Egypt
Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Palestine and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. The Gulf of Aqaba in the northeast separates Egypt from Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Cairo is the capital, largest city, and leading cultural centre, while Alexandria is the second-largest city and an important hub of industry and tourism. With over 107 million inhabitants, Egypt is the third-most populous country in Africa and 15th-most populated in the world.
Egypt has one of the longest histories of any country, tracing its heritage along the Nile Delta back to the 6th–4th millennia BCE. Considered a cradle of civilisation, Ancient Egypt saw some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanisation, organised religion and central government. Egypt was an early and important centre of Christianity, later adopting Islam from the seventh century onwards. Alexandria, Egypt's former capital and currently second largest city, was a hub of global knowledge through its Library. Cairo became the capital of the Fatimid Caliphate in the tenth century and of the subsequent Mamluk Sultanate in the 13th century. Egypt then became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1517, until its local ruler Muhammad Ali established modern Egypt as an autonomous Khedivate in 1867. The country was then occupied by the British Empire along with Sudan and gained independence in 1922 as a monarchy.
Following the 1952 revolution, Egypt declared itself a republic. Between 1958 and 1961, Egypt merged with Syria to form the United Arab Republic. Egypt fought several armed conflicts with Israel in 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973, and occupied the Gaza Strip intermittently until 1967. In 1978, Egypt signed the Camp David Accords, which recognised Israel in exchange for its withdrawal from the occupied Sinai. After the Arab Spring, which led to the 2011 Egyptian revolution and overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, the country faced a protracted period of political unrest; its first democratic election in 2012 resulted in the short-lived, Muslim Brotherhood-aligned government of Mohamed Morsi, which was overthrown by the military after mass protests in 2013. The current government is a semi-presidential republic led by Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who was elected in 2014 but is widely regarded as authoritarian.
Egypt is a developing country with the second-largest economy in Africa. It is considered to be a regional power in the Middle East, North Africa and the Muslim world, and a middle power worldwide. Islam is the official religion and Arabic its official language. Egypt is a founding member of the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Arab League, the African Union, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, World Youth Forum, and a member of BRICS.
Names
Ancient Egypt had several names; one of them was , which means black land likely referring to the fertile black soils of the Nile flood plains, distinct from the deshret, or "red land" of the desert. This name is commonly vocalised as Kemet, but was probably pronounced in ancient Egyptian. The name is realised as ' in Egyptian Coptic, and appeared in Early Greek as Χημία. Another name was "land of the riverbank".The names of Upper and Lower Egypt were Ta-Sheme'aw "sedgeland" and Ta-Mehew "northland", respectively. They were also collectively called "tꜣwy", meaning The Two Lands, referring to both Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt after unification.
The English name "Egypt" is derived from the Ancient Greek "", via Middle French "Egypte" and Latin "Aegyptus". It is reflected in early Greek Linear B tablets as "a-ku-pi-ti-yo". The ancient Greek geographer Strabo provided a folk etymology stating that "Αἴγυπτος" had originally evolved as a compound from "Aἰγαίου ὑπτίως", meaning "Below the Aegean". The actual derivation is thought to be from ḥwt-kꜣ-ptḥ, "Temple of the Ka of Ptah," a term for the city of Memphis.
"" is the Classical Quranic Arabic and modern official name of Egypt, while "" is the local pronunciation in Egyptian Arabic. The current name of Egypt, Misr/Misir/Misru, stems from the Ancient Semitic name for it. The term originally connoted "Civilisation" or "Metropolis". Classical Arabic ' is directly cognate with the Biblical Hebrew Miṣráyīm, meaning "the two straits", a reference to the predynastic separation of Upper and Lower Egypt. Also mentioned in several Semitic languages as Mesru, Misir and Masar. The oldest attestation of this name for Egypt is the Akkadian "mi-iṣ-ru" related to miṣru/miṣirru/miṣaru, meaning "border" or "frontier". The Neo-Assyrian Empire used the derived term, Mu-ṣur.
