History of Egypt

The history of Egypt has been long and wealthy, due to the flow of the Nile River with its fertile
banks and delta, as well as the accomplishments of Egypt's native inhabitants and outside
influence. Much of Egypt's ancient history was a mystery until Egyptian hieroglyphs were
deciphered with the discovery and help of the Rosetta Stone. Among the Seven Wonders of the
Ancient World is the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Ancient Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper
and Lower Egypt under the first king of the First Dynasty, Narmer. Predominantly native Egyptian
rule lasted until the conquest by the Achaemenid Empire in the sixth century BC.

In 332 BC, Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great conquered Egypt as he toppled the
Achaemenids and established the Hellenistic Ptolemaic Kingdom, whose first ruler was one of
Alexander's former generals, Ptolemy I Soter. The Ptolemies had to fight native rebellions and
were involved in foreign and civil wars that led to the decline of the kingdom and its final
annexation by Rome. The death of Cleopatra ended the nominal independence of Egypt resulting
in Egypt's becoming one of the provinces of the Roman Empire.

Roman rule in Egypt (including Byzantine) lasted from 30 BC to 641 AD, with a brief interlude of
control by the Sasanian Empire between 619 and 629, known as Sasanian Egypt.[1] After the
Muslim conquest of Egypt, parts of Egypt became provinces of successive Caliphates and other
Muslim dynasties: Rashidun Caliphate (632-661), Umayyad Caliphate (661–750), Abbasid
Caliphate (750–935), Fatimid Caliphate (909–1171), Ayyubid Sultanate (1171–1260), and the
Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517). In 1517, Ottoman sultan Selim I captured Cairo, absorbing
Egypt into the Ottoman Empire.
Egypt remained entirely Ottoman until 1867, except during French occupation from 1798 to
1801.[2] Starting in 1867, Egypt became a nominally autonomous tributary state called the
Khedivate of Egypt. However, Khedivate Egypt fell under British control in 1882 following the
Anglo-Egyptian War. After the end of World War I and following the Egyptian revolution of 1919,
the Kingdom of Egypt was established. While a de jure independent state, the United Kingdom
retained control over foreign affairs, defense, and other matters. British occupation lasted until
1954, with the Anglo-Egyptian agreement of 1954.

The modern Republic of Egypt was founded in 1953, and with the complete withdrawal of British
forces from the Suez Canal in 1956, it marked the first time in 2500 years that Egypt was both
fully independent and ruled by native Egyptians. President Gamal Abdel Nasser (president from
1956 to 1970) introduced many reforms and created the short-lived United Arab Republic (with
Syria). His terms also saw the Six-Day War and the creation of the international Non-Aligned
Movement. His successor, Anwar Sadat (president from 1970 to 1981) changed Egypt's
trajectory, departing from many of the political, and economic tenets of Nasserism, re-instituting
a multi-party system and launching the Infitah economic policy. He led Egypt in the Yom Kippur
War of 1973 to regain Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, which Israel had occupied since the Six-Day War
of 1967. This later led to the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty.

Recent Egyptian history has been dominated by events following nearly thirty years of rule by the
former president Hosni Mubarak. The Egyptian revolution of 2011 deposed Mubarak and
resulted in the first democratically elected president in Egyptian history, Mohamed Morsi. Unrest
after the 2011 revolution and related disputes led to the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état.

Prehistory (pre-3100 BC)

Artifacts of Egypt from the Prehistoric period, from 4400 to 3100 BC. First row from top left: a Badarian ivory figurine, a
Naqada II jar, a Bat figurine. Second row: a diorite vase, a flint knife, a cosmetic palette.

There is evidence of petroglyphs along the Nile terraces and in desert oases. In the 10th
millennium BC, a culture of hunter-gatherers and fishermen was replaced by a grain-grinding
culture. Climate changes and/or overgrazing around 6000 BC 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 centralized society.[3]

By about 6000 BC, a Neolithic culture rooted in the Nile Valley.[4] During the Neolithic era, several
predynastic cultures developed independently in Upper and Lower Egypt. The Badari 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 BC.[5]

Ancient Egypt (3100–332 BC)

Early Dynastic Period and the Old Kingdom

A unified kingdom was formed in 3150 BC by King Menes, leading to a series of dynasties that
ruled Egypt for the next three millennia. Egyptian culture flourished during this long period and
remained distinctively Egyptian in its religion, arts, language and customs.

