View source for Rosetta

{{Short description|City in Beheira governorate, Egypt}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox settlement
<!--See the Table at Infobox Settlement for all fields and descriptions of usage-->
<!-- Basic info  ---------------->| name               = Rosetta
| other_name         = Rashid
| native_name        = {{lang|ar|رشيد}}
| nickname           = 
| settlement_type    = [[List of cities and towns in Egypt|City]]
<!-- images and maps  ----------->| image_skyline      = {{Photomontage
| photo1a = Rashid For Wiki-46.jpg
| photo2a = AAA1663 1.jpg
| photo2b =  RashidStMarkChurchDome.jpg
| photo3a = RashidAbbasiMosque.jpg
| photo3b = المعالم الاثرية من رحلة رشيد 15.jpg
| size = 275
| spacing = 2
| color = transparent
| border = 0
}}
| image_caption      = '''Clockwise from top:''' <br> Rashid [[Corniche]], dome of the St. Mark Church, a street in the old town, [[Al-Abbasi Mosque, Rosetta|Abbasi Mosque]], and fishing.
| image_flag         = 
| flag_size          = 
| image_seal         = 
| seal_size          = 
| image_shield       = 
| shield_size        = 
| image_map          = مركز رشيد.png
| mapsize            = 
| map_caption        = Location in Beheira Governorate
| pushpin_map        = Egypt Nile Delta#Egypt<!-- the name of a location map as per http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Location_map -->
| pushpin_label_position = bottom
| pushpin_mapsize    = 300
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Egypt
<!-- Location ------------------>| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = [[Egypt]]
| subdivision_type1  = [[Governorates of Egypt|Governorate]]
| subdivision_name1  = [[Beheira Governorate|Beheira]]
| established_date   = 850
<!-- Area    --------------------->| area_magnitude     = 
| unit_pref          = metric
| area_footnotes     = <ref name="citypopulation">{{cite web |title=Rashīd (Markaz, Egypt) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location |url=http://www.citypopulation.de/en/egypt/admin/al_bu%E1%B8%A5ayrah/1808__rash%C4%ABd/ |website=www.citypopulation.de |access-date=17 March 2023}}</ref>
| area_total_km2     = 196.6
| area_land_km2      = <!--See table @ Template:Infobox Settlement for details on automatic unit conversion-->
<!-- Population   ----------------------->| population_as_of   = 2021
| population_footnotes = <ref name="citypopulation" />
| population_note    = 
| population_total   = 301,795
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_density_sq_mi = auto
| population_metro   = 
| population_density_metro_km2 = auto
| population_density_metro_sq_mi = auto
| population_blank1_title = Ethnicities
| population_blank1  = 
| population_density_blank1_km2 = 
| population_density_blank1_sq_mi = <!-- General information  --------------->
| timezone           = [[Eastern European Time|EET]]
| utc_offset         = +2
| timezone_DST       = [[Eastern European Summer Time|EEST]]
| utc_offset_DST     = +3
| coordinates        = {{coord|31|24|16|N|30|24|59|E|region:EG|display=inline,title}}
| elevation_footnotes = <ref name="citypopulation" />
| elevation_m        = 2
| elevation_ft       = <!-- Area/postal codes & others -------->
| postal_code_type   = <!-- enter ZIP code, Postcode, Post code, Postal code... -->
| postal_code        = 
| area_code          = 
| website            = 
| footnotes          = 
}}

'''Rosetta''' ({{IPAc-en|r|oʊ|ˈ|z|ɛ|t|ə}} {{respell|roh|ZET|ə}}){{efn|{{langx|fr|Rosette}}, {{IPA|fr|ʁozɛt|IPA}}.}} or '''Rashid''' ({{langx|ar|رشيد|Rašīd}}, {{IPA|arz|ɾɑˈʃiːd|IPA}}; {{langx|cop|ϯⲣⲁϣⲓⲧ|ti-Rashit}}){{efn|{{langx|grc|Βολβιτίνη|Bolbitínē}}.<ref>James Talboys Wheeler, ''The geography of Herodotus'', 1854, [https://books.google.com/books?id=QnICAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA363 p. 363]</ref>}} is a [[port]] city of the [[Nile Delta]], {{convert|65|km|0|abbr=on}} east of [[Alexandria]], in [[Egypt]]'s [[Beheira Governorate|Beheira governorate]]. The [[Rosetta Stone]] was discovered there in 1799.

