1.
Sukhoi Su-7
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The Sukhoi Su-7 was a swept wing, supersonic fighter aircraft developed by the Soviet Union in 1955. Originally, it was designed as tactical, low-level dogfighter, but was not successful in this role, on the other hand, soon-introduced Su-7B series became the main Soviet fighter-bomber and ground-attack aircraft of the 1960s. The Su-7 was rugged in its simplicity but its shortcomings included short range, on 14 May 1953, after Joseph Stalins death, the Sukhoi OKB was reopened and by the summer, it began work on a swept-wing front-line fighter. The first prototype, designated S-1, was designed to use the new Lyulka AL-7 turbojet engine and it was the first Soviet aircraft to utilize the all-moving tailplane and a translating centerbody, a movable inlet cone in the air intake for managing airflow to the engine at supersonic speeds. The aircraft also had a wing sweep of 60°, irreversible hydraulically boosted controls. The S-1 first flew on 7 September 1955 with A. G. Kochetkov at the controls, fitted with an afterburning version of the AL-7 engine after the first 11 flights, the prototype set a Soviet speed record of 2,170 km/h in April 1956. The prototype was intended to be armed with three 37 mm Nudelman N-37 cannon and 32 spin-stabilized 57 mm unguided rockets in a ventral tray, the second prototype, S-2, introduced some aerodynamic refinements. Testing was complicated by the engine and S-1 was lost in a crash on 23 November 1956. Only 132 had been produced between 1957–1960, and the aircraft entered service as Su-7 in 1959, on 31 July 1958, Soviet tactical aviation tasked Sukhoi with developing a ground-attack variant of the Su-7, which could replace the scrapped Ilyushin Il-10. The resulting prototype, S-22, incorporated structural refinements for high-speed and it first flew in March 1959, and entered service in 1961 as the Su-7B. Operationally, Su-7s were hampered by a landing speed of 340–360 km/h, as dictated by the thin. Combined with poor visibility from the cockpit, and lack of an instrument landing system, it made operations very difficult, in 1961–1962, Sukhoi experimented with blown flaps on S-25 but the benefit was too small to warrant implementation. JATO rockets tested on S-22-4 proved more useful and were incorporated into Su-7BKL, attempts to improve takeoff and landing performance eventually resulted in the Sukhoi Su-17. The front-line fighter version saw limited use in the Far East from 1958, but by 1959, a decision was made to proceed with production of the MiG-21. The Su-7A was retired in 1965, Su-7B and its variants became the main Soviet ground-attack aircraft of the 1960s. However, the very short radius and need for long runways limited its operational usefulness. On the other hand, despite its heavy controls, the Su-7 was popular with pilots for its docile flight characteristics, simple controls. It also had a reputation for easy maintenance, in 1977–1986 the Su-7s remaining in Soviet service have been replaced by Su-17 and MiG-27
2.
Egypt
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Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba to the east, the Red Sea to the east and south, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Across the Gulf of Aqaba lies Jordan, and across from the Sinai Peninsula lies Saudi Arabia, although Jordan and it is the worlds only contiguous Afrasian nation. Egypt has among the longest histories of any country, emerging as one of the worlds first nation states in the tenth millennium BC. Considered a cradle of civilisation, Ancient Egypt experienced some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanisation, organised religion and central government. One of the earliest centres of Christianity, Egypt was Islamised in the century and remains a predominantly Muslim country. With over 92 million inhabitants, Egypt is the most populous country in North Africa and the Arab world, the third-most populous in Africa, and the fifteenth-most populous in the world. The great majority of its people live near the banks of the Nile River, an area of about 40,000 square kilometres, the large regions of the Sahara desert, which constitute most of Egypts territory, are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypts residents live in areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria. Modern Egypt is considered to be a regional and middle power, with significant cultural, political, and military influence in North Africa, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Egypts economy is one of the largest and most diversified in the Middle East, Egypt is a member of the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, Arab League, African Union, and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Miṣr is the Classical Quranic Arabic and modern name of Egypt. The name is of Semitic origin, directly cognate with other Semitic words for Egypt such as the Hebrew מִצְרַיִם, the oldest attestation of this name for Egypt is the Akkadian
3.
