Historical Dictionary of Egypt

by Arthur Goldschmidt Jr.

Egypt is the world’s oldest continuous country, with a recorded past of over 6,000 years. Often invaded, conquered, and occupied by foreign armies, Egypt has never lost its identity. The Egyptians of today, although they have changed their language once and their religion twice, descend mainly from the Egyptians who built the Giza Pyramids and the Temple of Karnak, who served Alexander the Great and his heirs, who submitted to Augustus Caesar and raised much of the grain that fed the Roman Empire, who started Christian monasticism and the veneration of the Virgin Mary, and who advanced and sustained Muslim learning in what is now the world’s oldest functioning university. It was and is one of the most important countries in the world. Historical Dictionary of Egypt, Fifth Edition contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has more than 600 cross-referenced entries on important personalities as well as aspects of the country’s politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Egypt.

588 pages, Hardcover

Published August 27, 2023

About the author

Arthur Goldschmidt is Professor Emeritus of Middle East History at Penn State University, where he taught from 1965 to 2000. He is best known for writing an introductory textbook, A Concise History of the Middle East, first published by Westview Press in 1979 and now being revised for its ninth edition. Other books he has written include Modern Egypt: the Formation of a Nation State (second edition published by Westview in 2004), the second and third editions of the Historical Dictionary of Egypt, and A Biographical Dictionary of Modern Egypt. His latest book is A Brief History of Egypt, published by Facts on File in 2008 and he is editing for that publisher the Creation of the Modern Middle East Series. He has also edited a book of specialized articles about aspects of Egypt’s history from 1919 to 1952 and written the introduction to a collection of book chapters published by Westview Press. He chairs a committee to write the history of the International Association of Torch Clubs. In addition, he has written many articles, chapters in edited volumes, and book reviews. For his intensive work with both graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants at Penn State, as well as his textbook, Dr. Goldschmidt received the Middle East Studies Association’s Mentoring Award in 2000. He has lived and conducted research in Egypt and several other Middle Eastern countries, with grants from the American Research Center in Egypt, the Social Science Research Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Fulbright Commission. He was a visiting fellow at Durham University in 1989 and 1990. He earned his B.A. from Colby College and his advanced degrees from Harvard University. In retirement he teaches courses for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Penn State’s Elderhostel, and the Chautauqua Institution’s Special Studies Program.