I | INTRODUCTION |
Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, country
in northeastern Africa and southwestern Asia. Most of the country lies in
Africa, but the easternmost portion of Egypt, the Sinai Peninsula, is usually
considered part of Asia; it forms the only land bridge between the two
continents. Most of Egypt’s terrain is desert, divided into two unequal parts by
the Nile River. The valley and delta of the Nile are the main centers of
habitation. The capital and largest city is Cairo.
Egypt has been a coherent political entity with
a recorded history since about 3200 bc. One of the first civilizations to
develop irrigated agriculture, literacy, urban life, and large-scale political
structures arose in the Nile Valley. The annual flood of the Nile provided for a
stable agricultural society. Egypt’s strategic location between Asia and Africa
and on the route between the Mediterranean basin and India and China made it an
important hub of international trade. Beginning in the 4th century bc, a series of conquerors brought new
religions and languages to the land. However, Egypt’s rich agricultural
resources, pivotal commercial position, and long-term political unity have
sustained a high level of cultural continuity. Although present-day Egypt is an
overwhelmingly Arabic-speaking and Islamic country, it retains important aspects
of its past Christian, Greco-Roman, and ancient indigenous heritage.
Muslim Arab invaders conquered Egypt in ad 641, and Egypt has been a part of the
Muslim and Arab worlds ever since. The foundations of the modern state were
established by Muhammad Ali, who served as viceroy of Egypt from 1805 to 1849,
while the country was a province of the Ottoman Empire. Britain occupied Egypt
in 1882. After 40 years of direct British colonial rule, Egypt became an
independent monarchy in 1922. However, British policies enforced by a continuing
military occupation limited its independence. In 1952 a group of military
officers led by Gamal Abdel Nasser overthrew the monarchy and established Egypt
as a republic. Nasser negotiated the evacuation of the last British troops from
Egypt by 1956. In 1979, under President Anwar al-Sadat, Egypt became the first
Arab nation to sign a peace treaty with the Jewish state of Israel. Egypt
remains an important political and cultural center for the entire Arab world. In
2005 Egypt held its first-ever multiparty presidential election.
This article deals mainly with Arab Egypt. For
information on the history, culture, and contributions of Egypt prior to Arab
times, see Ancient Egypt.
Joel Beinin contributed the introduction to
this article.
II | LAND AND RESOURCES |
Egypt is bounded on the north by the
Mediterranean Sea; on the east by the Gaza Strip, Israel, and the Red Sea; on
the south by Sudan; and on the west by Libya. The country has a maximum length
from north to south of 1,105 km (687 mi) and a maximum width, near the southern
border, of 1,129 km (702 mi). It has a total area of 997,739 sq km (385,229 sq
mi).
Less than one-tenth of the land area of
Egypt is settled or under cultivation. This territory consists of the valley and
delta of the Nile, a number of desert oases, and land along the Suez Canal,
which connects the Mediterranean with the Gulf of Suez, an arm of the Red Sea.
More than 90 percent of the country consists of desert areas, including the
Libyan Desert (also known as the Western Desert) in the west, a part of the
Sahara, and the Arabian Desert (also called the Eastern Desert), which borders
the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez, in the east.
The Libyan Desert includes a vast sandy
expanse called the Great Sand Sea. Located there are several depressions with
elevations below sea level, including the Qattara Depression. Also found in the
Libyan Desert are the oases of Siwa, Baḩrīyah, Farafra, Dakhla, and Khārijah.
Much of the Arabian Desert occupies a plateau that rises gradually east from the
Nile Valley to elevations of about 600 m (about 2,000 ft) in the east and is
broken along the Red Sea coast by jagged peaks as high as 2,100 m (7,000 ft)
above sea level. In the extreme south, along the border with Sudan, is the
Nubian Desert, an extensive region of rocky and sandy plains and dunes.
The Sinai Peninsula consists of sandy desert
in the north and rugged mountains in the south, with summits looming more than
2,100 m (7,000 ft) above the Red Sea. Mount Catherine (Jabal Katrīnah), the
highest elevation in Egypt, is on the Sinai Peninsula, as is Mount Sinai (Jabal
Mūsá), where, according to the Hebrew Bible, Moses received the Ten
Commandments.
A | Rivers and Lakes |
The Nile enters Egypt from Sudan and flows
north for 1,545 km (960 mi) to the Mediterranean Sea. For its entire length from
the southern border to Cairo, the Nile flows through a narrow valley lined by
cliffs. Lake Nasser, a huge reservoir formed by the Aswān High Dam, extends
south across the Sudan border. The lake is 480 km (300 mi) long and is 16 km (10
mi) across at its widest point. Most of the lake lies in Egypt. South of a point
near the town of Idfū, the Nile Valley is rarely more than 3 km (2 mi) wide.
From Idfū to Cairo, the valley averages 23 km (14 mi) in width, with most of the
arable portion on the western side.
In the vicinity of Cairo the Nile Valley
merges with the Nile Delta, a fan-shaped plain, the perimeter of which occupies
about 250 km (about 155 mi) of the Mediterranean coastline. Silt deposited by
the Rosetta, Damietta, and other distributaries has made the delta the most
fertile region in the country. However, the Aswān High Dam has reduced the flow
of the Nile, causing the salty waters of the Mediterranean to erode land along
the coast near the Nile. A series of four shallow, brackish lakes extends along
the seaward extremity of the delta. Another larger lake, Birkat Qārūn, is
situated inland in the desert north of the town of Al Fayyūm. Geographically and
traditionally, the land along the Nile is divided into two regions, Lower Egypt
and Upper Egypt, the former consisting of the delta area and the latter
comprising the valley south of Cairo.
Although Egypt has 2,450 km (1,522 mi) of
coastline, two-thirds of which are on the Red Sea, indentations suitable as
harbors are confined to the delta. The Isthmus of Suez, which connects the Sinai
Peninsula with the African mainland, is traversed from the Mediterranean to the
Gulf of Suez by the Suez Canal.
B | Climate |
The climate of Egypt is characterized by a
hot season from May to September and a cool season from November to March.
Extreme temperatures during both seasons are moderated by the prevailing
northern winds. In the coastal regions average annual temperatures range from a
maximum of 37°C (99°F) to a minimum of 14°C (57°F). Wide variations of
temperature occur in the deserts, ranging from a maximum of 46°C (114°F) during
daylight hours to a minimum of 6°C (42°F) during the night. During the winter
season desert nighttime temperatures often drop to 0°C (32°F). The most humid
area is along the Mediterranean coast, where the average annual rainfall is
about 200 mm (about 8 in). Precipitation decreases rapidly to the south; Cairo
receives on average only 25 mm (1 in) of rain a year, and in many desert
locations it may rain only once in several years.
C | Natural Resources |
Egypt has a wide variety of mineral
deposits, some of which, such as gold and red granite, have been exploited since
ancient times. The chief mineral resource of contemporary value is petroleum,
found mainly in the Red Sea coastal region, at Al ‘Alamayn (El ‘Alamein) on the
Mediterranean, and on the Sinai Peninsula. Other minerals include phosphates,
manganese, iron ore, and uranium. Natural gas is also extracted.
D | Plants and Animals |
The vegetation of Egypt is confined largely
to the Nile Delta, the Nile Valley, and the oases. The most widespread of the
few indigenous trees is the date palm. Others include the sycamore, tamarisk,
acacia, and carob. Trees that have been introduced from other lands include the
cypress, elm, eucalyptus, mimosa, and myrtle, as well as various types of fruit
trees.
The alluvial soils of Egypt, especially in
the delta, sustain a broad variety of plant life, including grapes, many kinds
of vegetables, and flowers such as the lotus, jasmine, and rose. In the arid
regions alfa grass and several species of thorn are common. Papyrus, once
prevalent along the banks of the Nile, is now limited to the extreme south of
the country.
Because of its arid climate, Egypt has few
indigenous wild animals. Gazelles are found in the deserts, and the desert fox,
hyena, jackal, wild ass, boar, and jerboa inhabit various areas, mainly the
delta and the mountains along the Red Sea. Among the reptiles of Egypt are
lizards and several kinds of poisonous snakes, including the asp and the horned
viper. The crocodile and hippopotamus, common in the lower Nile and the Nile
Delta in antiquity, are now largely restricted to the upper Nile.
Birdlife is abundant, especially in the
Nile Delta and Nile Valley. The country has 153 known species of birds,
including the sunbird, golden oriole, egret, hoopoe, plover, pelican, flamingo,
heron, stork, quail, and snipe. Birds of prey found in Egypt include eagles,
falcons, vultures, owls, kites, and hawks.
Many species of insects live in Egypt.
Beetles, mosquitoes, flies, and fleas are especially numerous; the ichneumon, a
parasitic insect, occurs in various areas, especially the delta. Scorpions are
found in desert areas. Some 70 species of fish live in the Nile and in the
deltaic lakes.
E | Environmental Issues |
Egypt has many environmental problems, and
some of them complicate efforts to promote economic and social development. The
primary issues are water quality and quantity, soil loss, urban growth, air
pollution, and the environmental effects of tourism.
Egypt gets almost all of its water from
the Nile. The quality of the river water is seriously threatened by untreated
industrial and agricultural wastes, sewage, and municipal wastewater. In
addition, the Aswān High Dam, which was completed in 1970, has reduced the flow
of the Nile and trapped the nutrient-rich silt, which once fertilized the
country’s farmland, behind it. To compensate for the loss of the silt, farmers
make more use of chemical fertilizers, which add to the water pollution. To
increase crop yields they use modern herbicides and pesticides, which also
contribute to the pollution. Furthermore, the reduced flow of the river
increases the concentration of pollutants in the remaining river water. The
reduced amount of silt deposited in the Nile Delta has caused the delta to
shrink, resulting in coastal erosion that threatens the lagoons, which are
important sources of fish. Finally, year-round irrigation, using the water
impounded behind the Aswān High Dam, causes salts to accumulate in the soil,
leading to the loss of some agricultural land.
The size and rapid growth of Egypt’s
population have caused additional environmental problems. The expansion of urban
areas into nearby farming areas infringes on the already limited agricultural
land in the Nile Delta and Valley. Efforts to relieve this pressure by
establishing satellite cities in the desert away from the Nile have been only
partially successful because it is difficult to attract people and industries to
these bleak environments. Dense urban areas such as Cairo, Alexandria, Al Minyā,
and Aswān have poor air quality, worsened by lax enforcement of measures to
reduce emissions from industrial plants and motor vehicles. In these overcrowded
cities, streets are filled with pollution-spewing cars and trucks, public
transportation is poorly developed, and factories contaminate the air.
Tourism provides an important source of
revenue for economic growth. However, poorly controlled construction and waste
disposal in new tourist centers along the eastern coast have seriously degraded
the water quality of the Red Sea. In addition, large concentrations of tourists
threaten the fragile desert areas and the marine corals along the coast.