Egyptian revolution of 1919
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The Egyptian revolution of 1919 was a countrywide revolution against the British occupation of Egypt and Sudan. It was carried out by Egyptians and Sudanese from different walks of life in the wake of the British-ordered exile of revolutionary leader Saad Zaghlul, the revolution led to Britains recognition of Egyptian independence in 1922, and the implementation of a new constitution in 1923. From 1883 to 1914, though the Khedive of Egypt and Sudan remained the ruler of the country. The terms of the protectorate led Egyptian nationalists to believe that it was an arrangement that would be changed after the war through bilateral agreement with Britain. Prior to the war, nationalist agitation was limited to the educated elite, over the course of the war however, dissatisfaction with the British occupation spread amongst all classes of the population. This was the result of Egypt’s increasing involvement in the war, in addition, because of allied promises during the war, Egyptian political classes prepared for self-government. By war’s end the Egyptian people demanded their independence, meanwhile, a mass movement for the full independence of Egypt and Sudan was being organised at a grassroots level, using the tactics of civil disobedience. By then, Zaghlul and the Wafd Party enjoyed massive support among the Egyptian people, wafdist emissaries went into towns and villages to collect signatures authorizing the movements leaders to petition for the complete independence of the country. Seeing the popular support that the Wafd leaders enjoyed, and fearing social unrest, in the course of widespread disturbances between 15 and 31 March, at least 800 Egyptians were killed, numerous villages were burnt down, large landed properties plundered and railways destroyed. The result was revolution, according to noted professor of Egyptian history James Jankowski, by 25 July 1919,800 Egyptians were dead, and 1,600 others were wounded. Lord Milners report, published in February 1921, recommended that the status of Egypt was not satisfactory. The revolts forced London to issue a declaration of Egyptian independence on 22 February 1922. Although the British government offered to recognize Egypt as an independent sovereign state, the following matters were reserved to the discretion of the British government. They were, the security of the communications of the British Empire in Egypt, the defence of Egypt against foreign aggression, and the protection of interests in Egypt. The Wafd Party drafted a new constitution in 1923 based on a representative system. Egyptian independence at this stage was nominal, as British forces continued to be present on Egyptian soil. Moreover, Britains recognition of Egyptian independence directly excluded Sudan, which continued to be administered as an Anglo-Egyptian condominium, Saad Zaghlul became the first popularly elected Prime Minister of Egypt in 1924. Saad Zaghlul Wafd Party Egyptian revolution of 1952 Egyptian revolution of 2011 History of modern Egypt Mustafa Kamil Pasha Egyptian nationalism List of modern conflicts in the Middle East Daly, Cambridge Histories Online, Cambridge University Press
4.
Egyptian National Railways
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Egyptian National Railways is the national railway of Egypt and managed by the parastatal Egyptian Railway Authority. In 1833 Muhammad Ali Pasha considered building a railway between Suez and Cairo to improve transit between Europe and India, Muhammad Ali had proceeded to buy the rail when the project was abandoned due to pressure by the French who had an interest in building a canal instead. In 1848 Muhammad Ali died, and in 1851 his successor Abbas I contracted Robert Stephenson to build Egypts first standard gauge railway, the first section, between Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast and Kafr el-Zayyat on the Rosetta branch of the Nile was opened in 1854. This was the first railway in the Ottoman Empire as well as Africa, in the same year Abbas died and was succeeded by Said Pasha, in whose reign the section between Kafr el-Zayyat and Cairo was completed in 1856 followed by an extension from Cairo to Suez in 1858. This completed the first modern transport link between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, as Ferdinand de Lesseps did not complete the Suez Canal until 1869, at Kafr el-Zayyat the line between Cairo and Alexandria originally crossed the Nile with an 80 feet car float. However, on 15 May 1858 a special train conveying Saids heir presumptive Ahmad Rifaat Pasha fell off the float into the river, Stephenson therefore replaced the car float with a swing bridge nearly 500 metres long. Saids successor Ismail Pasha strove to modernise Egypt and added momentum to railway development, in 1865 a new branch reached Desouk on the Rosetta Nile and a second route between Cairo and Talkha was opened, giving a more direct link between Cairo and Zagazig. The following year a branch southwards from Tanta reached Shibin El Kom, the network started to push southwards along the west side of the Nile with the opening of the line between Imbaba near Cairo and Minya in 1867. A short branch to Faiyum was added in 1868, a line between Zagazig and Suez via Nifisha was completed in the same year. The following year the line to Talkha was extended to Damietta on the Mediterranean coast, Imbaba had no rail bridge across the Nile to Cairo until 1891. However, a line between there and a junction west of Kafr el-Zayyat opened in 1872, linking Imbaba with the national network. From Minya the line southwards made slower progress, reaching Mallawi in 1870, on the west bank till Najee Hammady from which goes on east bank of the Nile till Aswan. A shorter line southwards linked Cairo with Tura in 1872 and was extended to Helwan in 1875, in the Nile Delta the same year a short branch reached Kafr el-Sheikh and in 1876 a line along the Mediterranean coast linking the termini at Alexandra and Rosetta was completed. By 1877 Egypt had a network of key lines and the Nile Delta had quite a network. For its first 25 years of operation Egypts national railway had never produced an annual report. A Council of Administration with Egyptian, British and French members was appointed in 1877 to put the affairs in order. They published its first annual report in 1879, and in the same year, in 1882, the British essentially invaded and occupied Egypt. With these developments, the Egyptian Railway Administrations rail network stagnated until 1888, in 1883 the ERA appointed Frederick Harvey Trevithick, nephew of Francis Trevithick, as Chief Mechanical Engineer
5.
