City in Egypt
City in Sharqia Governorate, Egypt
Bilbeis
(
Arabic
:
?????
pronounced
[bel?beːs]
; Bohairic
Coptic
:
??????/??????
P
h
elbes/P
h
elb?s
)
is an ancient
fortress
city on the eastern edge of the southern
Nile Delta
in
Egypt
, the site of the ancient city and former bishopric of
Phelbes
and a Latin Catholic
titular see
.
The city is small in size but densely populated, with over 407,300 residents. It also houses the
Egyptian Air Force Academy
complex, which contains the town's largest public school in Al-Zafer.
Coptic
tradition says that Bilbeis was one of the stopping places of
the Holy Family
during the
Flight into Egypt
.
[2]
History
[
edit
]
The city was important enough in the
Roman province
of
Augustamnica Secunda
to become a bishopric.
[
citation needed
]
Situated on a caravan and natural invasion route from the east, Bilbeis was conquered in 640 by the Arabs.
Amr ibn al-As
besieged and took the city defended by a
Byzantine
general called al-Ardubun. According to a Muslim legend, Armanusa, the daughter of
Muqawqis
lived in Bilbeis.
[3]
In 727 some of the
Qays tribe
were resettled here and later chain of fortresses was built to protect
Cairo
.
[4]
The city played a role in the machinations for control of the
Fatimid
vizierate
: first in 1164, when
Shirkuh
was besieged in the city by the combined forces of
Shawar
and crusader king
Amalric I of Jerusalem
for three months; then again in 1168 when the city was assaulted again by Amalric's army, who took the city after three days on 4 November and indiscriminately killed the inhabitants.
[5]
(See
Crusader invasion of Egypt
.)
In 1798, its
fortifications
were rebuilt at the order of
Napoleon
.
[
citation needed
]
Places of worship
[
edit
]
Mosques
[
edit
]
The oldest mosque in Egypt, built in
640
.
[6]
- Amir al-Gish Mosque
- The Great Mosque in Kesaria
Churches
[
edit
]
- Coptic church of St. George
Ecclesiastical history
[
edit
]
The bishopric, a
suffragan
of the Metropolitan of provincial capital
Leontopolis
, faded.
Titular see
[
edit
]
The diocese of Phelbes was nominally restored in 1933 as a Latin Catholic
titular bishopric
.
It has had the following incumbents, all of the lowest (episcopal) rank :
- Enrico van Schingen,
Jesuits
(S.J.) (1936-12-17 ? 1954-07-02)
- Antoine Henri van den Hurk,
Capuchin Franciscans
(O.F.M. Cap.) (1955-01-01 ? 1961-01-03) as
Apostolic Vicar
of
Medan
(Indonesia) (1955-01-01 ? 1961-01-03), promoted first Metropolitan Archbishop of Medan (1961-01-03 ? 1976-05-24)
- Walmor Battu Wichrowski (1961-05-31 ? 1971-05-27) & (1972-11-16 ? 2001-10-31)
- Airton Jose dos Santos (2001-12-19 ? 2004-08-04) as
Auxiliary Bishop
of
Santo Andre
(Brazil) (2001-12-19 ? 2004-08-04), later Bishop of
Mogi das Cruzes
(Brazil) (2004-08-04 ? 2012-02-15), Metropolitan Archbishop of
Campinas
(Brazil) (2012-02-15 ? ... )
- Javier Augusto del Rio Alba (2004-10-12 ? 2006-07-11) as Auxiliary Bishop of
Callao
(Peru) (2004-10-12 ? 2006-07-11),
Coadjutor Archbishop
of
Arequipa
(Peru) (2006-07-11 ? 2006-10-20), succeeding as Metropolitan Archbishop of Arequipa (2006-10-20 ? ... ), Second Vice-president of Episcopal Conference of Peru (January 2012 ? ... )
- Janusz Wiesław Kaleta (2006-09-15 ? 2011-02-05)
- Daniel Fernando Sturla Berhouet
,
Salesians
(S.D.B.) (2011-12-10 ? 2014-02-11) as Auxiliary Bishop of
Montevideo
(Uruguay) (2011-12-10 ? 2014-02-11), succeeded as Metropolitan Archbishop of Montevideo (2014-02-11 ? ... ), created
Cardinal-Priest
of
S. Galla
(2015-02-14 [2015-05-17] ? ... )
- Jorge Angel Saldia Pedraza,
Dominican Order
(O.P.) (2014-03-25 ? ... ),
Auxiliary Bishop
of
La Paz
(Bolivia)
30°25′N
31°34′E
/
30.417°N 31.567°E
/
30.417; 31.567
Climate
[
edit
]
Bilbeis is classified by
Koppen-Geiger climate classification system
as
hot desert
(BWh),
[7]
as the
rest of Egypt
.
Climate data for Bilbeis
|
Month
|
Jan
|
Feb
|
Mar
|
Apr
|
May
|
Jun
|
Jul
|
Aug
|
Sep
|
Oct
|
Nov
|
Dec
|
Year
|
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)
|
18.7
(65.7)
|
20
(68)
|
23.7
(74.7)
|
27.9
(82.2)
|
31.7
(89.1)
|
34.5
(94.1)
|
34.2
(93.6)
|
34.1
(93.4)
|
31.8
(89.2)
|
30.1
(86.2)
|
25.3
(77.5)
|
21
(70)
|
27.8
(82.0)
|
Daily mean °C (°F)
|
13.1
(55.6)
|
13.8
(56.8)
|
16.8
(62.2)
|
20.2
(68.4)
|
23.9
(75.0)
|
27
(81)
|
27.5
(81.5)
|
27.6
(81.7)
|
25.3
(77.5)
|
23.4
(74.1)
|
19.8
(67.6)
|
15.1
(59.2)
|
21.1
(70.1)
|
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)
|
7.5
(45.5)
|
7.7
(45.9)
|
10
(50)
|
12.6
(54.7)
|
16.1
(61.0)
|
19.5
(67.1)
|
20.9
(69.6)
|
21.2
(70.2)
|
18.9
(66.0)
|
16.8
(62.2)
|
14.3
(57.7)
|
9.2
(48.6)
|
14.6
(58.2)
|
Average
precipitation
mm (inches)
|
7
(0.3)
|
3
(0.1)
|
3
(0.1)
|
1
(0.0)
|
1
(0.0)
|
0
(0)
|
0
(0)
|
0
(0)
|
0
(0)
|
2
(0.1)
|
4
(0.2)
|
4
(0.2)
|
25
(1)
|
Source:
Climate-Data.org
[7]
|
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
Sources
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
Bilbeis
at Wikimedia Commons
|
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