novelist, Najib Mahfuz, notably in Zuqaq al-Midaqq (Midaq Alley). The modern theatre in Egypt is a European importation鈥攖he first Arabic-speaking plays were performed in 1870. Two dramatists, both born at the turn of the century, have dominated its development鈥擬ahmud Taymur and Tawfiq al-Hakim. The latter, a versatile and cerebral playwright, has reflected in his themes not only the development of the modern theatre but also, in embryo, the cultural and social history of modern Egypt. The changes in Egyptian society are reflected in the themes adopted by younger dramatists. There is a relatively long tradition of filmmaking in Egypt going back to World War I, but it was the founding of Misr Studios in 1934 that stimulated the growth of the Arabic-speaking cinema. Modern Egyptian films are shown to audiences throughout the Arab world and are also distributed in Asian and African countries. The industry is both privately and state owned鈥攖here are many private film-production companies, as well as the Ministry of Culture's Egyptian General Cinema Corporation. Contemporary Egyptian music embraces indigenous folk music, traditional Arabic music, and Western-style music. The revival of traditional Arabic music, both vocal and instrumental, owes much to state sponsorship. Popular Arabic music consists of a blend of classical Arabic music, folk songs, and Western music. Muhammad 'Abd al-Wahhab has been one of the leading figures in the development of this genre, as both composer and singer. Umm Kulthum was the leading vocalist not only of Egypt but also of the whole Arab world for almost 50 years. Western-style music has been a familiar component in Egyptian musical culture since the 19th century. Pioneers such as Yusuf Greiss and Abu Bakr Khayrat succeeded in incorporating Arabic elements to give a national colouring to their Western-style compositions. A return to folklore as a source of inspiration for the arts is a generalized phenomenon in modern Egyptian culture. It has resulted in a revived interest in traditional crafts, in the collection of folk music, and the maintaining, with government sponsorship, of two folk-dance ensembles鈥攖he Rida Troupe and the National Folk Dance Ensemble. In the plastic arts the highly original use of local themes is particularly striking. An active school of Egyptian painting and sculpture has emerged. Cultural institutions The oldest learned academy in Egypt, the Institut d'脡gypte, was founded in 1859, but its antecedents go back to the institute established by Napoleon in 1798. The Academy of the Arabic Language, founded in 1932 and presided over by the veteran educator Taha Husayn, became, in terms of prestige and influence, one of the most important cultural institutions in Egypt. Linked to the Ministry of Culture, it enjoys a large measure of autonomy, guaranteed by its own charter. Also attached to the Ministry of Culture is the Higher Council for Arts, Letters, and the Social Sciences. Intended as a consultative body on cultural matters, the Higher Council is also a means of channeling state patronage. Learned societies in Egypt support a wide variety of interests鈥攊ncluding the physical and natural sciences, medicine, agriculture, the humanities, and the social sciences. Increased government concern with research, especially in science and technology, was reflected in the founding of the National Research Centre, where laboratory work in both pure and applied science began in 1956, and of the Atomic Energy Establishment, in 1957. In addition, there are many specialized research institutes in the country. Most of the learned societies and research institutes have library collections of their own. In addition to large collections at the universities, the municipalities of Alexandria, al-Mansurah, and Tanta maintain libraries. There is also a central public library in each muhafazah, with branches in small towns and service points in the villages. The Ministry of Culture is responsible for the Egyptian National Library (Dar al-Kutub) and the National Archives, both in Cairo, and the Public Libraries Administration. The Egyptian National Library, which has a large collection of printed materials, is also a centre for the collection and preservation of manuscripts. The Ministry of Culture is also responsible, through its department of antiquities, for the Egyptian Museum, the Coptic Museum, and the Museum of Islamic Art, all in Cairo; the Greco-Roman Museum in Alexandria; and for other institutions, including fine-arts museums such as the Mukhtar Museum, the Naji Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art, all in Cairo, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Alexandria. All newspapers and magazines in Egypt are subject to supervision through the government's Supreme Press Council. Daily newspapers include the long-established al-Ahram, published in Cairo, and other Arabic-language papers, together with daily English-language and French-language newspapers. The government owns and operates the Egyptian Radio and Television Corporation, which provides programs in a variety of languages. Cairo is considered to be the largest centre of publishing in the Middle East. Laila Shukry El Hamamsy Marsden