the king of Macedonia, invaded Egypt.
Macedonians ruled Egypt until 30 BC,
when it fell to the Romans. (For more
information about Egypt’s early history,
see Egypt, Ancient.)
Arabs conquered Egypt in AD 642.
Within a few hundred years, Egypt was
transformed into an Arabic state. The
people gradually converted from Christianity
to Islam.
Ottoman Rule and British Control
In 1517 the Turkish Ottoman Empire
took control. Future emperor Napoleon
I of France invaded in 1798, but the
Ottomans soon regained power.
Muhammad !Ali, an officer in the Ottoman
army, became governor of Egypt in
Men ride camels near the three pyramids of
Giza in Egypt.
Muslims kneel in prayer on a
street in Cairo.
110 Egypt BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
1805. He introduced many reforms in
order to modernize the country. Members
of !Ali’s family governed Egypt for
more than 100 years.
Egypt allowed a French company to
build the Suez Canal in 1859–69. British
troops occupied Egypt in 1882, and
in 1914 the British made Egypt a British
protectorate, or dependent state.
Independence
In 1922 Egypt gained independence. In
the 1940s it helped to found the Arab
League, a union of several Arab countries.
The league became involved in the
growing disputes between Arabs and
Jews in neighboring Palestine. In 1948,
after part of Palestine became the country
of Israel, Egypt and its Arab allies
attacked Israel but were defeated.
A military group overthrew Egypt’s king
in 1952. Gamal Abdel Nasser became
the first native Egyptian ruler in more
than 2,000 years. In 1953 Egypt became
a republic. Nasser wanted Egypt to be a
leader in the Arab world. During this
period tensions increased between Egypt
and Israel.
Anwar el-Sadat became president in
1970. In 1973 Egypt fought another
brief war with Israel, but in 1978 Sadat
met with the Israeli prime minister,
Menachem Begin, in the United States.
The meeting led to a historic peace
treaty between Egypt and Israel in 1979.
Most other Arab countries were
unhappy with the treaty. Muslim radicals
assassinated Sadat in 1981.
Under a new president, Hosni Mubarak,
Egypt’s relations with other Arab countries
improved. Egypt continued to work
for peace in the Middle East.
..More to explore
Cairo • Egypt, Ancient • Middle East
• Nile River • Suez Canal
332 BC 30 BC AD 642 1517 1882 1922 1953
Alexander the
Great invades
Egypt.
Rome takes
control of
Egypt.
Arabs conquer
Egypt.
Egypt becomes
part of the
Ottoman
Empire.
Great Britain
occupies Egypt.
Egypt gains
independence.
Egypt becomes
a republic.
T I M E L I N E
Facts About
EGYPT
Population
(2008 estimate)
74,805,000
Area
385,229 sq mi
(997,739 sq km)
Capital
Cairo
Form of
government
Republic
Major cities
Cairo, Alexandria,
Al-Jizah,
Shubra
al-Khaymah, Port
Said, Suez
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Egypt 111
Egypt, Ancient
About 5,000 years ago, the civilization
of ancient Egypt began in the Nile
River valley of northeastern Africa. It
was one of the world’s first civilizations.
It is also one of the most famous
civilizations in history. The ancient
Egyptians built huge pyramids, temples,
palaces, and tombs. Their paintings and
carvings are among the most splendid
ever created. They also produced art
with simple scenes of everyday life,
work, and play that shows many details
of their lives.
Egypt’s dry climate has helped to preserve
many of the things that the ancient
Egyptians made. Archaeologists first
started to uncover the remains of ancient
Egypt in the late 1700s. Through those
remains historians have been able to
learn a great deal about the world of the
ancient Egyptians.
Life in Ancient Egypt
Villages and towns of ancient Egypt
were situated near the Nile River. It was
the chief highway as well as the only
source of water. Very little rain falls in
Egypt. Rain does fall along other parts
of the river, however. Every year the
water from that rain flows downstream
and eventually floods the lands. Afterward,
as the waters flow back, they leave
rich mud behind. The Egyptians planted
wheat and barley in the mud. They grew
other fruits and vegetables using irrigation
(channels of water).
Ancient Egyptian houses were made of
mud bricks. The houses had small windows
and floors of straw matting. Paintings
often decorated the walls.
Many ruins from ancient Egypt can still be
seen today. The temple of Abu Simbel was
built during the reign of Ramses II almost
3,300 years ago. It was dedicated to two
sun gods.
112 Egypt, Ancient BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Clothing was simple because the climate
was hot. White linen, woven from the
flax plant, was a common fabric. Men
typically wore a skirt of linen and sometimes
a vest.Women wore a straight,
simple, ankle-length dress.
One of the ancient Egyptians’ finest
achievements was their written
language. The first Egyptian writing
was a system of pictures called
hieroglyphics. The Egyptians were using
hieroglyphics by 3100 BC. The
Egyptians cut or painted the symbols
on the walls of tombs and temples.
Later they developed simpler, curved
forms of writing. The Egyptians used
these forms to write on papyrus, a
paper-like material made from a plant.
The ancient Egyptians worshipped