None of Egypt’s environmental difficulties
is impossible to solve. However, in an economy that is short on financial
resources, it is often hard to find the political will and money to invest in
long-term environmental protection. Some attempts are being made to address
these issues; for example, a proposal has been made to create nature parks in
the Sinai region.
Douglas L. Johnson contributed the Land
and Resources section of this article.
III | PEOPLE AND SOCIETY |
The population of Egypt is 81,713,517 (2008
estimate). The people live almost exclusively in the Nile Valley, the Nile
Delta, the Suez Canal region, and the northern coastal region of the Sinai
Peninsula. There are small communities in the oases of the Libyan Desert and in
the oil-drilling and mining towns of the Arabian Desert. There is also a small
population of nomadic Bedouins. Egypt’s overall population density is 82 persons
per sq km (213 per sq mi), but the population density in the inhabited portions
of the country, which make up less than 5 percent of its land area, is 1,900
persons per sq km (4,900 per sq mi).
The population growth rate, which was about
2.5 percent per year in the 1980s, declined steadily in the 1990s as the
country’s birth rate fell. In 2008 the rate of population growth was 1.68
percent. The birth rate was 22 per 1,000 persons, and the death rate was 5 per
1,000 persons.
For most of Egypt’s history, the majority of
the population was rural and agricultural. In the second half of the 20th
century, limited availability of agricultural land prompted peasants to migrate
to the cities in search of work. By 2005, 42 percent of the population lived in
urban areas.
A | Principal Cities |
Cairo is Egypt’s capital and largest city.
Including Giza, located on the west bank of the Nile adjacent to Cairo, the
population of metropolitan Cairo was 7.5 million in 2003. Cairo serves as the
commercial, administrative, and tourist center of Egypt. Other major cities
include Giza, Alexandria, and Port Said. Giza is the location of three of
Egypt’s most famous pyramids. Alexandria is Egypt’s principal Mediterranean
seaport. Port Said, located at the northern entrance to the Suez Canal, is the
site of an important free trade zone and various shipping services.
B | Ethnic Groups |
The ancestors of the Egyptians include
many races and ethnic groups, but the present-day population is relatively
uniform in terms of language and religion. Most Egyptians are descendants of the
ancient Egyptians, a people who originated in northeastern Africa. Some 4,000
Arab horsemen invaded Egypt in 641 ad and eventually conquered it for
Islam. From that time, there was significant Arab migration and intermarriage
between Arabs and the indigenous population. Traits of other invading peoples,
especially the Greeks, Romans, and Ottomans, are also found in present-day
Egyptians. The Mamluks, rulers of Egypt between the 13th and 16th centuries,
were of Turkic and Circassian origins. They also intermarried with the
indigenous population, especially with its elite ranks.
A separate indigenous group, the Nubians,
historically lived in northern Sudan and southern Egypt. Hundreds of their
ancestral villages were flooded by the formation of Lake Nasser behind the Aswān
High Dam. Today the Nubian population is concentrated in Aswān and Cairo. The
government does not recognize the Nubians as an ethnic minority.
Also living in Egypt are small numbers of
Greeks, Armenians, Italians, Syrian Christians, and Jews. Their numbers declined
sharply as a result of emigration after the Suez Crisis of 1956, when rising
Egyptian nationalism made them feel unwelcome. Many of those who remained in the
country intermarried with indigenous Muslims or Christians.
C | Language |
Nearly the entire population of Egypt
speaks Arabic. However, only well-educated people easily understand standard
Arabic. Colloquial Egyptian Arabic is the language of daily conversation. Many
Nubians also speak their ancestral language. Berber is spoken in a few
settlements in the oases of the Western Desert. Coptic Christians use the Coptic
language, descended from ancient Egyptian, for liturgical purposes, but it is
not a language in daily use. English and French are common second languages
among educated Egyptians.
D | Religion |
Islam is the official religion of Egypt.
More than 90 percent of all Egyptians are Sunni Muslims (see Sunni
Islam). The largest religious minority consists of Coptic Christians, most of
whom are members of the Coptic Church, officially called the Coptic Orthodox
Church. Other Christian communities include Greek Orthodox, Armenian, Greek and
Armenian Catholic, and several Protestant denominations whose members are mainly
resident foreigners. Many Copts and others believe that official estimates
undercount Christians and that Christians actually constitute about 10 percent
of the population. Historically there was a small, but socially and economically
significant, Jewish population. Most of that community left the country after
the Suez Crisis of 1956, in which the combined forces of Israel, France, and
Britain attacked Egypt.
Beginning in the 1980s, Islamic militants
belonging to the Islamic Group (al-Gama`a al-Islamīyya) and Islamic Jihad
were active, particularly in the Upper Egyptian provinces of Asyūt and Al Minyā.
In 1992 they began a campaign of armed violence, centered in Cairo and Upper
Egypt, with the goal of establishing a government based on strict Islamic law.
The victims of their violence included Copts, government officials, and
tourists. See also Islamic Fundamentalism.
Human rights organizations and others
have claimed that the Egyptian government discriminates against Copts or turns a
blind eye to their persecution by the Islamic militants. The government denies
these charges, but nevertheless, Copts are subject to some restrictions. For
example, they must receive permission from government authorities to build new
churches or to repair existing ones.
E | Education |
Historically, religious authorities
provided basic education in local mosque schools. Higher Islamic studies became
available at Al-Azhar mosque (founded in 970) in Cairo. In 988 Al-Azhar
University was established. This is the oldest university in the world and the
leading institution of Islamic higher education in the world today. Al-Azhar
University operates a network of religious schools parallel to the state
system.
In the first half of the 19th century
Egyptian viceroy Muhammad Ali established state-run professional, technical, and
foreign-language schools for boys. A network of state-run schools for boys was
established in 1867. The first state school for girls opened in 1873. Since
1923, primary and intermediate education has been free, and it is now compulsory
for children between the ages of 6 and 13. Public secondary and university
education is also free but is not compulsory.
Cairo University, established in 1908, is
Egypt’s leading institution of higher education. There are 12 other state-run
public universities, including Ayn Shams University (founded in 1950), located
in Cairo; the University of Alexandria (1942); and the University of Asyūt
(1957). Al-Azhar University, renowned as an institution of higher religious
studies, also offers programs in engineering, medicine, business administration,
and agriculture; women have been admitted since 1962. The American University in
Cairo (1919) is the only private and fee-charging institution of higher
education. The Institutes of Dramatic Arts, Cinema, and Ballet, run by the
ministry of culture, offer higher education in the fine arts.
Rapid population growth has severely
overburdened Egypt’s educational system. Classrooms from the primary-school
level to the university level are overcrowded, and schools lack many
resources—such as up-to-date science laboratories, audio-visual aids, and even
sufficient numbers of desks and textbooks—necessary for an adequate education.
Although primary-school enrollment is officially 100 percent, many children
attend school irregularly or not at all because they must work to help support
themselves and their families. In 2005, 59.3 percent of the adult population was
literate: 69.4 percent of males and 48.9 percent of females.
F | Social Structure |
For most of Egypt’s history its society
was agrarian. Large landowners growing primarily cotton and sugar constituted
Egypt’s dominant social class from the 1830s until 1952, when the government
enacted a land reform. Before the land reform, about 2,000 large landowners,
including the king, owned about 20 percent of all agricultural land, while more
than 2 million lesser owners owned about 13 percent. Millions of peasants owned
no land at all. The land reform limited the amount of agricultural land that
individuals and families could own; limits were lowered further in 1961 and
1969. These measures broke the social and political power of the large
landowning class.
About 260,000 hectares (about 650,000
acres) of agricultural land were redistributed as a result of the land reform.
However, not enough land was redistributed to allow all peasant families that
wished to do so to support themselves by farming. Consequently, large numbers of
peasants migrated from rural villages to Cairo and other cities. Many found jobs
in the cities, particularly in industries and services, which were growing
rapidly as a result of the government’s major industrialization programs of the
1950s and 1960s. During this period the government nationalized and expanded
existing banking, textile, and other industries and established many new,
large-scale, modern industries. These developments expanded the ranks of the
urban wageworkers. However, many former peasants remained underemployed or
marginally employed in jobs that were not steady or did not pay cash wages.
Beginning in 1973, large numbers of
peasants, as well as urban workers and professionals, migrated to Saudi Arabia,
Libya, and other oil-exporting countries to work for wages as much as six times
higher than they could earn in Egypt. During the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), many
peasants migrated to Iraq and took farm jobs, replacing Iraqis who had left to
fight in the war.
Both trends—migration from the
countryside to the cities and working abroad—continued in the 1990s. By the
early 2000s only about 35 percent of the labor force was engaged in the
traditional occupations of farming, herding, and fishing. An estimated 2.5
million Egyptians worked abroad at any given time.
G | Ways of Life |
Two major socioeconomic groupings exist
in Egypt. One grouping consists of a wealthy elite and a Western-educated upper
middle class. The other grouping, which includes the vast majority of all
Egyptians, is made up of peasants and the urban lower middle class and working
class. There are great differences in clothing, diet, and consumer habits
between the two groupings.
In the 1970s the government introduced
economic liberalization policies known as the open door (infitah in
Arabic). These policies greatly expanded the numbers of middle-class
professionals (importers, financiers, commercial agents, and various kinds of
middlemen) with connections to foreign capital and foreign culture. These
professionals are major consumers of imported luxury cars, European fashions,
and European and American films and music. The lifestyle of the old, wealthy
elite is similar.
The wealth, lifestyle, and foreign
cultural orientation of the old elite and the newly rich contrast sharply with
the poverty of the vast majority of the population. Most Egyptians cannot
afford, and in some cases do not want, much of what they see advertised on
television, in the newspapers, and on urban billboards, or glorified in Western
television serials.
Both major groupings enjoy a few of the
same aspects of popular culture. These include soccer, the popular music of
legendary Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum, and the comic films of actor ‘Adil
Imam.
In the past, women from peasant and poor
urban families worked in the fields or in the shops of their families, while
women from the elite and the middle class remained at home as a symbol that the
male head of the household was wealthy enough to support the family without its
women working outside the home. Today maintaining a middle-class lifestyle
usually requires married women to work for wages. Many wear headscarves as a way
of asserting that they remain good Muslim women despite working outside the
home.
The most popular items of Egyptian
cuisine are flatbread, boiled or deep-fried fava beans, kushari (a dish
combining pasta, lentils, and onions), and fresh fruits and vegetables. Tea and
coffee are the most popular beverages and are essential components of social and
business visits. Wealthier Egyptians frequently eat European food, especially
French cuisine.
H | Social Issues |
Egypt’s most serious social issues are
poverty and overpopulation. There are few wealthy people and many poor people.
When adjusted for inflation, the incomes of peasants and working people rose
only modestly between the mid-1970s and the end of the 20th century.
Overpopulation has strained the physical infrastructure—including roads, sewer
systems, water supply, and utility lines—and social service networks of Cairo
and other cities. Middle-class housing is expensive and difficult to find.
