>>213000991
Egypt was an even more significant breadbasket under the Roman's thoughbeit, producing most of their grain. As the other anon mentioned it was a key urban centre for philosophy and later Christianity for the Mediterranean world. Yet once it became mahometan, doomed to permanent irrelevance like Tunisia, Morrocco, Algeria, etc. really makes one ponder how such a foundational civilization as Egypt became a backwater after being so important for millennia...
