Ibn Battuta

Egypt has one of the longest histories of any nation in the world. Written history of Egypt dates back to about 5,000 years, the commencement of civilization. While there is divergence in relation to Early Egyptian times, it is said that Egypt came to be around 3200 B.C., during the reign of a king by the name of Menes and unified the northern and southern cities of Egypt into one government. In 1675 B.C., Egypt was invaded by the Hyksos, people from the east, bringing along the very first of chariots and horses ever to come across Egyptian soil. Approximately 175 years later in 1500 B.C., the Egyptians had gotten rid of the Hyksos and driven them out. In 1375 B.C., Amenhotep IV had become the king of Egypt.

Mecca's central location was imperative to the success the city had in terms of trade, which is a major key to the expansion of Islam. In the article Great Ages of Man: Early Islam, Desmond Stewart writes, "it [Mecca] was at the crossroads of lucrative caravan trade" (Document A). The centrality of the location of Mecca allowed for people from all over the Middle East and Asia to be introduced to the new religion of Islam. The ideas and customs then spread along these routes. As well as being located on land routes, Mecca was also located on sea routes which also increased trade.

This investigation attempts to correctly analyze in what way the geography of Egypt influenced the ancient Egyptian religion. This query is very relevant because, certain geographical items influenced the creation of the ancient religion that helped shape many religions that are very prevalent today such as Christianity and Judaism. The issues that will be addressed are how the great Sahara Desert surrounding the civilization, the Nile river that nourishes the whole population, and how the overall common beliefs and myths built the foundation of the ancient Egyptian religion and subsequently influenced modern day religions. This analysis will focus on the time period of 3110 BCE to 550 CE and the place being examined is the country of Egypt. This will be accomplished through the exploration of research documents and informational novels.

In Documents 2 and 4, traveling to unfamiliar areas shows its importance. Although Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo were not traveling for the same

One of the first and largest cities in Egypt was Hierankopolis. Over time, city kings conquered other towns and unified Egypt.

Document B is by Ibn Al-Athir and talks about the First Crusade. It is a short document that describes a lot of the First Crusade.

Today, Egypt is at the core of the Muslim world while in the past it was dominated by varying polytheistic beliefs and Christianity.

Mansa Musa brought over ten thousand personal slaves as well as entertainers, flag bearers, guards, and other extravagant people (Document A). One does not need even over a thousand personal slaves for an estimated 2,000 miles long journey. Nor does one need flag bearers or musicians. Mansa Musa brought so many slaves and servants to show common folk how rich he was and how much power he held. The poorer people who saw him on his hajj would then spread the word of Mansa Musa’s wealth and power. Mansa Musa went on the journey to establish trade partners, such as with a village called Taghaza. Taghaza was a village far north of the original trade route. Mansa Musa went out of his way to a small village that consisted of slaves and mines. The salt mines were precisely the reason why Mansa Musa stopped at Taghaza. Salt was “needed for taste, nutrition, dehydration, and food preservation. It was literally worth its weight in gold” (Document B). Because salt was such a valuable import, Mansa Musa was willing to travel out of his way to become trade partners with a small village. Mansa Musa went on his hajj to give alms to the poorer people of the

Islam soon acquired vast amounts of territory in Afro-Eurasia, and according to the map, “The Growing Worlds of Islam (900-1500),” it occupied an area from parts of central Asia to West Africa and Eastern Europe by the start of the sixteenth century. This map documents the phases of the growth of Islam for six hundred years, which combined with further analysis will reveal each step in the conquest of each new phase of territory. Controlling all of these nations created standardized trade and common business practices throughout the empire. Using already intact trade routes, such as the Silk Roads, documented in the map provided as document 1, the Islamic empire built an economic system that was unified by common religious beliefs. Comparing the trade routes mapped on both the Silk Roads map and the “The Growing Worlds of Islam (900-1500)” map, one can see that they are very similar, suggesting that they remained the same and that the Islamic empire just took over the control of each. Yet it was not just the Silk Roads that saw a revival at the hands of Muslim commercial excursions. The Mediterranean and Indian Ocean sea routes, as well as the trans-Saharan routes were given new life as well due to the Islamic empire. These routes not only produced trade, but they also opened up opportunities for new agricultural products and a sharing of ideas and innovations. These

(1769-1849) Muhammad Ali was the founder of a dynasty that ruled Egypt in the beginning of 19th century to the middle of the 20th century. He encouraged the emergence of the modern Egyptian state. In 1798, Egypt was controlled by the Ottoman Empire, and occupied by French force under Napoleon Bonaparte. The three-year French occupation (1798–1801) had disrupted the country’s traditional political and economic structure. Ali arrived there in 1801 as a commander of a 300 men Albanian regiment sent b the Ottoman

ient Egypt was an established civilization of Northeastern Africa. Located near the lower half of the Nile River, it was an extremely sophisticated civilization for its time. The Egyptians were especially intelligent in agriculture and infrastructure. They had pyramids and temples, that were places of worship and used for religious matter. Basic buildings that were used for things like banking and irrigations systems used to control flooding. The Egyptians were able to adjust and modify to their natural surroundings as well. By predicting the flood of the Nile River, they were able to stimulate agriculture and maintain their population. They were also pioneers in a number of new technologies; some of which are highly used today.  Much of

Some key points of this paper are going to be about the development of civilization, geography, social structure, Hierarchy, and where the Ancient Egyptian civilization began.

Ibn Battuta’s remarks of his travels say a great deal about his own culture and norms. Almost every place he travels to he brings up women and how they are treated, as well as what their status is in that society. He is also very amused with the décor of the buildings in terms of gold and silver decorations. It seems as though he does not come from a wealthy society or his family is not on the wealthy status level. Battuta also seems to bring up the cleanliness of each area he travels to.

The analyzed source document entitled The Accounts of The Arab Conquest of Egypt, 642, was written around the tenth century by Sawirus ibn al-Muqaffa, a Coptic Bishop located in al-Ashmunein in upper Egypt. The piece recounts a dream by Roman Emperor Heraclius (c. 575-641), the movement and eventual occupation of the Muslim army in Egypt, the battles fought, the posture of Islam with regard to the predominant Christian presence, the conquest of Alexandria and, the subsequent outcomes. The compilation and timeline of events in the Coptic piece provide the historical community a record to compare and contrast to other records. The context shows how the occupation of Egypt unfolded, who were the major influences –both religious and official – and attempts to demonstrate humanity and respect levels in times of war beyond the face of the battles.

The story of Ancient Egypt began about 8000 years ago when people began to settle in the Nile Valley and started to raise their own crops and animals. (Ancient Egypt) From 3400BC to 1786BC, the Egyptians themselves ruled Egypt. Lower and Upper Egypt was united with the lands upstream to form one country under one king. The first period of Egyptian civilization -- The Old Kingdom, lasted from 2686BC to 2181BC. Soon after that, the Egyptians gained control of Nubia, and extended the land that was being farmed from 2050BC to 1786BC. From 1663BC to 332BC, the Egyptians were ruled by many different groups, such as the Hyksos (a group of Asian settlers who ruled for 100 years), the Thebans (who established the New Kingdom), and the Greeks. However, in 30BC, conquest was finally complete as Egypt fell under the control of the Roman Empire. (Illustrated Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt)