332 BCAlexander the Great, of ancient Macedonia, conquers Egypt,
founds Alexandria. A Macedonian dynasty rules until 31 BC.31 BC-
Egypt comes under Roman rule; Queen Cleopatra commits suicide after
Octavian's army defeats her forces.33 AD- Christianity comes to
Egypt, and by 4th century has largely displaced Egyptian
religion.642- Arab conquest of Egypt.969- Cairo established as
capital.1250-1517- Mameluke (slave soldier) rule, characterised by
great prosperity and well-ordered civic institutions.1517- Egypt
absorbed into the Turkish Ottoman empire.During the initial Islamic
invasion in 639 AD, Egypt was ruled at first by governors acting in
the name of the Patriarchal Caliphs (632-661) and the Righteous
Caliphs, and then by the Ummayad Caliphs in Damascus. After the
Ummayads were overthrown in 747, the power of the Arabs in Egypt
slowly began to weaken.
While Egypt remained under the nominal control of the Abbasid
Caliphate in Baghdad, local rulers in Alexandria and Cairo were
able to establish quasi-independent dynasties, the prominent being
the Ismaili Shi'a Fatimid dynasty from Tunisia, which conquered
Egypt in 969 and established its capital at Cairo. This dynasty
lasted until 1174, when Egypt came under the rule of Saladin, whose
dynasty, the Ayyubids, lasted until 1252.
The Ayyubites were overthrown by their Turkish bodyguards, known
as the Mamluks, who ruled in Cairo under the protection of the
Abbasid Caliphs until 1517, when Egypt was seized by the Turkish
army of the Ottoman Sultan Selim I and became part of the Ottoman
Empire.
Yet Egypt proved a difficult province for the Ottoman Sultans to
control and remained dominated by the semi-autonomous Mamluks under
Ottoman suzerainty until 1789, when the French army under Napoleon
swept through the region and conquered Egypt.
Storia dellEgitto MameluccoAlla morte
dell'ultimosultanoayyubide,al-Slih Ayyb, ucciso dai suoi
stessiMamelucchi, il capo di questi ultimi,Al-Muizz Izz ad-Dn
Aybak, assunse il potere, prima comeatabeg(tutore)
dell'eredeal-Mu'azzam Turnshhancora impubere, poi direttamente
attraverso il matrimonio con lavedovaShajar al-Durr, instaurando
cos una nuova epoca nel governo dell'Egitto.Il sultanato mamelucco
inizi presto un conflitto con laSiria, ma dovettero presto
assistere alla crescente minaccia costituita daiMongoli:Baybarse il
sultanoQutuzriuscirono a sconfiggere nel1260l'armata
delKhanHulagunellabattaglia di Ayn Jlt, conquistando l'intera
Siria, ad esclusione dei residui degliStati crociati. La
distruzione diBaghdadda parte dei Mongoli, inoltre, consent ai
Mamelucchi di mettere le mani sulcaliffato abbaside: da quel
momento, infatti, i califfi, rifugiatisi al Cairo, rimasero sotto
il controllo dei Sultani d'Egitto, conferendo a questi ultimi un
enorme prestigio nel mondo islamico.Nel1291KhalilpreseAcri,
l'ultima delle citt crociate, mentre sotto il sultanato della
dinastiaBahriIl Cairosi trasformava da misera cittadina in una
delle maggioricapitalidel mondo islamico.Nel1347, tuttavia,
l'incredibile sviluppo economico e politico venne bruscamente
arrestato dal diffondersi in Egitto dellaMorte Nera.Nel1377, poi
una rivolta partita dalla Siria port al potere la
dinastiacircassadelBurji, che presero definitivamente Il Cairo
nel1390.I nuovi signori dell'Egitto passarono quindi a scontrarsi
con il potente impero diTamerlano, procedendo poi nella conquista
diCipro.Le epidemie dipeste bubbonicacontinuarono tuttavia a
piagare a ondate l'Egitto sino agli inizi delCinquecento, minandone
le capacit, definitivamente colpite sul finire delQuattrocentodalla
crisi dei commerci provocata dalla scoperta delle nuove rotte
circumafricane aperte daiportoghesiche, intercettando direttamente
inIndiaedArabiale preziosespezieeseteorientali, inaridirono gli
empori mediterranei ed in particolareAlessandria d'Egitto, con
gravi ripercussioni sui commerci con lerepubbliche
marinareitaliane.Il 20 gennaio1517gliOttomanidiSelim Isconfissero i
Mamelucchi, conquistando e sottomettendo Il Cairo e l'Egitto ed
assumendo il califfato.Tuttavia i Mamelucchi rimasero la classe
dirigente dell'Egitto anche sotto i nuovi dominatori, rimanendo al
potere in qualit divassallidell'Impero
Ottomano.Origin[edit]Al-Salih Ayyub (124049), the last of the
Ayyubid sultans, imported a vast number of slave boys from Central
Asia and Caucasus, those who became known as Mamluks.[11]Mamluks,
the title which translates to "owned slaves" distinguished this
group fromgaryaandghulam, which referred to household slaves. After
thorough training in various fields such as martial arts, court
etiquette and Islamic sciences, these slaves were freed. However,
they were still expected to remain loyal to their master and serve
his household. The Mamluks, who continued to be called freedmen,
were equipped with the most advance Eastern military technology.
