Rasheed or Rashid رشــــيــد or what is known in the west as Rosette or Rosetta is a city in the governorate of Beheira, Egypt. It is an old port that lies at the mouth of the western part of the Nile where it meets with the Mediterranean Sea. It is considered one of the oldest ports in Egypt. It is a beautiful and quiet city. The Nile passes through the whole of it and meets the sea. It has a nice beach and weather.
The name Rasheed dates back to the ancient Egyptian name Rakheet رخــيــت which turned later on to Rasheet رشيت during the Coptic Era and then to Rasheed رشــيــد during the modern times. It is the city where the Rosetta Stone حجر رشيد was discovered. It used to be an independent governorate. It is distinguished by its historical architecture and is viewed as an open museum of the Islamic architecture الــعــمـــارةالاســلامــيـــة. It is the second Egyptian city after Cairo that has the most Islamic monuments that dates back to the Mamluki and Ottoman eras. The city has its long historical struggle نــضـــال as it is the city which defeated the first British Fraser Campaign حــمــلــة فــريـــزر in 1807 at the time of Muhammad Ali who forced these forces to move out on September 19th 1807 and the day became the National Day الــعــيــدالــقــــومـــى of the city and the whole governorate. Rasheed used to surpass Alexandria in Commerce and maritime transportation. However, it lost its importance later on and was deliberately neglected especially during the long British Occupation to Egypt towards the end of the 19th century.
In November, 2007 the Egyptian government decided to revive the city and make it an open museum like Luxor. They declared a plan t develop the city and the ex president visited it.
Rasheed is famous for its abundant yield of dates, that is why it was called the City of a Million Palm Trees مــديــنــــة الــمـــلــيـــون نــخـــلــة . It is also famous for its manual crafts, fishing, fiseekh (salted fish) industry. It has a large navy of fishing ships and more than 40 workshops that make more than 1000 yachts every year which in turn are exported to the Arab countries and the touristic cities in Egypt. It also has some big villages around it.
The city has a fort that is very similar to that of Alexandria called Julian Fort قــلــعـــةجـــولــيــــان . This fort is the place where the Rosetta Stone was found by French Soldiers at the Napoleon time. It is also very rich in its Islamic monuments and architecture e.g. Zaghloul Mosque مــســجــدزغــلـــول , Abo-Mandour Mosque مــســجـــدأبــومــنــدور , Al-Abbasi Mosque مــســجــدالــعــبــاســى and Al-Mahalli Mosque مــســجــدالـمــحــلــى that has 99 columns, six entrances and library full of different books. Rasheed Museum متحفرشيد used to be one its famous houses. It belonged to the ruler of the city during the Fraser campaign and consists of four floors that are full of weapons models of the battles that the city had undergone, coins and a copy of the Rosetta Stone. Some other famous buildings in Rasheed are the Azouz Bathroom حــمـــامعـــزوز , the Abo-Shahin Mill طــاحــونــةأبــوشــاهـــيــن , the Kohiyah House مــنــزلكــوهـــيــــة , the Ma’harim House مــنــزلمــحـــارم and E’lwan House مــنــزلعــلــــوان .
Well, I was born near the city of Rasheed or Rosetta, Egypt. Yes, the city where the Rosetta Stone was discovered. It is a small city on the north of Egypt where the Nile meets the Mediterranean. I am a Teacher of EFL.
