Map shows total Egypt with the red sea and the Sinai pninsula.

Egypt: The history of Egypt has been long and rich, due to the flow of the Nile river, with its fertile banks and delta. Its rich history also comes from its native inhabitants and outside influence. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing.

The Ptolemaic Kingdom, 332 BC-641AC, was a powerful Hellenistic state extending from southern Syria in the east, to Cyrene to the west, and south to the frontier with Nubia. Alexandria became the capital city and a center of Greek culture and trade. To gain recognition by the native Egyptian populace, they named themselves as the successors to the Pharaohs. The last ruler from the Ptolemaic dynasty was Cleopatra, who committed suicide following the burial of her lover Mark Antony. The Byzantines ( 641-1882) were able to regain control of the country after a brief Persian invasion early in the 7th century, when Egypt was invaded and conquered by the Arab Islamic Empire. The final loss of Egypt was of incalculable significance to the Byzantine Empire, which had relied on Egypt for many agricultural and manufactured goods.

 

In 1517, Ottoman sultan Selim I, captured Cairo, absorbing Egypt into the Ottoman Empire, it remained Ottoman until 1867, except during French occupation from 1798 to 1801 by Napoleon Bonaparte. After 1867 , the Ottoman power in Egypt was finished and Muhammad Ali, an ambitious and able leader, established a dynasty that was to rule Egypt until the revolution of 1952.