The Great Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza, built during the Old Kingdom.

The first two ruling dynasties of a unified Egypt set the stage for the Old Kingdom period (c.
2700–2200 BC), which constructed many pyramids, most notably the Third Dynasty pyramid of
Djoser and the Fourth Dynasty Giza Pyramids.

First Intermediate Period, the Middle Kingdom and the Second Intermediate
Period

The First Intermediate Period ushered in a time of political upheaval for about 150 years.[6]
Stronger Nile floods and stabilization of government, however, brought back renewed prosperity
for the country in the Middle Kingdom c. 2040 BC, reaching a peak during the reign of Pharaoh
Amenemhat III. A second period of disunity heralded the arrival of the first foreign ruling dynasty
in Egypt, that of the Semitic-speaking Hyksos. The Hyksos invaders took over much of Lower
Egypt around 1650 BC and founded a new capital at Avaris. They were driven out by an Upper
Egyptian force led by Ahmose I, who founded the Eighteenth Dynasty and relocated the capital
from Memphis to Thebes.

New Kingdom, Third Intermediate Period and Late Period

The New Kingdom (c. 1550–1070 BC) began with the Eighteenth Dynasty, marking the rise of
Egypt as an international power that expanded during its greatest extension to an empire as far
south as Tombos in Nubia, and included parts of the Levant in the east. This period is noted for
some of the most well known Pharaohs, including Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Akhenaten and his
wife Nefertiti, Tutankhamun and Ramesses II. The first historically attested expression of
monotheism came during this period as Atenism, although some consider Atenism to be a form
of monolatry rather than of monotheism. Frequent contacts with other nations brought new
ideas to the New Kingdom. The country was later invaded and conquered by Libyans, Nubians
and Assyrians, but native Egyptians eventually drove them out and regained control of their
country.[7]

Achaemenid rule

Egyptian soldier of the Achaemenid army, circa 470 BCE. Xerxes I tomb relief.

In the sixth century BC, the Achaemenid Empire conquered Egypt.[8] The entire Twenty-seventh
Dynasty of Egypt, from 525 BC to 402 BC, save for Petubastis III, was an entirely Persian-ruled
period, with the Achaemenid kings being granted the title of pharaoh.[8] The Thirtieth Dynasty
was the last native ruling dynasty during the Pharaonic epoch.[8] It fell to the Persians again in
343 BC after the last native Pharaoh, King Nectanebo II, was defeated in battle.[8]

Second Achaemenid conquest

The Thirty-first Dynasty of Egypt, also known as the Second Egyptian Satrapy, was effectively a
short-living province of the Achaemenid Empire between 343 BC to 332 BC.[9] After an interval of
independence, during which three indigenous dynasties reigned (the 28th, 29th and 30th
dynasty), Artaxerxes III (358–338 BC) reconquered the Nile valley for a brief second period
(343–332 BC), which is called the Thirty-first Dynasty of Egypt, thus starting another period of
pharaohs of Persian origin.[10]

A team led by Johannes Krause managed the first reliable sequencing of the genomes of 90
mummified individuals in 2017. Whilst not conclusive, because of the non-exhaustive time frame
and restricted location that the mummies represent, their study nevertheless showed that these
Ancient Egyptians "closely resembled ancient and modern Near Eastern populations, especially
those in the Levant, and had almost no DNA from sub-Saharan Africa. What's more, the genetics
of the mummies remained remarkably consistent even as different powers—including Nubians,
Greeks, and Romans—conquered the empire".[11]

Greek rule

Ptolemaic Kingdom

The Greek Ptolemaic queen Cleopatra and her son by Julius Caesar, Caesarion, at the Dendera Temple complex.

The Ptolemaic Kingdom was a powerful Hellenistic state extending from southern Syria in the
east, to Cyrene to the west, and south to the frontier with Nubia. Alexandria became the capital
city and a center of Greek culture and trade. To gain recognition by the native Egyptian populace,
they named themselves as the successors to the Pharaohs. The later Ptolemies took on
Egyptian traditions, had themselves portrayed on public monuments in Egyptian style and dress,
and participated in Egyptian religious life.[12][13]

The last ruler from the Ptolemaic dynasty was Cleopatra, who committed suicide following the
burial of her lover Mark Antony, who had died in her arms (from a self-inflicted stab wound) after
Augustus had captured Alexandria and her mercenary forces had fled.