Alexandria
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Alexandria is the second largest city and a major economic centre in Egypt, extending about 32 km along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country. Its low elevation on the Nile delta makes it vulnerable to rising sea levels. Alexandria is Egypts largest seaport, serving approximately 80% of Egypts imports and exports and it is an important industrial center because of its natural gas and oil pipelines from Suez. Alexandria is also an important tourist destination, Alexandria was founded around a small Ancient Egyptian town c.331 BC by Alexander the Great. Alexandria was the second most powerful city of the ancient world after Rome, Alexandria is believed to have been founded by Alexander the Great in April 331 BC as Ἀλεξάνδρεια. Alexanders chief architect for the project was Dinocrates, Alexandria was intended to supersede Naucratis as a Hellenistic center in Egypt, and to be the link between Greece and the rich Nile valley. The city and its museum attracted many of the greatest scholars, including Greeks, Jews, the city was later plundered and lost its significance. Just east of Alexandria, there was in ancient times marshland, as early as the 7th century BC, there existed important port cities of Canopus and Heracleion. The latter was rediscovered under water. An Egyptian city, Rhakotis, already existed on the shore also and it continued to exist as the Egyptian quarter of the city. A few months after the foundation, Alexander left Egypt and never returned to his city, after Alexanders departure, his viceroy, Cleomenes, continued the expansion. Although Cleomenes was mainly in charge of overseeing Alexandrias continuous development, the Heptastadion, inheriting the trade of ruined Tyre and becoming the center of the new commerce between Europe and the Arabian and Indian East, the city grew in less than a generation to be larger than Carthage. In a century, Alexandria had become the largest city in the world and and it became Egypts main Greek city, with Greek people from diverse backgrounds. Alexandria was not only a center of Hellenism, but was home to the largest urban Jewish community in the world. The Septuagint, a Greek version of the Tanakh, was produced there, in AD115, large parts of Alexandria were destroyed during the Kitos War, which gave Hadrian and his architect, Decriannus, an opportunity to rebuild it. On 21 July 365, Alexandria was devastated by a tsunami, the Islamic prophet, Muhammads first interaction with the people of Egypt occurred in 628, during the Expedition of Zaid ibn Haritha. He sent Hatib bin Abi Baltaeh with a letter to the king of Egypt and Alexandria called Muqawqis In the letter Muhammad said, I invite you to accept Islam, Allah the sublime, shall reward you doubly. But if you refuse to do so, you bear the burden of the transgression of all the Copts
6.
