In Cairo, Egypt, you may visit the historic Babylon Fortress. It’s been called anything from the Wax Palace to the Babylon Castle. Specifically, the Babylon Fortress lies in Old Cairo, close to where the Coptic Museum is presently located, which is not far from the Giza Pyramids. The fort is widely regarded as one of the Roman Empire’s most formidable defensive structures in Egypt, and it is also widely recognized as the most significant Roman fortification. In addition, Fustat’s city center was constructed above the castle.
Location:
This fort is located in Old Cairo, not far from the Coptic Museum. Not too far away from Giza, just on the other side of the Nile.
Who built this Fortress?
Constructed during the reigns of Roman emperors like Trajan and Arcadius, it became an icon of Roman architecture (98 A.D. – 395 AD)
Why was this Fortress built?
Historian Diodorus Siculus claims that the 12th dynasty king Sesostris conquered the Babylonians in a bloody war and transported their prisoners to Egypt to be turned into enslaved people in the 19th century B.C. However, the inmates rose and fortified their new home, which came to be known as Babylon.
When Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon conquered Egypt in the second part of the sixth century B.C., the Coptic historian John, bishop of Nikiou at the time, said that the Babylonian monarch constructed this stronghold. It was John, an ancient Egyptian historian, who uncovered this.
Explanation:
The Arabic name for this fort, Qasr el Shamee, translates to “palace of the lights.” This is because candles were placed in the fort’s towers at the beginning of each month. By doing so, people could track the sun’s progression from building to tower. There are six Coptic churches, a convent, and the Coptic Museum housed inside the Fortress’s walls.
According to historical accounts, the city of Babylon was once the name of a neighboring nation. A competing explanation proposes that the name derives from the ancient Heliopolitan temple of Pr-Hapi-n-Iwnw, where the deity was believed to have once resided. The Nile was worshipped by the god Habi.