The Ptolemies faced rebellions of native Egyptians, often caused by an unwanted regime, and
were involved in foreign and civil wars that led to the decline of the kingdom and its annexation
by Rome. Nevertheless, Hellenistic culture continued to thrive in Egypt well after the Muslim
conquest. The native Egyptian/Coptic culture continued to exist as well (the Coptic language
itself was Egypt's most widely spoken language until at least the 10th century).

Roman Egypt

Roman province of Egypt

Egypt quickly became the Empire's breadbasket supplying the greater portion of the Empire's
grain in addition to flax, papyrus, glass and many other finished goods. The city of Alexandria
became a key trading outpost for the Roman Empire (by some accounts, the most important for
a time). Shipping from Egypt regularly reached India and Ethiopia among other international
destinations.[14] It was also a leading (perhaps the leading) scientific and technological center of
the Empire. Scholars such as Ptolemy, Hypatia, and Heron broke new ground in astronomy,
mathematics, and other disciplines. Culturally, the city of Alexandria at times rivaled Rome in its
importance.[15]

Diocese of Egypt
The Hanging Church of Cairo, first built in the 3rd or 4th century, is one of the most famous Coptic Orthodox churches in
Egypt.

Christianity reached Egypt relatively early in the evangelist period of the first century
(traditionally credited to Mark the Evangelist).[16] Alexandria, Egypt and Antioch, Syria quickly
became the leading centers of Christianity.[17] Diocletian's reign marked the transition from the
classical Roman to the Late antique/Byzantine era in Egypt, when a great number of Egyptian
Christians were persecuted. The New Testament had by then been translated into Egyptian. After
the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451, a distinct Egyptian Coptic Church was firmly established.[18]

Sassanid Conquest of Egypt

Sasanian Egypt (known in Middle Persian sources as Agiptus) refers to the brief rule of Egypt
and parts of Libya by the Sasanian Empire, which lasted from 619 to 629,[19] until the Sasanian
rebel Shahrbaraz made an alliance with the Byzantine emperor Heraclius and had control over
Egypt returned to him.[19]

Early Islamic Egypt

The Byzantines were able to regain control of the country after a brief Persian invasion early in
the 7th century, until 639–642, when Egypt was invaded and conquered by the Arab Islamic
Empire. The final loss of Egypt was of incalculable significance to the Byzantine Empire, which
had relied on Egypt for many agricultural and manufactured goods.
Extent of the Tulunid domains under Khumarawayh, in 893

When they defeated the Byzantine armies in Egypt, the Arabs brought Sunni Islam to the country.
Early in this period, Egyptians began to blend their new faith with their Christian traditions as well
as other indigenous beliefs and practices, leading to various Sufi orders that have flourished to
this day.[16] These earlier rites had survived the period of Coptic Christianity.[20]

Late Medieval Egypt

The Al-Azhar Mosque, of medieval Fatimid Cairo.

Muslim rulers nominated by the Islamic Caliphate remained in control of Egypt for the next six
centuries, with Cairo as the seat of the Caliphate under the Fatimids. With the end of the Kurdish
Ayyubid dynasty, the Mamluks, a Turco-Circassian military caste, took control about AD 1250. By
the late 13th century, Egypt linked the Red Sea, India, Malaya, and East Indies.[21] The Greek and
Coptic languages and cultures went into a steep decline in favor of Arabic culture (though Coptic
managed to last as a spoken language until the 17th century and remains a liturgical language
today).

The Mamluks continued to govern the country until the conquest of Egypt by the Ottoman Turks
in 1517, after which it became a province of the Ottoman Empire. The mid-14th-century Black
Death killed about 40% of the population of Egypt.[22]

Ottoman Egypt

Selim I (1470–1520), conquered Egypt

After the 15th century, the Ottoman invasion pushed the Egyptian system into decline. The
defensive militarization damaged its civil society and economic institutions.[21] The weakening
of the economic system combined with the effects of the plague left Egypt vulnerable to foreign
invasion. Portuguese traders took over their trade.[21] Egypt suffered six famines between 1687
and 1731.[23] The 1784 famine cost it roughly one-sixth of its population.[24]
The brief French invasion of Egypt led by Napoleon Bonaparte began in 1798. The campaign
eventually led to the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, creating the field of Egyptology. Despite
early victories and an initially successful expedition into Syria, Napoleon and his Armée d'Orient
were eventually defeated and forced to withdraw, especially after suffering the defeat of the
supporting French fleet at the Battle of the Nile.