Violent crimes, relatively rare until the late 20th century, have increased as
urban life has become more difficult.
I | Social Services |
Employees of the government and of
state-owned enterprises receive substantial social benefits, including health
care, a pension, and unemployment insurance. Large private firms also may
provide such benefits. Smaller privately owned firms are not required to do so,
and most do not. Egypt has no system of income support for the poor. Under the
open door policy, which aimed at encouraging private enterprise and loosening
state controls on the economy, government subsidies that lowered the prices of
basic consumer goods were radically cut. As a result, the prices of these goods
rose considerably. However, bread sold in poorer neighborhoods is still
subsidized.
Joel Beinin contributed the People and
Society section of this article.
IV | ARTS |
Egypt has long been a center of Arabic and
Islamic literature, architecture, and decorative arts (see Arabic
Literature; Islamic Art and Architecture). Performances of epic poetry, murals
depicting the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, Sufi (Islamic mystic) singing and
dancing (see Sufism), and other expressions of popular culture are all
part of Egypt’s artistic heritage. In the pre-modern period, the country’s elite
supported artists who worked in formal Islamic styles that tended to be austere
and centered on Arabic calligraphy. In the modern period many elements of
European-style art, literature, and cinema have been incorporated into Egyptian
cultural life.
For coverage of Egyptian arts prior to the
Islamic conquest in the 7th century ad, see Ancient Egypt. The
following section deals primarily with Egyptian arts in the 19th and 20th
centuries.
A | Literature |
The Nahda, a renaissance of Arabic
literary culture that occurred in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was
centered in Egypt. At that time many Christian journalists from Syria immigrated
to Cairo and founded several newspapers and magazines, which disseminated modern
concepts of science, society, and culture. Arabic short stories first appeared
in Egypt in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Zaynab (1914), by
Egyptian writer Muhammad Husayn Haykal, is often erroneously considered to be
the first Arabic novel.
Other leading Egyptian writers of the 19th
and 20th centuries include Taha Husayn, known for his autobiography
al-Ayyam (The Days, 3 volumes, 1925-1967); Yūsuf Idrīs, considered the
master of the Arabic short story and also a noted dramatist; Naguib Mahfouz, a
celebrated novelist and winner of the 1988 Nobel Prize for literature; and
Sonallah Ibrahim, who has experimented boldly with the novel form. Tawfiq
al-Hakim, whose novel The Return of the Spirit (1933) was a favorite of
Gamal Abdel Nasser, is known for both fiction and dramatic writing.
B | Art and Architecture |
Islamic norms prohibit the representation
of people and animals in art. As a result, Egyptian Islamic art relies heavily
on Arabic calligraphy and abstract arabesque designs. The Fatimid era (969-1171)
and the Mamluk era (1250-1517) were especially rich in architectural monuments,
many of which remain standing in Cairo today. The principal surviving monuments
of the Fatimid era are Al-Azhar mosque and the city’s northern gates. The
grandest monument of the Mamluk period is the madrasa (Islamic school) of
Sultan Hasan.
In the 1920s and 1930s, Mahmud Mukhtar,
who ignored the Islamic prohibitions, became a well-known and highly respected
sculptor and a leading figure in the emergence of modern Egyptian plastic arts.
His statue Egypt Awakening (1928) is an icon of nationalist cultural
modernism. Twentieth-century architect Hasan Fathy became known for promoting
elements of traditional peasant design. Among his better-known public buildings
is the mosque in Gurna, a village near Luxor in Upper Egypt.
C | Music and Dance |
Sayyid Darwish, who composed musicals,
operas, and popular songs, was the leading figure in Egyptian music in the early
20th century. Other prominent musical figures of the 20th century were female
singers Umm Kulthum and Layla Murad, composer and singer Muhammad Abd
‘al-Wahhab, and singer Abd al-Halim Hafiz. Umm Kulthum was the leading lady of
Egyptian (and Arab) song in the 20th century. Layla Murad, often considered the
second greatest female Egyptian singer of the 20th century, was also a movie
star. Muhammad Abd ‘al-Wahhab was the leading male vocalist of the 20th century,
while Abd al-Halim Hafiz was especially popular with younger audiences in the
1950s and 1960s. The national dance company, the Reda Dance Troupe, specializes
in modern adaptations of folkloric dances. Belly dancing is popular among all
classes and is performed in a variety of settings ranging from nightclubs to
family celebrations.
D | Theater and Film |
The first modern Arabic plays were
performed in Cairo in the 1870s. Leading 20th-century dramatists include Mahmud
Taymur, Tawfiq al-Hakim, Yūsuf Idrīs, and Nu`man`Ashur. Egypt has been the
center of film production in the Arab world since the 1930s. The best-known
director, Youssef Chahine, made his reputation in the 1950s and 1960s with
nationalist works of social realism such as Bab al-Hadid (1958, also
released as Central Station and Gare centrale) and Al-Ard
(1969, The Land).
E | Libraries and Museums |
The Egyptian Museum, in Cairo, houses the
world’s largest collection of ancient Egyptian art, including the treasures from
the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. The Museum of Islamic Art, also in Cairo, has a
rich collection of illuminated Qur'ans (Korans), wood carvings, pottery, and
other Islamic artifacts. Cairo's Coptic Museum has an especially fine collection
of textiles made by Copts. The Greco-Roman Museum, housing collections of art
from the periods when Egypt was under Greek and, later, Roman rule, is located
in Alexandria. The Egyptian National Library and the Al-Azhar University
Library, both in Cairo, house major collections of Arabic manuscripts.
Joel Beinin contributed the Arts section
of this article.
V | ECONOMY |
For most of Egypt’s history, its economy was
based almost entirely on farming, despite the fact that more than 95 percent of
the country’s land area is infertile desert. Long an exporter of cereals, in the
19th century Egypt began to specialize in growing cotton, which is still an
important cash crop. The first significant industries were set up only in the
1930s. Industrialization increased in the 1960s after much of the industrial
sector was brought under state control. In the late 20th century other important
sources of revenue included tourism, oil production, and remittances from the 3
million Egyptians working in the Persian Gulf states. Despite its economic and
social development in the 20th century, Egypt was a relatively poor country in
world terms, with a gross domestic product (GDP) in 2006 of $107.5 billion, or
$1,449.20 per capita.
A | Government Role in the Economy |
The Egyptian economy was dominated by
private capital until the revolution of 1952, which replaced the monarchy with a
republic. The new government began to reorganize the economy along socialist
lines in the late 1950s. The state played an increasing role in economic
development through its management of the agricultural sector after the land
reforms of 1952 and 1961. These reforms limited the amount of land an individual
or family could own. In the early 1960s the government nationalized much of the
industrial, financial, and commercial sectors of the economy.
In the 1970s poor performance by much of
the state sector and growing shortages of investment capital persuaded the
country’s leadership to introduce more liberal economic policies. However, not
until 1990 did the government become committed to fundamental economic reforms
involving the reduction of subsidies, the removal of price controls, and the
privatization of some state-owned industries. These policies were successful in
reducing inflation from 20 percent in 1991 to 5 percent in 1997 and in allowing
the economy to recover partly from a recession in the early 1990s. Progress
toward a purely market economy was slow, however, and huge problems remained.
Exports remained sluggish, and in 2003 unemployment stood at 11 percent.
B | Labor |
Egypt’s labor force of 23.1 million is 78
percent male and 22 percent female. The largest proportion of the labor force
works in agriculture or fishing, which employ 30 percent of all workers. The
services sector employs 50 percent, and industry (including manufacturing and
construction) employs the remaining 20 percent. There are few skilled workers,
since training is usually rudimentary and one-third of the adult population is
illiterate. Workers in the state sector are represented by the Egyptian Trade
Union Federation, which was established by the regime in 1961 and remains under
government control.
C | Agriculture |
In 2006 the agricultural sector (including
fishing) contributed 14 percent of the GDP. Before industrialization,
agriculture provided most of Egypt’s exports, but by 2002 it contributed less
than one percent of the exports. The most important crops include cotton, cereal
grains, fruits and vegetables, and animal fodder. Egypt’s area of cultivable
land is small but highly fertile. It is located for the most part along the Nile
and in the Nile Delta. Yields are high, and almost every piece of land grows at
least two crops a year. The country ceased to be self-sufficient in cereals at
the beginning of the 20th century, although it still exports some poultry,
fruits, vegetables, sugar, and rice. It now imports about a quarter of the
cereals it needs and a much higher proportion of the meat and dairy
products.
D | Fishing |
Fishing is a significant industry in Egypt.
Large quantities of fish live in the Nile, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Red
Sea.
E | Manufacturing |
Industry, including manufacturing, mining,
and construction, contributed 38 percent of the GDP in 2006. The main
manufactured goods are textiles, chemicals, metals, and petroleum products. More
liberal economic policies have led to the establishment of a number of private
companies involved in automobile assembly, electronics, consumer durable goods
such as refrigerators and other appliances, and pharmaceuticals. The majority of
factories are concentrated around the two major cities of Cairo and Alexandria
and in industrial zones along the Suez Canal.
F | Mining |
Petroleum is Egypt’s most important mineral
product. It is a major source of export earnings. In the 1980s the government
developed the production of natural gas to supply domestic energy needs. It
began exporting natural gas in the 1990s. The main oil and gas fields are
located along the Red Sea coast and in the Libyan Desert. Other minerals
produced in Egypt include phosphate rock (a source of fertilizer), iron ore, and
salt.
G | Services |
Services contributed 48 percent of the GDP
in 2006. Important services include government social services such as health
and education, financial services, and personal services.
H | Tourism |
In 2006, 8.6 million tourists visited
Egypt, providing $7.6 billion in revenues. The majority of visitors make a
simple tour that includes Cairo, the great pyramids nearby, and the sites of
other ruins and artifacts of ancient Egypt up the Nile. Many tourists also visit
Egypt’s Red Sea resorts to take advantage of the warm winter weather. In 1992
attacks on foreigners by Islamic extremists scared off most tourists, but the
industry soon recovered. The tourism industry is made up entirely of privately
owned businesses.
I | Energy |
Egypt is self-sufficient in energy. Its
main sources of electricity are hydroelectric power plants at the Aswān High Dam
and steam-driven power plants that burn natural gas. Egypt’s own oil and natural
gas provide almost all of the country’s fuel needs. Pipelines supply gas to all
major urban centers.
J | Transportation |
Egypt has 5,150 km (3,200 mi) of railroads,
all of which are owned by the state. The principal line links Aswān and towns
north of it in the Nile Valley to Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast. The
inland waterways of Egypt are used extensively for transportation. These
waterways include the Nile, which is navigable throughout its course in the
country; about 1,600 km (about 1,000 mi) of shipping canals; and more than
17,700 km (11,000 mi) of irrigation canals in the Nile Delta.
Two highways connect Cairo with Alexandria.