Jones Derek Hopwood Charles Gordon Smith Macedonian and Ptolemaic Egypt (332鈥?0 BC) The Macedonian conquest (Top) Sites associated with Egypt from Predynastic to Byzantine times. (Middle) Inset of the Nile 鈥? In the autumn of 332 BC Alexander the Great invaded Egypt with his mixed army of Macedonians and Greeks and found the Egyptians ready to throw off the oppressive control of the hated Persians. Alexander was welcomed by the Egyptians as a liberator and took the country without a battle. He journeyed to Siwa Oasis in the Western Desert to visit the Oracle of Amon, renowned in the Greek world; it disclosed the information that Alexander was the son of Amon. There may also have been a coronation at the Egyptian capital, Memphis, which, if it occurred, would have placed him firmly in the tradition of the pharaohs; the same purpose may be seen in the later dissemination of the romantic myth that gave him an Egyptian parentage by linking his mother, Olympias, with the last pharaoh, Nectanebo II. Alexander left Egypt in the spring of 331 BC, dividing the military command between Balacrus, son of Amyntas, and Peucestas, son of Makartatos. The earliest known Greek documentary papyrus, found at Saqqarah in 1973, reveals the sensitivity of the latter to Egyptian religious institutions in a notice that reads: 鈥淥rder of Peucestas. No-one is to pass. The chamber is that of a priest.鈥?The civil administration was headed by an official with the Persian title of satrap, one Cleomenes of Naukratis. When Alexander died in 323 BC and his generals divided his empire, the position of satrap was claimed by Ptolemy, son of a Macedonian nobleman named Lagus. The senior general Perdiccas, the holder of Alexander's royal seal and prospective regent for Alexander's posthumous son, might well have regretted his failure to take Egypt. He gathered an army and marched from Asia Minor to wrest Egypt from Ptolemy in 321 BC; but Ptolemy had Alexander's corpse, Perdiccas' army was not wholehearted in support, and the Nile crocodiles made a good meal from the flesh of the invaders. The Ptolemaic dynasty Until the day when he openly assumed an independent kingship as Ptolemy I Soter, on Nov. 7, 305 BC, Ptolemy used only the title satrap of Egypt, but the great hieroglyphic Satrap stela, which he had inscribed in 311 BC, indicates a degree of self-confidence that transcends his viceregal role. It reads, 鈥淚, Ptolemy the satrap, I restore to Horus, the avenger of his father, the lord of Pe and to Buto, the lady of Pe and Dep, the territory of Patanut, from this day forth for ever, with all its villages, all its towns, all its inhabitants, all its fields.鈥?The inscription emphasizes Ptolemy's own role in wresting the land from the Persians (though the epithet of Soter, meaning 鈥淪aviour,鈥?resulted not from his actions in Egypt but from the gratitude of the people of Rhodes for his having relieved them from a siege in 315 BC) and links him with Khabbash, who had laid claim to the kingship during the last Persian occupation in about 338 BC. Egypt was ruled by Ptolemy's descendants until the death of Cleopatra VII on Aug. 12, 30 BC. The kingdom was one of several that emerged in the aftermath of Alexander's death and struggles of his successors. It was the wealthiest, however, and, for much of the next 300 years, the most powerful politically and culturally, and it was the last to fall directly under Roman dominion. In many respects, the character of the Ptolemaic monarchy in Egypt set a style for other Hellenistic kingdoms; this style emerged from the Greeks' and Macedonians' awareness of the need to dominate Egypt, its resources, and its people and at the same time to turn the power of Egypt firmly toward the context of a Mediterranean world that was becoming steadily more Hellenized. The Ptolemies (305鈥?45 BC) The first 160 years of the Ptolemaic dynasty are conventionally seen as its most prosperous era. Little is known of the foundations laid in the reign of Ptolemy I Soter (304鈥?82 BC), but the increasing amount of documentary, inscriptional, and archaeological evidence from the reign of his son and successor, Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285鈥?46 BC), shows that the kingdom's administration and economy underwent a thorough reorganization. A remarkable demotic text of the year 258 BC refers to orders for a complete census of the kingdom that was to record the sources of water; the position, quality, and irrigation potential of the land; the state of cultivation; the crops grown; and the extent of priestly and royal landholdings. There were important agricultural innovations in this period. New crops were introduced, and massive irrigation works brought under cultivation a great deal of new land, especially in the Fayyum, where many of the immigrant Greeks were settled. The Macedonian-Greek character of the monarchy was vigorously preserved. There is no more emphatic sign of this than the growth and importance of the city of Alexandria. It had been founded, on a date traditionally given as April 7, 331 BC, by Alexander the Great on the site of the insignificant Egyptian village of Rakotis in the northwestern Delta, and it ranked as the most important city in