| Battle of the Pyramids | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theFrench Campaign in Egypt and Syria during theWar of the Second Coalition | |||||||
 The Battle of the Pyramids François-Louis-Joseph Watteau, 1799 | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 French Republic | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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| Strength | |||||||
25,000[a]
| 21,000–50,000[a]
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 289 killed or wounded[5] | 10,000 killed or wounded[6][3] | ||||||
  Battle of the Pyramids (Mediterranean) Show map of Mediterranean | |||||||
TheBattle of the Pyramids (French:Bataille des Pyramides), also known as theBattle of Embabeh (bataille d'Embabech), was fought on 21 July 1798 during theFrench invasion of Egypt, near the village ofImbaba, across theNile fromCairo and was named by Napoleon Bonaparte after the distantGreat Pyramid of Giza.
After capturingAlexandria and advancing towardCairo, Napoleon’s army confrontedMurad Bey’sMamluk-led forces. The French deployed into large divisional squares that withstood repeated cavalry charges before storming the fortified village of Embabeh. French losses were reported at about 300, while estimates for Mamluk–Ottoman casualties vary widely, from several thousand to as many as 10,000. The defeat shattered Murad’s field army, forcing him to retreat toUpper Egypt.
The victory opened the way toCairo, where Napoleon established a new administration, though local uprisings soon followed. It also marked the decline of Mamluk rule in Egypt. Its strategic impact was blunted when AdmiralNelson destroyed the French fleet at theBattle of the Nile ten days later. The battle has since been depicted in art and popular culture, often with historical inaccuracies.
After landing in Ottoman-controlled Egypt and capturingAlexandria on 2 July 1798, the French army under General Bonaparte marched across the desert towardCairo. Their objective was to break the power of the Mamluk beys who dominated Egypt and secure control of the capital before Ottoman reinforcements could arrive.Murad Bey and Ibrahim Bey, twoGeorgian Mamluks who commanded the country’s military forces, prepared to oppose the advance. Their army included elite, heavily armouredcavalry supported byfellahin militia serving as infantry.[2]
The French encountered the Mamluks about 9 miles (14 kilometres) from the Pyramids and 4 miles (6.4 kilometres) from Cairo.[b]On 13 July, French scouts located Murad’s encampment near Shubra Khit. Bonaparte ordered an immediate advance, leading to theskirmish at Shubra Khit (also called Chobrakit). French artillery destroyed the Mamluk flagship on the Nile and forced a retreat, giving Bonaparte his first victory and demonstrating the effectiveness of concentrated firepower against cavalry charges.[2]
On 21 July, after marching all night, the French reached the vicinity of the village ofEmbabeh. After a short rest, Napoleon ordered his troops to form for battle. Each of the five divisions was organised into hollow rectangles with cavalry and baggage in the centre and cannon at the corners. He exhorted his men to remain steady when facing the Mamluk cavalry:[1]
Soldiers! You came to this country to save the inhabitants from barbarism, to bring civilisation to the Orient and subtract this beautiful part of the world from the domination of England. From the top of those pyramids, forty centuries are contemplating you.
— General Bonaparte, Order of the Day,[1]
The French advanced south in echelon, with the right flank leading and the left secured by theNile. From right to left, the divisions were commanded byLouis Desaix,Jean-Louis-Ébénézer Reynier,Charles-François-Joseph Dugua,Honoré Vial, andLouis André Bon. Desaix also sent a detachment to occupy the nearby village of Biktil. Murad anchored his right on the Nile at Embabeh, which was fortified with infantry and artillery, and his left on Biktil with additional guns. HisMamluk cavalry deployed in the centre. Across the Nile, the army ofIbrahim Bey watched the battle unfold but was unable to cross and intervene. Murad’s plan was to hold the French on his fortified flanks and then strike their centre with cavalry.Repeated cavalry charges were directed against the French squares. One armoured rider advanced to within a few steps of the French lines and demanded a duel, but was shot down by musket fire.[7]
At about 15:30 Murad ordered hisdefterdar, Ayyub Bey, to lead a mass assault. The divisions of Desaix, Reynier, and Dugua held firm, repelling the horsemen with musketry and artillery. Some of the Mamluks then attempted to attack Desaix’s detached force, but without success.[8]
The Column that moved forward to attack Murad Bey divided in a way known to them during wartimes, and they got closer to the barricades where they then surrounded all the soldiers, front and back, and they beat their drums and started to shoot their guns and cannons; the winds blew strong, and dust flew, and the skies darkened from the dust and gun smoke; people were deafened by the drum beats and people thought that the Earth had moved like a quake and that the skies had fallen; the war and the fighting continued for about three-quarters of an hour and then there was defeat on the Western Front.
— ʻAbd al-Rah̤mān al-Jabartī's History of Egypt, recounting how the Mamlouks were defeated at the gates of Cairo[8]
Near the river, Bon’s division deployed into attack columns and stormed Embabeh. The garrison broke, with many fleeing into the Nile where hundreds drowned. French reports listed 29 killed and 260 wounded. Murad’s losses were far heavier, with thousands killed or wounded, including Ayyub Bey and perhaps 3,000 of the elite Mamluk cavalry.[6] Murad himself was wounded in the cheek by a saber but escaped with several thousand cavalry toUpper Egypt, where he waged aguerrilla campaign before being defeated by Desaix in late 1799.[9]
Upon hearing news of the defeat of their legendary cavalry, the waiting Mamluk armies in Cairo dispersed toSyria. Bonaparte entered the conquered capital of Egypt on 24 July.[2] On 11 August French forces caught up withIbrahim Bey and inflicted a crushing defeat at Salalieh.[2]After the Battle of the Pyramids, Napoleon instituted French administration inCairo and suppressed subsequent rebellions with force. Although he tried to co-opt the localulama, scholars such asAl-Jabarti poured scorn on the cultural claims of theFrench.[10] Despite official proclamations of goodwill, and instances of French soldiers converting toIslam to marry locally, clerics likeAbdullah al-Sharqawi, who headed Napoleon’s Cairodivan,[11] later described the occupiers as “materialist, libertine philosophers … [who] deny the resurrection, and the afterlife, and … [the] prophets.”[12]For their part, French officials such as mathematicianJoseph Fourier lamented that “the Muslim religion would on no account permit the development of the mind.”[12]The Battle of the Pyramids signalled the beginning of the end of seven centuries of Mamluk dominance in Egypt. Yet its strategic effect was short-lived: ten days later AdmiralHoratio Nelson destroyed the French fleet at theBattle of the Nile, cutting Napoleon’s army off from France and curtailing his ambitions in the region.[13]
The battle has been a frequent subject in art. It was depicted byFrançois-André Vincent in a preparatory sketch and painting,[14] and later by artists includingAntoine-Jean Gros,Carle Vernet, andFrançois-Louis-Joseph Watteau.[15]
In popular culture, the battle appears in Ridley Scott’s 2023 historical dramaNapoleon. The film’s depiction has been criticised for historical inaccuracies, such as showing French troops firing on the pyramids.[16]
Media related toBattle of the Pyramids at Wikimedia Commons
