Capitulation of Alexandria

Battle of the Pyramids 1798

The Capitulation of Alexandria was an important event in the struggle between France and Great Britain for influence in the Middle East around 1800.

The French campaign in Egypt and Syria (1798–1801) was part of Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign in the East. His plan was to protect French trade, undermine Britain's access to India and establish scientific entreprise in the region. His Mediterranean campaign of 1798, a series of naval engagements that included the capture of Malta, prepared the way for the attack on Egypt. In July, he defeated British and Mamluk forces at the Battle of the Pyramids and took control of Egypt.

The British responded at the Battle of the Nile, in 1798, when the Royal Navy, under Horatio Nelson, defeated the French fleet, which was almost completely destroyed, off the coast of Egypt. That changed the balance of power between the two nations at war in the Mediterranean.

On land in Egypt, the French were opposed by a joint force of British and Ottoman troops. The defeated French retreated to Alexandria, the second city of Egypt, where the British-led force surrounded them. On 30 August 1801, French General Jacques-François Menou offered to surrender and proposed terms. The terms were adjusted and then agreed. The event and the treaty is known as the Capitulation of Alexandria.

The articles of the treaty included this:

"the Arabian manuscripts, the statues, and the other collections which have been made for the French Republic, shall be considered as public property, and subject to the disposal of the generals of the combined army".

That made Britain get hold of the Rosetta Stone and other Egyptian antiquities, which had bee collected by the French Commission des Sciences et des Arts and the scholars of the Institut d'Égypte.