Relevant Dates: AD 451–642

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Egypt is a transcontinental country which occupies the north-east corner of Africa and part of the south-west corner of Asia via the land bridge of the Sinai Peninsula. It is bounded to the north by the Mediterranean and to the south by the Red Sea. Since the nineteenth century these seas have been linked by the Suez Canal, but long before that Egypt’s position as a bridge between Africa and Asia, and between the seas, along with the fertile lands alongside the banks of the Nile, made it a cradle of one of humanity’s most ancient civilisations, famous for its great monuments, most notably the great pyramids, some of which remain amongst the largest structures ever constructed.