the eastern Mediterranean until the foundation of Constantinople in the 4th century AD. The importance of the new Greek city was soon emphasized by contrast to its Egyptian surroundings when the royal capital was transferred, within a few years of Alexander's death, from Memphis to Alexandria. The Ptolemaic court cultivated extravagant luxury in the Greek style in its magnificent and steadily expanding palace complex, which occupied as much as a third of the city by the early Roman period. Its grandeur was emphasized in the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus by the foundation of a quadrennial festival, the Ptolemaieia, which was intended to enjoy a status equal to that of the Olympic Games. The festival was marked by a procession of amazingly elaborate and ingeniously constructed floats, with scenarios illustrating Greek religious cults. Ptolemy II gave the dynasty another distinctive feature when he married his full sister, Arsinoe II, one of the most powerful and remarkable women of the Hellenistic age. They became, in effect, co-rulers, and both took the epithet Philadelphus (鈥淏rother-Loving鈥?and 鈥淪ister-Loving鈥?. The practice of consanguineous marriage was followed by most of their successors and imitated by ordinary Egyptians too, even though it had not been a standard practice in the pharaonic royal houses and had been unknown in the rest of the native Egyptian population. Arsinoe played a prominent role in the formation of royal policy. She was displayed on the coinage and was eventually worshiped, perhaps even before her death, in the distinctively Greek style of ruler cult that developed in this reign. From the first phase of the wars of Alexander's successors the Ptolemies had harboured imperial ambitions. Ptolemy I won control of Cyprus and Cyrene and quarreled with his neighbour over control of Palestine. In the course of the 3rd century a powerful Ptolemaic empire developed, which, for much of the period, laid claim to sovereignty in the Levant, in many of the cities of the western and southern coast of Asia Minor, in some of the Aegean islands, and in a handful of towns in Thrace, as well as in Cyprus and Cyrene. Family connections and dynastic alliances, especially between the Ptolemies and the neighbouring Seleucids, played a very important role in these imperialistic ambitions. Such links were far from able to preserve harmony between the royal houses (between 274 and 200 BC five wars were fought with the Seleucids over possession of territory in Syria and the Levant), but they did keep the ruling houses relatively compact, interconnected, and more true to their Macedonian-Greek origins. When Ptolemy II Philadelphus died in 246 BC, he left a prosperous kingdom to his successor, Ptolemy III Euergetes (246鈥?22 BC). His reign saw a very successful campaign against the Seleucids in Syria, occasioned by the murder of Euergetes' sister, Berenice, who had been married to the Seleucid Antiochus II. To avenge Berenice, Euergetes marched into Syria, where he won a great victory. He gained popularity at home by recapturing statues of Egyptian gods originally taken by the Persians. The decree promulgated at Canopus in the Delta on March 4, 238 BC, attests both this event and the many great benefactions conferred on Egyptian temples throughout the land. It was during Euergetes' reign, for instance, that the rebuilding of the great Temple of Horus at Idfu (Apollinopolis Magna) was begun. Euergetes was succeeded by his son Ptolemy IV Philopator (222鈥?05 BC), whom the Greek historians portray as a weak and corrupt ruler, dominated by a powerful circle of Alexandrian Greek courtiers. The reign was notable for another serious conflict with the Seleucids, which ended in 217 BC in a great Ptolemaic victory at Raphia in southern Palestine. The battle is notable for the fact that large numbers of native Egyptian soldiers fought alongside the Macedonian and Greek contingents. Events surrounding the death of Philopator and the succession of the youthful Ptolemy V Epiphanes (205鈥?80 BC) are obscured by court intrigue. Before Epiphanes had completed his first decade of rule, serious difficulties arose. Native revolts in the south, which had been sporadic in the second half of the 3rd century, became serious and weakened the hold of the monarch on a vital part of the kingdom. These revolts, which produced native claimants to the kingship, are generally attributed to the native Egyptians' realization, after their contribution to the victory at Raphia, of their potential power. Trouble continued to break out for several more decades. By about 196 a great portion of the Ptolemaic overseas empire had been permanently lost (though there may have been a brief revival in the Aegean islands in about 165鈥?45 BC). To shore up and advertise the strength of the ruling house at home and abroad, the administration adopted a series of grandiloquent honorific titles for its officers. To conciliate Egyptian feelings, a religious synod that met in 196 to crown Epiphanes at Memphis (the first occasion on which a Ptolemy is certainly known to have been crowned at the traditional capital) decreed extensive privileges for the Egyptian temples, as recorded on