Bilbeis is an ancient fortress city on the eastern edge of the southern Nile delta

Nile Delta

The Nile Delta is the delta formed in Northern Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the east, it covers some 240 km of Mediterranean coastline—and is a rich...

 in Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

.

The city played a role in the machinations for control of the Fatimid

Fatimid

The Fatimid Islamic Caliphate or al-Fāṭimiyyūn was a Berber Shia Muslim caliphate first centered in Tunisia and later in Egypt that ruled over varying areas of the Maghreb, Sudan, Sicily, the Levant, and Hijaz from 5 January 909 to 1171.The caliphate was ruled by the Fatimids, who established the...

 vizier

Vizier

A vizier or in Arabic script ; ; sometimes spelled vazir, vizir, vasir, wazir, vesir, or vezir) is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in a Muslim government....

ate: first in 1164, when Shirkuh

Shirkuh

Asad ad-Din Shirkuh bin Shadhi , also known as Shêrko or "Shêrgo" was an important Kurdish military commander, and uncle of Saladin....

 was besieged in the city by the combined forces of Shiwar and Amalric I of Jerusalem

Amalric I of Jerusalem

Amalric I of Jerusalem was King of Jerusalem 1163–1174, and Count of Jaffa and Ascalon before his accession. Amalric was the second son of Melisende of Jerusalem and Fulk of Jerusalem...

 for three months; then again in 1168 when the city was assaulted again by Amalric's army, who took the city after three days on November 4 and indiscriminately killed the inhabitants. This atrocity angered the Coptic Egyptians, who had seen the Crusaders as deliverers but had suffered as much as the Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

 inhabitants of Bilbeis. The Copts ended their support of the Crusaders and united with their non-Christian neighbors against the foreigners. (See Crusader invasion of Egypt.)

In 1798, its fortification

Fortification

Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...

s were rebuilt at the order of Napoleon.

The city is small in size but densely populated, with over 300,000 residents. It also houses the Egyptian Air Force Academy

Egyptian Air Academy

The Egyptian Air Academy , is Egypt's military academy for Air Force officers, and was established in 1951....

complex, which contains the town's largest public school in Al-Zafer.
It also has the first Mosque built in north Africa and one may say all Africa and all Egypt. Its name is Sadat Quriesh.