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EGYPT
IS PROBABLY THE WORLD'S OLDEST CIVILIZATION HAVING EMERGED
FROM THE NILE VALLEY AROUND 3,100 YEARS AGO, HISTORICALLY.
EGYPT IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE OLDEST VACATION SPOTS. EARLY
GREEKS, ROMANS AND OTHERS WENT THERE JUST FOR FUN, AND
TO SEE THE WONDERS OF SOME OF MANKIND'S EARLIEST TRIUMPHS.
BUT EGYPT IS MUCH MORE THAN PYRAMIDS AND MONUMENTS. IT
IS ALSO RED SEA SCUBA DIVING, HOT NIGHT SPOTS, LUXURY
HOTELS AND FIVE STAR RESTAURANTS. IT IS ROMANTIC CRUISES
DOWN THE NILE ON FESTIVE RIVER BOATS, A NIGHT AT THE GRAND
OPERA AND IT IS A CULTURAL EXPERIENCE LIKE NONE YOU HAVE
EVER EXPERIENCED. EGYPT IS A LAND BUSTLING WITH LIFE,
SOUND, VISUAL BEAUTY AND EXCITEMENT. MORE THAN ANYTHING
ELSE, WE WANT YOU TO THINK OF EGYPT AS FUN. FOR THOUSANDS
OF YEARS, IT HAS BEEN THE PLAYGROUND OF EMPERORS AND KINGS,
AND WE HOPE YOU WILL TAKE THE TIME TO FIND OUT WHY.
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HISTORICAL
BACKGROUND
RECORDED HISTORY IN EGYPT BEGAN AROUND 4,000 B.C. WHEN
B.C. NOMADIC HUNTERS SETTLED IN THE NILE VALLEY. BUT IT
WAS IN 3,100 B.C. THAT EGYPT CROWNED HER FIRST PHARAOH,
MENES, WHO LATER UNIFIED THE COUNTRY’S TWO REGIONS, LOWER
EGYPT (THE DELTA) AND UPPER EGYPT (FROM GIZA TO ASWAN
IN THE SOUTH). EGYPT’S HISTORY CAN BE SUMMARIZED AS FOLLOWS:
PREDYNASTIC EGYPT:
C 5,000 - 3,200 B.C.
DYNASTIC
EGYPT: C 3,200 - 2,700 B.C. DEVELOPMENT
OF SOCIETY,LAW AND RELIGION.
THE
OLD KINGDOM: C 2,700 - 2,600 B.C.GREAT
ACHIEVEMENTS ESPECIALLY IN THE FIELDS OF ADMINISTRATION,
ASTRONOMY AND ARCHITECTURE.
THE
MIDDLE KINGDOM: C 2,260 - 1,780 B.C. AN
ERA OF PROSPERITY AND EXPANSION OF POLITICAL STRENGTH
AND ECONOMIC, HORIZONS. THEBES BECAME THE CAPITAL. LATER,
EGYPT WAS INVADED BY THE HYKSOS, COMING FROM CAUCASIA,
WHO REMAINED FOR 150 YEARS UNTIL FINALLY DRIVEN BACK.
THE NEW KINGDOM:
C 1,580 - 1,085 B.C. FOUR CENTURIES OF SPLENDOR, PROSPERITY
AND SPIRITUAL AND ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENTS. ARCHITECTURE
REACHES HEIGHTS.
THE
DECLINE: C 1,090 - 332 B.C. THE COUNTRY
FELL UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF PRIESTS. IN 525 B.C. EGYPT
WAS CONQUERED BY THE PERSIANS.
THE GRECO-ROMAN PERIOD: C 332 B.C. - 640 A.D. IN 332 B.C.
ALEXANDER THE GREAT TOOK POSSESSION OF EGYPT, CALLED HIMSELF
A PHARAOH, AND FOUNDED THE CITY OF ALEXANDRIA. AFTER HIS
DEATH, THE PTOLEMAIC DYNASTY WAS FOUNDED, AND ALEXANDRIA
FLOURISHED. DISPUTES AND FRATRICIDAL WARS ENDED THE GREEK
DOMINATION MARKED BY CLEOPATRA’S SUICIDE. AFTERWARDS,
EGYPT BECAME A ROMAN PROVINCE.