the Rosetta Stone. The reign of Ptolemy VI Philometor (180鈥?45 BC), a man of pious and magnanimous character, was marked by renewed conflict with the Seleucids after the death of his mother, Cleopatra I, in 176 BC. In 170 BC Antiochus IV of Syria invaded Egypt and established a protectorate; in 168 BC he returned, accepted coronation at Memphis, and installed a Seleucid governor. But he had failed to reckon with more powerful interests: those of Rome. In the summer of 168 BC a Roman ambassador, Popillius Laenas, arrived at Antiochus' headquarters near Pelusium in the Delta and staged an awesome display of Roman power. He ordered Antiochus to withdraw from Egypt. Antiochus asked for time to consult his advisers. Laenas drew a circle around the King with his stick and told him to answer before he stepped out of the circle. Only one answer was possible, and by the end of July Antiochus had left Egypt. Philometor's reign was further troubled by rivalry with his brother, later Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II Physcon. The solution, devised under Roman advice, was to remove Physcon to Cyrene, where he remained until Philometor died in 145 BC; but it is noteworthy that in 155 BC Physcon took the step of bequeathing the kingdom of Cyrene to the Romans in the event of his untimely death. Dynastic strife and decline (145鈥?0 BC) Physcon was able to rule in Egypt until 116 BC with his sister Cleopatra II (except for a period in 131鈥?30 BC when she was in revolt) and her daughter Cleopatra III. His reign was marked by generous benefactions to the Egyptian temples, but he was detested as a tyrant by the Greeks, and the historical accounts of the reign emphasize his stormy relations with the Alexandrian populace. During the last century of Ptolemaic rule, Egypt's independence was exercised under Rome's protection and at Rome's discretion. For much of the period Rome was content to support a dynasty that had no overseas possession except Cyprus after 96 BC (the year in which Cyrene was bequeathed to Rome by Ptolemy Apion) and no ambitions threatening Roman interests or security. After a series of brief and unstable reigns, Ptolemy XII Auletes acceded to the throne in 80 BC. He maintained his hold for 30 years, despite the attractions that Egypt's legendary wealth held for avaricious Roman politicians. In fact, Auletes had to flee Egypt in 58 BC and was restored by Pompey's friend Gabinius in 55 BC, no doubt after spending so much in bribes that he had to bring back Rabirius Postumus, one of his Roman creditors, to Egypt with him to manage his financial affairs. In 52 BC, the year before his death, Auletes associated with himself on the throne his daughter Cleopatra VII and his elder son Ptolemy XIII (who died in 47 BC). The reign of Cleopatra was that of a vigorous and exceptionally able queen who was ambitious, among other things, to revive the prestige of the dynasty by cultivating influence with powerful Roman commanders and using their capacity to aggrandize Roman clients and allies. Julius Caesar pursued Pompey to Egypt in 48 BC. After learning of Pompey's murder at the hands of Egyptian courtiers, Caesar stayed long enough to enjoy a sightseeing tour up the Nile in the Queen's company in the summer of 47 BC. When he left for Rome, Cleopatra was pregnant with a child she claimed was Caesar's. The child, a son, was named Caesarion (鈥淟ittle Caesar鈥?. Cleopatra and Caesarion later followed Caesar back to Rome but, after his assassination in 44 BC, they returned hurriedly to Egypt and she tried for a while to play a neutral role in the struggles between the Roman generals and their factions. Her long liaison with Mark Antony began when she visited him at Tarsus in 41 BC and he returned to Egypt with her. Between 36 and 30 BC the famous romance between the Roman general and the eastern queen was exploited to great effect by Antony's political rival Octavian. By 34 BC Caesarion was officially co-ruler with Cleopatra, but his rule clearly was an attempt to exploit the popularity of Caesar's memory. In the autumn Cleopatra and Antony staged an extravagant display in which they made grandiose dispositions of territory in the east to their children, Alexander Helios, Ptolemy, and Cleopatra Selene. Cleopatra and Antony were portrayed to the Roman public as posing for artists in the guise of Dionysus and Isis or whiling away their evenings in rowdy and decadent banquets that kept the citizens of Alexandria awake all night. But this propaganda war was merely the prelude to armed conflict, and the issue was decided in September 31 BC in a naval battle at Actium in western Greece. When the battle was at its height Cleopatra and her squadron withdrew, and Antony eventually followed suit. They fled to Alexandria but could do little more than await the arrival of the victorious Octavian 10 months later. Alexandria was captured and Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide鈥攈e by falling on his sword, she probably by the bite of an asp鈥攊n August of 30 BC. It is reported that when Octavian reached the city he visited and touched the preserved corpse of Alexander the Great, causing a piece of the nose to fall off. He refused to gaze upon the remains of the Ptolemies, saying 鈥淚 wished to see a king, not corpses.