Arab League of states establishment - Egypt 22-3-1945 22Millim stamp

This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

Pre-stamp era

Handstamps were first introduced during the Napoleonic period, 1798-1800. Single line handstamps are known from "ALEXANDRIE", "LE CAIRE", "BENESOUEF" and "SIOUTH". 1866 Egyptian Damgha stamp

Carlo Meratti, an Italian, set up the first postal system in Egypt in 1821. This was a private enterprise which in 1842 was named "POSTA EUROPEA". The Egyptian Government, in 1857, sanctioned it to carry on all inland postal services. This concession was purchased by the Egyptian Government and on 1 January 1865 it took control of this service. This service was renamed to "POSTE VICE-REALI EGIZIAN".

First stamps

First Egyptian stamps were issued on 1 January 1866. The 1867 issue featured a pyramid and the sphinx. Stamps issued in 1872 were inscribed in Italian "Poste Khedive Egiziane'. Egypt joined the UPU in 1875. From 1879 stamps were inscribed in French. 1926egypte50p

It was occupied by British forces during the

Anglo-Egyptian War The British conquest of Egypt (1882), also known as Anglo-Egyptian War (), occurred in 1882 between Egyptian and Sudanese forces under Ahmed ‘Urabi and the United Kingdom. It ended a nationalist uprising against the Khedive Tewfik Pasha. It ...

in 1882,

remained an autonomous province of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, but the British occupation constituted a ''de facto'' protectorate over the country. In 1914, Egypt was declared a British protectorate when the Ottoman Empire joined the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

on the side of the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...

Kingdom

Egypt gained nominal independence from the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

as the

Kingdom of Egypt The Kingdom of Egypt ( ar, المملكة المصرية, Al-Mamlaka Al-Miṣreyya, The Egyptian Kingdom) was the legal form of the Egyptian state during the latter period of the Muhammad Ali dynasty's reign, from the United Kingdom's recog ...

in 1922 with

Fuad I Fuad I ( ar, فؤاد الأول ''Fu’ād al-Awwal''; tr, I. Fuad or ; 26 March 1868 – 28 April 1936) was the Sultan and later King of Egypt and the Sudan. The ninth ruler of Egypt and Sudan from the Muhammad Ali dynasty, he became Sulta ...

King of Egypt King of Egypt () was the title used by the ruler of Egypt between 1922 and 1951. When the United Kingdom issued the Unilateral Declaration of Egyptian Independence on 28 February 1922, thereby ending its protectorate over Egypt, Egypt's Sult ...

Republic

Following the 1952 revolution, Egypt declared itself a republic in 1953.

United Arab republic

In 1958 Egypt merged with Syria to form the

United Arab Republic The United Arab Republic (UAR; ar, الجمهورية العربية المتحدة, al-Jumhūrīyah al-'Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah) was a sovereign state in the Middle East from 1958 until 1971. It was initially a political union between Eg ...

. Stamps were labeled "United Arab Republic" or more commonly UAR. After Syria's withdrawal from the union in 1961, Egypt retained its "United Arab Republic" name until 1971.

Egyptian post offices in foreign countries

Post offices in Sudan, the Turkish Empire and in East Africa were opened by the Egyptian postal administration. No special stamps were used just normal Egyptian stamps; so they can only be identified by the cancellation. Stanley Gibbons Catalogue, pt. 19, 2005, p. 83.

Sudan

According to records a total of 27 post offices were opened in Sudan – but cancellations are known only from 11 of these. Egyptian stamps were in use in Sudan between 1867 and 1897.

Ottoman Empire

A total of twenty post offices were opened in the Ottoman Empire; the locations are now Turkey, Greece, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Palestine and Syria. These were in operation for only a few years between 1865 and 1881. Liannos local stamps 1866

In 1865 the local post distribution company ''Liannos et Cie'' was established in Constantinople to distribute mail arriving in the city which was not addressed in Arabic as the staff of the ''Ottoman Postal Service'' were unable to read the Latin alphabet. In 1866 a second service was set up on behalf of the Egyptian post office operating in the city to solve the same problem. Both services were short lived.The Local Mail Stamps of the British Levant
by Tony Stanford, Maidenhead & District Philatelic Society, 2010. Retrieved 11 April 2012.

East Africa

Four post offices were opened in what is now Somalia and one in present-day Eritrea. They were open between 1867 and 1885.

Palestine issues

provided the postal stamps for Gaza between 1948 and 1967. On May 5, 1948,

set up postal services and issued overprints of Egyptian stamps with ''Palestine'' in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

and English.

Suez Canal Company issues

Stamps were issued by the

Suez Canal Company Suez ( ar, السويس '; ) is a seaport city (population of about 750,000 ) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same b ...

in 1868 for postal service between Port Said and Suez before the service was incorporated into the Egyptian postal services.

Foreign post offices in Egypt

British, French, Italian, Austrian, Russian and Greek post offices operated on Egyptian soil, particularly in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

and Port Said.

British Forces in Egypt

British troops used special stamps inscribed BRITISH FORCES IN EGYPT or ARMY POST EGYPT from 1932 until 1941.

References and sources

;References ;Sources *''Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue Part 19 Middle East'', 2005, * ''Billigs Philatelic Handbook Vol 37'', 1948

External links

Introduction to Philately in Egypt
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080509061748/http://www.egy.com/historica/94-12-03.shtml A Snapshot of Egypt's Postal Historybr>Egypt Study CircleResource Page for Collectors of Egypt Stamps and Egypt Postal HistoryThe Posta Europea and Interpostal Seals of Egypt
{{Egypt topics Communications in Egypt Philately of Sudan Philately of Egypt Philately of Syria