The incredibly fertile plains of the Nile river encouraged settlement of Neolithic communities. From these communities arose (circa 5000 BCE) the villages and towns that would form the regional districts of Egyptian history. These districts were later called "nomes" by the Greeks. The nomes were united broadly in culture, but each was ruled separately by what amounted to a tribal chieftain. Each nome also seemed to have its own tutelary god, for whom the tribal chieftain was considered the sacral king.

Pharaoh was the ancient Egyptian name for the office of kingship. The term began as a reference to the king's palace, but the meaning loosened over the course of Egyptian history until in the late period it was interchangeable with the Egyptian word for king.
The basis of Egyptian religion and government, and the almost total lack of distinction between them, was already lain.
Sometime before 3000 BCE the nomes around the Delta region of the Nile which entered into the Mediterranean were united into what was called the Red land. Similarly, the nomes in south of the Delta were united into the White Land. Over the course of a few generations, kings from the south established control over the north. Egypt was united as the Two Lands around 2700 BCE, with the capital at Memphis.

The Egyptians also referred to their land as "Kemet," meaning "Black Land" after the color of the fertile silt of the Nile River.
The main event in the Roman rule was the introduction of Christianity. Introduced by Hellenized Jews in Alexandria, it spread quickly to the rest of the population. The Cult of Mary and Jesus was facilitated by its iconographic resemblance to the cult of Isis and Horus, and perhaps to the extent that early Christianity was anti-Roman it was taken up enthusiastically by the lower urban classes. Coptic was developed as a literary and religious language at this point.

As the Western Empire degraded, the grain supply shifted to the new Eastern capitol of Constantinople. Egypt would become a province of the East, one involved in the various religious controversies of the Byzantines. Egypt was later conquered by Islam, and its culture completely taken over by the new faith. Not until French and British troops in the nineteenth and twentieth century occupied the country would Egypt and its past be significantly reintroduced into the Western conscious.

The Sadat period witnessed changes in the political, social and economic domains, and at the same time, the private sector was given a greater share in the country's economy through the implementation of the "Open Door Policy

In October 1981, Vice President Hosny Mubarak succeeded Sadat as President. Economic reforms undertaken under Mubarak succeeded in diverting finance towards productive investment in industry and agriculture. The main features of Egypt's national economic policy under President Mubarak are the efforts to broaden the economic base by promoting local, Arab and foreign investment. A process of successful privatization has started, the stock exchange has been revived, and reform programs with the IMF and the World Bank have been signed and implemented.


Egypt today

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country in North Africa that includes the Sinai Peninsula, a land bridge to Asia. Covering an area of about 1,001,450 square kilometers (386,560 square miles), Egypt borders Libya to the west, Sudan to the south, and by the Palestinian Territories (Gaza Strip) and Israel to the east.; the northern coast borders the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern coast borders the Red Sea.

Although ruined Memphis, 14 miles southwest of Cairo, was a metropolis 5,000 years ago, and about 2,000 years ago the Romans occupied a town on the site of Cairo called Babylon (now the Misr al-Qadimah quarter), the seed from which contemporary Cairo sprang was the town of al-Fustat, founded as a military encampment in AD 641 by 'Amr ibn al-'As, commander of the Arabs who brought Islam to Egypt.Over the ages, Cairo has maintained a distinct character and a special stamp. It constitutes a humanised urban entity throbbing with life and pulsating with activity.

Alexandria the Bride of the Mediteranian , and the major seaport of Egypt. The city was founded in 332 BC by Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia, who planned it as one of the finest ports of the ancient world. Alexandria had had A famous lighthouse, considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World, that was built on Pharos island.

Sharm El Sheikh is a resort town near the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. It is a well-developed tourist resort, Sharm has all the amenities you could possibly need – including discos, casinos, nightclubs, golf and water sports, not to mention horse and camel riding.

Luxor was built on the site of the ancient city of Thebes, and the magnificent monumental architecture and its excellent condition make Luxor one of Egypt's greatest tourist destinations. For many hundreds of years people have been visiting the temples of Luxor, Karnak, Hetsgepsut and Ramses II. The Nile has feluccas and old barges that shuffle between the luxury hotel ships of the Hilton and Sheraton that cruise between Cairo and Aswan.

Aswan, Egypt's sunniest southern city and ancient frontier town located about 50 km (81 mi) south of Luxor, has a distinctively African atmosphere. Its ancient Egyptian name was Syene. Small enough to walk around and graced with the most beautiful setting on the Nile, the pace of life is slow and relaxing.