Ruler
Napoleon Bonaparte
Commander of the French campaign in Egypt
1798 – 1799
His time in Egypt; he lived 1769–1821.
Biography
A French commander who landed at Alexandria in 1798 with an army and more than 150 scholars. He defeated the Mamluks near Cairo, but his fleet was destroyed at Aboukir Bay. He left Egypt secretly in 1799; his army stayed until 1801.
Key facts
Certainty: Established
More than 150 scholars, engineers and artists accompanied the French campaign; their work was the basis of the Description de l’Égypte.
Scholarly note: Sources differ slightly on their exact number.
- Juan Cole (2007) “Napoleon’s Egypt: Invading the Middle East” Palgrave Macmillan
- Bibliotheca Alexandrina “About Description de l’Égypte — Bibliotheca Alexandrina” descegy.bibalex.org