THE
COPTIC PERIOD: 30 B.C. - 640 A.D. IN 61
A.D. CHNSTIANITY WAS INTRODUCED TO EGYPT BY ST. MARK WHO
FOUNDED THE PATRIARCHATE OF ALEXANDRIA, AND BY 190 A.D.
THERE WAS A LARGE AND FLOURISHING CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY.
AFTER THE ROMAN EMPIRE WAS OFFICIALLY DIVIDED IN 395 A.D.,
EGYPT BECAME A PART OF ITS EASTERN PORTION, KNOWN AS THE
BYZANTINE EMPIRE WHOSE RELIGION WAS CHRISTIANITY. A FEW
YEARS LATER, THE ALEXANDRIA PATRIARCH PREACHED A DOCTRINE
OF CHRISTIANITY WHICH WAS REJECTED BY TH BYZANTINE CHURCH.
CONSEQUENTLY, THE COPTIC CHRISTIANS IN EGYPT WERE PERSECUTED
BY THE MELKITE ORTHODOX.
THE
ISLAMIC PERIOD: IN 641 A.D., THE BYZANTINES
WERE DEFEATED BY ARAB MOSLEM ARMIES LED BY AMR IBN EL-AS
WHO BUILT HIS CAPITAL NEAR PRESENT-DAY CAIRO. EGYPT BECAME
AN ARAB COUNTRY WITH A MOSLEM MAJORITY AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
WAS ACCORDED TO PEOPLE. LATER EGYPT WAS INVADED BY OTTOMAN
SULTANS WHO RELIED ON MAMELOUKS (SLAVES) TO GOVERN THE
COUNTRY. IN 1798, NAPOLEON CONQUERED EGYPT BUT HAD TO
WITHDRAW AFTER HIS DEFEAT AT THE NAVAL BATTLE OF ABU-KIR,
NEAR ALEXANDRIA. AN ALBANIAN OFFICER IN THE OTTOMAN SERVICE
CALLED MOHAMED ALI DECLARED HIMSELF RULER OF THE COUNTRY,
AND DURING HIS REIGN (1805- 1849) IN MANY FIELDS, EGYPT
MADE TREMENDOUS PROGRESS; HOWEVER, UNDER THE RULE OF HIS
GRANDSON, KHEDIVE ISMAIL, THE NECESSITY FOR FOREIGN CAPITAL
TO FINANCE DIGGING THE SUEZ CANAL LEAD TO BRITISH RULE
IN EGYPT.
THE
1952 REVOLUTION: IN 1952, THE ROYAL DYNASTY
ESTABLISHED BY MOHAMED AU CAME TO AN END WHEN A GROUP
OF ARMY OFFICERS FORCED THE ABDICATION OF KING FAROUK,
AND IN 1954 GAMAL ABDEL-NASSER BECAME EGYPT’S PRESIDENT.
EGYPT WAS PROCLAIMED A REPUBLIC. AFTER HIS DEATH IN 1970,
NASSER WAS SUCCEEDED BY MOHAMED ANWAR EL-SADAT WHO WAS
ASSASSINATED IN 1981. MOHAMED HOSNI MOUBARAK WAS ELECTED
TO PRESIDENCY.
THE EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENT: EGYPT IS CALLED
THE ARAB REPUBLIC OF EGYPT. THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT IS
DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL. THE PRESIDENT IS NOMINATED BY
THE PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY COMPOSED OF 350 MEMBERS AND APPROVED
THROUGH POPULAR REFERENDUM. HE SERVES A 6 -YEAR TERM AND
MAY BE RE-ELECTED FOR FURTHER TERMS OF OFFICE.
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| MAP OF EGYPT |
MAP OF AVERAGE DISTANCES
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| GENERAL
INFORMATION |
THE
LAND: EGYPT IS LOCATED IN THE NORTHEASTERN
CORNER OF AFRICA AND COVERS AN AREA OF 386,000 SQUARE
MILES. ONLY ABOUT 5% OF THE COUNTRY IS INHABITED
ALONG THE BANKS OF THE NILE WHOSE COURSE STRETCHES
OVER 900 MILES FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN IN THE NORTH
TO THE SUDAN IN THE SOUTH. TO THE WEST LIES LIBYA
AND TO THE EAST ARE THE DESERT PLATEAU, RED SEA
AND SINAI. EGYPT’S MOST FERTILE AREA IS THE NILE
DELTA. CAIRO, EGYPT’S CAPITAL, HAS 16 MILLION INHABITANTS,
AND ALEXANDRIA, THE COUNTRY’S SECOND LARGEST CITY,
HAS A POPULATION OF 5.5 MILLION.