鈥?br /> Government and conditions under the Ptolemies The changes brought to Egypt by the Ptolemies were momentous; the land's resources were harnessed with unparalleled efficiency and the result was that it became the wealthiest of the Hellenistic kingdoms. Land under cultivation was increased, new crops were introduced (especially important was the introduction of naked tetraploid wheat, triticum durum, to replace the traditional husked emmer, triticum dicoccum). The population, estimated at perhaps 3,000,000鈥?,000,000 in the Late Dynastic Period, may have more than doubled by the early Roman period to a figure of 7,500,000 or 8,000,000, a level not reached again until the late 19th century. Some of the increase was due to immigration; particularly during the 2nd and 3rd centuries many settlers were attracted from the cities of Asia Minor and the Greek islands, as well as large numbers of Jews from Palestine. The flow may have decreased later in the Ptolemaic period, and it is often suggested, on slender evidence, that there was a serious decline in prosperity in the 1st century BC. If so, there may have been some reversal of this trend under Cleopatra VII. Administration The foundation of the prosperity was the governmental system devised to exploit the country's economic resources. Directly below the monarch were a handful of powerful officials whose competence extended over the entire land: a chief finance minister, a chief accountant, and a chancery of ministers in charge of records, letters, and decrees. A level below them lay the broadening base of a pyramid of subordinate officials with competence in limited areas, which extended down to the chief administrator of each individual village (komarches). Between the chief ministers and the village officials stood those such as the nome-steward (oikonomos) and strategoi, whose competence extended over one of the more than 30 nomes of Egypt, the long-established geographic divisions. In theory this bureaucracy could regulate and control the economic activities of every subject in the land, its smooth operation guaranteed by the multiplicity of officials capable of checking each upon the other. In practice, it is difficult to see a rigid civil-service mentality at work, involving clear demarcation of departments; specific functions might well have been performed by different officials according to local need and the availability of a person competent to take appropriate action. By the same token, rigid lines of separation between military and civil, legal and administrative matters are difficult to perceive. The same official might perform duties in one or all of these areas, and the law in particular regulated every activity to an extent that the use of the terms legal and judicial tends to hide. The military was inevitably integrated into civilian life because its soldiers were also farmers who enjoyed royal grants of land, either as Greek cleruchs (holders of allotments) with higher status and generous grants, or as native Egypt machimoi with small plots. Interlocking judiciary institutions, in the form of Greek and Egyptian courts (chrematistai and laokritai), provided the means for Greeks and Egyptians to regulate their legal relationships according to the language in which they conducted their business. The bureaucratic power was heavily weighted in favour of the Greek speakers, the dominant elite. Egyptians were nevertheless able to obtain official posts in the bureaucracy, gradually infiltrating to the highest levels, but in order to do so they had to Hellenize. Economy The basis of Egypt's legendary wealth was the highly productive land, which technically remained in royal ownership. A considerable portion was kept under the control of temples, and the remainder was leased out on a theoretically revocable basis to tenant-farmers. A portion also was available to be granted as gifts to leading courtiers; one of these was Apollonius, the finance minister of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, who had an estate of 10,000 arourae (about 6,500 acres) at Philadelphia in the Fayyum. Tenants and beneficiaries were able to behave very much as if these leases and grants were private property. The revenues in cash and kind were enormous, and royal control extended to the manufacture and marketing of almost all important products, including papyrus, oil, linen, and beer. An extraordinarily detailed set of revenue laws, promulgated under Ptolemy II Philadelphus, laid down rules for the way in which officials were to monitor the production of such commodities. In fact, the Ptolemaic economy was very much a mixture of direct royal ownership and exploitation by private enterprise under regulated conditions. One fundamental and far-reaching Ptolemaic innovation was the systematic monetarization of the economy. This too the monarchy controlled from top to bottom by operating a closed monetary system, which permitted only the royal coinage to circulate within Egypt. A sophisticated banking system underpinned this practice, operating again with a mixture of direct royal control and private enterprise and handling both