Bilbeis

Bilbeis (Coptic Phelbs) is an ancient fortress city on the eastern edge of the southern Nile delta in Egypt.

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The city played a role in the machinations for control of the Fatimid vizierate: first in 1164, when Shirkuh was besieged in the city by the combined forces of Shiwar and Amalric I of Jerusalem for three months; then again in 1168 when the city was assaulted again by Amalric's army, who took the city after three days on November 4 and indiscrimately slaughtered the inhabitants. This atrocity angered the Coptic Egyptians, who had seen the Crusaders as deliverers but had suffered as much as the Muslim inhabitants of Bilbeis. The Copts ended their support of the Crusaders and united with their non-Christian neighbors against the foreigners.

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In 1798 its fortifications were rebuilt at the order of Napoleon.

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Coptic: Coptic is an adjective referring to the original inhabitants of Egypt, the Copts. it can refer to:...

Fortress: REDIRECT Fortification...

Nile delta: The Nile Delta is the delta formed in Northern Egypt where the River Nile spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas – from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the east, it covers some 230 km of Mediterranean coastline – and it is...