Such technology included stirrups and the Turkish re-curved
composite bow, which were used to defeat lumbering crusader
knights.[11]Rise to power[edit] Mamluk regiments constituted the
backbone of the Egyptian military under theAyyubid Dynasty.
Eachsultan, and high-rankingemirhad his private corps, and the
Sultanas-Salih Ayyub(r. 12401249) had especially relied on this
means to maintaining power. His mamluks, numbering between 800 and
1,000 horsemen, were called the Bahris, after the Arabic
wordbahr(), meaning sea or large river, because their barracks were
located on the island of Rawda in the Nile. They were mostly drawn
from among theCumans-Kipchakswho controlled the steppes north of
theBlack Sea,[12]andCircassiansandGeorgiansof theCaucasusregion.
Mamluks in the empire retained a particularly strong sense of Cuman
identity, to the degree that the biography of SultanBaibarsfocused
on his birth and early years in Desht-i-Kipchak ("Steppe of the
Kipchaks"/Cumania). The historian Dimitri Korobeinikov relates how
Baibars story sums up the tragic fate of many Cumans after
theBattle of Kalka Riverand theMongol invasion of Europe. Roman
Kovalev states that this story can further be seen as a mechanism
for the preservation of a collective memory broadly reflecting a
sense of Cuman identity in theMamluk Sultanate.[13]In 1249Louis IX
of Franceled acrusadeon an invasion of Egypt, capturingDamiettaand
then proceeding slowly southward. As they advanced, as-Salih Ayyub
died and was succeeded by his sonal-Muazzam Turanshah, but before
Turanshah could arrive at the front, the Bahri mamluks defeated the
crusaders at theBattle of Al Mansurahand captured Louis,
effectively ending the crusade. Turanshah proceeded to place his
own entourage and especially his own mamluks, called Mu`azzamis, in
positions of authority to the detriment of Bahri interests. Four
weeks after Louis' capture, on May 2, 1250, a group of Bahris
assassinated Turanshah.[14]Wars with Mongols and
Crusaders[edit]Main article:Mongol invasions of SyriaFollowing the
death of Turanshah a ten-year period of political instability in
Egypt and Syria ensued as various factions competed for control. In
1254, when a rival faction under the leadership ofQutuzbecame
powerful, most of the Bahris fled Cairo and took service with
Ayyubidamirsin Syria. Meanwhile, theMongolsunder the command
ofHulaguinvaded the Middle East in force. They sackedBaghdadin 1258
and proceeded westward, capturingAleppo, andDamascus. Qutuz and the
Bahris agreed to put aside their differences to face the common
threat. They met a contingent of Mongols at theBattle of Ain
Jalutand defeated them. With the Mongol threat temporarily over,
rivalries among the mamluks revived, andBaibars, a leading Bahri,
assassinated Qutuz and claimed the sultanate.Change in
regime[edit]Main article:Burji dynastyBy the late fourteenth
century,Circassiansfrom theNorth Caucasusregion had become the
majority in the Mamluk ranks.[15]In 1377 a revolt broke out in
Syria which spread to Egypt, and the government was taken over by
the CircassiansBarakahandBarquq; In 1382 the last Bahri
SultanAl-Salih Hajjiwas dethroned, thus ending the Bahri dynasty,
and Barquq was proclaimed sultan. Barquq was expelled in 1389 but
recaptured Cairo in 1390. Permanently in power he founded what came
to be called the Burji dynasty.[16]
Military organization[edit]On a general level, the military
during the Bahri dynasty can be divided into several
aspects1.Mamluks: the core of both the political and military base,
these slave soldiers were further divided into Khassaki (comparable
to imperial guards), Royal Mamluks ( Mamluks directly under the
command of the Sultan) and regular Mamluks (usually assigned to
localAmirs).2.Al-Halqa: the primarily free born professional
forces, they are also directly under the sultan's
command.3.Wafidiyya: These are Turks and Mongols that migrated to
the dynasty's border after the Mongol invasion, typically given
land grants in exchange for military service, they are well
regarded forces.4.Other levies: PrimarilyBedouintribes, but also on
different occasions also different groups ofTurkomansand other
settled Arabs.Medieval Cairon 1250 slave soldiers, known as
theMamluks, seized control of Egypt and like many of their
predecessors established Cairo as the capital oftheir new dynasty.