private financial transactions and those that directed money into and out of the royal coffers. One important concomitant of this change was an enormous increase in the volume of trade, both within Egypt and abroad, which eventually reached its climax under the peaceful conditions of Roman rule. Here the position and role of Alexandria as the major port and trading entrep么t was crucial: the city handled a great volume of Egypt's domestic produce, as well as the import and export of luxury goods to and from the East and the cities of the eastern Mediterranean. It developed its own importance as an artistic centre, the products of which found ready markets throughout the Mediterranean. Alexandrian glassware and jewelry were particularly fine; Greek-style sculpture of the late Ptolemaic period shows especial excellence; and it is likely that the city was also the major production centre for high-quality mosaic work. Religion The Ptolemies were powerful supporters of the native Egyptian religious foundations, the economic and political power of which was, however, carefully controlled. A great deal of the building and restoration work in many of the most important Egyptian temples is Ptolemaic, particularly from the period of about 150鈥?0 BC, and the monarchs appear on temple reliefs in the traditional forms of the Egyptian kings. The native traditions persisted in village temples and local cults, many having particular associations with species of sacred animals or birds. At the same time, the Greeks created their own identifications of Egyptian deities, identifying Amon with Zeus, Horus with Apollo, Ptah with Hephaestus, and so on. They also gave some deities, such as Isis, a more universal significance that ultimately resulted in the spread of her mystery cult throughout the Mediterranean world. The impact of the Greeks is most obvious in two phenomena. One is the formalized royal cult of Alexander and the Ptolemies, which evidently served both a political and a religious purpose. The other is the creation of the cult of Sarapis, which at first was confined to Alexandria but soon became universal. The god was represented as a Hellenized deity and the form of cult is Greek; but its essence is the old Egyptian notion that the sacred Apis bull merged its divinity in some way with the god Osiris when it died. Culture The continuing vitality of the native Egyptian artistic tradition is clearly and abundantly expressed in the temple architecture and the sculpture of the Ptolemaic period. The Egyptian language continued in use in its hieroglyphic and demotic forms until late in the Roman period, and it survived through the Byzantine period and beyond in the form of Coptic. The Egyptian literary tradition flourished vigorously in the Ptolemaic period and produced a large number of works in demotic. The genre most commonly represented is the romantic tale, exemplified by several story cycles, which are typically set in the native, Pharaonic milieu and involve the gods, royal figures, magic, romance, and the trials and combats of heroes. Another important category is the Instruction Text, the best known of the period being that of Ankhsheshonq, which consists of a list of moralizing maxims, composed, as the story goes, when Ankhsheshonq was imprisoned for having failed to inform the pharaoh of an assassination plot. Another example, known as Papyrus Insinger, is a more narrowly moralizing text. But the arrival of a Greek-speaking elite had an enormous impact on cultural patterns. The Egyptian story cycles were probably affected by Greek influence; literary and technical works were translated into Greek; and under royal patronage an Egyptian priest named Manetho of Sebennytos wrote an account of the kings of Egypt, in Greek. Most striking is the diffusion of the works of the poets and playwrights of classical Greece among the literate Greeks in the towns and villages of the Nile Valley. Thus there are clear signs of the existence of two interacting but distinct cultural traditions in Ptolemaic Egypt. This was certainly reflected in a broader social context. The written sources offer little direct evidence of racial discrimination by Greeks against Egyptians, but Greek and Egyptian consciousness of the Greeks' social and economic superiority comes through strongly from time to time; intermarriage was one means, though not the only one, by which Egyptians could better their status and Hellenize. Many native Egyptians learned to speak Greek, some to write it as well; some even went so far as to adopt Greek names in an attempt to assimilate themselves to the elite group. Alexandria occupied a unique place in the history of literature, ideas, scholarship, and science for almost a millennium after the death of its founder. Under the royal patronage of the Ptolemies, and in an environment almost oblivious to its Egyptian surroundings, Greek culture was preserved and developed. Early in the Ptolemaic period, probably in the reign of Ptolemy I Soter, the Museum (鈥淪hrine of the Muses鈥? was established within the palace complex. Strabo, who saw it early in the Roman period, described it as having a covered walk, an arcade with recesses and seats, and a large house containing