Other highways connect Cairo to Port Said, Suez, and Al Fayyūm. The total length
of highways and roads in Egypt is 92,000 km (57,000 mi). International airlines
provide regular service between Cairo and Alexandria and major world centers.
EgyptAir, the government-owned airline, also provides domestic and foreign
service. The country has about 80 airports and airfields. The major seaport is
Alexandria, followed by Port Said and Suez, all of which are served by numerous
shipping companies. The Suez Canal produces substantial annual toll revenues. In
the early 2000s about 18,000 vessels used the canal each year.
K | Communications |
Egypt’s press, publishing, and media
facilities are the largest and most developed in the Arab world. Much of the
press was taken over by the government soon after the revolution of 1952, when
the daily newspaper Al Ahram became the regime's principal mouthpiece.
Party and private newspapers are permitted but are subject to censorship. The
government controls the national radio and television services, as well as the
basic telephone system. Foreign companies have installed cellular telephone
networks and operate private payphone systems.
L | Foreign Trade |
Before the revolution of 1952, Egypt’s
foreign trade consisted mainly of exports of raw materials, particularly
long-staple cotton, and imports of manufactured goods. After the revolution, the
regime pursued a policy of discouraging imports by using high tariff barriers to
protect its growing industries. It also brought most of the country’s commerce
under government control. More liberal policies were introduced in the 1970s.
However, it was only in the 1990s that steps were taken to open up parts of the
Egyptian market to foreign competition. There was also a new emphasis on
exports. Apart from exports of crude petroleum and refined petroleum products,
this policy has not alleviated trade imbalances. In 2003 exports were sold for
$6.2 billion while imports cost $10.9 billion. As a result, the country runs a
trade deficit. Part of this deficit is offset by the money Egypt earns from
tourism, Suez Canal tolls, and remittances from Egyptians working abroad.
Petroleum and petroleum products contribute
roughly 40 percent of Egypt’s export earnings, although the percentage changes
from year to year. Other exports include textile yarn and fabrics, fruits and
vegetables, clothing and accessories, and aluminum products. The principal
imports are machinery and transportation equipment; basic manufactures,
particularly iron, steel, and paper; food products, primarily cereals; and
chemicals. The United States is Egypt’s main trading partner, followed by Italy,
Germany, and France.
M | Currency and Banking |
Egypt's currency is the Egyptian
pound, consisting of 100 piastres (5.70 Egyptian pounds equal U.S.$1;
2006 average). The Central Bank was created in 1961, when all the country's
private banks were nationalized. Several specialized state-owned banks were also
set up. Foreign banks were allowed to reenter the country as joint ventures with
Egyptian investors in 1974 after having been forced to leave during the
nationalization period. In the late 1990s the government agreed to partially
privatize Egypt’s four giant state-owned banks. More than 80 domestic and
foreign banks operate in the country.
Roger Owen contributed the Economy section
of this article.
VI | GOVERNMENT |
Egypt was a constitutional monarchy from
1923 to 1952, when military officers seized control of the government. Although
Egypt became a republic in 1953, it essentially remained a military dictatorship
dominated by a single political party. In 1978 a multiparty political system was
instituted.
Egypt is governed under a constitution that
was approved by a national referendum in 1971. The constitution, which was
amended in 1977, 1980, 2005, and 2007 provides for an Arab socialist state with
Islam as the official religion. It also stresses social solidarity, equal
opportunity, and popular control of production.
Political power is concentrated primarily in
the presidency. Since 1952 Egypt’s presidents have risen from the military,
which holds considerable authority in the government. The orientation and
policies of the government have shifted considerably with changes in the
presidency. In May 2005 voters approved a constitutional amendment that allowed
for multiparty presidential elections by secret ballot. Previously, the
president was selected by the legislature and approved by a yes or no
referendum. Under the terms of the amendment, any registered political party
could participate in the first direct presidential election, which was held in
September 2005. In future presidential balloting, however, only candidates
belonging to political parties that make up at least 5 percent of the
legislature, or independent candidates with the backing of at least 65 members
of the lower house, are eligible to run.
In 2007 another referendum on
constitutional changes approved greater powers for the Egyptian president. The
changes gave the president the power to dissolve Egypt’s bicameral legislature
without holding a referendum, limit the role of judges in monitoring elections,
and suspend civil rights protections in cases that the president determines are
associated with terrorism. The referendum also reconfirmed the existing ban on
political parties based on religion, a prohibition that is aimed at the popular
Muslim Brotherhood. Opposition groups and human rights organizations said the
outcome of the referendum was affected by widespread vote fraud. The government
said the referendum passed overwhelmingly with more than 75 percent approval and
a voter turnout of about 10 million people.
A | Executive |
The head of state is the president of the
republic, who is elected by secret ballot for a six-year term. The president,
who may serve unlimited consecutive terms, dominates the government. This
official may decree emergency measures in the interests of the state, but the
constitution stipulates that the president must obtain consent for any such
decree by a popular referendum within 60 days. However, a state of emergency
that has been in effect since 1981 has set aside the requirement of popular
approval for presidential decrees. The president has the power to formulate
general state policy and supervise its execution. This official can dissolve the
legislature, declare war after approval by the legislature, ratify treaties,
commute penalties, suspend civil rights protections in cases associated with
terrorism, and order plebiscites.
The president names a prime minister and a
council of ministers, or cabinet. Most ministers serve as the executive officers
of the government’s various departments, including those dealing with foreign
affairs, internal order, social affairs, justice, agriculture, commerce,
industry, and education. Some ministers also hold the title of deputy prime
minister. Egyptian cabinets help set government policy, but key decisions are
often made by the president in consultation with a few close advisers, most of
whom are former cabinet ministers or high-ranking military officers.
B | Legislature |
Egypt has a bicameral legislature,
comprising the People’s Assembly and the Advisory Council. The People’s Assembly
consists of 2 elected representatives from each of 222 geographical
constituencies, along with 10 members appointed by the president, for a total of
454 members, all serving five-year terms. The Advisory Council, which serves
only in a consultative role, consists of 176 popularly elected members and 88
presidential appointees, all of whom serve six-year terms.
C | Judiciary |
Egypt’s highest court, the Supreme
Constitutional Court, reviews the constitutionality of laws and regulations,
resolves jurisdictional conflicts, settles disputes in cases where different
lower courts have made conflicting judgments, and interprets the government’s
laws and decrees. Below this court are courts of general jurisdiction and
administrative courts.
Courts of general jurisdiction include the
Court of Cassation, the courts of appeal, the tribunals of first instance, and
the district tribunals. The Court of Cassation has final jurisdiction in
criminal and civil cases. The courts of appeal have jurisdiction over one or
more of Egypt’s governorates, or administrative divisions, and hear appeals of
decisions made by lower courts. The tribunals of first instance are the courts
that hear major criminal and civil cases. The district tribunals have
jurisdiction over minor criminal and civil cases. The Public Prosecution, headed
by an attorney general, serves at all levels of courts of general jurisdiction
in all criminal and some civil cases. The administrative courts have
jurisdiction over cases involving the government or any of its agencies and may
investigate administrative crimes committed by officials or civil servants.
Other judicial bodies include the Council of State, which settles administrative
disputes and deals with disciplinary cases within the judicial system, and the
Supreme Judicial Council, which ensures the judiciary’s independence from
outside interference and helps regulate other judicial bodies.
Egypt’s legal system is closely patterned
on that of France. A panel of judges, as opposed to a jury, reaches verdicts.
Religious courts once operated, with separate systems for Muslims, Christians,
and Jews, but they were abolished in 1956. Many Muslims argue that Islamic law,
or the Sharia, should be the sole basis for all Egyptian legislation. A
constitutional amendment adopted in 1980 recognizes the Sharia as a principal
source of Egypt’s laws, but the legal system remains secular in character.
D | Local Government |
Egypt is divided into 26 governorates,
each headed by a governor appointed by the president. Most of the governorates
are subdivided into districts and subdistricts. There are local councils at each
level, most of whose members are elected, but power over most political matters
resides with the central government.
E | Political Parties |
From 1923 to 1952 Egypt had a multiparty
political system, but the king or his prime minister often limited the parties’
ability to compete freely for popular support or governmental power. From 1952
to 1978 Egypt’s government was effectively a military dictatorship, and the
presidents used a succession of single parties to mobilize public opinion to
support their policies. In 1978 a multiparty system was again instituted, but
religious parties continued to be banned. The present political system tolerates
greater diversity of opinion, but it is not yet fully democratic because the
government controls the media and uses a vast system of political patronage to
influence elections.
Since 1978 the National Democratic Party
has been the dominant party. The government tolerates opposition parties that
are not based on religion or on ideologies hostile to the state, but it often
restricts their ability to propagate their policies and to run candidates for
national or local elections. Legal opposition parties include the Ghad Party,
the New Wafd Party, the National Progressive Unionist Party, the Liberal
Socialist Party, the Socialist Labor Party, and the Nasserist Party. Despite the
constitutional ban on religious parties, many Egyptians support the Muslim
Brotherhood, the Islamic Group, or other technically illegal political movements
that are not allowed to present candidates for legislative elections. The Muslim
Brotherhood has had some success in electing supporters to the legislature by
running them as independent candidates. Egypt held its first-ever multiparty
presidential election in 2005. Previously, presidential contests were merely
yes-or-no referendums on the nominated president.
F | Defense |
Egypt’s armed forces in 2004 totaled
468,500, with 340,000 in the army, 30,000 in the air force, and 18,500 in the
navy, and the remainder in the air defense or shared commands. Affiliated with
the armed forces are the reserves, the Central Security Forces, and the National
Guard. Each branch is headed by a commander, above whom stands the commander in
chief of the armed forces. The president has ultimate authority over the
military as its supreme commander. There is a three-year period of selective
military service. The officer corps exercises great political influence.
G | International Relations |
Egypt led in the formation of the Arab
League and was a charter member of the United Nations (UN), both of which were
formed in 1945. Egypt played a leading role in Arab opposition to Israel,
participating in wars against Israel in 1948-1949, 1956, 1967, and 1973 and
spearheading an Arab economic boycott against the Jewish state. In 1979,
however, Egypt became the first Arab state to sign a peace treaty with Israel.
This treaty led to a period of relative isolation, as Egypt was ostracized by
other Arab governments. Egypt was ousted from the Arab League, whose secretariat
was moved to Tunis. But because Egypt supported Iraq in its war against Iran and
also mended its fences with Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat and with Jordan’s
King Hussein, relations gradually improved during the 1980s. In an Arab summit
meeting held in Amman, Jordan, in November 1987, most Arab leaders agreed to
resume diplomatic ties with Egypt, and the Arab League headquarters moved back
to Cairo in 1990.
The Middle East peace process has
remained a prominent part of Egypt’s foreign policy, and it has sought to
persuade other Arab governments to settle their differences with Israel.
Although its efforts have often failed, Egypt has undertaken periodic
negotiations to defuse Israeli-Arab crises, hosting a summit meeting at Sharm
al-Sheikh on the Sinai Peninsula in February 2005.