Continuing a practice started by the Ayyubids, much of the land
occupied by former Fatimid palaces was sold and replaced by newer
buildings.[24]Construction projects initiated by the Mamluks pushed
the city outward while also bringing new infrastructure to the
centre of the city.[25]Meanwhile, Cairo flourished as a centre
ofIslamic scholarshipand a crossroads on thespice traderoute among
the civilisations inAfro-Eurasia. By 1340, Cairo had a population
of close to half a million, making it the largest city west
ofChina.[26]Equipment[edit]Turkish Bow[edit]TheTurkish bowis
arecurvedcompositebowused in theOttoman Empire. The construction is
similar to that of other classic Asiaticcomposite bows, with a
wooden core (maple was most desirable), animal horn on the belly
(the side facing the archer), and sinew on the front, with the
layers secured together withAnimal glue. However, several features
of the Turkish bow are distinct. The curvature tends to be more
extreme when the bow is unstrung, with the limbs curling forward
into the shape of the letter "C". With some bows, the rigid tips of
the limbs ("kasan") even touch. The grip area is not recessed like
other Asianic bows and is fairly flat on the belly, while the front
of the grip bulges outwards.The dramatic curvature of the bows
makes stringing them very different from straighter bows found in
Europe. There is an old saying in Turkey that there are "120 ways
to string a bow," though the most common methods involve sitting on
ground with one's feet pressed against the grip. Heavier bows
usually require the use of a long, looped strap called a "kemend"
to pull the limbs back and hold them while the string is
seated.[3]For many years the excellence of Turkish bows could be
seen from historical records. In 1910 an archery contest was held
on the beach atLe Touquet, France, whereIngo Simonwas able to shoot
an arrow 434 m using an old Turkish composite bow requiring a force
of 440N or 99lb.[4]Zihgir[edit]Main article:Thumb ringZihgiris the
Turkish word for thethumb ringused todraw the bowin the Ottoman
Empire. Turkish thumb rings were made of wood, metal, ivory, bone,
horn or leather. These rings signified that the person wearing them
was a warrior. In time they became a symbol of prestige in Ottoman
society, and some later examples have so much ornamentation on the
surface from which the bowstring slides that they could not be used
to shoot with. Surviving examples are often made of precious metals
and richly decorated. Some are carved from precious stones.Siper
and Majra[edit]Thesiperandmajraare devices used to draw arrows past
the bow's front limb where the arrow would normally rest. The siper
is a type of shelf strapped to the archer's bow hand, which allows
the archer to pull the bow back to extreme lengths in order to get
the maximum amount of force behind the arrow. They are most
commonly used for Flight Archery, to achieve the greatest distance.
The Majra is a thin piece of wood with a channel cut in it and
small loop for the archer's draw hand. The device allows the archer
to pull back arrows that are much shorter than were intended for
the bow. There is some debate among historians if this device was
designed to shoot arrows that were too short for the enemy to pick
up and shoot back, or if it was a way to reuse bolts fired by
Chinese crossbowmen. In modern times they are primarily used in
Flight Archery to shoot shorter arrows to cut down on
weight.Technique[edit]Like many other Eastern archery styles,
Turkish archery uses a "thumb draw," employing a type of grip
called "mandal." This grip prevents the arrow from moving if the
archer is on a horse and/or firing at an unusual angle. The draw
itself is relatively short, usually under the chin or by the cheek,
compared to archery styles in China or Japan where the nock is
pulled past the head. When the arrow is released, the draw arm is
kept relatively steady rather than allowing the arm to swing
backwards.Turkish archers developed several unique techniques to
aid in combat. One was the practice of holding several arrows in
between the fingers of the draw hand, allowing fast repeat shots.
Another was "Jarmakee" which involves drawing the bow with the draw
arm going behind the head so as the fire at a steep downward angle.
This was used to fire from atop walls down at enemy troops.