History
Prehistoric Egypt
Evidence of rock carvings along the Nile and in surrounding oases indicates early habitation. In the 10th millennium BCE, a culture of hunter-gatherers and fishers was replaced by a grain-grinding culture. Climate changes or overgrazing around 8000 BCE began to desiccate the pastoral lands of Egypt, forming the Sahara. Early tribal peoples migrated to the Nile River where they developed a settled agricultural economy and more centralised society.By about 6000 BCE, a Neolithic culture took root in the Nile Valley. During the Neolithic era, several predynastic cultures developed independently in Upper and Lower Egypt. The Badarian culture and the successor Naqada series are generally regarded as precursors to dynastic Egypt. The earliest known Lower Egyptian site, Merimda, predates the Badarian by about seven hundred years. Contemporaneous Lower Egyptian communities coexisted with their southern counterparts for more than two thousand years, remaining culturally distinct, but maintaining frequent contact through trade. The earliest known evidence of Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions appeared during the predynastic period on Naqada III pottery vessels, dated to about 3200 BCE.
Ancient Egypt (3150 BCE–305 BCE)
Around BCE, King Menes unified Egypt, establishing a succession of dynasties that ruled for three millennia. Egyptian civilisation thrived with distinctive achievements in religion, art, and writing. The Old Kingdom saw the construction of the pyramids, including those at Giza. A brief interregnum followed, succeeded by the Middle Kingdom, a phase of renewed stability and prosperity under rulers such as Amenemhat III.After the Second Intermediate Period and the Hyksos occupation, Egypt was reunified by Ahmose I, founder of the Eighteenth Dynasty and the New Kingdom. This era marked Egypt's height as a major power in the region, extending influence into Nubia and the Levant. It produced many of Egypt's most renowned Pharaohs, Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Akhenaten, Tutankhamun, and Ramesses II, and witnessed the rise of Atenism, one of the earliest forms of monotheism. Despite later invasions by Libyans, Nubians, and Assyrians, native dynasties eventually reasserted control.
In 525 BCE, Cambyses II of Persia conquered Egypt, beginning the Achaemenid satrapy period. Although several revolts occurred, Egypt remained under Persian control until briefly regaining independence before falling again in 343 BCE. The Thirtieth Dynasty was the last native royal house. Following renewed Persian domination, Alexander the Great conquered Egypt in 332 BCE, after which his general Ptolemy I Soter established the Ptolemaic dynasty.
Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt (305 BCE–641 CE)
The Ptolemaic Kingdom was a Hellenistic state from southern Syria to Cyrene and south to Nubia, with Alexandria as its capital and a centre of Greek culture and trade. The Ptolemies adopted pharaonic traditions to legitimise their rule, appearing on monuments in Egyptian style and participating in local religious life. The Lighthouse of Alexandria, built c. 280 BCE, was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, later destroyed by earthquakes. The last ruler, Cleopatra VII, committed suicide after Octavian captured Alexandria, ending the dynasty and paving the way for Roman annexation. Native rebellions and dynastic disputes weakened the kingdom, facilitating its annexation by Rome.Egypt was a wealthy imperial province of the Roman Empire, supplying grain and hosting the major city of Alexandria. Governed with Roman administration and Hellenistic culture, its population primarily spoke Greek in major cities and Coptic Egyptian in rural areas. Christianity reached Egypt in the 1st century, brought by Saint Mark the Evangelist. During Diocletian's reign, the New Testament had been translated into Egyptian and many Egyptian Christians were persecuted. By CE 451, a distinct Coptic Church was firmly established.
Middle Ages (641–1517)
The Byzantines regained control of Egypt after a brief Sasanid Persian invasion early in the 7th century, until 639–42, when the country was conquered by Arab Muslim forces under Amr ibn al-As. The Arabs defeated the Byzantine armies, bringing Islam to Egypt. Alexandria briefly returned to Byzantine control in 645 but fell again to the Arabs in 646. In 654, an invasion fleet sent by Constans II was repulsed. The Arabs founded Fustat, later replaced by Cairo in 969.Under the Abbasid caliphate, Egypt was governed through deputies residing in Baghdad. Revolts occurred frequently, including the Egyptian revolt of 828 and the uprising of 831 when Copts joined Muslims against the government. Semi-independent dynasties arose, including the Tulunid dynasty and Ikhshidid dynasty, which maintained Abbasid allegiance while exercising local authority.
The Fatimid Caliphate ruled Egypt from the 10th century, with Cairo as their capital. After the Fatimids, the Ayyubid dynasty governed until 1250, when the Mamluks, a military caste of Turco-Circassian origin, took control. The Mamluks ruled Egypt for the next three centuries and maintained control over parts of the Levant. By the late 13th century, Egypt linked trade routes connecting the Red Sea with India, Malaya, and the East Indies. The mid-14th century Black Death killed about 40% of Egypt's population.