From 1955 to 1972 Egypt relied primarily
on the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and other Communist countries
for military and economic aid. More recently the Egyptian government developed
close political ties with the United States, particularly after the United
States helped facilitate the 1979 treaty with Israel. Egypt receives substantial
economic and military aid from the United States. Before the Persian Gulf War,
Egypt sought to mediate disputes between Iraq and Kuwait in 1990. Egypt
supported the anti-Iraq coalition after Saddam Hussein’s forces occupied Kuwait
in August 1990 and backed the UN resolutions condemning Iraq’s actions. Egyptian
troops joined the multinational force against Iraq in 1990 and 1991. In 2002
Egypt tried to mediate in the conflict between the United States and Iraq. It
pressured Iraq to admit UN weapons inspectors and opposed the U.S. invasion of
Iraq in 2003 (see U.S.-Iraq War).
Arthur Goldschmidt, Jr., contributed the
Government section of this article.
VII | HISTORY |
Egypt has the oldest continuously existing
civilization in the world. Most scholars believe that the Egyptian kingdom was
first unified in about 3100 bc.
Egypt maintained its independence and unity for many centuries thereafter. It
suffered disunity now and then and experienced brief periods of foreign
domination—by the Semitic Hyksos in the 17th and 16th centuries bc, the Assyrians in the 7th century
bc, and the Persians in the 6th
and 5th centuries bc—before the
arrival of Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great in 332 bc. Alexander made Egypt a part of his
vast empire.
Alexander’s empire broke up after his death
in 323 bc. One of his generals,
Ptolemy, became ruler of Egypt, and in 305 bc he assumed the title of king. Ptolemy
founded the Ptolemaic dynasty. Under these rulers, Egypt became a center of the
Hellenistic world—that is, the vast region, encompassing the eastern
Mediterranean basin and the Middle East, in which Greek culture and learning
were preeminent from Alexander’s conquest until the 1st century bc. Although the Ptolemies preserved
many native traditions, they remained unpopular because they kept Egyptians from
important governmental posts.
The Romans conquered Egypt in 30 bc, ruling it as a province of their
empire for the next several centuries. One of the first countries to be exposed
to Christianity, Egypt became predominantly Christian by the end of the 3rd
century ad. In 395, when the Roman
Empire was divided, Egypt was included in the Eastern Roman Empire, later called
the Byzantine Empire. By the 5th century a bitter religious dispute over the
nature of Christ, involving a doctrine known as Monophysitism, had developed in
the Eastern church. This dispute pitted the Coptic Church, Egypt’s indigenous
Christian body, and other Middle Eastern Christians against the Byzantine
rulers. The conflict weakened Byzantine rule in Egypt and helped open the way to
the conquest of Egypt by an Arab army in 641. Many Egyptians welcomed the Arab
conquerors as liberators from foreign taxation and religious persecution.
For a detailed history of Egypt up to the
Roman conquest in 30 bc, see
Ancient Egypt.
A | Egypt Under the Caliphate |
The Arab conquerors brought Islam to
Egypt. The country became part of the vast Islamic realm known as the caliphate.
The conquerors established their military and administrative headquarters, which
they named Al Fustat, in what had been a Roman fortress called Babylon. Al
Fustat was situated on the east bank of the Nile south of the delta. Most
Egyptians did not at first feel the effects of Arab rule. The predominantly
rural population continued to farm the land, practicing Coptic Christianity and
speaking the Coptic version of the ancient Egyptian language.
Over the course of many centuries, the
majority of the Egyptians gradually embraced Islam and adopted the Arabic
language. These changes were due in part to the immigration of some Arab tribes
and intermarriage between Egyptians and Arabs. Some Egyptians converted to Islam
out of genuine religious conviction, but others did so to secure political or
social advancement.
The first great dynasty of caliphs
(leaders of the Islamic realm), the Umayyads, ruled Egypt as a province between
661 and 750. They were based in Damascus (in present-day Syria). Their
successors, the Abbasids, ruled from their new capital, Baghdād (in present-day
Iraq). The Abbasids controlled Egypt from 750 to 868. They imposed heavy taxes
on non-Muslims, causing peasant uprisings. The unity of the Islamic world began
to erode in the mid-9th century, and Egypt fell under a succession of autonomous
foreign dynasties. Two of these dynasties, the Tulunids (868-905) and the
Ikhshidids (934-969), improved agricultural techniques, curbed taxes, and
reformed governmental administration.
The next rulers, the Fatimids (969-1171),
had established an independent rival caliphate in North Africa in the early 10th
century. The Fatimid rulers, originally from Tunisia, claimed the caliphate for
themselves on the basis of descent from Fatima, daughter of the prophet
Muhammad, the founder of Islam. Their branch of the faith, (see Shia
Islam), was a minority sect in opposition to the Abbasid caliphs in Baghdād, who
were majority Sunni Muslims (see Sunni Islam).
Despite the dispute over the caliphate,
the first century of Fatimid rule over Egypt was marked by religious toleration,
economic prosperity, and relative political freedom. It was probably during
Fatimid rule that the majority of the Egyptians became Muslims, although they
embraced Sunni rather than Shia Islam. The Fatimids extended Al Fustat
northward, creating a major commercial and political metropolis that they
renamed al-Qāhira, or Cairo. Untroubled by foreign invaders or
conquerors, Cairo soon surpassed other Islamic cities such as Baghdād and
Damascus in wealth and population.
During the First Crusade (1096-1099), a
military campaign by Western European Christians to recapture Jerusalem from the
Muslims (see Crusades), Egypt faced a possible invasion. Although the
Crusaders captured Jerusalem from a small Fatimid garrison in 1099, they did not
invade Egypt. The Fatimids formed diplomatic and commercial ties with the newly
established Crusader state known as the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, with other
Crusader states along the Mediterranean coast of the Middle East, and with the
various kingdoms and principalities of Christian Europe. Fatimid power declined
in the 12th century, and in 1171 Kurdish military adventurer Saladin overthrew
the dynasty.
Saladin restored the official status of
Sunni Islam and the formal authority of the Abbasid caliphate in Egypt. Soon
afterward, he united Egypt with Syria. In 1187 he led the Islamic reconquest of
Jerusalem. Saladin’s descendants, the Ayyubids, ruled Egypt, as well as parts of
Syria and Yemen, until 1250. Ayyubid relations with the Crusader states varied;
some rulers encouraged European Christians to settle in Palestine and even
leased Jerusalem to the Crusaders for a short time. However, Egypt’s Nile Delta
suffered Crusader attacks from 1218 to 1221 and from 1249 to 1250. The latter
invasion, during the Third Crusade, led to the overthrow of the Ayyubid dynasty
by the Mamluks (also spelled Mamelukes), who regarded the Ayyubid rulers as weak
and corrupt. The Mamluks were slaves from Central Asia and Caucasus whom the
Ayyubids used as soldiers.
B | Mamluk Rule and Ottoman Conquest |
Between 1250 and 1517, Mamluk sultans
ruled Egypt along with Syria. The Mamluks successfully resisted invasions by the
Crusaders and the Mongols, brought about commercial prosperity, and fostered the
arts and architecture, most notably in Cairo. A Mamluk sultan usually bequeathed
his position to a son or other relative, but a rival Mamluk claimant often
toppled the heir and seized the throne.
The Mamluk sultans who ruled from 1250
to 1382 were commonly referred to as the Bahri sultans. They were the
descendants mainly of Turkic peoples from Central Asia. The sultans who ruled
from 1382 to 1517 were called the Burji sultans. For the most part, they were
Circassians, originally from the Caucasus. Egypt prospered under the Bahri
sultans but succumbed to plague, famine, and mounting unrest under the Burji
rulers.
Under the Mamluks, Egyptians, Syrians,
and other Arabs were barred from positions of political or military power.
However, they were able to be ulama (Islamic legal experts), merchants,
landowners, and administrators. In 1261 the Mamluk ruler Baybars I reestablished
in Cairo the Abbasid caliphate, which the Mongols had destroyed at Baghdād in
1258. The caliphs were allowed to perform only religious duties; the Mamluk
sultans retained absolute political authority.
Equipped with cannons and other firearms,
the armies of the Ottoman Empire defeated the Mamluks in 1516 and 1517. Egypt
became an Ottoman province. The Ottomans sent a governor to Cairo, but a general
uprising in 1525 convinced them that it would be wiser to delegate local power
to the Mamluks. The Ottoman governors retained nominal authority and appointed
the highest Muslim judges, but in practice the Mamluks continued to control
Egypt in conjunction with the local ulama.
Egypt prospered in the 16th century but
later declined as world trade shifted away from Egypt and the Middle East to sea
routes around Africa and across the Atlantic. In addition, Mamluk factional
strife caused much devastation in the countryside. In the mid-18th century
Mamluk prince Ali Bey made a bold attempt to take Egypt and Syria from the
Ottomans, as did his lieutenant and successor, Muhammad Bey. In the late 18th
century widespread famine reduced the population of Egypt, and factional
fighting in Cairo weakened the authority of the Mamluks.
C | Muhammad Ali |
In 1798 France was at war with Britain,
and French general Napoleon Bonaparte led a large-scale invasion of Egypt to
disrupt British commerce in the region. Bonaparte quickly established French
rule in the Nile Delta and Cairo and set out to conquer lands farther east and
south. However, he encountered stiff resistance from the Mamluks in Upper Egypt
and from the Ottomans in Palestine and Syria. In August 1798 the British navy
destroyed the French fleet as it lay at anchor in Abū Qīr Bay near Alexandria.
In 1799 Napoleon escaped to France, leaving behind a French army of occupation.
British and Ottoman troops expelled this army in 1801, ending the French
presence in Egypt.
Neither the Mamluks nor the local ulama
and merchants could immediately fill the power vacuum that resulted from the
expulsion of the French. In 1805 Muhammad Ali, an Ottoman officer leading an
Albanian regiment, seized control. Backed by Cairo’s merchant guilds, he
persuaded the Ottoman sultan to make him governor of Egypt. He slowly
consolidated power, defeating an invading British army in 1807 and massacring
many of the Mamluks in 1811. Between 1811 and 1819 he helped the Ottoman Empire
to regain control of Arabia from the Wahhabis, who had seized control of much of
it at the start of the 19th century. Starting in 1820, his troops conquered much
of what is now Sudan. To maintain the strength of his army, Muhammad Ali began
conscripting Egyptian peasants. With the aid of French experts, he transformed
his inexperienced peasant soldiers into a powerful army that fought against
Greek rebels who rose up against Ottoman rule in the 1820s.