Muhammed Ali Dynasty

The expulsion of the French in 1801 by Ottoman, Mamluk, and British forces was followed by
four years of anarchy in which Ottomans, Mamluks, and Albanians — who were nominally in the
service of the Ottomans – wrestled for power. Out of this chaos, the commander of the Albanian
regiment, Muhammad Ali (Kavalali Mehmed Ali Pasha) emerged as a dominant figure and in
1805 was acknowledged by the Sultan in Istanbul as his viceroy in Egypt; the title implied
subordination to the Sultan but this was in fact a polite fiction: Ottoman power in Egypt was
finished and Muhammad Ali, an ambitious and able leader, established a dynasty that was to
rule Egypt until the revolution of 1952. After 1882 the dynasty became a British puppet.[25]

Ali's primary focus was military: he annexed Northern Sudan (1820–1824), Syria (1833), and
parts of Arabia and Anatolia; but in 1841 the European powers, fearful lest he topple the
Ottoman Empire itself, forced him to return most of his conquests to the Ottomans, but he kept
the Sudan and his title to Egypt was made hereditary. A more lasting result of his military
ambition is that it required him to modernize the country. Eager to adopt the military (and
therefore industrial) techniques of the great powers, he sent students to the West and invited
training missions to Egypt. He built industries, a system of canals for irrigation and transport,
and reformed the civil service.[26]

The introduction in 1820 of long-staple cotton, the Egyptian variety of which became notable,
transformed its agriculture into a cash-crop monoculture before the end of the century. The
social effects of this were enormous: land ownership became concentrated and many foreigners
arrived, shifting production towards international markets.[26]

British Protectorate (1882–1952)

Nationalists demonstrating in Cairo, 1919

British indirect rule lasted from 1882, when the British succeeded in defeating the Egyptian Army
at Tel el-Kebir in September and took control of the country, to the 1952 Egyptian revolution
which made Egypt a republic and when British advisers were expelled.

Muhammad Ali was succeeded briefly by his son Ibrahim (in September 1848), then by a
grandson Abbas I (in November 1848), then by Said (in 1854), and Isma'il (in 1863). Abbas I was
cautious. Said and Ismail were ambitious developers, but they spent beyond their means. The
Suez Canal, built in partnership with the French, was completed in 1869. The cost of this and
other projects had two effects: it led to enormous debt to European banks, and caused popular
discontent because of the onerous taxation it required. In 1875, Ismail sold Egypt's 44% share in
the canal to the British Government. Ismaiel also tried to conquer the Ethiopian Empire and was
defeated twice at Gundet in 1875 and again at the Battle of Gura in 1876.

Within three years this led to the imposition of British and French controllers who sat in the
Egyptian cabinet, and, "with the financial power of the bondholders behind them, were the real
power in the Government."[27]

Local dissatisfaction with Ismail and with European intrusion led to the formation of the first
nationalist groupings in 1879, with Ahmad Urabi a prominent figure. In 1882 he became head of
a nationalist-dominated ministry committed to democratic reforms including parliamentary
control of the budget. Fearing a reduction of their control, Britain and France intervened militarily,
bombarding Alexandria and crushing the Egyptian army at the battle of Tel el-Kebir.[28] They
reinstalled Ismail's son Tewfik as the figurehead of a de facto British protectorate.[29][30] In 1914,
the Protectorate was made official, and the Ottoman Empire no longer had a role. The title for
the head of state, which in 1867 had changed from pasha to khedive, was changed again to
sultan. Abbas II was deposed as khedive and replaced by his uncle, Hussein Kamel, as sultan.[31]

In 1906, the Dinshaway Incident prompted many neutral Egyptians to join the nationalist
movement. After the First World War, Saad Zaghlul and the Wafd Party led the Egyptian
nationalist movement to a majority at the local Legislative Assembly. When the British exiled
Zaghlul and his associates to Malta on 8 March 1919, the country arose in its first modern
revolution. The revolt led the UK government to issue a unilateral declaration of Egypt's
independence on 22 February 1922.[32]

The new government drafted and implemented a constitution in 1923 based on a parliamentary
system. Saad Zaghlul was popularly elected as Prime Minister of Egypt in 1924. In 1936, the
Anglo-Egyptian Treaty was concluded. Continued instability due to remaining British influence
and increasing political involvement by the king led to the dissolution of the parliament in a
military coup d'état known as the 1952 Revolution. The Free Officers Movement forced King
Farouk to abdicate in support of his son Fuad.

