5 The scramble for Suez
European colonialists jostled for control of the gateway to the eastern hemisphere
In 1798, one of the world’s great cities fell to one of its most formidable military leaders. Napoleon’s conquest of Egypt – including, of course, its capital, Cairo – triggered an explosion of Egyptomania in western Europe. This was further fuelled by the discovery – near Alexandria in 1799 – of the Rosetta Stone, providing the key to deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.
Napoleon was quickly ousted by the Ottomans (with British support), but French interest in Egypt wouldn’t end there. The Congress of Vienna of 1815 gave a number of European powers the green light to focus their energies on the north African nation. On the one hand, that interest was archaeological; on the other, it aimed at vastly increasing trade and exploiting Egypt’s position between the Mediterranean and Red Sea. It was this latter ambition that informed the construction of the Suez Canal, which opened in 1869. Nineteenth- century Cairo itself saw huge investment in buildings and infrastructure. The British now became the dominant force in Egypt, formally occupying the nation in 1882. While the protectorate ended in 1922, British troops stayed on in the Suez area beyond the Second World War. It was only with the Egyptian revolution of 1952, and the declaration of an Egyptian republic in 1953, that the country truly gained its independence – with Cairo as its capital.
Cairo has a complex history. When you look out over its skyline today, you can see elements of nearly all these cultures – ancient Egyptian, Assyrian, Persian, Roman, Arab, French, British – rubbing shoulders. But that’s what makes it such an intoxicating, if overwhelming, city. As a father says to his son in The Thousand and One Nights: “He who has not seen Cairo has not seen the world.”
Michael Scott is professor of classics and ancient history at the University of Warwick. @profmcscott / michaelscottweb.com DISCOVER MORE
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Michael Scott has written and presented the series Ancient Invisible Cities: Cairo, Istanbul and Athens, airing on BBC Two from Friday 7 September