The Heritage of Egypt

Prior to his conquering progress eastwards to India, Alexander the Great occupied Egypt and thus ended the rule of the Egyptian pharaohs. His founding of Alexandria at the meeting point of the Nile and the Mediterranean linked previously inward-looking Egypt to the lands of the Mediterranean and recent discoveries and the re-construction of the UNESCO sponsored Bibliotheca Alexandrina have re-awakened interest in the city where he was later buried. It was E. M. Forster who observed that ‘few cities have made so magnifi cent an entry in history as Alexandria’. It flourished as one of the greatest Graeco-Roman cities of its time with Ptolemy ll creating in the Pharos Lighthouse, one of the Seven Great Wonders of the Ancient World.

In more recent times the Battle of El Alamein in the nearby Western Desert was seen as one of the most decisive victories of the Second World War. Led by Montgomery and Rommel, two of the outstanding commanders of the war, it resulted in German surrender in North Africa in May 1943. The British and Commonwealth cemetery and museum at El Alamein remain as a poignant reminder. Today’s visitors to Cairo are automatically drawn to the Museum, the most famous part of which are the galleries devoted to Tutankhamun. Close to the city, the other most important sights are the Pyramids and Sphinx. Nearby Memphis and Saqqara have previously held the titles of capital of ancient Egypt and the step pyramid of Saqqara is thought to be the fi rst large stone construction by man.