TheCoptic Orthodox Church of Alexandriais the official name for
the largestChristianchurch inEgyptand the Middle East.[1]According
to tradition, the church was established bySaint Mark,
anapostleandevangelist, in the middle of the 1st century
(approximately AD 42).[2]The head of the church and theSeeof
Alexandria is thePatriarch of Alexandria on the Holy See of Saint
Mark. The See of Alexandria is titular and nowadays the Coptic Pope
seat isSaint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedralin theAbbassiaDistrict
inCairo.The Church belongs to theOriental Orthodoxfamily of
churches, which has been a distinct church body since
theschismfollowing theCouncil of Chalcedonin AD 451, when it took a
different position overChristologicaltheology from that of
theEastern Orthodox Church. The precise differences in theology
that caused the split with the Coptic Christians are still
disputed, highly technical, and mainly concerned with thenature of
Christ. The foundational roots of the Church are based in Egypt,
but it has a worldwide following.Administrative divisions of the
Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria[edit] 7Metropolises, out
of which 5Metropolisesare inEgypt, 1Metropolisin theNear Eastand
1Metropolisesin Europe; served by 3Metropolitan Archbishopsand
4Metropolitan Bishops; out of the 7 Hierarchs, 1Metropolitan
Archbishopis in theNear East, 1Metropolitan ArchbishopinEgyptand
1Metropolitan Archbishopis inThe United Kingdom, while all
4Metropolitan Bishopsare inEgypt. 69Dioceseswith 49Diocesan
Bishopsare inEgypt, 10Diocesan Bishopsare in Europe, 4Diocesan
Bishopsare in North America, 2Diocesan Bishopsare in South America,
2Diocesan Bishopsare inSudanand 2Diocesan Bishopsare in Australia.
4Suffragan Dioceses, with 2Suffragan Bishopin Europe and 2Suffragan
Bishopin North America. 3Auxiliary Bishopsfor 3DiocesesinEgypt.
11Assistant BishopsinEgyptfor 11Suffragan Dioceseswithin
anArchdioceseunder the Pope's jurisdiction; 10Patriarchal
Exarchates, with 2Patriarchal Exarchsin Africa, 1Patriarchal
Exarchsin North America, 3Patriarchal Exarchsin Europe and
4Patriarchal Exarchsin Egypt. 14Bishop Abbotsfor 12 Patriarchal
Monasteries inEgypt, 1 Patriarchal Monastery in Australia and 1
Patriarchal Monastery in Germany 2General Bishops, Patriarchal
Emissary at large inEgyptand abroad. 4General Bishops,
Administrators ofPatriarchal InstitutionsinEgypt. 1Hegumenin the
capacity ofGrand Economos,Patriarchal VicarforAlexandria.
1HegumenasAdministrative Patriarchal VicarforCairo.
IpaziaEpimaco di Pelusio
S Giovanni ElemosinarioDeath and grave[edit]He died
inCyprussomewhere between 616 and 620, and his body was moved
toConstantinople, then in 1249 toVenice. Another relic of him was
sent by SultanBayezid IIin 1489 to KingMatthias Corvinusof Hungary.
It was placed in the privateRoyal ChapelinBuda Castlewhich was
dedicated to him. Now his body lies in theSt. John the Merciful
Chapelin theSt. Martin's CathedralinBratislava,Slovakia.A biography
was written by his contemporaryLeontios of Neapolis. There is a
church dedicated to him inVenice, theChiesa di San Giovanni
Elemosinario, but his relics are preserved in another church,San
Giovanni in Bragorain a separate chapel. A church inCospicua, Malta
is also dedicated to him, and one of the bastions of theSanta
Margherita Linesin the same city is also named after
him.[3]ParabolaniHistory[edit]Theparabalanihad neither orders nor
vows, but were enumerated among the clergy and enjoyed clerical
privileges and immunities. In addition to performing works of mercy
they constituted a bodyguard for the bishop. Their presence at
public gatherings or in the theatres was forbidden by law. At times
they took a very active part in ecclesiastical controversies, as at
theSecond Council of Ephesus. They received their name from the
fact that they were hospital attendants, although the alternate
nameparabolanialso became current, because they risked their lives
( , parabllesthai tn zn) in exposing themselves to contagious
diseases.It has been asserted, though without sufficient proof,
that the brotherhood was first organized during the great plague
inAlexandriain the episcopate ofPope Dionysius of Alexandria(second
half of the 3rd century). Though they were chosen by the bishop and
always remained under his control, theCodex Theodosianusplaced them
under the supervision of the governor of Egypt (thepraefectus
augustalis).Theparabalaniwere believed to have had a share in the
murder of the Alexandrian philosopher and scientistHypatiain
415.[2]Because their fanaticism resulted in riots, successive laws
limited their numbers:[1]thus a law issued in 416 restricted the
enrollment inAlexandriato 500, a number increased two years later
to 600.[3]InConstantinoplethe number was reduced from 1100 to
950.[4]Theparabolaniare not mentioned afterJustinian's
time.[citation needed]
Circa 3 giorni