- Bilbeis
Bilbeis (Coptic "Phelbs"; Arabic بلبيس) is an ancient
fortress city on the eastern edge of the southernNile delta inEgypt .The city played a role in the machinations for control of the
Fatimid vizier ate: first in1164 , whenShirkuh was besieged in the city by the combined forces ofShiwar andAmalric I of Jerusalem for three months; then again in1168 when the city was assaulted again by Amalric's army, who took the city after three days onNovember 4 and indiscriminately killed the inhabitants. This atrocity angered the Coptic Egyptians, who had seen theCrusade rs as deliverers but had suffered as much as theMuslim inhabitants of Bilbeis. The Copts ended their support of the Crusaders and united with their non-Christian neighbors against the foreigners. (SeeCrusader invasion of Egypt .)In
1798 itsfortification s were rebuilt at the order ofNapoleon .The city is small in size but densely populated, with over 300,000 residents. It also houses an Egyptian Air Force Academy complex, which contains the town's largest public school in Al-Zafer.
References
*Gibb, Sir Hamilton (2006). "The Life of Saladin". Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-86356-928-9.
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