Page 20 - LionKing

COUNTRY FOCUS
Civilisation as we know it today is be- lieved to have originated from Af- rica, precisely from Egypt. Ancient
Egypt is considered a cradle of civilization because it saw some of the earliest devel- opments of writing, urbanisation, medical science, organised religion and central government. The earliest known physician is also credited to ancient Egypt: Hesy-Ra (Chief of Dentists and Physicians’ for King Djoser in the 27th century BCE). Also, the great Library of Alexandria in Egypt, one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world, was the only one of its kind for centuries.
However, like most other developing nations, Egypt has endured its fair share of civil unrest, religious turmoil and political strife, including several military coups. After years of British colonialism, the Egyp- tians, in 1952, revolted and expelled all British soldiers and bureaucrats, bringing an end to British occupation and declar- ing itself a republic. In 1958 it merged with Syria to form the United Arab Republic, which dissolved in 1961. Throughout the second half of the 20th century, the coun- try experienced a number of social and religious turbulences and fought several armed conflicts with Israel. In 2011, Egypt had another major revolution that led
to the end of President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year reign, and in 2012 there was a violent clash between supporters and non-supporters of the Muslim Brother- hood-backed-president, Mohamed Morsi.
ANCIENT AND MODERN
Egypt has one of the longest histories of any country. Human settlement in Egypt is believed to date back to at least 40,000 BC. Ancient Egyptian civilization co- alesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt
under the first pharaoh of the First Dynasty, Narmer. Predominately native Egyptian rule lasted until the conquest by the Ach- aemenid Empire in the sixth century BC. From the 16th to early 20th century, Egypt was ruled by the imperial Ottoman Empire and the British Empire.
20 | The Lion King | April - June 2019
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