The Battle of the Pyramids, between Napoleon's army and the Mamelukes,* took place in July 1798. After twelve hours of marching under the hot Egyptian sun, the tired, hungry, and thirsty French soldiers saw the army of the Mamelukes, and the great pyramids ten miles behind it.
Napoleon, having issued his orders, placed himself in front of his army, and pointing to the pyramids exclaimed, "Soldiers, from the summits of those monuments forty centuries are at this moment surveying our conduct!" The army, full of enthusiasm, cried out to be led to action, and a decisive victory over the quadruple numbers of the enemy was the consequence. The surrender of Cairo followed a few days afterwards.
一七九八年七月金字塔之役，是拿破崙軍隊和瑪穆魯克人*的一場戰爭。法軍在埃及的烈日之下，走了十二小時，疲乏之餘，口燥腹空，而眼前就是瑪穆魯克的軍隊，其後十英里左右，是一座座大金字塔。
拿破崙頒布命令之後，走到法軍跟前，指着金字塔，高聲喊：「各位將士，在這些紀念塔頂上，四千年歷史正在觀看我們的表現！」法軍鬥志昂揚，高喊願隨鐙效死力，結果大敗人數四倍他們的敵軍。幾天之後，開羅也落入法軍手上。
*瑪穆魯克人於一二五零年征服埃及，至十六世紀初為土耳其所敗，但仍獲許在埃及執政。