Founded around the 9th century on the site of the ancient town of '''Bolbitine''', Rosetta boomed with the decline of Alexandria following the [[Ottoman conquest of Egypt]] in 1517, only to wane in importance after Alexandria's revival. During the 19th century, it was a popular [[United Kingdom|British]] tourist destination, known for its Ottoman mansions, citrus groves and relative cleanliness.

==Etymology==
The name of the town most likely comes from an Arabic name ''[[Rashid (name)|Rašīd]]'' (meaning "guide")<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Peust|first=Carsten|title=Die Toponyme vorarabischen Ursprungs im modernen Ägypte|year=2010|location=Göttingen|pages=75}}</ref> and was transcribed and corrupted in numerous ways – the name ''Rexi'' was used by the Crusaders in Middle Ages<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Forster|first=E. M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IROKDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT133|title=Alexandria: A History and a Guide|year=2021|publisher=Prabhat Prakashan|language=en}}</ref> and ''Rosetta'' or ''Rosette'' ("little rose" in Italian and French respectively) was used by the French at the time of [[Napoleon Bonaparte]]'s campaign [[French campaign in Egypt and Syria|in Egypt]]. The latter lent its name to the [[Rosetta Stone]] ({{langx|fr|Pierre de Rosette}}), which was found by French soldiers at the nearby [[Fort Julien]] in 1799.

Some scholars believe that there is no evidence that the city's name comes from [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]], and the Coptic form {{lang|cop|ϯⲣⲁϣⲓⲧ}} is just a late transcription of the Arabic name.<ref name=":0" /> Some argue that it could be derived from {{Langx|egy|rꜣ-šdı͗|lit=dug up mouth (of the Nile)}} and that the name is ancient.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Engsheden |first=Âke |title=Ancient Place-Names in the Governorate of Kafr el-Sheikh |date=15 August 2023 |publisher=Peeters |isbn=9789042941755 |location=Leuven |pages=16}}</ref>

==History==
Because of the proverbial phrase in {{langx|grc|Βολβιτίνη ἅρμα|lit=Bolbitine chariot}}, researchers believe that Bolbitine was celebrated for its manufactory of [[Chariot|chariots]] in antiquity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), BOLBIT´INE |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0064:entry=bolbitine-geo |access-date=2022-10-05 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> The city was near the mouth of a branch of the Nile that was called the Bolbitine mouth (τὸ Βολβίτινον στόμα).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), Bolbitīné |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0062:entry=bolbitine-harpers |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> [[Herodotus]] wrote that the Bolbitine mouth was not a natural but an excavated channel.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.%202.17&lang=original Herodotus, The Histories, 2.17]</ref>

Iban Haqal mentioned it and said that it is a city on the Nile, close to the salt sea from a crater known as Ashtum ({{Langx|grc|Στόμα|lit=mouth, estuary}}).<ref name=":0" /> Also mentioned in the Al-Mushtaq excursion, it was described as a civilized city with a market, merchants and workers, and it has farms, yields, wheat and barley, and it has many good words, and it has many palm trees and wet fruits, and it has whales and fish species from the salty sea and many indigo fish.

Despite the similarity of Rashid and [[Damietta]] in their geographical and administrative position throughout the ages and as an important coastal city, Rashid did not play a clear, influential role compared to Damietta's role in the beginnings of Arab Islamic rule, especially for Rashid's proximity to the location of Alexandria, which is the first coastal city in Egypt and primarily affected Rashid and its position. Likewise, the agricultural area in Rashid is very limited, and the spread of sand formations to the west of the city and its urbanization has a greater impact on the city and its agriculture; As a result, Rashid was deserted several times by its residents and they took refuge in [[Fuwwah]], in the south.<ref>محمد طاهر الصادق ومحمد حسام إسماعيل، مرجع سابق، صـ: 39.</ref>

What is now known today as Rosetta was an [[Umayyad]] stronghold in 749, when it was sacked during the [[Bashmuric Revolt]].<ref>{{citation |author=Mounir Megally |title=Bashmuric Revolts |editor-link=Aziz Suryal Atiya |editor=Aziz Suryal Atiya |encyclopedia=[[The Coptic Encyclopedia]] |publisher=Macmillan Publishers |location=New York |year=1991 |at=cols. 349b–351b |volume=2 |url=http://ccdl.libraries.claremont.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/cce/id/326}}.</ref> In the 850s, the [[Abbasid]] caliph [[Al-Mutawakkil]] ordered a fort to be built on the site of the Ptolemaic city of [[Bolbitine]], and the medieval city grew around this fort.<ref name=":1" /> 