In return for his assistance in Greece,
Muhammad Ali demanded that the Ottoman sultan grant him rule over Syria. The
sultan refused, and Muhammad Ali invaded Syria in 1831, defeating the Ottoman
forces and briefly creating an Egyptian empire that stretched from Crete to
Syria and Arabia. Wishing to protect the balance of power in the region, a
British-led European force intervened in 1840 to restore Ottoman power and
restrict Muhammad Ali to Egypt. Although forced to give up his territories
outside of Egypt, Muhammad Ali secured hereditary rule in Egypt. He became
viceroy of Egypt and freed the country of Ottoman control in all but name. The
descendants of Muhammad Ali ruled Egypt until 1952.
Muhammad Ali and his heirs took the first
steps toward modernizing Egypt’s economy. They ordered the construction of new
canals, barrages (river barriers), and factories. Egypt could not industrialize
on a large scale because of competition from foreign manufactures, but it did
modernize its agriculture. A new irrigation method made possible the cultivation
of three crops annually on lands that formerly had produced only one, and cash
crops such as tobacco, indigo, and especially long-staple cotton replaced
subsistence crops in much of the Nile Valley.
In 1848 Muhammad Ali’s son Ibrahim Pasha,
who had led many victorious military campaigns, assumed power, but he died soon
after becoming viceroy. (“Pasha” was an Ottoman title, roughly akin to “Lord”;
it was the title used by the viceroys of Egypt.) His successor, Abbas I, tried
to undo Muhammad Ali’s reforms and to dismiss his French advisers. Abbas
authorized the construction (by a British firm) of the first railroad linking
Alexandria and Cairo. His successor, Said Pasha, resumed some of the reforms and
also authorized French entrepreneur Ferdinand de Lesseps to construct the Suez
Canal, connecting the Mediterranean and Red seas. Completed in 1869, the canal
greatly facilitated transportation and trade between Europe and Asia. However,
it brought little benefit to Egypt.
D | Increased Foreign Involvement |
Ismail Pasha was Egypt’s ruler at the
time the Suez Canal opened. The Ottoman sultan had granted him the hereditary
title of khedive two years earlier. Ismail used the canal’s inaugural
celebrations to showcase the country’s Westernization, which included the
construction of European quarters in Cairo and Alexandria, sumptuous palaces,
the Cairo Opera House, and many factories, railways, and telegraph lines. He
dispatched military expeditions to expand his empire in Sudan and to explore the
African interior. The government could afford such luxuries because of the
booming demand for Egyptian cotton, caused by shortfalls of American cotton as a
result of the American Civil War (1861-1865). Foreign banks and individuals
eagerly invested in Egypt’s economy.
Economic conditions later deteriorated,
forcing Egypt to borrow from foreign creditors to finance its projects. To stave
off economic crisis, the government adopted drastic measures such as collecting
taxes in advance, selling its shares in the company that operated the Suez
Canal, and finally declaring bankruptcy. Egypt’s inability to pay back its loans
led to the appointment of foreign debt commissioners to monitor Egypt’s finances
in 1876, the inclusion of British and French ministers in Egypt’s cabinet in
1878, and finally the forced abdication of Ismail in 1879. Under European
pressure, the Ottoman sultan installed Ismail’s son, Tawfik (also spelled
Tawfiq), who cooperated with Egypt’s foreign creditors.
Some Egyptians formed nationalist groups
to combat the rising European influence. Inspired by Iranian-born Islamic
activist Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, who lived and taught in Egypt for eight years,
Egyptians produced plays and published newspapers demanding independence and
constitutional rule. Demands for more control over their own country increased
when the foreign debt commissioners reduced expenditures on education, economic
development, and defense.
During the reigns of Said Pasha and
Ismail Pasha, Egyptians had gradually been allowed to enter the officer corps of
the military. Egyptian officers organized secret societies in response to
discrimination by the traditionally dominant Turkish and Circassian officers. In
1881 an Egyptian colonel named Ahmad Arabi led a mutiny against the war minister
and later a larger demonstration against the khedive. He demanded a popularly
elected legislature and an increased budget for the army. In early 1882 the
nationalists gained control of the cabinet and the army, threatening the Turkish
and Circassian officers and even the khedive himself. Riots broke out in the
port cities, and Britain and France sent warships to blockade Alexandria
harbor.
Arabi, now minister of war, refused an
ultimatum to pull down Alexandria’s fortifications. On July 11, 1882, British
battleships bombarded Alexandria, setting the city afire. Khedive Tawfik, siding
with Britain, declared Arabi a rebel, thus setting the stage for a British
invasion and occupation, first of Alexandria, then of the Suez Canal, and
finally (after defeating Arabi’s troops at Tel al-Kabir) of Cairo itself. Arabi
and his followers were jailed, put on trial, and exiled from Egypt, and the
khedive was restored to power.
E | British Rule |
British forces occupied Egypt in 1882.
Although the British government intended the military occupation to be brief,
Britain became ever more involved in Egyptian affairs. Between 1883 and 1885
British troops attempted to crush a rebellion in Sudan that threatened Egypt’s
control of the upper Nile and the Red Sea coast. The rebels, led by Muhammad
Ahmad, also known as the Mahdi (“the rightly guided one”), destroyed the
British armies that were sent against them. Sudan remained independent until it
was conquered by a combined British and Egyptian force between 1896 and
1898.
The British exerted ever more control
over Egypt’s government. Their consul general, Sir Evelyn Baring (known after
1892 as Lord Cromer), undertook to reform the country’s finances and to restore
public order. His success in reforming finances restored European confidence in
Egypt’s economy. However, it also caused a steady increase in the number of
British advisers to the Egyptian cabinet and, over time, in the numbers of
British irrigation inspectors, judges, police, and army officers. The resentment
of ethnic Egyptians, who had long felt excluded from official posts by their
Ottoman rulers and Europeans in general, now became focused on the British.
British control led to increased foreign
investment in Egypt, greater public security, new public works to improve Nile
irrigation, and lower taxation, all of which meant greater prosperity for Egypt.
Nevertheless, many Egyptians felt that foreign domination was too high a price
to pay for this prosperity. When Abbas II succeeded Tawfik as khedive in 1892,
Egyptian nationalists demanded greater control over the ministries. Abbas tried
but failed to assert control over the Egyptian army, whose high posts were held
by British officers.
Egyptian nationalism was aided by the
French and the Ottomans, who resented the substantial British role in Egyptian
affairs. The nationalists gained strength under the leadership of Mustafa Kamil,
an Egyptian lawyer who had been educated partly in Europe. He founded a
newspaper, a school, and finally a political party, the National Party, in his
campaign to end the British occupation. In 1906 an altercation between Egyptian
peasants and British officers, who were hunting pigeons, stirred up widespread
opposition to the British. The British authorities accused the peasants of
assaulting the officers, conducted a hasty trial, and sentenced the accused to
death, public flogging, or imprisonment. A crisis loomed, but British officials
restored calm by making a few concessions and adopting a policy of winning
Khedive Abbas over to their side. Mustafa Kamil died in 1908, and his followers
split into various factions. After his death the British authorities advised the
Egyptian government to muzzle the press.
F | British Protectorate |
The outbreak of World War I in 1914
temporarily halted nationalist activities in Egypt. Soon after the Ottoman
Empire entered the war on the side of Germany in November 1914, Britain, which
was already at war with Germany, declared Egypt a protectorate. Abbas II was
deposed in favor of his uncle, Hussein Kamil, who was given the title of sultan.
Legal ties between Egypt and the Ottoman Empire were formally severed, and
Britain promised Egypt some changes in government once the war was over. In the
meantime, the British stationed more than 100,000 troops in Egypt, mainly to
guard the Suez Canal against German and Ottoman attacks coming from the Sinai
Peninsula, and imposed martial law to stifle any expression of discontent.
The war years resulted in great hardship
for the Egyptian peasants, who were conscripted to dig ditches and whose
livestock was confiscated by the army. Inflation was rampant, harming the
city-dwellers in particular. These factors were responsible for increasing
resentment against the British and set the stage for a violent upheaval after
World War I ended in 1918.
After the war, several nationalists, led
by Saad Zaghlul, asked the top British official in Egypt, High Commissioner Sir
Reginald Wingate, for permission to go to London to negotiate for an end to the
protectorate. The British government refused to meet Zaghlul, who was then
exiled with three of his colleagues to Malta. In March 1919 a nationwide revolt
broke out, marked by random violence in the countryside, mass demonstrations in
the cities, and expressions of national unity between Copts and Muslims.
Britain recalled Wingate and sent
General Edmund Allenby, who had led the conquest of Palestine and Syria during
the war, to restore order. Allenby freed Zaghlul and his colleagues to attend
the Paris Peace Conference as a delegation (wafd in Arabic; the group
became known as the Wafd). Although the Allies (the coalition of the victorious
nations in World War I, including Britain) ignored the delegation’s demand for
Egyptian independence, the Wafd became the major voice for Egyptian nationalism
and democracy.
The unrest continued between 1919 and
1922. The Egyptians wanted complete independence, but the British felt they
needed to keep their troops in Egypt to guard the Suez Canal, as well as their
airports, their radio transmitters, and their other means of communications with
India and the rest of their empire in Asia. In 1922 Allenby offered Egypt
qualified, or partial, independence, subject to four reservations to be dealt
with in future negotiations. These were the security of British imperial
communications, the right of Britain to defend Egypt against outside
interference, the right of Britain to protect foreign interests and minorities
in Egypt, and continued Anglo-Egyptian control of Sudan, which had been placed
under the joint administration of Britain and Egypt in 1899.
G | Qualified Independence |
In 1922 Britain declared Egypt an
independent monarchy under Hussein Kamil’s successor, Ahmad Fuad, who became
king as Fuad I. The British reserved the right to intervene in Egyptian affairs
if their interests were threatened, thereby robbing Egypt of any real
independence and allowing British control to continue unabated. Egypt’s
politicians agreed in 1923 to draft a constitution making the country a
constitutional monarchy. The Wafd won the first parliamentary elections, which
were held in January 1924. The organization’s leader, Zaghlul, became prime
minister and formed a cabinet. The Wafd government did not last long. In
November 1924 the British commander of the Egyptian army was assassinated. The
police investigation uncovered a nationwide network of terrorists with ties to
the Wafd. Allenby handed Zaghlul a stern memorandum containing demands for
Egypt’s apology and reparations. Zaghlul accepted some of the demands but chose
to resign rather than accept the others.
King Fuad, who saw the Wafd as a threat
to his power, named a cabinet made up of politicians opposed to the Wafd. When
new elections again resulted in a Wafd majority, the king locked the deputies
out of parliament. The British exploited the rivalry between the Wafd and the
king to prolong their occupation of Egypt. In 1930 Fuad, with the aid of
anti-Wafd politicians, replaced the 1923 constitution with a new basic law that
enhanced the power of the monarchy.
Fuad died in 1936 and was succeeded by
his son, Faruk I. The government immediately restored the 1923 constitution and
held free elections. The Wafd was again victorious and formed a new government.
