Egypt final_video

Egypt

sources:

Reader, John. Africa: a biography of the continent. New York: Vintage, 1999

"State and Islam in Egypt." Politics of Modern Muslim Subjectivities. doi:10.1057/9781137380654.0014.

"Chapter 1: Egypt and North Africa." History Of Islam In Africa, 2003, 21-36. doi:10.1353/chapter.644533.

Mark, Samuel. 1998. From Egypt to Mesopotamia : A Study of Predynastic Trade Routes. College Station, Tex: Texas A&M University Press, 1998. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost (accessed May 1, 2017).

Kia, Mehrdad. Ottoman Empire (Greenwood guides to historic events, 1500-1900). Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008.

Din, Khaled Mohi El. Memories of a revolution: Egypt, 1952. Cairo, Egypt: American University in Cairo Press, 1995.

Quirke, Stephen. Exploring religion in ancient Egypt. Malden, Mass: Wiley-Blackwell, 2015.

Belcher, Stephen. African Myths of Origin. London: Penguin Books Ltd., 2005.

Briney, Amanda. "The Country of Egypt - Geographic Information." ThoughtCo. Accessed March 2017. https://www.thoughtco.com/geography-of-egypt-1434576

 "Snapshot, Africa: Egypt." Sheppardsoftware. Accessed March 2017. http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Africaweb/snapshot/Egypt.htm

Egypt Final_written

Chelsea Hughey

Egypt

May 2017

     Egypt holds one of the most rich histories in the entire world, when envision Egypt we see pyramids, Pharaohs, and grand deserts stretching seamless miles with no end. Egypt is not just defined by their ancient history which is traced as far back as 3000 BC, it has more recent events that have led to the unstable environment we see in modern Egypt. The great power that once stood has fallen victim to many foreign powers with its time that has shaped the culture, religion, and politics of the land. Egypt's history is a basis of its location, the country is shaped by its location and vast natural resources, which allow for it to be the prime location for trade and interactions between the east and west.

     The Egyptian civilization traces its start of the empire to around 3000 BC and it carried for over 2000 years, Egypt was able to create such a strong empire at the start due to its isolation, with its deserts to the east and the ocean surround the north and west, it was protected on all sides by its own natural features. These features allowed for it to be very hard for invaders to attack the land, most people were unable to cross the desert especially with large forces. The water routes in Egypt including the seas and the rivers helped both in defense and later allowing contact with other nations. The Nile River is known for its glory in the stories in the bible of Moses but also for the richness it brought to the Egyptian Empire, the Nile created a vast water supply but also created rich soil for agricultural purposes in the Nile Valley and Delta. This river enabled the people to flourish and feed the entire empire and also served as a great benefit when the Egyptians entered into trade with foreigners. The river allots for carrying goods north and south through the country while the Mediterranean Sea gives access to the surrounding countries that lie within Europe, Asia, and Africa. Trading with other countries was not something this strong Empire intended from the beginning, the many natural resources allowed for Egypt to be self sustaining with few needs from outward sources.

     After the borders opened up in Egypt, it allowed for many foreigners to enter and expose the Empire's weaknesses. Alexander the Great was the first to succeed in conquering the Egyptians. Egypt went through a period of weak rulers, Pharaohs, which in turn led to its capture in 332 BC. Alexander the Great was the ruler of Macedonia and established rule of the nation to utilize its resources and exploit its location for trade. To keep a hold on the Egyptian people, Alexander ascended a non-Egyptian Pharaoh to the throne, Ptolemy I. Ptolemy was one of many rulers from the Hellenistic empire to rule over Egypt. The Ptolemies ruled Egypt for over 300 years until the Egyptians built up their strength and took hold of their land yet again. This era of the Egyptian Empire did not last nearly as long as before in 641 AD Asia landed upon the shores of Egypt. This arrival of the people was driven by a much different desire, the people of Asia were looking to bring Islam to the land. This conquest allowed for an huge expansion of the Islam nation it linked the Arabian Peninsula to Africa deepening the roots of Islam into the country. With such a vast Empire the Muslims were easily over-run and in 969 AD the Fatimids seized the country and moved the capital city to its current state, Cairo. The desire for the control of Egypt still did not stop here it has had continuous struggles for settlement and ownership.