Following the establishment of the Fatimid state in 969, and the establishment of the city of Cairo as the new capital of the country, foreign trade was active that was no longer limited to Alexandria only. Rather, Rashid and Damietta participated in it, especially in the beginnings of the Fatimid state, which made urbanism restart.<ref>شهاب الدين أبي عبد الله ياقوت بن عبد الله الحموي، معجم البلدان: الجزء الثالث، دار الفكر، بيروت، صـ: 45.</ref>

In the era of the Ayyubid state, neighboring Alexandria witnessed extensive commercial activity as a result of the concessions granted by the Ayyubids to Italian merchants, and before the Bay of Alexandria was re-cleared in 1013 in the Fatimid era by order of [[Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah]], which contributed to linking Alexandria to the city of [[Fuwwah]], south of Rashid and overlooking the Nile. And from it to Cairo and the rest of the cities of Egypt, and this led to the flourishing of the commercial activity of [[Fuwwah]], which affected the movement of trade Rashid, so that in the era of the Mamluks Fuwwah became the base of the trade networks in the region.<ref>سعيد عبد الفناح عاشور، مصر في العصور الوسطى، ـــــ، القاهرة، 1970، صـ: 404.</ref>

During the [[Seventh Crusade]], [[Louis IX of France]] briefly occupied the town in 1249.<ref>Peter Jackson, ''The Seventh Crusade, 1244–1254: Sources and Documents'', Volume 16 of Crusade Texts in Translation, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2009, [https://books.google.com/books?id=gut0pQ6Znc0C&pg=PA72 p. 72]</ref> Following the destruction of Damietta during the crusade, [[Al-Zahir Baybars]] built it again in 1250. However, due to the huge costs of protecting it with strong walls and an impenetrable castle, he built a fortress in 1262 to monitor any possible upcoming invasion. During the reign of [[Al-Nasir Muhammad]], the Gulf of Alexandria was re-excavated, so the commercial movement flourished more in Alexandria and was uttered so much that it became the mouth of Egypt's most important commercial city after Cairo. This had a more negative impact on Rashid, to the point that [[Abu al-Fidaa]] noted in the thirteenth century that the city was smaller than his mouth.<ref>نقولا يوسف، دمياط منذ أقدم العصور، الاتحاد القومي بدمياط، دمياط، 1959، صـ: 159</ref>

Rashid contributed to the launching of the naval campaigns during Sultan [[Barbsay]] reign to invade the island of [[Cyprus]] and bring it under Egyptian control in 1426. Rashid also suffered from the attacks of the Christian knights who lived on the island of [[Rhodes]] during the reign of the sultan [[Sayf ad-Din Jaqmaq]]. Sultan Jaqamq sent a large garrison to protect Rashid's beach. and ordered its reinforcement in the following years. Then the throne came to [[Qaitbay]] and renewed the Rashid Towers in 1479 and renewed the castle, which was named after him so far, and built a wall to protect the city from raids. Generally, Rashid had a defensive role with a little commercial role.<ref>جمال الدين أبي المحاسن يوسف بن تغري بردي الأتابكي، النجوم الزاهرة في ملوك مصر والقاهرة: الجزء 15، الهيئة العامة لقصور الثقافة، القاهرة، صـ: 334.</ref>

Under the [[Mamluks]], the city became an important commercial center, and remained so throughout [[Ottoman Egypt|Ottoman rule]], until the eventual resurgence of the importance of [[Alexandria]] following the construction of the [[Mahmoudiyah canal]] in 1820.{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}}
Rosetta witnessed the defeat of the British [[Fraser campaign]], on 19 September 1807.

==Geography==
The city is located 65 km (40 mi) east of Alexandria, in Egypt's Beheira governorate.
===Climate===
[[Köppen-Geiger climate classification system]] classifies its climate as [[hot desert climate|hot desert]] (BWh), but blowing winds from the [[Mediterranean Sea]] greatly moderate the temperatures, typical to the [[northern coast of Egypt|Egypt's north coast]], making its summers moderately hot and humid, with winters that are mild and moderately [[precipitation (meteorology)|wet]] when [[Ice pellets|sleet]] and [[hail]] are also common.{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}}

[[Rafah, Egypt#Climate|Rafah]], [[Alexandria#Climate|Alexandria]], [[Abu Qir#Climate|Abu Qir]], Rosetta, [[Baltim#Climate|Baltim]], [[Kafr el-Dawwar#Climate|Kafr el-Dawwar]] and [[Mersa Matruh#Climate|Mersa Matruh]] are the wettest places in [[climate of Egypt|Egypt]].

