3rd Period: Team Positive

Country: Egypt
Demographic Information:

• Location: the northeast corner of the continent of Africa
• Size: approximately 997,740 sq. km
• Capital: Cairo
• Official language (today): Arabic
• Official language (ancient): combination Semitic and Hamitic

http://www.kidport.com/Reflib/WorldGeography/Egypt/Egypt.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_of_ancient_Egypt
Information provided by: 42

Geography:
Egypt, at the northeast corner of Africa on the Mediterranean Sea, is bordered on the west by Libya, on the south by the Sudan, and on the east by the Red Sea and Israel. It is nearly one and one-half times the size of Texas. Egypt is divided into two unequal, extremely arid regions by the landscape's dominant feature, the northward-flowing Nile River. The Nile starts 100 mi (161 km) south of the Mediterranean and fans out to a sea front of 155 mi between the cities of Alexandria and Port Said.


Major river: The Nile divides Egypt in half

Deserts: Libyan, Nubian, and Eastern. They were barriers of protection, shielding the people against invasion by surrounding civilizations

Topography: The highest lands are in the south and the land slopes gently toward the Mediterranean Sea. There are some mountains located on the southern Sinai peninsula. Some of these reach over 2600 meters (8530 feet high). The land at the Mediterranean is at sea level.

Climate: very dry; there is almost no rainfall on a regular basis. The people depend on the annual summer floods of the Nile River for water. The floods begin in June and end in October. Without the Nile, there would likely be no Egypt.
Information provided by: 44, 45

President: Hosni Mubarak (1981)

Prime Minister: Ahmed Nazif (2004)

Population (2009 est.): 83,082,869 (growth rate: 1.6%); birth rate: 21.7/1000; infant mortality rate: 27.2/1000; life expectancy: 72.1; density per sq km: 82

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Cairo, 11,146,000 (metro. area), 7,629,866 (city proper)

Monetary unit: Egyptian pound

Government: Republic.

History.
Egypt's golden age coincided with the 18th and 19th dynasties (16th to 13th century B.C. ), during which the empire was established. Persia conquered Egypt in 525 B.C. , Alexander the Great subdued it in 332 B.C. , and then the dynasty of the Ptolemies ruled the land until 30 B.C. , when Cleopatra, last of the line, committed suicide and Egypt became a Roman, then Byzantine, province

In 1805, Mohammed Ali, leader of a band of Albanian soldiers, became pasha of Egypt.

When World War II started, Egypt remained neutral.
Information provided by: 43

Religion. Polytheistic and animal sacrifices many gods

Food:
Middle Eastern eggplant dip
Information provided by: 46

Baba ghanoush is a very popular appetizer and dip in the Middle East. Its smoky, rich flavor of the eggplant goes well with wedges of pita bread or with raw vegetables. Try using it as a sandwich spread or rolled up in wraps.

Arts and crafts: arts hieroglyphics pottery and jewelry & paper
Information provided by: 43

Important People:
Cleopatra VII
Queen Cleopatra of Egypt is the most well known of all the ancient Egyptian queens. She was the last Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, a brilliant and powerful woman. She was renowned for her political dealings with ancient Rome and made a liaison with Julius Caesar that solidified her grip on the throne. After Caesar's assassination, she aligned with Mark Antony, the father of her children. The history of Cleopatra is one that has been the subject of novels and movies and is filled with deception, intrigue and romance. Mysterious and intrigant, Cleopatra is considered one of the most prominent and powerful figures in history.

Amr Diab
Amr Diab is a famous Egyptian singer and composer, one of the highest selling Middle Eastern artists of all time. He achieved worldwide fame in 1988 with his wildly successful album Mayaal.

Ptolemaeus
Ptolemy (in English) was the foremost astronomer of ancient times, as well as a brilliant mathematician, geographer and astrologer. “He codified the Greek geocentric view of the universe, and rationalized the apparent motions of the planets as they were known in his time”. Ptolemy knew that the Earth is a sphere. The Almagest, one of his most important works, is the earliest of Ptolemy's works and gives in detail the mathematical theory of the motions of the Sun, Moon, and planets. Ptolemy is considered the father of geography.

Euclid
Euclid was a prominent mathematician of antiquity best known for his treatise on mathematics “The Elements” and is often referred to as the Father of Geometry.

His work Elements is the most successful textbook in the history of mathematics and his method of proving mathematical theorems by logical deduction from accepted principles remains the backbone of all mathematics. The “Elements” began with definitions, postulates ("Euclid's postulates").

Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great was one of the most successful military commanders of all time and is presumed undefeated in battle. Known also as Alexander III of Macedon, the military genius was an inspiration for later conquerors such as Hannibal the Carthaginian, the Romans Pompey and Caesar, and Napoleon.

Against overwhelming odds, He conquered the entire Persian Empire, from the Aegean Sea to India and around the Mediterranean to Egypt, Syria and Egypt His greatest victory was at the Battle of Gaugamela. He became Great King of Persia at the age of 25.

Youssef Chahine
Youssef Chahine is one of Egypt's most acclaimed movie directors who was active in the Egyptian film industry since 1950 until 2008. His “films over nearly five decades often went on Fellini-esque flights of fancy and tackled social ills and Islamic fundamentalism.”

Margaret Scobey
The U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Margaret Scobey, a career Foreign Service officer at the rank of Minister-Counselor, was nominated on January 23, 2008 to serve as Ambassador to the Arab Republic of Egypt and confirmed by the Senate on March 14.
Information provided by: 46

Current Issues:
Jan 11, 2010

By John Esposito

The Washington Post

Recent attacks against Coptic Christians in Egypt and firebomb attacks on churches in Malaysia have raised major concerns about deteriorating rights and security for religious minorities in Muslim countries. In the town of Nag Hamadi, near Luxor in southern Egypt, seven people were killed when gunmen sprayed automatic fire into a crowd of churchgoers after a Coptic Christmas midnight mass on January 7. Egyptian officials believe the attack was in retaliation for the November rape of a Muslim girl by a Christian man. Clashes between Muslims and Christians are not uncommon in southern Egypt or, in recent years, in Cairo.

In Malaysia, where Muslims make up 60 percent of the population, eight churches have been attacked with firebombs as bands of militants threatened further actions. Malaysia has long been cited as an example and model of a progressive multiracial Muslim country. However, its peaceful coexistence has been strained by interreligious tensions and conflicts in recent years between the Malay majority and the ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities who are mostly Christians, Buddhists and Hindus.

Solution: have a meeting and talk about there problems. Hire counselors for individual challenges. Have them review how they are suppose to imitate Christ. http://pluralism.org/news/view/23566

Information provided by: 42

Solution Letter:
US Embassy to Egypt
Margaret Scobey, US Ambassador
8 Camal el Din Salah St.

Garden City,
Cairo, Egypt.


Dear Margaret Scobey,


We have read about Egypt’s problem about the tension between the Christians and the Muslims. We are writing this letter to help you and potentially solve this issue. It is not right that people are hurting each other. We shouldn’t judge or hate people just because of differences in religion, but we should help others come to know the true God.

Our solution to your problem is that maybe you could have a meeting or session with the two religious groups and get them to see each other from the others point of view. This might help them see that they are not that different at all. They could also get a trial to help them resolve the issue of the rape incident. This may not completely change the situation as it will take a long time for the two groups to get along with each other.

I hope this helps the problem.

Thank you.

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