British military presence in Egypt lasted until 1954.[33]

Republican Egypt (since 1953)

Celebrating the signing of the Camp David Accords: Menachem Begin, Jimmy Carter, Anwar Al Sadat.

On 18 June 1953, the Egyptian Republic was declared, with General Muhammad Naguib as the
first President of the Republic. Naguib was forced to resign in 1954 by Gamal Abdel Nasser –
the real architect of the 1952 movement – and was later put under house arrest.
Nasser era

Nasser assumed power as president in June 1956. British forces completed their withdrawal
from the occupied Suez Canal Zone on 13 June 1956. He nationalized the Suez Canal on 26 July
1956, prompting the 1956 Suez Crisis.

In 1958, Egypt and Syria formed a sovereign union known as the United Arab Republic. The union
was short-lived, ending in 1961 when Syria seceded, thus ending the union. During most of its
existence, the United Arab Republic was also in a loose confederation with North Yemen (the
Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen) known as the United Arab States.

In the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel invaded and occupied Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip,
which Egypt had occupied since the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Three years later (1970), President
Nasser died and was succeeded by Anwar Sadat.

Sadat era

Sadat switched Egypt's Cold War allegiance from the Soviet Union to the United States, expelling
Soviet advisors in 1972. He launched the Infitah economic reform policy, while clamping down
on religious and secular opposition.

In 1973, Egypt, along with Syria, launched the October War, a surprise attack against the Israeli
forces occupying the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights. It was an attempt to regain part of
the Sinai territory that Israel had captured six years earlier. Sadat hoped to seize some territory
through military force, and then regain the rest of the peninsula by diplomacy. The conflict
sparked an international crisis between the US and the USSR, both of whom intervened. The
second UN-mandated ceasefire halted military action. While the war ended with a military
stalemate, it presented Sadat with a political victory that later allowed him to regain the Sinai in
return for peace with Israel.[34]

Sadat made a historic visit to Israel in 1977, which led to the 1979 peace treaty in exchange for
Israeli withdrawal from Sinai. Sadat's initiative sparked enormous controversy in the Arab world
and led to Egypt's expulsion from the Arab League, but it was supported by most Egyptians.[35]
On 6 October 1981, Sadat and six diplomats were assassinated while observing a military
parade commemorating the eighth anniversary of the October 1973 War. He was succeeded by
Hosni Mubarak.
Terrorist insurgency

In 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, terrorist attacks in Egypt became numerous and severe, and began
to target Copts and foreign tourists as well as government officials.[36] Some scholars and
authors have credited Islamist writer Sayyid Qutb, who was executed in 1967, as the inspiration
for the new wave of attacks.[37][38]

The 1990s saw an Islamist group, al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, engage in an extended campaign of
violence, from the murders and attempted murders of prominent writers and intellectuals, to the
repeated targeting of tourists and foreigners. Serious damage was done to the largest sector of
Egypt's economy—tourism[39]—and in turn to the government, but it also devastated the
livelihoods of many of the people on whom the group depended for support.[40]

Victims of the campaign against the Egyptian state from 1992 to 1997 exceeded 1,200[41] and
included the head of the counter-terrorism police (Major General Raouf Khayrat), a speaker of
parliament (Rifaat el-Mahgoub), dozens of European tourists and Egyptian bystanders, and over
100 Egyptian police.[42] At times, travel by foreigners in parts of Upper Egypt was severely
restricted and dangerous.[43] On 17 November 1997, 62 people, mostly tourists, were killed near
Luxor. The assailants trapped the people in the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut. During this
period, Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya was given support by the governments of Iran and Sudan, as well
as al-Qaeda.[44] The Egyptian government received support during that time from the United
States.[44]

