Egypt's lack of a common national identity is the basis for much of its internal conflict--Coptic Christians have been particularly affected. Once major contributors to Christian civilization, their influence ended with the fifth century Council of Chalcedon and they endured persecution. With the seventh century Arabization of Egypt, Copts were given dhimma or "protected persons" status. The 1919 Revolution granted them greater political participation, but the 1952 Revolution ended liberal democracy and established a military regime that championed Arab identity. Secular Egyptians rebelled against the Mubarak regime in 2011, yet his successor was the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's first Islamist president. In yet another revolution over national identity, secular factions ousted Morsi in 2013 while in the chaos that followed, the Copts suffered the brunt of violence.

The conflict between the Islamic groups and secularists taking place now in Egypt has its roots in the nineteenth century. This happened after the people became aware of their Egyptian identity as a result of their encounter with the West, represented in the French Campaign in Egypt (1798-1801) led by Napoleon Bonaparte, and the British Occupation of Egypt in 1882. These encounters were the cultural shocks that awakened Egypt from a 300-year lethargy under the Ottoman Empire rule, and led to a dichotomy in the identity of Egypt, resulting in a conflict between the Islamic and newly evolved secular characters of Egypt. The conflict continued throughout the twentieth century, where successive regimes suppressed the Islamic trend. That Islamic trend had been latent until it came to a climax after the January 25 revolution. This book gives a panoramic view of the evolution of this dichotomy and analyzes the causes that conducted to it. Shawki AbdelRehim is a freelance translator in Giza, Egypt. He lives beside the pyramids and near the River Nile, the site of fifty centuries of history. "This is my thesis for the master's degree in social science, which I obtained from Syracuse University. It tackles the split of the Egyptian identity to two Islamic and secular characters. I wrote this book in 1992. The recent developments in Egypt support the analyses contained in the book. The topic has haunted me for a long time, especially since I have seen the developments of the Islamic groups' movements and actions in the twentieth century." Publisher's website: http: //sbpra.com/ShawkiAbdelRehim

Egypt's lack of a common national identity is the basis for much of its internal conflict--Coptic Christians have been particularly affected. Once major contributors to Christian civilization, their influence ended with the fifth century Council of Chalcedon and they endured persecution. With the seventh century Arabization of Egypt, Copts were given dhimma or "protected persons" status. The 1919 Revolution granted them greater political participation, but the 1952 Revolution ended liberal democracy and established a military regime that championed Arab identity. Secular Egyptians rebelled against the Mubarak regime in 2011, yet his successor was the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's first Islamist president. In yet another revolution over national identity, secular factions ousted Morsi in 2013 while in the chaos that followed, the Copts suffered the brunt of violence.

In light of the Egyptian uprising in early 2011, understanding the dynamics that are shaping Egyptian politics and society is more crucial than ever as Egypt seeks to re-define itself after the Mubarak era. One of the most controversial debates concerns the place of religion in Egypt’s political future. This book examines the escalation in religious violence in Egypt since 2005 and the public discourses behind it, revealing some of the complex negotiations that lie behind contestations of citizenship, Muslim-Christian relations and national unity. Focusing on Egypt’s largest religious minority group, the Coptic Orthodox Christians, this book explores how national, ethnic and religious expressions of identity are interwoven in the narratives and usage of the press and Internet. In doing so it offers insights into some of Egypt’s contemporary social and political challenges, and recognises the ways that media are involved in constructing and reflecting formations of identity politics. The author examines in depth the processes through which identity and belonging are negotiated via media discourses within the wider framework of changing political realities in Egypt. Using a combination of methodological approaches - including comprehensive surveys and content analysis - the research offers a fresh perspective on the politics of identity in Egypt.

Egypt's rich and celebrated ancient past has served many causes throughout history--in both Egypt and the West. Concentrating on the era from Napoleon's conquest and the discovery of the Rosetta Stone to the outbreak of World War I, this book examines the evolution of Egyptian archaeology in the context of Western imperialism and nascent Egyptian nationalism. Traditionally, histories of Egyptian archaeology have celebrated Western discoverers such as Champollion, Mariette, Maspero, and Petrie, while slighting Rifaa al-Tahtawi, Ahmad Kamal, and other Egyptians. This exceptionally well-illustrated and well-researched book writes Egyptians into the history of archaeology and museums in their own country and shows how changing perceptions of the past helped shape ideas of modern national identity. Drawing from rich archival sources in Egypt, the United Kingdom, and France, and from little-known Arabic publications, Reid discusses previously neglected topics in both scholarly Egyptology and the popular "Egyptomania" displayed in world's fairs and Orientalist painting and photography. He also examines the link between archaeology and the rise of the modern tourist industry. This richly detailed narrative discusses not only Western and Egyptian perceptions of pharaonic history and archaeology but also perceptions of Egypt's Greco-Roman, Coptic, and Islamic eras. Throughout this book, Reid demonstrates how the emergence of archaeology affected the interests and self-perceptions of modern Egyptians. In addition to uncovering a wealth of significant new material on the history of archaeology and museums in Egypt, Reid provides a fascinating window on questions of cultural heritage--how it is perceived, constructed, claimed, and contested.

In this book, Bob Becking provides a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the origins, lives, and eventual fate of the Yehudites, or Judeans, at Elephantine, framed within the greater history of the rise and fall of the Persian Empire. The Yehudites were among those mercenaries recruited by the Persians to defend the southwestern border of the empire in the fifth century BCE. Becking argues that this group, whom some label as the first “Jews,” lived on the island of Elephantine in relative peace with other ethnic groups under the aegis of the pax persica. Drawing on Aramaic and Demotic texts discovered during excavations on the island and at Syene on the adjacent shore of the Nile, Becking finds evidence of intermarriage, trade cooperation, and even a limited acceptance of one another’s gods between the various ethnic groups at Elephantine. His analysis of the Elephantine Yehudites’ unorthodox form of Yahwism provides valuable insight into the group’s religious beliefs and practices. An important contribution to the study of Yehudite life in the diaspora, this accessibly written and sweeping history enhances our understanding of the varieties of early Jewish life and how these contributed to the construction of Judaism.

The conflict between the Islamic groups and secularists taking place now in Egypt has its roots in the 19th century. This happened after the people became aware of their Egyptian identity as a result of their encounter with the West, represented in the French Campaign in Egypt (1798-1801) led by Napoleon Bonaparte, and the British Occupation of Egypt in 1882. These encounters were the cultural shocks that awakened Egypt from a 300-year lethargy under the Ottoman Empire rule, and led to a dichotomy in the identity of Egypt, resulting in a conflict between the Islamic and newly evolved secular c.