the dining hall of the members of the Museum, who lived a communal existence. The Great Library of Alexandria (together with its offshoot in the Sarapeum) was indispensable to the functioning of the scholarly community in the Museum. Books were collected voraciously under the Ptolemies, and at its height the library's collection probably numbered close to 500,000 papyrus rolls, most of them containing more than one work. The major poets of the Hellenistic period, Theocritus, Callimachus, and Apollonius of Rhodes, all took up residence and wrote there. Scholarship flourished, preserving and ordering the manuscript traditions of much of the classical literature from Homer onward. Librarian-scholars such as Aristophanes of Byzantium and his pupil Aristarchus made critical editions and wrote commentaries and works on grammar. Also notable was the cultural influence of Alexandria's Jewish community, which is inferred from the fact that the Pentateuch was first translated into Greek at Alexandria during the Ptolemaic period. One by-product of this kind of activity was that Alexandria became the centre of the book trade, and the works of the classical authors were copied there and diffused among a literate Greek readership scattered in the towns and villages of the Nile Valley. The Alexandrian achievement in scientific fields was also enormous. Great advances were made in pure mathematics, mechanics, physics, geography, and medicine. Euclid worked in Alexandria in about 300 BC and achieved the systematization of the whole existing corpus of mathematical knowledge and the development of the method of proof by deduction from axioms. Archimedes was there in the 3rd century BC and is said to have invented the Archimedean screw when he was in Egypt; Eratosthenes calculated the Earth's circumference and was the first to attempt a map of the world based on a system of lines of latitude and longitude; and the school of medicine founded in the Ptolemaic period retained its leading reputation into the Byzantine era. Late in the Ptolemaic period Alexandria began to develop as a great centre of Greek philosophical studies as well. In fact, there was no field of literary, intellectual, or scientific activity to which Ptolemaic Alexandria failed to make an important contribution. Alan Edouard Samuel Alan K. Bowman Roman and Byzantine Egypt (30 BC鈥揂D 642) Egypt as a province of Rome (Top) Sites associated with Egypt from Predynastic to Byzantine times. (Middle) Inset of the Nile 鈥? 鈥淚 added Egypt to the Empire of the Roman people.鈥?With these words the emperor Augustus (as Octavian was known from 27 BC) summarized the subjection of Cleopatra's kingdom in the great inscription that records his achievements. The province was to be governed by a viceroy, a prefect with the status of a Roman knight (eques) who was directly responsible to the emperor. The first viceroy was the Roman poet and soldier Cornelius Gallus, who boasted too vaingloriously of his military achievements in the province and paid for it first with his position and then with his life. Roman senators were not allowed to enter Egypt without the emperor's permission, because this wealthiest of provinces could be held militarily by a very small force; and the threat implicit in an embargo on the export of grain supplies, vital to the provisioning of the city of Rome and its populace, was obvious. Internal security was guaranteed by the presence of three Roman legions (later reduced to two), each about 6,000 strong, and several cohorts of auxiliaries. In the first decade of Roman rule the spirit of Augustan imperialism looked farther afield, attempting expansion to the east and to the south. An expedition to Arabia by the prefect Aelius Gallus in about 26鈥?5 BC was undermined by the treachery of the Nabataean Syllaeus, who led the Roman fleet astray in uncharted waters. Arabia was to remain an independent though friendly client of Rome until AD 106, when the emperor Trajan (ruled AD 98鈥?17) annexed it, making it possible to reopen Ptolemy II's canal from the Nile to the head of the Gulf of Suez. To the south the Meroitic people beyond the First Cataract had taken advantage of Gallus' preoccupation with Arabia and mounted an attack on the Thebaid. The next Roman prefect, Petronius, led two expeditions into the Meroitic kingdom (c. 24鈥?2 BC), captured several towns, forced the submission of the formidable queen, who was characterized by Roman writers as 鈥渢he one-eyed Queen Candace,鈥?and left a Roman garrison at Primis (Qasr Ibrim). But thoughts of maintaining a permanent presence in Lower Nubia were soon abandoned, and within a year or two the limits of Roman occupation had been set at Hiera Sykaminos, some 50 miles south of the First Cataract. The mixed character of the region is indicated, however, by the continuing popularity of the goddess Isis among the people of Meroe and by the Roman emperor Augustus' foundation of a temple at Kalabsha dedicated to the local god Mandulis. Egypt achieved its greatest prosperity under the shadow of the Roman peace which, in effect, depoliticized it. Roman emperors or members of their families visited Egypt鈥擳iberius' nephew and adopted son, Germanicus; Vespasian and his