Aswan
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Aswan, formerly spelled Assuan, is a city in the south of Egypt, the capital of the Aswan Governorate. Aswan is a market and tourist centre located just north of the Aswan Dams on the east bank of the Nile at the first cataract. The modern city has expanded and includes the separate community on the island of Elephantine. Aswan is the ancient city of Swenett, which in antiquity was the town of Ancient Egypt facing the south. Swenett is supposed to have derived its name from an Egyptian goddess with the same name, the ancient name of the city also is said to be derived from the Egyptian symbol for trade, or market. The city stood upon a peninsula on the bank of the Nile, immediately below the first cataract of the flowing waters. Navigation to the delta was possible from this location without encountering a barrier, the stone quarries of ancient Egypt located here were celebrated for their stone, and especially for the granitic rock called Syenite. They lie on either bank of the Nile, and a road,6.5 km in length, was cut beside them from Syene to Philae, Swenett was equally important as a military station as a place of traffic. Under every dynasty it was a town, and here tolls. Around 330, the legion stationed here received a bishop from Alexandria, the city is mentioned by numerous ancient writers, including Herodotus, Strabo, Stephanus of Byzantium, Ptolemy, Pliny the Elder, Vitruvius, and it appears on the Antonine Itinerary. It also is mentioned in the Book of Ezekiel and the Book of Isaiah, the latitude of the city that would become Aswan – located at 24° 5′ 23″ – was an object of great interest to the ancient geographers. They believed that it was seated immediately under the tropic, and that on the day of the summer solstice and they noted that the suns disc was reflected in a well at noon. However, Eratosthenes used this information together with measurements of the length on the solstice at Alexandria to perform the first known calculation of the circumference of the Earth. The Nile is nearly 650 m wide above Aswan, from this frontier town to the northern extremity of Egypt, the river flows for more than 1,200 km without bar or cataract. The voyage from Aswan to Alexandria usually took 21 to 28 days in favourable weather, Aswan has a hot desert climate like the rest of Egypt. Aswan and Luxor have the hottest summer days of any city in Egypt, Aswan is one of the hottest, sunniest and driest cities in the world. Averages high temperatures are consistently above 40 °C during summer while averages low temperatures remain above 25 °C, summers are long, prolonged and extremely hot. Averages high temperatures remain above 23 °C during the coldest month of the year while averages low temperatures remain above 8 °C, winters are short, brief and extremely warm
7.
Cairo
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Cairo is the capital and largest city of Egypt. Cairo has long been a center of the political and cultural life. Cairo has the oldest and largest film and music industries in the Arab world, as well as the worlds second-oldest institution of higher learning, Al-Azhar University. Many international media, businesses, and organizations have regional headquarters in the city, with a population of 6.76 million spread over 453 square kilometers, Cairo is by far the largest city in Egypt. An additional 9.5 million inhabitants live in proximity to the city. Cairo, like many other mega-cities, suffers from high levels of pollution, Cairos metro, one of only two in Africa, ranks among the fifteen busiest in the world, with over 1 billion annual passenger rides. The economy of Cairo was ranked first in the Middle East in 2005, Egyptians often refer to Cairo as Maṣr, the Egyptian Arabic name for Egypt itself, emphasizing the citys importance for the country. In Coptic the city is known as Kahire, meaning Place of the Sun, possibly referring to the ancient city of Heliopolis, the location of the ancient city is the suburb of Ain Shams. The ancient Egyptian name for the area is thought to be Khere-Ohe, The Place of Combat, sometimes the city is informally referred to as Kayro. The area around present-day Cairo, especially Memphis, had long been a point of Ancient Egypt due to its strategic location just upstream from the Nile Delta. However, the origins of the city are generally traced back to a series of settlements in the first millennium. Around the turn of the 4th century, as Memphis was continuing to decline in importance and this fortress, known as Babylon, remained the nucleus of the Roman, and, later, the Byzantine, city and is the oldest structure in the city today. It is also situated at the nucleus of the Coptic Orthodox community, many of Cairos oldest Coptic churches, including the Hanging Church, are located along the fortress walls in a section of the city known as Coptic Cairo. Following the Muslim conquest in 640 AD the conqueror Amr ibn As settled to the north of the Babylon in an area became known as al-Fustat. Originally a tented camp Fustat became a permanent settlement and the first capital of Islamic Egypt, in 750, following the overthrow of the Ummayad caliphate by the Abbasids, the new rulers created their own settlement to the northeast of Fustat which became their capital. This was known as al-Askar as it was laid out like a military camp, a rebellion in 869 by Ahmad ibn Tulun led to the abandonment of Al Askar and the building of another settlement, which became the seat of government. This was al-Qattai, to the north of Fustat and closer to the river, Al Qattai was centred around a palace and ceremonial mosque, now known as the Mosque of ibn Tulun. In 905 the Abbasids re-asserted control of the country and their returned to Fustat
8.
