20 Pounds 2016, Egypt
| in Krause book | Number: B340 |
| Years of issue: | 16.03.2016 |
| Edition: | |
| Signatures: | Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt: Tarek Hassan Nour El Din Amer (from 27.11.2015) |
| Serie: | 2014-2015 Issue |
| Specimen of: | 2014 |
| Material: | Cotton fiber |
| Size (mm): | 155 x 70 |
| Printer: | The Printing House of the Central Bank of Egypt |
* All pictures marked 
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** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.
Description
Watermark:
The statue of Nofret - The wife of Prince Rakhotep, photo by Jon Bodsworth, Cairo museum, Egypt.
Nofret is considered the wife of Prince Rahotep, who was the son of Pharaoh Snofru. Mastaba Prince Rakhotep and his wife Nofret were found in Maydum. There, Marieta discovered a painted limestone statue of Nofret. Later, the statue was placed in the Kara Museum, along with the statue of her husband Prince Rakhotep.
Avers:
The great Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha or Alabaster Mosque is a mosque situated in the Citadel of Cairo in Egypt and commissioned by Muhammad Ali Pasha between 1830 and 1848. Situated on the summit of the citadel, this Ottoman mosque, the largest to be built in the first half of the XIX century, is, with its animated silhouette and twin minarets, the most visible mosque in Cairo. The mosque was built in memory of Tusun Pasha, Muhammad Ali's oldest son, who died in 1816.
The mosque was built on the site of old Mamluk buildings in Cairo's Citadel between 1830 and 1848, although not completed until the reign of Said Pasha in 1857. The architect was Yusuf Bushnak from Istanbul and its model was the Yeni Mosque in that city. The ground on which the mosque was erected was built with debris from the earlier buildings of the Citadel.
Before completion of the mosque, the alabastered panels from the upper walls were taken away and used for the palaces of Abbas I. The stripped walls were clad with wood painted to look like marble. In 1899 the mosque showed signs of cracking and some inadequate repairs were undertaken. But the condition of the mosque became so dangerous that a complete scheme of restoration was ordered by King Fuad in 1931 and was finally completed under King Farouk in 1939.
Muhammad Ali Pasha was buried in a tomb carved from Carrara marble, in the courtyard of the mosque. His body was transferred here from Hawsh al-Basha in 1857. 
On background, top and bottom (in my opinion) are stylized central Dome of the Mosque of Mohammed Ali Pasha, inside view.
The central dome, with a diameter of 21 meters and a height of 52 meters, is supported by 4 square pillars.
Denominations is numerals are in top right and lower left corners, in words - on right side.
Revers:
centered is the image of the battle with the Nubians. This picture shows Ramses II fighting the Nubians from his war chariot. Bas-relief from the Karnak Temple
The change of the pharaohs could, as in former times, induce, among the oppressed peoples, the hopes of successful uprisings. From the first months of the reign of Ramses, the image of the drive of the Canaan prisoners to Pharaoh is preserved, but it is somewhat arbitrary. But the uprising in Nubia was, apparently, so significant that the suppression of the personal presence of Pharaoh was required to suppress it. The country was pacified.
During this hike in only one sparsely populated area, Irem, were killed 7 thousand people. The governor of Ramses in Nubia in the first months of his reign was able to deliver him a rich tribute and was made happy for this with rewards and royal favor.
Lower, left is the bas-relief, showing Ptolemy II, crowned by two women, who wearing the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt (the king of Upper and Lower Egypt). Bas-relief from the Temple of Ptolemy in Edfu.
How did you manage to unite the kingdom of Upper and Lower Egypt into a mighty empire? Scientists believe that they have found the answer to this question.
Much is known about ancient Egypt, but the process of its emergence is poorly understood. The main controversial questions are: how did the two independent kingdoms, Upper and Lower Egypt, first appear on the Nile and then merge into a single power? An important key to the mystery is a schematic depiction on a scorpion rock (see below image), possibly scratched by a warrior participating in a battle. This symbol itself and the story told to them seem to lead us to a ruler, who is called the “king of Scorpio”.
The white crown of Upper Egypt.
By 5000 BC the ancestors of the Egyptians lived in small villages where the desert is now, and then there was a savannah. Around there were enough small lakes, whence during the rainy season many rivers flowed into the great Nile (wadi). Among the rock paintings of that era there are images of hippos and crocodiles. In those places where dry ravines are now, boats with people and goods floated. Each village was a tiny state, often with its own deity, or rather, the totem - an animal or a plant. Archaeologists find such images on excavated religious objects and ceramics. It is likely that the diversity of these totems formed the basis of a complex ancient Egyptian pantheon, which included many zoomorphic bots.
Symbol of unity.
