Rashad

While wandering the old downtown of Alexandria you will come to discover that most of the old shops which have been constructed during the British occupation of Egypt, got their names only written in Arabic and French. Whether the owners were Egyptians or foreigners they rarely used English. This influence is due to several accumulated political/economic interests and historical facts. Such as the Napoleonic expedition, the opening of Suez Canal and the excessive floods of foreigners who in order to live here needed a legal status from the consul of their countries. Resulting in a system of foreign protection that came to be called the Laws of Capitulations. Even during the English occupation the French influence did not disappear, in fact French culture and language had flourished in Alexandria. By talking to many old inhabitants and shop’s owners, they all agreed that French was not only the privilege of bourgeois class. It was rather an indirect way of refusing the English culture.

The British colonization lasted almost 70 years (2 generations) which is almost close to the duration of the Indian occupation (89 years) but unlike India, they had subtle influence on the Egyptian culture.