Civil unrest (2011–14)

Revolution

In 2003, the Kefaya ("Egyptian Movement for Change"), was launched to oppose the Mubarak
regime and to establish democratic reforms and greater civil liberties.
Celebrations in Tahrir Square after Omar Suleiman's statement announcing Hosni Mubarak's resignation

On 25 January 2011, widespread protests began against Mubarak's government. The objective
of the protest was the removal of Mubarak from power. These took the form of an intensive
campaign of civil resistance supported by a very large number of people and mainly consisting
of continuous mass demonstrations. By 29 January, it was becoming clear that Mubarak's
government had lost control when a curfew order was ignored, and the army took a semi-neutral
stance on enforcing the curfew decree.

On 11 February 2011, Mubarak resigned and fled Cairo. Vice President Omar Suleiman
announced that Mubarak had stepped down and that the Egyptian military would assume control
of the nation's affairs in the short term.[45][46] Jubilant celebrations broke out in Tahrir Square at
the news.[47] Mubarak may have left Cairo for Sharm el-Sheikh the previous night, before or
shortly after the airing of a taped speech in which Mubarak vowed he would not step down or
leave.[48]

On 13 February 2011, the high level military command of Egypt announced that both the
constitution and the parliament of Egypt had been dissolved. The parliamentary election was to
be held in September.[49]

A constitutional referendum was held on 19 March 2011. On 28 November 2011, Egypt held its
first parliamentary election since the Mubarak regime fell. Turnout was high and there were no
reports of violence, although members of some parties broke the ban on campaigning at polling
places by handing out pamphlets and banners.[50] There were, however, complaints of
irregularities.[51]

Morsi's presidency

The first round of a presidential election was held in Egypt on 23 and 24 May 2012. Mohamed
Morsi won 25% of the vote and Ahmed Shafik, the last prime minister under deposed leader
Hosni Mubarak, 24%. A second round was held on 16 and 17 June. On 24 June 2012, the
election commission announced that Mohamed Morsi had won the election, making him the first
democratically elected president of Egypt. According to official results, Morsi took 51.7 percent
of the vote while Shafik received 48.3 percent.

On 8 July 2012, Egypt's new president Mohamed Morsi announced he was overriding the military
edict that dissolved the country's elected parliament and called lawmakers back into session.[52]
On 10 July 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt negated the decision by Morsi to
call the nation's parliament back into session.[53] On 2 August 2012, Egypt's Prime Minister
Hisham Qandil announced his 35-member cabinet, including 28 newcomers, of whom four came
from the influential Muslim Brotherhood while six and the former interim military ruler Mohamed
Hussein Tantawi as the Defence Minister came from the previous Government.[54]

On 22 November 2012, Morsi issued a declaration immunizing his decrees from challenge and
seeking to protect the work of the constituent assembly drafting the new constitution.[55] The
declaration also requires a retrial of those accused in the Mubarak-era killings of protesters, who
had been acquitted, and extends the mandate of the constituent assembly by two months.
Additionally, the declaration authorizes Morsi to take any measures necessary to protect the
revolution. Liberal and secular groups previously walked out of the constitutional constituent
assembly because they believed that it would impose strict Islamic practices, while Muslim
Brotherhood backers threw their support behind Morsi.[56]

The move was criticized by Mohamed ElBaradei, the leader of Egypt's Constitution Party, who
stated "Morsi today usurped all state powers & appointed himself Egypt's new pharaoh" on his
Twitter feed.[57] The move led to massive protests and violent action throughout Egypt.[58] On 5
December 2012, Tens of thousands of supporters and opponents of Egypt's president clashed,
hurling rocks and Molotov cocktails and brawling in Cairo's streets, in what was described as the
largest violent battle between Islamists and their foes since the country's revolution.[59] Six
senior advisors and three other officials resigned from the government and the country's leading
Islamic institution called on Morsi to stem his powers. Protesters also clamored from coastal
cities to desert towns.[60]

Morsi offered a "national dialogue" with opposition leaders but refused to cancel a 15 December
vote on a draft constitution written by an Islamist-dominated assembly that has ignited two
weeks of political unrest.[60]

A constitutional referendum was held in two rounds on 15 and 22 December 2012, with 64%
support, and 33% against. It was signed into law by a presidential decree issued by Morsi on 26
December 2012. On 3 July 2013, the constitution was suspended by order of the Egyptian army.

