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The Villa d'Este is in Tivoli, Lazio.

French Occupation of Egypt
Between 1798-1801 Napoleon Bonaparte commanded a French campaign to occupy Egypt. This was possible due to the unstable political situation in Egypt. The objectives of the campaign were to cut off Britain’s trade route to India and to establish French trade in the Middle East. Early in the occupation, the French established mass political and social reforms in Egypt, such as the founding of a new governing body called the Diwan, and reconstructing many of the large cities.

On Napoleon’s orders  the Insitut D’Égypte was created in 1798 as a replication of the Institut National de France, to encourage study of Egypt by French scholars. The Institut D’Égypte published the first newspapers in Egypt, Le Courier de l’Égypte and La Décade Égyptienne.

Following Napoleon’s departure from Egypt in 1799, the French occupiers in Egypt became divided into two factions: Republicans favouring withdrawal from Egypt, and Colonialists wanting to maintain the French presence in Egypt. The colonial effort soon collapsed, and by 1801 French forces had abandoned Egypt.

The Rosetta Stone was discovered during French occupation in Egypt in 1799. It was found in the Egyptian city of Rosetta (Rashid). Although accounts of the exact circumstances under which it was found differ, it is generally accepted that French soldiers discovered it by accident while building a fort in the Nile Delta. After Napoleon’s defeat, the Rosetta Stone was seized by Britain, under terms of the Treaty of Alexandria. It is now housed in the British Museum in London.

Luxor Obelisk
The Luxor Obelisk (Obélisque du Louxor) is an ancient Egyptian obelisk that is situated in the Place de la Concorde in Paris. Over 3,300 years old, the obelisk is inscribed with hieroglyphs that detail the rule of Pharaohs Rameses II and Rameses III. In 1829 it was gifted to France by Muhammad Ali, also known as Mehmet Ali Pesha, the first governor of Egypt. It arrived in Paris in 1833, and was erected in the Place de la Concorde where it still stands. It is made of red granite and is 22.5 metres tall, weighing over 200 tons. It was originally one of two obelisks that stood at the Luxor Temple in the ancient city of Thebes, now Luxor, in Egypt. Its pair remains at the ruins of the temple.

Algerian War
After World War II, opposition to French imperialism in North Africa grew. The League of Arab States was founded in 1945 with independence of Arab nations as one of its key aims.[2] The Committee for the Liberation of North Africa, an organisation funded by the League of Arab States, established its headquarters in Cairo.[3] In 1947, Moroccan and Algerian nationalists established the Arab Maghrib Bureau in Cairo, with the intent of creating anti-French propaganda.[4] From 1954-1962, the Algerian War was fought for Algeria’s independence from France. Egypt supported the Algerian rebels, supplying them with military equipment and training soldiers.[5]  In 1956, France asked the Security Council of the United Nations to outlaw external aid to the FLN in Algeria.[6] This was targeted towards Egypt’s supply of military equipment to Algerian rebels, via a ship that had been intercepted by the French navy.[7] Before the issue was addressed by the Security Council, French and British forces invaded the Suez Canal in Egypt.[8] The issue was transferred to the General Assembly, which ruled that France and the United Kingdom should withdraw from Egypt, as the United Nations found that the Egyptian supply of arms to Algeria did not warrant such retaliation.[9]