Roman rule remained until the Byzantines gained the upper hand in 395 AD establishing a period of power that lasted until 641 AD when the Persians once again became the dominant force in the region. Muslim Arabs meanwhile made their mark on the area in the 7th century, the legacy of their stay being the introduction of Islam as the dominant religion and Arabic as the main language. In the period that followed, the country came upon prosperous times, extending its boundaries and seeing vast and successful construction projects such as the building of the Suez Canal. Following the instatement of Gamal Abdel Nasser as president in 1954, the Suez Canal was nationalized which subsequently led to the 1956 Suez Crisis; a conflict from which Nasser emerged with all integrity intact and as a genuine hero of the people. Nasser’s attempts however to unite Egypt with Syria were not met favourably by most Egyptians and consequently after the president’s death in 1967 the new name of United Arab Republic was swiftly changed back to Egypt. In 1973, Egypt, with the assistance of Syria, launched an offensive against Israel which led to both the US and the USSR getting involved. Eventually, a truce was established between Israel and Egypt on condition that Israel withdrew completely from Sinai. President Sadat, the successor of Nasser, was the driving force in the settling of this historic conflict. He was murdered by a fundamentalist in 1989 and replaced by Hosni Mubarak. | 