Damietta
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Damietta, also known as Damiata, or Domyat, is a port and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt, a former bishopric and present multiple Catholic titular see. It is located at the Damietta branch, a distributary of the Nile,15 kilometres from the Mediterranean Sea, in Ancient Egypt, the city was known as Tamiat, but in the Hellenistic period it was called Tamiathis. Mentioned by the 6th-century geographer Stephanus Byzantius, the later became known as Damiata. Under Caliph Omar, the Arabs took the town by treachery and successfully resisted the attempts by the Byzantine Empire to recover it, the Abbasids used Alexandria, Damietta, Aden and Siraf as entry ports to India and the Tang Empire of China. Damietta was an important naval base during the Abbasid, Tulunid and Fatimid periods and this led to several attacks by the Byzantine Empire, most notably the sack and destruction of the city in May 853. Damietta was again important in the 12th and 13th centuries during the time of the Crusades, in 1169, a fleet from the Kingdom of Jerusalem, with support from the Byzantine Empire, attacked the port, but it was defeated by Saladin. During preparations for the Fifth Crusade in 1217, it was decided that Damietta should be the focus of attack, control of Damietta meant control of the Nile, and from there the crusaders believed they would be able to conquer Egypt. From Egypt they could then attack Palestine and recapture Jerusalem, when the port was besieged and occupied by Frisian crusaders in 1219, Francis of Assisi arrived to peaceably negotiate with the Muslim ruler. The siege devastated the population of Damietta, in 1221 the Crusaders attempted to march to Cairo, but were destroyed by the combination of nature and Muslim defences. Damietta was also the object of the Seventh Crusade, led by Louis IX of France. His fleet arrived there in 1249 and quickly captured the fort, however, having been taken prisoner with his army in April 1250, Louis was obliged to surrender Damietta as ransom. Hellenistic Tamiathis became a Christian bishopric, a suffragan of the Metropolitan see of Pelusium and its bishop Heraclius took part in the Council of Ephesus in 431. Helpidius was a signatory of the decree of Patriarch Gennadius of Constantinople against simony in 459, bassus was at the Second Council of Constantinople. Later bishops too of Tamiathis are named in other documents, in 1249, when Louis IX of France captured the town, it became for a short time the seat of a Latin Church bishop. P. Eugenio Lachat, Missionaries of the Precious Blood Ignazio Persico, O. F. M, in addition to the Egyptian market, its furniture is sold in Arab countries, Africa, Europe, US, and almost all over the world. Today, there is a canal connecting it to the Nile, containers are transported through the new Damietta Port. The Damietta governorate has a population of about 1,093,580 and it contains the SEGAS LNG plant, which will ultimately have a capacity of 9.6 million ton/year through two trains. The plant is owned by Segas, a joint venture of the Spanish utility Unión Fenosa, Italian oil company Eni, the plant is unusual since it is not supplied from a dedicated field, but is supplied with gas from the Egyptian grid
9.
Faiyum
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Faiyum is a city in Middle Egypt. Located 100 kilometres southwest of Cairo, in the Faiyum Oasis, originally called Shedet in Ancient Egypt, the Greeks called it Crocodilopolis or Krocodilopolis, the Romans Arsinoë. It is one of Egypts oldest cities due to its strategic location and its name in English is also spelled as Fayum, Faiyum or El Faiyūm. Faiyum was previously officially named Madīnet El Faiyūm, the name Faiyum may also refer to the Faiyum Oasis, although it is commonly used by Egyptians today to refer to the city. Archaeological evidence has found occupations around the Fayum dating back to at least the Epipalaeolithic period, recently the area has been further investigated by a team from the UCLA/RUG/UOA Fayum Project. In the Pharaonic era, the city now called Medinet el Fayum was called Shedet and it was the most significant centre of the cult of Sobek, the crocodile-god. In consequence, the Greeks named it Crocodilopolis, Crocodile City, the city worshipped a tamed sacred crocodile, named Petsuchos, that was adorned with gold and gem pendants. The crocodile lived in a temple pond and was fed by the priests with food provided by visitors. When the Petsuchos died, it was replaced by another, under the Ptolemies, the city