Egyptian History

• 16 / 5 / 2023

Egypt is one of the oldest civilizations in history (4000 BC).

Archaeological studies have shown that humans have inhabited Egypt since the beginning of the Paleolithic era, and a comparative study of skulls dating back to pre-dynastic times (4000 BC)

Paleolithic Periods

Researchers have divided the Paleolithic into three eras due to their length (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic).

Paleolithic (2300000-100000 BC)

Researchers found traces of the first era in the Egyptian deserts, or in the hills near the Nile Valley, and it consisted of stone axes, some of which were polished so that the axe had three faces.

Their general shape is pyramidal.

Middle Stone Age (12000 to 8000 BC)

This era is considered a transitional period between the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods, and among the relics of this era are sharp stone tools that varied in their geometric shapes.

Neolithic Age: 8000 to 3200 BC

In this era, drought dominated the ancient Arabian Levant, which prompted the ancient Egyptian man to learn agriculture to provide food for himself, so the ancient Egyptian man migrated to the Nile Valley and the Delta to provide a suitable environment for agriculture.

Dynastic era

The Kingdom of Upper Egypt wanted to unite with the Delta Kingdom, so it fought many harsh wars, finally culminating in the unification of the two kingdoms.

The first transition period

The kings of this state built great pyramids, gave priests lands, and exempted them from many duties, which burdened other Egyptian groups.

The Middle Kingdom

King Mentuhotep II, the founder of the Eleventh Dynasty, is considered the greatest king of this dynasty, as he restored the unity of Egypt, protected its eastern borders, and built a temple and cemetery to the west of Thebes.

The Modern State Era

The modern Egyptian state is one of the greatest states in ancient Egypt. It is not an exaggeration to say that every person has an era of heroism, and the era of heroism of Pharaonic Egypt was realized after the establishment of the modern state; the Egyptians built an empire that stretched from the Euphrates in the north to Sudan in the south.

Persian control of Egypt

The Persians took control of Egypt in 525 BC under the leadership of King Cambyses until Alexander of Macedon defeated them at the Battle of Issus.

Roman Egypt

Octavius became the master of Egypt and declared Egypt a Roman state linked to the person of the emperor. He set a special regime for it, making it forbidden for any senator or high-ranking politician to visit Egypt without the emperor's approval.

All this produced a historical inevitability, which was reflected in the events of the Arab Levant from the beginning of history until today, as no great event occurred in the Levant without being influenced or affected by it.

The Islamic conquest of Egypt

Amr ibn al-'As settled in Palestine until he felt the urgent need to conquer Egypt to secure the Levant from the Byzantine threat perched on the land of Egypt, so he asked Caliph 'Umar ibn al-Khattab for permission to conquer it, and after hesitation, Amr went there.

Ottoman Egypt

After the death of Sultan Qansuh al-Ghuri, the Egyptians pledged allegiance to Touman Bey as Sultan of Egypt. Sultan Selim I offered him the rule of Egypt on the condition that he recognize his dependence on the Ottoman Empire, but Touman Bey refused to be subordinate to the Ottoman Sultan, so the Ottomans, led by Sultan Selim, headed to Egypt and met with the Mamluks and defeated them at Ridaniya in 1517, and Selim I entered Cairo victoriously, and he preached to him on its pulpits, and from that time on, Egypt became an Ottoman state, which was ruled from the Ottoman side by Khair Bey, who betrayed his king Al-Ghuri in the battle of Marj Dabiq. The Ottomans remained in Egypt until the declaration of the British Protectorate in 1914, a long period that can be divided into four stages.

French invasion

The French campaign arrived in Egypt and the southern Levant, and one of its direct results was that it brought the region out of its long isolation and aroused the interest of Westerners not only in Egypt but in all the countries of the Arab region.

British occupation

Lord Cromer became the de facto ruler of Egypt. As for Egypt's relationship with the Ottoman Empire, it was agreed between Britain and the High Council that the British presence in Egypt was only a temporary presence aimed at establishing order and stabilizing the authority of the state represented by the Khedive until Egypt gained its full independence in 1934.