{{Weather box|width=auto
|metric first=y
|single line=y 
|location =  Rosetta
|Jan high C = 17.8
|Feb high C = 17.8
|Mar high C = 20.0
|Apr high C = 22.2
|May high C = 25.0
|Jun high C = 27.2
|Jul high C = 27.8
|Aug high C = 28.9
|Sep high C = 28.9
|Oct high C = 27.2
|Nov high C = 23.9
|Dec high C = 20.0
| year high C = 
|Jan mean C = 15.0
|Feb mean C = 15.0
|Mar mean C = 17.2
|Apr mean C = 18.9
|May mean C = 22.2
|Jun mean C = 23.9
|Jul mean C = 26.1
|Aug mean C = 27.2
|Sep mean C = 26.1
|Oct mean C = 25.0
|Nov mean C = 20.6
|Dec mean C = 17.2
| year mean C = 
|Jan low C = 12.3
|Feb low C = 11.9
|Mar low C = 13.6
|Apr low C = 15.7
|May low C = 19.2
|Jun low C = 22.2
|Jul low C = 24.2
|Aug low C = 24.9
|Sep low C = 23.8
|Oct low C = 21.6
|Nov low C = 18.3
|Dec low C = 14.1
| year low C = 
|rain colour = green
|Jan rain mm = 60
|Feb rain mm = 30
|Mar rain mm = 14
|Apr rain mm = 5
|May rain mm = 2
|Jun rain mm = 0
|Jul rain mm = 0
|Aug rain mm = 0
|Sep rain mm = 1
|Oct rain mm = 10
|Nov rain mm = 28
|Dec rain mm = 53
|year rain mm = 
| Jan humidity = 70
| Feb humidity = 66
| Mar humidity = 64
| Apr humidity = 65
| May humidity = 69
| Jun humidity = 72
| Jul humidity = 73
| Aug humidity = 71
| Sep humidity = 67
| Oct humidity = 65
| Nov humidity = 66
| Dec humidity = 68
| year humidity =
|source 1 = Arab Meteorology Book<ref name=climate>{{cite web
| url = http://extras.springer.com/2007/978-1-4020-4577-6/Book_Shahin_ISBN_9781402045776_Appendix.pdf
| title = Appendix I: Meteorological Data
| publisher = Springer
| access-date = 14 October 2024
| archive-date = March 4, 2016
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304072830/http://extras.springer.com/2007/978-1-4020-4577-6/Book_Shahin_ISBN_9781402045776_Appendix.pdf
| url-status = dead
}}</ref>
|date=14 October 2024
}}

==Population==
The population of Rosetta has increased since the 1980s, as follows:

* 1983: 36,711 (approximate)
* 1986: 51,789
* 1996: 58,432

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Historical cannons in Rosetta.JPG|An identical copy of the Rosetta Stone
File:Rashid For Wiki-45.jpg|Abou Mandour Mosque
File:المعالم الاثرية من رحلة رشيد 5.jpg|Rashid old walls
File:المعالم الاثرية من رحلة رشيد 10.jpg|[[Fort Julien|Rashid Fort]]
File:المعالم الاثرية من رحلة رشيد 23.jpg|Old houses indoors
File:Ramadan house (16).jpg|Beit Ramadan
File:Rashid 8.jpg| Playing Dominoes 
</gallery>

==Notes==
{{notelist|30em}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Bibliography==
* "Rosetta", ''[[Encyclopaedia Britannica]]'', Chicago, 1983.
{{portal|Egypt}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
{{EB1911 Poster|Rosetta}}
* Thomas Brinkhoff: City Population [http://www.citypopulation.de/Egypt.html ''Egypt statistics'']
* Detailed map of Egypt (with many ancient temples): [http://unimaps.com/egypt/index.html UniMaps-Egypt].

{{Cities of Egypt}}
{{Egyptian Cities}}
{{Ancient Egypt topics}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Medieval cities of Egypt]]
[[Category:Populated coastal places in Egypt]]
[[Category:Populated places established in the 1st millennium]]
[[Category:Populated places in Beheira Governorate]]
[[Category:Ports and harbours of the Arab League]]
[[Category:Tourism in Egypt]]
[[Category:Transport in the Arab League]]