was for a while called Ptolemais Euergetis. Ptolemy II Philadelphus rechristened the city Arsinoë and the whole nome after the name of his sister and wife Arsinoë, under the Roman Empire, Arsinoe became part of the province of Arcadia Aegypti. To distinguish it from other cities of the name, it was called Arsinoë in Arcadia. With the arrival of Christianity, Arsinoe became the seat of a bishopric, a suffragan of the Oxyrhynchus, the capital of the province, lequien gives the names of several bishops of Arsinoe, nearly all of them associated with one heresy or another. The Catholic Church, considering Arsinoë in Arcadia to be no longer a residential bishopric, Faiyum has several large bazaars, mosques, baths and a much-frequented weekly market. The canal called Bahr Yussef runs through the city, its banks lined with houses, mounds north of the city mark the site of Arsinoe, known to the ancient Greeks as Crocodilopolis, where in ancient times the sacred crocodile kept in Lake Moeris was worshipped. The center of the city is on the canal, with four waterwheels that were adopted by the governorate of Fayoum as its symbol, their chariots, Faiyum is the source of some famous death masks or mummy portraits painted during the Roman occupation of the area. The Egyptians continued their practice of burying their dead, despite the Roman preference for cremation, while under the control of the Roman Empire, Egyptian death masks were painted on wood in a pigmented wax technique called encaustic—the Faiyum mummy portraits represent this technique. Modern Studies conclude that the Faiyum portraits represent Greek settlers in Egypt, victor J. Katz notes that most modern studies conclude that the Greek & Egyptian communities coexisted with little mutual influence. Anthony Lowsted has written extensively on the scope of Apartheid that separated the 2 communities during the Hellenistic and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
10.
Tanta
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Tanta (Egyptian Arabic, طنطا Ṭanṭa pronounced, is a large city in Egypt. It is the fifth largest populated area, with 421,076 inhabitants as of 2006. Tanta is located between Cairo and Alexandria,94 km north of Cairo and 130 km southeast of Alexandria, the capital of Gharbia Governorate, it is a center for the cotton-ginning industry. One of the railway lines goes through Tanta. Three annual festivals are held in Tanta in honor of Ahmad al-Badawi, a revered Sufi figure of the 13th century, Tanta is known for its sweetshops and roasted chickpeas. With its large plantations, in 1856, Tanta became a stop on the railway network. Even by 1986 the area around Tanta was mostly fields with scattered villages but by 2001, Tanta had grown into a large. Tanta is known for its sweets, eaten during the mulid festivals, the people of Tanta are called Tantawy and enjoy leisurely walks along the streets. Tanta has cotton ginning factories and textile industries, and is also a university town with Tanta University since 1972 and this city comes to life in late October at the end of the cotton harvest. Three million people, from around the Delta and other parts of the Arab world, come for the Moulid of Sayid Ahmed el-Badawi, the moulid is centered around the mosque and tomb of Sayid Ahmad al-Badawi. He founded one of Egypts largest Sufi orders called Ahmadiyyah or Badawiyya and he was born in Morocco, but emigrated to Arabia and was sent to Tanta in 1234 as a representative of the order from Iraq. He was given permission to start a new order in Tanta, during the festival many sugar-coated nuts called hubb el Aziz are eaten. They have been considered a delicacy since the 1800s, what originally began in Cairo, spread to Tanta when a group of young Egyptians began showing European movie screenings at Rivoli Cinema, the oldest cinema in Tanta. Called the 8th Edition Panorama of European Films, the young media students invited a director to speak with the audience, people were enticed. The group also began the The Association of Cinema and Literature Lovers Group to encourage young filmmakers in Tanta, there is a Young Mens Muslim Association in Tanta and in 1994 had about 1000 members. Telecom Egypt, the main telephone landline Egyptian company, has one of its centers in Tanta. St. Mary Coptic Orthodox church, which is over 200 years old, is located in Tanta, some people believe that the icon of the Virgin Mary has healing powers. The Museum of Tanta contains items from ancient nearby sites of Sais, Naucratis, el Mahallah is a large industrial town near Tanta, famous for its textile
11.