elder son, Titus; Hadrian; Septimius Severus; Diocletian鈥攖o see the famous sights, receive the acclamations of the Alexandrian populace, attempt to ensure the loyalty of the volatile subjects, or initiate administrative reform. Occasionally its potential as a power base was realized. Vespasian, the most successful of the imperial aspirants in the 鈥淵ear of the Four Emperors,鈥?was first proclaimed at Alexandria on July 1, AD 69, in a maneuver contrived by the prefect of Egypt, Tiberius Julius Alexander. Others were less successful. Avidius Cassius, the son of a former prefect of Egypt, revolted against Marcus Aurelius in AD 175, stimulated by false rumours of Marcus' death, but his attempted usurpation lasted only three months. For several months in AD 297/298 Egypt was under the dominion of a mysterious usurper named Lucius Domitius Domitianus. The emperor Diocletian was present at the final capitulation of Alexandria after an eight-month siege and swore to take revenge by slaughtering the populace until the river of blood reached his horse's knees; the threat was mitigated when his mount stumbled as he rode into the city. In gratitude, the citizens of Alexandria erected a statue of the horse. The only extended period during the turbulent 3rd century AD in which Egypt was lost to the central imperial authority was 270鈥?72, when it fell into the hands of the ruling dynasty of the Syrian city of Palmyra. Fortunately for Rome, the military strength of Palmyra proved to be the major obstacle to the overrunning of the Eastern Empire by the powerful Sasanian monarchy of Persia. Internal threats to security were not uncommon but normally were dissipated without major damage to imperial control. These included rioting between Jews and Greeks in Alexandria in the reign of Caligula (Gaius Caesar Germanicus; ruled AD 37鈥?1); a serious Jewish revolt under Trajan (ruled AD 98鈥?17); a revolt in the Delta in AD 172 that was quelled by Avidius Cassius; and a revolt centred on the town of Coptos (Qift) in AD 293/294 that was put down by Galerius, Diocletian's imperial colleague. Administration and economy under Rome The Romans introduced important changes in the administrative system, aimed at achieving a high level of efficiency and maximizing revenue. The duties of the prefect of Egypt combined responsibility for military security through command of the legions and cohorts, for the organization of finance and taxation, and for the administration of justice. This involved a vast mass of detailed paperwork: one document of AD 211 notes that in a period of three days 1,804 petitions were handed into the prefect's office. But the prefect was assisted by a hierarchy of subordinate equestrian officials with expertise in particular areas. There were three or four epistrategoi in charge of regional subdivisions; special officers were in charge of the emperors' private account, the administration of justice, religious institutions, and so on. Subordinate to them were the local officials in the nomes (strategoi and royal scribes) and finally the authorities in the towns and villages. It was in these growing towns that the Romans made the most far-reaching changes in administration. They introduced colleges of magistrates and officials who were to be responsible for running the internal affairs of their own communities on a theoretically autonomous basis and, at the same time, were to guarantee the collection and payment of tax quotas to the central government. This was backed up by the development of a range of 鈥渓iturgies,鈥?compulsory public services that were imposed on individuals according to rank and property to ensure the financing and upkeep of local facilities. These institutions were the Egyptian counterpart of the councils and magistrates that oversaw the Greek cities in the eastern Roman provinces. They had been ubiquitous in other Hellenistic kingdoms, but in Ptolemaic Egypt they had existed only in the so-called Greek cities (Alexandria, Ptolemais in Upper Egypt, Naukratis, and later Antino枚polis, founded by Hadrian in AD 130). Alexandria lost the right to have a council, probably in the Ptolemaic period. When it recovered its right in AD 200 the privilege was diluted by being extended to the nome capitals (metropoleis) as well. This extension of privilege represented an attempt to shift more of the burden and expense of administration onto the local propertied classes, but it was eventually to prove too heavy. The consequences were the impoverishment of many of the councillors and their families and serious problems in administration that led to an increasing degree of central government interference and, eventually, more direct control. The economic resources that this administration existed to exploit had not changed since the Ptolemaic period, but the development of a much more complex and sophisticated taxation system was a hallmark of Roman rule. Taxes in both cash and kind were assessed on land, and a bewildering variety of small taxes in cash, as well as customs dues and the like, was collected by appointed officials. A massive amount of Egypt's grain was shipped downriver both to feed the population of Alexandria and for export to Rome. Despite freq |