Babylon Fortress

Information about Babylon Fortress

Babylon Fortress

Babylon (Greek: Βαβυλών, Strabo xvii. p. 807; Diod. i. 56; Joseph. Antiq. ii. 5; Ctesias Fr.; Ptol. iv. 5. § 54), was a fortress city or castle in the Delta of Egypt. It was seated in the Heliopolite Nome, upon the right (eastern) bank of the Nile, in latitude 30° N., and near the commencement of the Pharaonic Canal (also called Ptolemy's Canal and Trajan's Canal), from the Nile to the Red Sea.

It was the boundary town between Lower and Middle Egypt, where the river craft paid toll ascending or descending the Nile. Diodorus ascribes its erection to revolted Assyrian captives in the reign of Sesostris, and Ctesias (Persica) carries its date back to the times of Semiramis; but Josephus (l. c.), with greater probability, attributes its structure to some Babylonian followers of Cambyses, in 525 BC. In the age of Augustus the Deltaic Babylon became a town of some importance, and was the headquarters of the three legions which ensured the obedience of Egypt. In the Notitia Imperii, Babylon is mentioned as the quarters of Legio XIII Gemina. (It. Anton.; Georg. Ravenn. etc.) Ruins of the town and fortress are still visible a little to the north of Fostat or Old Cairo, among which are vestiges of the Great Aqueduct mentioned by Strabo and the early Arabian topographers. (Champollion, l'Egypte, ii. p. 33.)

Babylon (Egypt)

Location of Babylon (Egypt)

The name

Babylon, according to historians, was originally the name of a capital city of a neighboring country known as Babylon, but another probability refers the name to the ancient Pr-Hapi-n-Iwnw ( Nile house of Heliopolis ) that was the deity’s dwellings in Heliopoliscity, Haby was the divinity of the Nile.^[1]

Babylon fortress

Babylon Fortress also known as Fort Babylon is a Roman Fortress that was built in the area now known as Old Cairo in Cairo, Egypt^[2]

The Fort of Babylon contains several of the Copts' oldest churches , which are built into or on its walls.

These include El-Muallaqa (the Hanging Church) and the Greek Church of St. George.

A number of other Coptic churches are nearby. The area is called Old, or Coptic Cairo (Masr el Atika), for this is indeed the oldest part of the city, and the remains of the fort are Cairo proper's oldest original structure. Indeed, Cairo owes its existence to this fort.

The fort is also known as Qasr el Shamee or the candles palace as the towers of the fort were adorned with illuminated candles at the beginning of every month, thus people could follow the movement of the sun from one tower to another. Six Coptic churches, a convent and the Coptic Museum are actually within the enclosure of the fortress.^[3].

Location importance

The ancient Egyptians were conscious almost from the start that this region, on the borders of Upper and Lower Egypt and originally two independent kingdoms, was the most strategic site in all of Egypt. Of course, ancient Memphis, which was just south of modern Cairo, existed from at least the beginning of the unification of the two kingdoms, and was considered the "balance of the Two Lands". Though various rulers at different times moved the capital of Egypt to different locations in Egypt, it always seems to have returned to this strategic location.

According to tradition, the fort was first built by the Persians in about the sixth century B.C., but at that time it was on the cliffs near the river. When the Romans took possession of Egypt, they used the old fort for a while, recognizing its strategic importance on the Nile, but because of the problems of water delivery, the Roman Emperor Trajan relocated the fort to its present location, which at that time was nearer to the River. Since then, the Nile's course has moved some 400 yards to the north.

During the Arab invasion of Egypt the fort was surrounded for about seven months before finally falling on April 641 in the hands of the Arabic army.

Photos of Babylon fortress

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ [2]
3. ^ Coptic museum

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography by William Smith (1857).
Richard Talbert, Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World, (ISBN 0-691-03169-X), p. 74.

Greek}}}
Writing system: Greek alphabet
Official status
Official language of: Greece
Cyprus
European Union
recognised as minority language in parts of:
European Union
Italy
Turkey
Regulated by:
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Strabo^[1] (Greek: Στράβων; 63/64 BC – ca. AD 24) was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher. He is mostly famous for his 17-volume work Geographica
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Diodorus Siculus (Greek Διόδωρος Σικελιώτης), ca. 90 BC– ca.
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Josephus (37 – sometime after 100 AD),^[1] who became known, in his capacity as a Roman citizen, as Titus Flavius Josephus,^[2] was a 1st-century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and royal ancestry who survived and recorded the
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Claudius Ptolemaeus (Greek: Κλαύδιος Πτολεμαῖος; after 83 – 161 AD), known in English as Ptolemy, was a Greek^[1] or Egyptian
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Nile Delta (Arabic:دلتا النيل) is the delta formed in Northern Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea.
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Gumhūriyyat Miṣr al-ʿArabiyyah

Arab Republic of Egypt

Flag Coat of arms
Anthem
Bilady, Bilady, Bilady
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Origin Africa
Mouth Mediterranean Sea
Basin countries Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, DR Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Egypt
Length 6,650 km (4,132 mi)
Source elevation 1,134 m (3,721 ft)

Avg.
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Red Sea is an inlet of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb sound and the Gulf of Aden. In the north are the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba) and the Gulf of Suez (leading to the Suez Canal).
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Lower Egypt is the northern-most section of Egypt. It refers to the fertile Nile Delta region, which stretches from the area between El-Aiyat and Zawyet Dahshur, south of modern-day Cairo, and the Mediterranean Sea.
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Middle Egypt refers to the northern section of Upper Egypt, stretching from El-Aiyat in the north to Asyut in the south.

Events

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Augustus Caesar
Emperor of the Roman Empire

Reign January 16 27 BC – August 19 AD 14
Full name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus
Born September 23, 63 BC
Rome, Roman Republic
Died August 19, AD 14 (age 76)
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Legio XIII, known as Legio XIII Gemina ("twin legion") after 31 BC, is one of the more historically noteworthy Roman legions, as it was one of Julius Caesar's armies used in Gaul, and also for his civil war.
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The Antonine Itinerary (in Latin: Antonini Itinerarium) is a register of the stations and distances along the various roads of the Roman empire, containing directions how to get from one Roman settlement to another.
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Fustat (Arabic: الفسطاط), also spelled Fostat, Al Fustat, Misr al-Fustat and Fustat-Misr, was the first capital of Egypt under Arab rule.
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Old Cairo (Egyptian Arabic: Masr el Adīma) is a part of Cairo that contains the remnants of those cities which were capitals before Cairo, such as Fustat, as well as some other elements from the city's varied history.
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For the Champollion comet rendezvous spacecraft, see .

Jean-François Champollion (23 December 1790 – 4 March 1832) was a French classical scholar, philologist and orientalist.
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Heliopolis, meaning "sun city" in Ancient Greek, can refer to

Heliopolis (ancient), the ancient city in Egypt
Heliopolis (Cairo Suburb), a suburb in modern Cairo, Egypt
Heliopolis style, the architectural style of the modern Heliopolis Cairo suburb

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Haby is a municipality in the district of Rendsburg-Eckernförde, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
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Babylon (Greek: Βαβυλών, Strabo xvii. p. 807; Diod. i. 56; Joseph. Antiq. ii. 5; Ctesias Fr.; Ptol. iv. 5. § 54), was a fortress city or castle in the Delta of Egypt.
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Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea.
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Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defense in warfare. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs.
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Babylon Fortress

Information about Babylon Fortress

The name

Babylon fortress

Location importance

Photos of Babylon fortress

References

See also

Events