For thousands of years, the Pharaohs had two crowns: white, in the form of pins, and red, similar to the ladle, - Upper and Lower Egypt, respectively. They were worn one by one or on top of each other, as if emphasizing one of the royal titles - “The ruler of two countries”. But who united Egypt under his rule?
The fight for the drying out of the Nile.
By the middle of the IV millennium BC there were many in such “village-states”. The clashes over land forced them to unite into alliances — about 20 arose in Lower Egypt, i.e. in the Nile delta zone, and 22 - in the Upper.
At the same time, Upper Egypt was faced with an environmental crisis — so serious that it could well lead to wars that ended with the unification of the country. Geological data indicate the beginning of the drying up of small bodies of water - the landscape, especially to the east of the Nile, is still cut up by the former river beds. Obviously, this was causing food shortages. People were forced to move to the valley of the greatest river, and also to move north to the delta, where they inevitably encountered the inhabitants of the villages of Lower Egypt.
After thousands of years, the Egyptian historian Manetho (late IV - early III century BC) writes about a conqueror who grew up in Upper Egypt, who defeated the king who ruled the delta and proclaimed himself ruler of all of Egypt. By combining the crowns of the two kingdoms, white and red, he made Mennefer his capital (we know this city under the Greek name Memphis) and founded the first dynasty. They knew the winner, according to the records of Manetho, Mep or Menes, he reigned for 62 years and was finally eaten by a crocodile. Another Greek version of his name is Mina (and the Egyptian Meskhne or Mehsne).
Ptolemy II Philadelphus (Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Φιλάδελφος, Ptolemaîos Philádelphos "Ptolemy, lover of his sister"; 308/9-246 BCE) was the king of Ptolemaic Egypt from 283 to 246 BCE. He was the son of Ptolemy I Soter, the Macedonian Greek general of Alexander the Great who founded the Ptolemaic Kingdom after the death of Alexander, and queen Berenice I, originally from Macedon in northern Greece.
During Ptolemy II's reign, the material and literary splendour of the Alexandrian court was at its height. He promoted the Museum and Library of Alexandria. He erected a commemorative stele, the Great Mendes Stela. He also led the Ptolemaic Kingdom against the rival Seleucid Empire in the first of a series of Syrian Wars that witnessed periodic territorial changes between the two powers in West Asia.
Right of Ptolemy II bas-relief is the bas-relief on which, on the right, depicts the God Horus, in the form of a man. Bas-relief from the Temple of Ptolemy in Edfu.
Horus is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities. He was worshipped from at least the late prehistoric Egypt until the Ptolemaic Kingdom and Roman Egypt. Different forms of Horus are recorded in history and these are treated as distinct gods by Egyptologists. These various forms may possibly be different perceptions of the same multi-layered deity in which certain attributes or syncretic relationships are emphasized, not necessarily in opposition but complementary to one another, consistent with how the Ancient Egyptians viewed the multiple facets of reality. He was most often depicted as a falcon, most likely a lanner falcon or peregrine falcon, or as a man with a falcon head.
The earliest recorded form of Horus is the tutelary deity of Nekhen in Upper Egypt, who is the first known national god, specifically related to the ruling pharaoh who in time came to be regarded as a manifestation of Horus in life and Osiris in death. The most commonly encountered family relationship describes Horus as the son of Isis and Osiris, and he plays a key role in the Osiris myth as Osiris's heir and the rival to Set, the murderer of Osiris. In another tradition Hathor is regarded as his mother and sometimes as his wife. Horus served many functions, most notably being a god of kingship and the sky.
Right of center, vertically, is the relief from the White Chapel of Sesostris I. The chapel was built to celebrate the Sed festival, the festival, connected with the royal jubilee during which rituals of renewal and regeneration took place. The king pays homage to Min, the god of fertility. Egypt. Ancient Egyptian. 12th Dynasty 1971-1926 BC. Karnak.
Senusret I, also anglicized as Sesostris I and Senwosret I, was the second pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt. He ruled from 1971 BC to 1926 BC (1920 BC to 1875 BC), and was one of the most powerful kings of this Dynasty. He was the son of Amenemhat I. Senusret I was known by his prenomen, Kheperkare, which means "the Ka of Re is created."
He continued his father's aggressive expansionist policies against Nubia by initiating two expeditions into this region in his 10th and 18th years and established Egypt's formal southern border near the second cataract where he placed a garrison and a victory stele. He also organized an expedition to a Western Desert oasis. Senusret I established diplomatic relations with some rulers of towns in Syria and Canaan. He also tried to centralize the country's political structure by supporting nomarchs who were loyal to him. His pyramid was constructed at el-Lisht. Senusret I is mentioned in the Story of Sinuhe where he is reported to have rushed back to the royal palace in Memphis from a military campaign in Libya after hearing about the assassination of his father, Amenemhat I.
Lower, right, are stylized lotus flowers.
Denominations in numerals are in lower left and top right corners, in words - centered.
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