Babylon Fortress was an ancient fortress city or castle in the Delta of Egypt, located at Babylon in the area today known as Coptic Cairo. It was situated in the Heliopolite Nome, upon the right (eastern) bank of the Nile, at latitude 30°N, near the commencement of the Pharaonic Canal (also called Ptolemy's Canal and Trajan's Canal), from the Nile to the Red Sea. Coordinates: 30°0′22″N 31°13′47″E / 30.00611°N 31.22972°E / 30.00611; 31.22972
It was at the boundary between Lower and Middle Egypt, where the river craft paid tolls when ascending or descending the Nile. Diodorus ascribes the erection of the first fort to rebel Assyrian captives in the reign of Sesostris, and Ctesias (Persica) dates it to the time of Semiramis; but Josephus (l. c.), with greater probability, attributes its structure to some Babylonian followers of Cambyses, in 525 BC. The Romans built a new fortress with typically Roman red and white banded masonry nearer to the river.
Within the fortress' enclosure are the Coptic Museum, a convent, and several churches, including the Church of St. George and the Hanging Church.
Babylon (Egypt)Read more about Babylon Fortress: The Name, Situation, Roman Era and Later, Photographs of Babylon Fortress
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