In 1935 Italy, under Fascist dictator
Benito Mussolini, invaded and conquered Ethiopia, thus challenging Britain’s
position as the chief European power in northeastern Africa. The threat from
Italy prompted the British and the Egyptian government to negotiate a treaty to
resolve matters left outstanding since 1922. The treaty provided for an
Anglo-Egyptian military alliance. It enabled Egypt to join the League of Nations
and to establish its own embassies abroad. The terms of the alliance allowed
British troops to remain in the Suez Canal zone but limited the total number of
British troops in Egypt to 10,000 in peacetime. British troops were to evacuate
Cairo and Alexandria as soon as the Egyptian government could build new barracks
for them elsewhere.
When World War II broke out in 1939,
Britain still had troops stationed in Egypt’s major cities. The outbreak of war
prompted Britain to increase its garrisons in the canal zone. Many Egyptian
nationalists hoped that Britain’s enemies, the Axis Powers (principally Nazi
Germany and Fascist Italy), would win the war. The British ambassador to Egypt
demanded that King Faruk appoint an all-Wafd government, since the Wafd had
negotiated the terms of the 1936 treaty and would carry out Egypt’s alliance
obligations.
The Wafd government supported Britain’s
war efforts in Egypt. The government soon lost its legitimacy as an advocate for
Egyptian nationalism. In a vain effort to maintain its credibility it instituted
educational and social reforms in the early 1940s and even spearheaded the drive
for Arab solidarity. That drive culminated in the formation of the Arab League
in Cairo in 1945.
The war ended in 1945, and British
troops left Cairo and Alexandria in 1946 but remained in the canal zone. As
nationalist sentiment intensified among Egyptians, disaffection with the
Egyptian government also grew. The Muslim Brotherhood, an organization founded
in 1928 to bring Islamic principles into government and society, gained
prominence in the mid-1940s. The growth of labor unions and the prestige gained
by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) by its victory over Nazi
Germany in the war emboldened Egypt’s Communist movement, although it remained
fragmented.
In 1948 Egypt, along with other Arab
countries, went to war in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the establishment
of the Jewish state of Israel in the historic region of Palestine. A UN
armistice ended the fighting in 1949, with Israel securely established in most
of what had been Palestine. Because of Israel’s close ties with various Western
nations, Egypt’s defeat aggravated anti-Western sentiment. The defeat also
discredited King Faruk and inspired some Egyptian army officers to start
plotting his overthrow. Although the Wafd won the parliamentary elections in
1950, it had lost many of its ablest politicians to rival parties and failed to
devise policies to stem the loss of public trust in the government. In January
1952 a confrontation in which British troops killed 50 Egyptian police officers
sparked a mass demonstration in protest of the killings. Widespread looting and
arson that destroyed much of downtown Cairo followed, further discrediting the
king and the Wafd, which was immediately dismissed from office, never to
return.
The armistice that ended the fighting
with Israel gave Egypt control of a small region of Palestinian territory known
as the Gaza Strip. This region remained under Egyptian administration until its
capture by Israel in 1967.
H | Coup and Independence |
In July 1952 a secret society in the
Egyptian army called the Free Officers, led by General Gamal Abdel Nasser, took
control of the government in an almost bloodless coup. They forced Faruk to
abdicate and replaced him as head of state with General Muhammad Naguib. Naguib
promised to restore democracy and rid the country of corruption. The officers
who formed the government soon realized that Egypt needed more comprehensive
reforms.
The new government’s first action was to
issue a decree that no person could own more than 80 hectares (200 acres) of
agricultural land. This action had the effect of breaking up huge estates and
redistributing the land to thousands of peasants who owned no land. In the
course of the next year the Free Officers took over government ministries to
implement other reforms. They banned the old political parties, tried many
politicians for corruption, and postponed indefinitely the restoration of
parliamentary rule. In June 1953 they put an end to the monarchy by declaring
Egypt a republic. Naguib was named the first president of the republic.
I | Egypt Under Nasser |
When Naguib voiced support for the old
parties and the Muslim Brotherhood, most of the Free Officers, under the
leadership of Nasser, opposed him. In early 1954 Nasser became prime minister,
while Naguib retained the presidency. A failed attempt by the Muslim Brotherhood
to assassinate Nasser in late 1954 gave him a reason to clamp down on the
Brotherhood and on other groups thought to favor Naguib, who subsequently was
dismissed from the presidency and placed under house arrest. Nasser became
acting head of state. He was formally elected president in 1956.
The revolutionaries gave precedence to
domestic reforms, but they soon turned their attention to foreign affairs. They
secured an agreement by which the British would evacuate the Suez Canal bases by
June 1956. They also agreed to let the people of Sudan choose between union with
Egypt and independence. The Egyptian government fiercely opposed attempts by the
Western powers, especially the United States and Britain, to create a Middle
Eastern alliance against Communism. In particular, the Egyptians condemned the
British-sponsored Baghdād Pact, which brought together Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and
Pakistan against the USSR. An Israeli raid into the Egyptian-administered Gaza
Strip in early 1955 underscored Egypt’s military vulnerability and hence its
need to buy arms from abroad. Unable to purchase any weapons from the West
without conditions, Nasser looked to the Communist countries. In September 1955
he concluded a $200 million deal to buy weapons from Czechoslovakia.
One of the new government’s most
ambitious domestic projects, construction of the Aswān High Dam across the Nile,
soon had a tremendous impact on foreign affairs. Egypt initiated the project in
order to increase cultivable land and generate hydroelectric power. Initially,
the World Bank, Britain, and the United States offered to lend money for the
project. However, in 1956 the United States withdrew its offer, and Britain and
the World Bank followed suit. The U.S. government claimed that Egypt would not
be able to repay the loans, but it was widely believed that the Americans were
punishing Nasser for recognizing the Communist-led People’s Republic of China.
Nasser responded a week later by nationalizing the Suez Canal Company, which
operated the canal and was owned by the British and French governments and
private investors. In 1958 the Soviet government agreed to help finance the dam
project.
I1 | Suez Crisis |
The takeover of the canal company
infuriated the British, for whom the Suez Canal was a vital waterway. It also
angered the French, who had built and managed the canal. Both governments
threatened to force Nasser to relinquish the canal, despite the U.S.
government’s opposition to military action. After diplomatic efforts to resolve
the crisis failed, Britain and France entered into a secret alliance with
Israel, which was already considering military action against Egypt. Egypt had
refused to allow Israel to use the Suez Canal and since 1951 had blocked
Israel’s access to the Red Sea from its port of Elat through the
Egyptian-controlled Strait of Tiran, which lies at the entrance to the Gulf of
Aqaba. Furthermore, Egypt was sponsoring Palestinian raids into Israeli
territory.
Israel attacked Egypt in October 1956
and soon captured the Gaza Strip and most of the Sinai Peninsula, while Britain
and France invaded Port Said and began occupying the canal zone. Within a week,
however, the United Nations, at the urging of both the USSR and the United
States, demanded a cease-fire, forcing Britain, France, and Israel to withdraw
from the lands they had captured.
I2 | United Arab Republic |
The Suez Crisis enhanced the prestige
of Egypt. The canal remained nationalized, Egypt was at last free from British
control, and Israel was obliged for the first time to withdraw from Arab
territory. The United States and other maritime nations gave Israel an informal
guarantee of access to the Gulf of Aqaba. Syria sought to unite with Egypt, and
Nasser agreed to the formation of the United Arab Republic (UAR) in 1958. Syrian
enthusiasm cooled, however, as it became apparent that Egypt would dominate the
UAR. The UAR suffered a further blow when a new regime in Iraq, which had just
overthrown the pro-Western monarchy there in July 1958, chose not to enter the
union. Newly independent Sudan also chose not to join the UAR. In July 1961,
when the Egyptian government moved toward an openly socialist policy, Syria’s
business leaders turned against the union. Syria seceded from the UAR soon
thereafter.
Nasser was chagrined at the breakup of
the union with Syria. Nevertheless, he retained the name of the UAR for his
country and looked for other allies in the Arab world. In 1962 he set up a
one-party political system in the UAR, with his Arab Socialist Union the sole
party. When Algeria gained independence from France in 1962, the UAR hailed its
new regime. When a military coup ousted the ruler of Yemen and established the
Yemen Arab Republic in 1962, the UAR recognized the republican regime and sent
troops to aid it against royalist forces, which Saudi Arabia supported. This
action led to a prolonged proxy war with Saudi Arabia that tied up thousands of
the best UAR troops. In 1963, coups in Iraq and Syria led by army officers in
the Arab socialist Baath Party installed pro-UAR governments, but talks to bring
these countries into the UAR broke down.
Although his attempts to create a
political union failed, Nasser promoted Arab unity in other ways. When Israel
threatened to draw water from the Jordan River for its national irrigation
project, Nasser convened the Arab heads of state to develop a common policy
against Israel. In 1964 he facilitated the birth of the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO), created to provide an organized channel for Palestinian
nationalism. In 1966 Nasser made a mutual defense pact with Syria, hoping to
moderate the stance of the radical wing of the Syrian Baath Party that had taken
power. Instead, the pact emboldened Syria to engage Israel in aerial clashes in
April 1967. Israel shot down six Syrian fighter jets and warned Syria against
future attacks.
The Soviet government warned the UAR
that Israel was concentrating its troops for an invasion of Syria. The Israelis
denied the warning, which later proved false. Nevertheless, Nasser responded by
sending troops into the Sinai Peninsula, which had been demilitarized after the
1956 war. He called for the removal of UN forces from the Gaza Strip and the Red
Sea port of Sharm al-Sheikh, where they had been stationed since the end of the
1956 war. After reoccupying these buffer zones, the UAR announced that it would
reimpose its blockade of the Strait of Tiran, preventing Israeli ships from
entering or leaving the Gulf of Aqaba. The UAR press and radio also made threats
against Israel.
I3 | War with Israel |
In June 1967 Israel, unable to secure
military assistance from the United States or any European nations, launched
surprise air attacks against its Arab enemies, virtually destroying the air
forces of the UAR, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq. In the ensuing Six-Day War, Israel
captured the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from the UAR. Nasser retaliated
by breaking diplomatic relations with the United States, which he accused of
aiding Israel, and again closing the Suez Canal. Jordan and Syria likewise
suffered defeat and lost territory to the Israelis.
In the wake of its defeat, the UAR
sought more weapons and military advisers from the USSR. It also began to make
peace with Saudi Arabia, on whom it had to rely for economic assistance. Under
the terms of a peace plan for Yemen, Egyptian troops were at last withdrawn from
Yemen in December 1967. As Saudi influence increased, the Egyptian government
began, imperceptibly at first, moving from Arab socialism toward a more Islamic
orientation.
In November 1967 the UN Security
Council passed Resolution 242, a peace proposal that called for Israel’s
withdrawal from lands taken in the recent fighting. In 1968 UAR and Israeli
forces began firing regularly at each other across the Suez Canal, leading
Nasser in March 1969 to declare a War of Attrition against Israel. Israel
responded with air and land attacks on the UAR. Nasser, in turn, requested more
Soviet military assistance.