     The location of Egypt has had both Asia and Europe grasping for domain over the land. The Muslim people held onto the land for the longest nearly six hundred years until the Ottomans during their aspiration to become the largest Empire conquered the land. The empire under the Ottoman rule from 1517-1798 was completely autarkic. In 1798 the shift to a more open nation grew, Napoleon Bonaparte of France raided Egypt, and held the land for seven short years until yet again the Ottomans regained their control and granted Egypt the privilege to rule themselves while paying taxes to the Ottomans. This rule was the start of a more self-reliant country that allowed for the empire to make more of its own decisions including the construction of the Suez Canal. The Suez Canal was developed with an agreement between the French and Egypt to help establish an easier trade route, with Egypt being so self sufficient it did not have the established monetary holdings in which the French held which brought many troubles to the Egyptian banks and in 1875 the British government purchased the Egyptian's portion of the canal to finish the project. With Europe being so close to the borders the Egyptian government was influenced deeply by the words of the two great foreign powers. This influence of the British led to Egyptian become a British protectorate until 1953 when Britain granted the nation its independence.

     This independence being so recent has not given the country enough time to fully establish a strong government of the people and even to this day we see lots of civil unrest. Most of this unrest is drawn from the strain of religion within the government. Islam still makes up a majority of the religion chosen by the people and is the official religion of Egypt. With Islam having such a strong hold on the population it has also implemented its beliefs in the politics of Egypt. Although so much of the current culture of Egypt has been impacted by Muslims it has also seen its share of Christianity. We see Egypt mentioned time and time again in the bible and many Christian missionaries have passed through the borders including Mark the Evangelist, yet Islam still holds strong in the lands.

     The history of Egypt is as changing as the tides, we see a very isolated nation flourish into one of the most prominent trade locations in the world. The area takes on multiple religious beliefs starting with polytheism, and a divine connection between the ruler of the lands and the gods above to the monotheism beliefs which we see in Christianity and Islam. We should not hold the image of hieroglyphs and pyramids in our mines when we envision the past of such a great nation but the diversity that has formed modern Egypt.

Sources:

Belcher, Stephen. African Myths of Origin. London: Penguin Books Ltd., 2005.

Briney, Amanda. "The Country of Egypt - Geographic Information." ThoughtCo. Accessed March 2017. https://www.thoughtco.com/geography-of-egypt-1434576

"Chapter 1: Egypt and North Africa." History Of Islam In Africa, 2003, 21-36. doi:10.1353/chapter.644533.

Din, Khaled Mohi El. Memories of a revolution: Egypt, 1952. Cairo, Egypt: American University in Cairo Press, 1995.

Kia, Mehrdad. Ottoman Empire (Greenwood guides to historic events, 1500-1900). Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008.

Mark, Samuel. 1998. From Egypt to Mesopotamia : A Study of Predynastic Trade Routes. College Station, Tex: Texas A&M University Press, 1998. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost (accessed May 1, 2017).

Quirke, Stephen. Exploring religion in ancient Egypt. Malden, Mass: Wiley-Blackwell, 2015.

Reader, John. Africa: a biography of the continent. New York: Vintage, 1999

"State and Islam in Egypt." Politics of Modern Muslim Subjectivities. doi:10.1057/9781137380654.0014.

Egypt and its borders

Egypt stood a strong independent nation, with Pharoahs,pyramids, and gods that could intiminate an army. Although for so long Egypt stood on its own it eventually had a weak period that left it open to foreign influence. The geography of Egypt has left its borders open to foreign predators but also desired by many governments in Asia as well as Europe. In 1517 Egypt at one of its weakest points was taken over by the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman-Mamluk War was a serious conflict between the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt and the Ottoman Empire, this conflic started nearly 50 years early when both Egypt and the Ottomans wanted control over the spice trade and the Ottomans also seeked to control the Holy Cities of Islam. The borders of Egypt however did not change it just enlarged the spread of the Empire. Through the control of the Ottoman the French did step in and attempt control in 1798 but did not hold strong and in 1805 the Ottomans took possession again by 1805.

Egypt become an vassal state when the Ottomans took control in 1805, which gave it the ability to rule itself but then with trade booming the Europeans entered the race to have a part of Egypt again. The Suez Canal was a prime location for trade and transportation, the building of the canal led to extremed debt for Egypt and led for them to sell a portion to the British government in 1875, with Britian and France so closely linked at the Suez Canal, Egypts politics began to be adjusted and by 1882 it became a British protectorate. This rule did not last very long in 1953 Egypt gained its independence after a revolution that was meant to just overthrow King Farug but quickly moved to a movement meant to abolish the constitutional monarchy in Egypt.

