Alexandria - Egypt's 2nd largest city, the Pearl | Loving Muslims Through Prayer

Alexandria - Egypt’s 2nd largest city, the Pearl

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Called the “Bride of the Sea”, Alexandria is located on the northwest corner of the Nile Delta.

Alexandria, Egypt’s Rich History

Alexandria has a rich history. Founded by Alexander the Great in 332BC, it quickly grew into one of the major cities of the Roman Empire along with Rome, Athens and Byzantium. It was in Alexandria in about 250BC that the Septuagint was translated traditionally by seventy scholars. This was a response to the large Jewish community living in the city at the time. Here also was the famous library of Alexandria, the Pharos Lighthouse and Alexandria School of Theology led by Clement and Origen.

Today Alexandria, with over 5 million inhabitants, is the second largest city of Egypt after Cairo, and one of the largest cities in Africa. It is still the official seat of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate. Alexandria fell under the control of Muslim armies in 642AD. Over a period of time the strength of Christianity dwindled.
The city was slowly dying until the opening of the Mahmoudia Canal connected Alexandria with the Nile. Almost overnight the city became the major port of Egypt.

The growth encouraged immigration from Italy and Greece that also affected the nature of the city, but after the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 Greeks and Italians were driven from the city. In recent history the city has again suffered economic and political loss due to poor management, but a recent change of governors has inspired badly needed change and an increased confidence in the economic future of the city.

Alexandria, Egypt is a city with a spiritual hunger

Alexandria is the site of more than 15 Christian conference centres. It was in one of these conference centres that a renewal movement began in the 1950’s. Sadly, the renewal seemed to affect mostly those who came from other parts of Egypt. Many of the churches today suffer from disunity and until recently, there were very few Christians interested in reaching out to the majority. As a result, the number of those who have believed from a Muslim background, is very low and few have been integrated into a local church.

There are signs of change appearing. Some individuals are sharing their faith and the number of believers from Muslim background is growing. Muslim fundamentalism seems, at present, to have lost its vitality and a number of people who were involved have begun looking for something else that will better meet their spiritual hunger.

Prayer guide for Alexandria, Egypt:

* Pray for the church: for protection, opportunities to share their faith, for follow-up and on going discipleship, especially for those who have come from Muslim background.

* Pray for the Church to run effective training programs for individuals interested in sharing their faith.

* Pray for the leaders of this great city to make wise and righteous decisions in their government and for the people to find real freedom.

Background on Egypt (World Factbook)

The regularity and richness of the annual Nile River flood, coupled with semi-isolation provided by deserts to the east and west, allowed for the development of one of the world’s great civilizations. A unified kingdom arose circa 3200 B.C., and a series of dynasties ruled in Egypt for the next three millennia. The last native dynasty fell to the Persians in 341 B.C., who in turn were replaced by the Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines.

It was the Arabs who introduced Islam and the Arabic language in the 7th century and who ruled for the next six centuries. A local military caste, the Mamluks took control about 1250 and continued to govern after the conquest of Egypt by the Ottoman Turks in 1517.

Following the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869, Egypt became an important world transportation hub, but also fell heavily into debt. Ostensibly to protect its investments, Britain seized control of Egypt’s government in 1882, but nominal allegiance to the Ottoman Empire continued until 1914. Partially independent from the UK in 1922, Egypt acquired full sovereignty following World War II.

The completion of the Aswan High Dam in 1971 and the resultant Lake Nasser have altered the time-honored place of the Nile River in the agriculture and ecology of Egypt. A rapidly growing population (the largest in the Arab world), limited arable land, and dependence on the Nile all continue to overtax resources and stress society. The government has struggled to ready the economy for the new millennium through economic reform and massive investment in communications and physical infrastructure.

Economy of Egypt

Occupying the northeast corner of the African continent, Egypt is bisected by the highly fertile Nile valley, where most economic activity takes place. In the last 30 years, the government has reformed the highly centralized economy it inherited from President NASSER. In 2005, Prime Minister Ahmed NAZIF reduced personal and corporate tax rates, reduced energy subsidies, and privatized several enterprises. The stock market boomed, and GDP grew about 5% per year in 2005-06. Despite these achievements, the government has failed to raise living standards for the average Egyptian, and has had to continue providing subsidies for basic necessities.

Statistics on Egypt

Population: 81,713,517 (July 2008 est.)

Life Expectancy at Birth: 71.85 years

Ethnic Groups: Egyptian 98%, Berber, Nubian, Bedouin, and Beja 1%, Greek, Armenian, other European (primarily Italian and French) 1%

Religions: Muslim (mostly Sunni) 90%, Coptic 9%, other Christian 1%

Languages: Arabic (official), English and French widely understood by educated classes

Literacy: 71.4% | male: 83% female: 59.4%