On 30 June 2013, on the first anniversary of the election of Morsi, millions of protesters across
Egypt took to the streets and demanded the immediate resignation of the president. On 1 July,
the Egyptian Armed Forces issued a 48-hour ultimatum that gave the country's political parties
until 3 July to meet the demands of the Egyptian people. The presidency rejected the Egyptian
Army's 48-hour ultimatum, vowing that the president would pursue his own plans for national
reconciliation to resolve the political crisis. On 3 July, General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, head of the
Egyptian Armed Forces, announced that he had removed Morsi from power, suspended the
constitution and would be calling new presidential and Shura Council elections and named
Supreme Constitutional Court's leader, Adly Mansour as acting president. Mansour was sworn in
on 4 July 2013.

After Morsi

During the months after the coup d'état, a new constitution was prepared, which took effect on
18 January 2014. After that, presidential and parliamentary elections have to be held in June
2014. On 24 March 2014, 529 Morsi's supporters were sentenced to death, while the trial of
Morsi himself was still ongoing.[61] Having delivered a final judgement, 492 sentences were
commuted to life imprisonment with 37 death sentences being upheld. On 28 April, another
mass trial took place with 683 Morsi supporters sentenced to death for killing 1 police officer.[62]
In 2015, Egypt participated in the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen.[63]

El-Sisi Presidency

In the elections of June 2014 El-Sisi won with a percentage of 96.1%.[64] Under President el-Sisi,
Egypt has implemented a rigorous policy of controlling the border to the Gaza Strip, including the
dismantling of tunnels between the Gaza strip and Sinai.

Satellite image of Ever Given blocking the canal in March 2021

During the 2020-2021 Tigray War, Egypt was also involved. On 19 December 2020, an EEPA
report stated, based on testimonials of three Egyptian officials and one European diplomat, that
the UAE used its base in Assab (Eritrea) to launch drones strikes against Tigray. The
investigative platform Bellingcat confirmed the presence of Chinese-produced drones at the
UAE's military base in Assab, Eritrea. Egyptian officials were concerned about strengthening ties
between the UAE and Israel. They fear that both countries will collaborate in the construction of
an alternative to the Suez Canal, starting from Haifa in Israel.[65] On 19 December 2020, Egypt
was reportedly encouraging Sudan to support the TPLF in Tigray. It wants to strengthen a joint
position in relation to negotiations on the GERD Dam, which impacts both countries
downstream.[65]

See also

Cairo#History

History of Alexandria

List of Egyptian inventions and discoveries

Population history of Egypt

Timeline of Alexandria

Timeline of Cairo

References

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Continuity (https://grbs.library.duke.edu/article/viewFile/13621/2581) ." Greek, Roman, and
Byzantine Studies 51.4 (2011): 653-665.

2. "French Invasion of Egypt, 1798-1801" (http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/wars_french_egy

pt.html) . www.HistoryOfWar.org. History of War. Retrieved 5 July 2019.

3. Midant-Reynes, Béatrix. The Prehistory of Egypt: From the First Egyptians to the First Kings.
Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.

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Further reading

Botman, Selma. Egypt from Independence to Revolution, 1919-1952 (Syracuse UP, 1991).

Daly, M.W. The Cambridge History of Egypt Volume 2 Modern Egypt, from 1517 to the end of the
twentieth century (1998) pp 217–84 on 1879–1923. online (https://archive.org/download/iB_C
E/02.pdf)

Goldschmidt, Jr., Arthur, ed. Biographical Dictionary of Modern Egypt (Boulder, CO: Lynne
Rienner, 1999).

Goldschmidt, Jr., Arthur. ed. Historical Dictionary of Egypt (Scarecrow Press, 1994).

Petry, Carl F. ed. The Cambridge History of Egypt, Vol. 1: Islamic Egypt, 640-1517 (1999) online
(https://archive.org/details/iB_CE)
 Shaw, Ian. The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2003)

Tignor, Robert L. Modernization and British colonial rule in Egypt, 1882-1914 (Princeton UP,
2015).

Tucker, Judith E. Women in nineteenth-century Egypt (Cambridge UP, 1985).

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