About Egypt History, clothes, curreny, bank, religion

History in Brief: 
Egypt is the cradle of civilization, the beacon of religion , the gateway of Africa , Asia and above all Egypt is the gift of the Nile .For over fifty centuries, Egypt pioneered the development of culture and civilization through the Pharaonic, Roman, Christian and Islamic periods . The history of Egypt is the longest continuous history; and is broken into different periods according to the dynasty of the ruling Pharoah. The history dates back to 3300 BC and consists of 30 Dynasties. 

When Alexander the Great conquered Egypt in 332 BC and established his own Pharaonic rule, He reorganized the country's government, founded a new capital city of Alexandria and authenticated the Pharaohs religion. After the death of Alexander in 323BC, the empire was divided among his Macedonian generals. Ptolemy I founded the Ptolemaic Dynasty that ruled Egypt for three centuries. Under the Ptolemaic Dynasty, Greek became the official language of Egypt and a Hellenistic culture thrived.

It should be mentioned that the dynastic history of Ptolemaic Egypt is very confusing, because all the male rulers of the dynasty took the name Ptolemy, and many of them married their sisters, who were often called Cleopatra, Arsinoe or Berenice. The most famous member was the last Ptolemaic queen, Cleopatra VII. After 300 years of rule by the Macedonian Ptolemies, Egypt was incorporated into the Roman Empire in 30 BC , and was ruled first from Rome and then from Constantinople until the Arab conquest. 

Islam began in Egypt through the Arab invasion from 639 to 1517 . During this period several Islamic dynasties were formed : Tulunids, Ikhshids, Fatimids, Ayyubids, and Mamluks . The Ottoman period followed and was ruled by Mohammed Ali's family whose reign lasted until 1952 . 
During the revolution of July 23 rd 1952 Egypt converted from Royal regime to Republic and Gamal Abdel Nasser became the Head of State. He nationalised the Suez Canal in 1956, built the Aswan High Dam and faced the Wars with Israel 1956 to 1967. President Sadat followed and during his term the 6 th of October 1973 occurred and the Peace Treaty , between Egypt and Israel was signed in 1979 President Sadat was assassinated in1981 and is succeeded by the current President, Hosni Mubarak. 

Geographical
Egypt is more than 1,000,000km². Its borders stretch from the Mediterranean in the north, where the Nile meets the sea, to the borders of Sudan, Libya and over the Sinai Peninsula to the borders of Israel and, by sea, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
The Nile (the world's longest river with its 6,600 km) has created, through tens of thousands of years, a fantastic fertile landscape on its banks where approximately 95 % of Egypt's population lives.

Population
The population of approximately 60 million people is concentrated along the Nile, on 3.6% of Egypt's total area. 16 million people live in Cairo and its suburbs.

Economy
Egyptian economy depended mainly on agriculture. After the revolution the State focused its efforts on industrialization. In accordance with culture development. Egypt welcome Arab and foreign investors. Of the most important beneficiary sectors of this economic open door policy and investment stimulation is the tourism sector.

Religion
Official religion in Egypt is Islam. The Islamic religion entered Egypt after the invasion of Amr Ibn El Aas in 641 A.D. There is also the Christianity in Egypt which was brought to Egypt by saint Mark, at the time of Emperor Nero in 45 A.D. The spirit of tolerance and amity prevails among the Egyptian people, Muslims and Christians.

Language
The official language is Arabic which entered Egypt with Amr Ibn El Aas in 641A.D and the Arabic became the country's official language and replaced instead of the Coptic. The Egyptian dialect is distinct from all others because of the country's dominance of the media (television, cinema, radio and music), while English is the second Language which is widely spoken in business, followed by French.

Currency
Egyptian currency : Egypt circulates the pound as currency . one pound is equivalent to 100 piaster. A visitor is only allowed to carry 1000 Egyptian pounds on arrival or departure.
Foreign currency: A tourist is allowed to carry amount of foreign currency , whether bills, travelers cheques, money orders, bank transfers or credit cards.

Business hours
Government office are open daily 8.30 a.m. till 2.30 p.m. except on Fridays and public holidays. Private ones: are open daily from 9:a.m till 5 p.m. except on Fridays and public holidays.

Banking
Banks open daily from 9.00 a.m. till 3:00 p.m. Weekend is Friday and Saturday. Bank branches, in deluxe hotels and Cairo airport are open 24 hours. Foreign currency exchange offices are available in Egypt.

Shopping Markets
Egypt is known for its world class handicrafts, carpets, leather ware and jewelers. Khan El Khalili bazaar is the most famous shopping center where tourists can pick gifts of Egyptian perfumes, herbs spices and carved wood.

Visa / Passport
Visitors to Egypt must obtain a tourist visa and have a passport that is valid for at least six months. The visa is available either from Egyptian consulates abroad or on arrival. the visa allows you to stay in Egypt for one month.

Transportation
RAILWAY: Cairo is connected with other Egyptian cities by a network railway s. most trains are air conditioned and provide food services and Wagons-Lits between Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor and Aswan
LIMOUSINE: limo services are available for transfers and pick up from the airports to the hotels and V.V.

Clothes
During summer you need light clothes. In winter, a coat or jacket will be needed in the evening. Comfortable shoes are a must. In the city centers, in mosques and churches clothes that are more conservative should be worn.