Although Egypt had its independence it has not had a smooth road since then, it has gone through numerous leaderships and even faced a second revolution in 2011. The area is one of danger, the people live under tyranny with stric Muslim laws which are imposed on all Egyptians and faces many power struggles on a daily basis. Although the Egyptian kingdom held a strong hold on the land for so long since foreigners have stepped in their involvement has caused much termoil and is still working towards becoming a strong independent nation.

sources:
Din, Khaled Mohi El. Memories of a revolution: Egypt, 1952. Cairo, Egypt: American University in Cairo Press, 1995.

Reader, John. Africa: a biography of the continent. New York: Vintage, 1999.

Missionaries in Egypt

The stories of Egypt are well known in the bible, Moses captivates us with the stories of the Red sea, Exodus describes the plagues that would fall down on Egypt. Both the New Testaments and Old Testament tell grand stories focused around Egypt geographically as well as people from Egypt. Although the bible tells stories of Egypt many people within its borders practiced a more polytheistic religion involving the Pharoahs and the many Gods who were connected to them. Egypt however was an open land where missionaries from all over traveled to bring the Gospel, and even missionaries from other religous groups passed through the country.

Many types of missionaries have brought their beliefs into Egypt, Anglican, Mormon, Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Muslim. The push of missionaries first were noticed when Mark the Evangelist arrived around 33 A.D. With the Gospel arriving full force in Egypt telling grand stories of Jesus entering Egypt by 300 AD Alexandria become one of the great centers for Christianity. Egypt was an area that could be greatly influenced, Islam even sent missionaries into the area to push the work of Allah. Islam quickly became the official religion within Egypt leaving Christianity with a small portion of 9% of the population being Christian.

The location of Egypt is why we see the push of Christianity from the west and Islam from the east, it stands between to large religions. The missionaries which traveled into the Egyptian borders were able to have easy access due to the water ways that surrounded the land but also a settled people. Most of AFrica during the time that the Gospal was introduced in Egypt was unsettled and unestablished, Egypt however had been a strong nation for centuries and was more open for travelers. This allowed for many forms of Christianity and Islam to enter and impact the people of the land.
Although missionaries of Christ have been in Egypt for thousands of years, the word of God has not reached many of the people, Islam has been more successful in introducing their faith and Christianity should step forward and push for a better hold on the land that thrives.


sources:

Sharkey, Heather J. American evangelicals in egypt. Place of publication not identified: Princeton University Pres, 2015.
Reader, John. Africa. Washington, DC: National Geographic, 2007

First Contact

Egypt is in the prime geographic location within Africa for contact with not only the countries it borders but also the continents and land that lies beyond African borders. These borders allowed for Egypt to have contact with non-African people a lot earlier than most of its surrounding brethren. Contact with both Asian and European groups since the early fourth century. The contact from outside countries did not originate for trade or natural resources, it originate for expansion both politically and religiously.

European contact originated in 332 BC, the ruler of Macedonia Alexander the Great conquered Egypt and expanded the Hellenistic empire to stretch across Egypt. Egypt had been under self-rule for 3,000 years and had always been independent but during a spurt of weak pharaohs, Alexander the Great was able to take over and deem the first non-Egyptian pharaoh, Ptolemy I Soter. Although the contact with Europe spread in a lot of Greek culture to win over the Egyptians they named themselves pharaohs and even portrayed themselves in public monuments in Egyptian style and dress. This Ptolemaic rule extended through Cleopatra VII died shortly after the death of her lover Mark Antony, after her death the native Egyptian rebelled and this rebellion led to the decline of Ptolemaic Egypt and it was shortly followed by the annexation by Rome.

Asian contact with Egypt was not too different from the Greek and Roman spread into the borders, this time however it was to purposely spread the Muslim beliefs. In 641 AD the Muslims began to cross into the Arabian peninsula and pushed even further into the Egyptian borders. The Muslims wanted to have the territory not for political rule but for Islam. This contact from Asia has held very strong in Egypt, most Egyptians are Muslim and this is with thanks due to the conquest in 641 AD.

Although Egypt has seen many types of people pass through the doors it has shaped the country into its modern religious beliefs, style, and society. Many of the style and society structure that we see today in Egypt is thanks to the Hellenistic Empire which includes the portion of Christian people within its borders, the Asian conquest held a strong influence on the religious lifestyle that holds steady in Egypt.

Sources:

Reader, John. Africa: a biography of the continent. New York: Vintage, 1999

Quirke, Stephen. Exploring religion in ancient Egypt. Malden, Mass: Wiley-Blackwell, 2015.