Ismailia
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Ismailia is a city in north-eastern Egypt. Known in Egypt as The City of Beauty and Enchantment, Ismailia is situated on the west bank of the Suez Canal, the city has a population of approximately 750,000 inhabitants. It is located halfway between Port Said to the north and Suez to the south. The Canal widens at that point to include Lake Timsah, one of the Bitter Lakes linked by the Canal, Ismailia was founded in 1863, during the construction of the Suez Canal, by Khedive Ismail the Magnificent, after whom the city is named. Following the Battle of Kafr-el-Dawwar in 1882 the British established a base there, the head office of the Suez Canal Authority is located in Ismailia at the shore of Lake Timsah. It still has a number of buildings dating from British. Most of these buildings are used by Canal employees and officials. During World War I the British had an air base there, in 1973 the Battle of Ismailia took place in the city. The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Ismailia by Hassan al-Banna in March 1928, an underground paramilitary wing was established in the 1940s, primarily to fight British occupation forces. In the early 1950s, Ismailia hosted the British Military HQ, British forces pulled out of Ismailia in 1954. On 1982.12.17 an Eparchy of Ismayliah was established on territory split off from the Coptic Catholic Patriarchate of Alexandria and they face educational problems schools all around Egypt face. Private tutoring is widely accessible and is almost a requirement for all students. Two international schools, Manar Language School and Educational Language Complex School offer American Diploma, Ismailia is the home of Suez Canal University, established in 1976 to serve the region of Suez Canal and Sinai. Suez Canal University now is one of the fastest growing institutions in Egypt with many students studying abroad. The new university of Suez Canal University was established with the help of the Chinese Government, Ismailia hosts two important festivals each year. The first is the International Film Festival for Documentaries and Shorts that is held in June, in June 2014 the 17th consecutive festival was organized. The second is the Ismailia International Folklore Arts Festival that is held in September, in this festival folkloric troupes from all around the globe meet in Ismailia, where they perform folkloric dances representing the culture of their countries. A major attraction is the Ismailia Museum which was built in 1932, visitors will find a variety of significant archaeological finds especially from sites in the Ismailia governorate such as Tell el-Maskhuta, from North Sinai, and from Upper Egypt
12.
Minya, Egypt
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Minya is the capital of the Minya Governorate in Upper Egypt. It is located approximately 245 km south of Cairo on the bank of the Nile River. The name of the city is derived from its Ancient Egyptian name Menat Khufu, meaning the city of Khufu, linking it to the Pharaoh Khufu or Cheops. The name Minya may also have originated from the name in Sahidic Coptic Tmoone and in Bohairic Thmonē, meaning the residence. It is the city where the Codex Tchacos was discovered, Minya is dubbed by the locals Bride of Upper Egypt, in reference to its strategic location in Middle Egypt as a vital link between the north and the south of Egypt. Minya has one of the highest concentration of Coptic Christians in Egypt and it is the home city of the Minia University, Suzanne Mubarak Center for Arts, the new Minya Museum, and the regional North of Upper Egypt Radio and Television. During the Predynastic Period, the area encompassing modern day Minya and it remained an autonomous city-state until the ruler Menes unified Egypt around 3200 BC. At the time of its unification, Egypt was divided into 42 nomes, the 16th nome was also called the Oryx nome, probably due to the prevalence of the Oryx, one of the antelope species that inhibited the area. After the unification of Egypt, the capital of the 16th nome emerged as an important center of trade. It was opposite a trade route to the Red Sea along which the Levantine traders carrying their goods from Sinai and Canaan travelled. The city of Menat Khufu has not been located but it is thought to be located on the west bank of the Nile in the vicinity of the modern day Minya. This pro-Theban policy worked to their advantage in power over the Oryx nome continued to be wielded by the same family after the Theban conquest. The power of the rulers of Menat Khufu reached its height during the 11th Dynasty, like Pharaohs, rulers of the Oryx nome were deeply concerned with their lives after death. These chapel-tombs at Beni Hasan are the remnant of the era when Minya rulers wielded power. Today these thirty nine rock-cut tombs can be visited in the cliffs above the modern day village of Beni Hasan. In fact these tombs provide more insight about daily life in Egypt than about the rulers who constructed them, with the rise of the 12th Dynasty, the powers of Minya rulers were forcibly reduced by the Pharaoh Amenemhat II. By the end of the 12th dynasty, the role and the power of the rulers of Minya were functionally eliminated, during the Second Intermediate Period, Minya with the rest of Lower and Middle Egypt fell under the control of the Hyksos. It appears that Minyas rulers actually supported the Hyksos 15th Dynasty rulers against the native Egyptian pharaohs of the 16th and 17th dynasties
Egypt
