This historical study includes two parts; the first deals with Egyptian national security in ancient Egypt and across successive periods of time and the rule of Egypt through the era of historical dynasties through complete, phased, and historical documentation, while the second deals with Sinai in the Egyptian national security system and the stages of transition to victory in 1973 and the lofty Egyptian heroisms to consolidate the concept of national security and build solid immunity and fortify the Egyptian state from the dangers and challenges that it faced in its contemporary history.
This study aims to restore the memory of the Egyptian nation and draw inspiration from the lessons learned throughout the ancient history of the Egyptian state.
The concept of national security first appeared in Egypt during the ancient Egyptian era and remains a crucial idea until now. It was and remains strongly associated with the safety, security, stability, and rebirth of the state. This concept also depends on the role, tasks and responsibilities carried out by the king or ruler and the government with its legislation and laws in protecting the country, securing its borders and ensuring the safety of its lands, citizens, property and various interests in all fields. The ancient Egyptian kings considered themselves protectors of the people and the land, and they had a central role in organizing, arming, training and preparing armies to defend the state and its borders from external threats.
The first period of foreign colonization of Egypt was the Hyksos period, which lasted roughly 100 years during the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Dynasties (1650–1550 BC). It is among the most historic experiences of ancient Egypt. During the reign of King Ahmose I, the founder of the Eighteenth Dynasty, which saw the start of the New Kingdom period, the Egyptians were successful in freeing their nation from the Hyksos. This event was the beginning of the era of powerful empires until the Twentieth Dynasty in ancient Egyptian history (from 1550 to 1070 BC), which lasted for about 500 years, as this powerful Egyptian empire arose, achieving periods of prosperity, construction, growth and stability through the great Egyptian civilization that was and still is influencing and astonishing the world to this day, while most of humanity on our planet lived in darkness and hunger during that period of time in history.
With an emphasis on the significant and enduring role of the king and army in safeguarding and defending Egyptian interests represented in defending the state’s civilization, the land, and the citizens, these events demonstrate how the concept of national security has evolved throughout Egyptian history. Through the retrieval of numerous immortal pages and paintings carved in history through the ancient Egyptian civilization that stretches into the roots of history, reaching our modern period, these events also evaluate the forms and conditions of that empire and the factors that contributed to its birth and resurrection.
In our current era, the Egyptian state has fought harsh, difficult and significant wars with Israel since the 1956 Suez Canal War, when it conspired with France and Britain against Egypt to undermine it by trying to seize the Suez Canal and Sinai together. However, their plan was swiftly thwarted, and they were forced to leave both Sinai and the canal. Among those wars was also the 1967 war, which led to the country losing Sinai, but the great Egyptian army succeeded in a short period of time in achieving victory, liberating and regaining it during the great October War in 1973, when the occupying enemy tasted the bitterness of defeat, losses and collapse, not only during the epic of the great crossing in October 1973, but also during the period of its occupation of Sinai, which was called the War of Attrition, during which it suffered heavy casualties.