In 1970 U.S. Secretary of State
William Rogers proposed a peace plan that would have extended Resolution 242 by
requiring Israel to give back almost all the land it had taken in 1967 in return
for peace treaties with its Arab neighbors. Israel rejected the plan, while
Nasser decided to join Jordan in accepting the plan. Palestinian commandos who
opposed the plan challenged Jordan’s King Hussein. Nasser called another Arab
summit in Cairo and managed to reconcile the two sides. He died of a heart
attack within hours after the meeting ended. Nasser’s death and funeral led to
an outpouring of grief throughout the Arab world.
J | Egypt Under Sadat |
Anwar al-Sadat, who had been vice
president under Nasser, became president upon Nasser’s death. Sadat was
generally assumed to be too weak to hold power for long. He surprised everyone
in May 1971 by removing Nasser’s most trusted lieutenants from key leadership
positions. Sadat quickly gained popular support by repealing many censorship
policies, calling for a new constitution, and changing the country’s name to the
Arab Republic of Egypt.
Sadat’s early initiatives in foreign
policy were less successful. He proposed peace with Israel, calling for an
Israeli pullback from the Suez Canal in exchange for Egypt’s renunciation of
war. His proposal fell on deaf ears. Libya desired union with Egypt, and in 1971
there was hope for a broader federation including Syria and Sudan, but no union
ever occurred. In 1971 Sadat signed a friendship treaty with the USSR, but it
did not enable him to buy from Moscow the weapons he wanted. Frustrated that the
USSR was not providing Egypt with enough weapons, Sadat asked in 1972 that most
of the Soviet military advisers in Egypt leave the country.
Sadat came under increasing domestic
pressure to initiate a new war against Israel to recapture the territories lost
in 1967. He had hoped that the expulsion of most Soviet military advisers in
1972 would prompt the United States, now Israel’s chief ally, to seek
reconciliation with Egypt, but there was no such move on the part of the United
States. Meanwhile, the leaders of Israel believed that the Soviet exodus would
reduce Egypt's war-making potential, and so they discounted the possibility of
an Egyptian attack. In September 1973, during an Israeli election campaign in
which the leading candidates favored keeping the captured territories, Sadat
made a secret agreement with Syria to attack Israeli positions in the Sinai and
in the Golan Heights, Syrian territory that Israel had captured in the 1967
war.
The joint attack, begun on the Jewish
holiday of Yom Kippur and during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, broke
through the Israeli defenses. Egyptian forces advanced into the Sinai as Syrian
forces retook part of the Golan Heights. Neither Egypt nor Syria fully
capitalized on their initial gains, however, and soon the Israelis, completely
mobilized and rearmed by the United States, went on the offensive. After 18 days
of fighting, Israel broke through the Egyptian lines, crossed the Suez Canal,
and seized portions of the canal’s west bank down to Suez City. The UN Security
Council passed resolutions calling for immediate negotiations between the
warring parties. A Soviet threat to attack Israel and a U.S. threat of nuclear
war finally ended the conflict. After the fighting ended, Egyptian and Israeli
officers met in an attempt to disengage their troops. See Arab-Israeli
War of 1973.
Following negotiations by U.S. secretary
of state Henry Kissinger with Sadat and Israeli prime minister Golda Meir, the
Egyptian and Israeli governments agreed to a peace conference in Geneva,
Switzerland, in December 1973. The meeting adjourned after one day and was not
reconvened. In January 1974 Kissinger began traveling between Egypt and Israel,
negotiating with the countries’ leaders in a technique known as shuttle
diplomacy. His efforts produced a disengagement agreement that allowed
Egypt to keep territory it had recaptured east of the Suez Canal and established
a buffer zone separating the Egyptian and Israeli forces in the Sinai. Sadat
agreed to reopen the Suez Canal and to allow the passage of ships to and from
Israel. The two governments reached an interim agreement whereby Israel withdrew
from additional Egyptian territory in return for a pledge by Egypt not to go to
war with Israel.
As Egypt edged toward better relations
with Israel, Sadat began a domestic economic policy, known as infitah
(meaning 'opening'), that encouraged private investment in Egypt. He hoped to
stimulate Egypt’s economy, which had stagnated under Nasser’s brand of socialism
and the effects of two wars with Israel. In the mid-1970s Sadat drew away from
the USSR, terminating the 1971 friendship treaty between the two nations, and
moved closer to the United States. Continued economic troubles and the election
of a conservative government in Israel prompted him to take drastic action to
end the costly conflict with Israel. In 1977 Sadat made a historic visit to
Israel’s parliament in Jerusalem to offer a peace settlement.
Sadat’s visit to Jerusalem produced no
immediate progress, but his initiative led to further meetings and negotiations
between Egypt and Israel. In September 1978 U.S. president Jimmy Carter invited
Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin to the presidential retreat in
Camp David, Maryland, to continue negotiations. Although the Palestinians and
almost all the other Arab governments opposed Sadat’s actions, Sadat signed the
Camp David Accords, a framework for peace that provided for Israel’s phased
withdrawal from the Sinai in return for full diplomatic ties with Egypt. Further
negotiations led to a comprehensive peace treaty between Egypt and Israel in
1979.
Most Egyptians hailed Sadat’s peace
policy, mainly because they hoped that it would improve economic conditions.
Instead, the economy suffered further from a boycott by Arab nations that
opposed Egypt’s separate peace with Israel. Egypt also became politically
isolated from the Arab world. It was expelled from the Arab League, and the
league’s headquarters was moved from Cairo to Tunis, Tunisia.
In 1978 Sadat tried to promote political
freedom by replacing the one-party political system under the Arab Socialist
Union with a multiparty system. However, he tolerated no criticism of his peace
with Israel and continued to suppress socialist and Islamist groups that he
deemed subversive. In September 1981 he ordered the arrest of more than 1,500
dissident political and intellectual leaders, thereby alienating most educated
Egyptians. In addition, he imposed a state of emergency to prevent the Islamist
groups from gaining power. On October 6, 1981, while reviewing a military parade
in Cairo commemorating Egypt’s victory in the 1973 war, Sadat was assassinated
by a group of Islamist officers. Egyptian security forces unearthed a widespread
conspiracy of terrorists alienated by Sadat’s peace with Israel and the
socioeconomic problems caused by his infitah policies. Few Egyptians or other
Arabs mourned Sadat’s death.
K | Egypt Under Mubarak |
Vice President Hosni Mubarak succeeded
Sadat as president. Mubarak promised to stress continuity in foreign policy and
betterment of economic conditions in Egypt. One of his first acts was to release
the politicians whom Sadat had jailed. While maintaining Egypt’s close ties with
the United States, Mubarak also pursued closer ties with other Arab countries
and kept his distance from Israel. By 1987 most Arab states had restored their
diplomatic ties with Egypt. Egypt was readmitted to the Arab League in 1989 and
the league's headquarters was moved back to Cairo.
Within Egypt, the government continued
to move away from state-controlled enterprises but also curbed some of the
excesses of businessmen and speculators who had taken advantage of Sadat’s
infitah policy. Corruption, even among members of Sadat’s family, was exposed
and halted. Mubarak allowed new political parties to form and eased some curbs
on press freedom, but he maintained the state of emergency that Sadat had
imposed in 1981 to prevent the Islamist groups from gaining power. Yet the
government seemed less able than the Islamists, who maintained a traditional
Islamic social services network, to deliver medical, educational, and social
benefits to poor people. Continued inequities between a rich and powerful
minority and the impoverished masses appalled most Egyptians.
In 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait, and Mubarak
supported the U.S.-led allied coalition that was formed to reverse the
occupation (see Persian Gulf War). Egypt’s intellectuals widely
criticized his support of the coalition, and many Egyptians sympathized with the
Iraqis. Between 1990 and 1997, radical Islamist groups engaged in violent action
to overthrow the government. Members of these groups murdered secular-minded
politicians, a leading secularist writer, Copts, and foreign tourists. Mubarak
himself barely escaped an assassination attempt in 1995. The government
responded by imprisoning or executing numerous radicals. Economic reforms in the
1990s promoted economic development and raised Egypt’s per capita income, but
the economy stagnated from 2000 to 2002. Afterward the economy picked up
somewhat due in part to a devaluation of the currency in 2003. The peace policy
with Israel and Egypt’s close ties to the United States remained widely
unpopular. Nevertheless, the Egyptian government formally upheld the peace
treaty with Israel and on occasion sponsored meetings aimed at promoting peace
between Israel and the Palestinians.
During the early 2000s Mubarak continued
his policies of suppressing radical Islamists and permitting only weak
opposition from other political parties. He was quick to condemn the September
11 attacks on the United States, and in the wake of those attacks reaffirmed the
importance of his crackdown on Islamic fundamentalists. In the meantime more
moderate Islamic groups were demanding a more overtly Islamist state based upon
Sharia (Islamic law). Although Egyptian legislation is nominally based upon
Sharia, some would like to see Sharia more rigorously enforced in practice. Such
a policy was opposed by religious minorities, chiefly Coptic Christians (see
Coptic Church); some secular liberals; and also by the United States. The
holding of relatively free elections by Palestinians and in Iraq in early 2005
led to some publicly expressed Egyptian sentiment in favor of more democracy at
home. As Mubarak’s fourth six-year term drew to a close in 2005, some groups
called for changes in the constitution, including a two-term limit on the
presidency. In May 2005 voters approved a constitutional amendment that allowed
for multiparty candidates and direct election of the president by secret
ballot.
As presidential elections approached,
Egypt became the scene of several terrorist bombings. In October 2004 suicide
bombers at two resort towns in the Sinai Peninsula killed 34 people, many of
them Israeli tourists. Then in July 2005 three explosive-filled trucks driven by
suicide bombers detonated in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm al-Sheikh at the
tip of the Sinai Peninsula. The reported death toll in those three explosions
ranged from 64 to 88 people.
Nevertheless, Egypt’s first multiparty
presidential election took place without violence in September 2005. Mubarak was
easily reelected with more than 85 percent of the vote, although voter turnout
was low with only about 7 million votes cast from a pool of 32 million
registered voters. The turnout of about 22 percent contrasted with a turnout of
more than 53 percent in the referendum on the constitutional amendment.
Opposition parties charged election fraud and said Mubarak’s campaign dominated
the state-owned media.
Mubarak again pushed for changes to
Egypt’s constitution in 2007 when a referendum approved several amendments that
increased presidential power. The changes gave the president the power to
dissolve Egypt’s bicameral legislature without holding a referendum, limit the
role of judges in monitoring elections, and suspend civil rights protections in
cases that the president determines are associated with terrorism. The
referendum also reconfirmed the existing ban on political parties based on
religion. Opposition groups and human rights organizations said the outcome of
the referendum was affected by widespread vote fraud. The referendum passed
overwhelmingly with more than 75 percent approval and a voter turnout of about
10 million people, according to government reports.
Arthur Goldschmidt, Jr., contributed the
History section of this article.
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