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THE
PEOPLE: IN 1998, EGYPT’S POPULATION
TOTALLED. 66 MILLION. ABOUT 90% OF EGYPTIANS ARE
CONCENTRATED IN THE FERTILE NILE DELTA AND LIVE
IN 5% OF THE COUNTRY’S TERRITORY - 44% IN URBAN
AREAS AND MOST IN SOME 4,000 VILLAGES. HOWEVER,
DURING THE PAST FEW YEARS, THERE HAS BEEN AN URBAN
MIGRATION. THE EGYPTIANS ARE OUTGOING, WARM AND
HAVE A DISTINCT SENSE OF HUMOR. THEY HAVE RESPECT
AND A LIKING FOR FOREIGNERS, AND A DEEP SENSE OF
TOLERANCE FOR OTHER RACES, RELIGIONS AND NATIONALITIES.
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LANGUAGE:
ARABIC IS EGYPT’S OFFICIAL LANGUAGE. HOWEVER, MOST
EGYPTIANS UNDERSTAND AND SPEAK ENGLISH AND FRENCH.
IN LARGER TOWNS, THE FOREIGN VISITORS WILL ENCOUNTER
NO DIFFICULTY IN COMMUNICATING WITH THE PEOPLE.
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WEATHER:
AUTUMN AND WINTER ARE THE IDEAL SEASONS TO VISIT
EGYPT WHEN MILD WEATHER PREVAILS, TEMPERATURES VARY
BETWEEN 60 AND 80 FAHRENHEIT. EVENINGS ARE COOL.
DURING APRIL, AN OCCASIONAL HOT SAND WIND BLOWS
WHICH CAN MAKE SIGHTSEEING LESS ENJOYABLE. THE SUMMER
MONTHS ARE HOT, 80 - 105; HOWEVER, THE AIR IS DRY
AND HUMIDITY LOW. IN ALEXANDRIA, ON THE MEDITERRANEAN,
THE MONTHS OF DECEMBER THROUGH FEBRUARY ARE RAINY
AND COLD. OCTOBER TO APRIL REPRESENTS THE BEST TIME,
WITH WATER TEMPERATURES OF 60 TO 70 F.
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RELIGION:
APPROXIMATELY 85 PERCENT OF THE POPULATION OF EGYPT
ARE MOSLEMS. MOST OF THE BALANCE, ABOUT 9 MILLION,
ARE CHRISTIAN ORTHODOX WHO BELONG TO THE COPTIC
CHURCH. IN MOST CITIES IN EGYPT, MOSQUES AND CHURCHES
CAN BE FOUND NEXT TO EACH OTHER. THERE ARE ALSO
SOME SYNAGOGUES SINCE A SMALL JEWISH COMMUNITY STILL
LIVES IN EGYPT.
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ECONOMY:
BEFORE THE 1952 REVOLUTION, EGYPT’S ECONOMY DEPENDED
MAINLY ON AGRICULTURE. SINCE THEN, HOWEVER, THE
COUNTRY HAS DEVELOPED ITS OTHER NATURAL RESOURCES,
AND AT PRESENT EGYPT EXPORTS OIL, FINISHED TEXTILES,
CANNED FOOD, CARS, AND THE SUEZ CANAL IS CONSIDERED
AN IMPORTANT SOURCE OF REVENUE AS AN AVERAGE OF
70 SHIPS CROSS IT DAILY AND PAY FEES. .TOURISM IS
A MAIN PART OF THE ECONOMY. IN AN EFFORT TO INCREASE
ITS CULTIVABLE LAND, THE COUNTRY IS USING NEW IRRIGATION
METHODS, AND IN PARTS OF THE DESERT NEW CITIES HAVE
BEEN BUILT.
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