Atlas of Battles

battle, landmark, Revolutionary and Napoleonic

Battle of the Pyramids

Battle of the Pyramids was a battle fought on 21 July 1798 at Imbaba, in what is now Egypt. It was part of the French Revolutionary Wars, which ran from 1792 to 1802. The recorded result: French victory.

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Battle of the Pyramids
François-Louis-Joseph Watteau, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought21 July 1798
WhereImbaba, Egypt30.083N, 31.200E
OutcomeFrench victory
BelligerentsFranceagainstOttoman Empire
Part ofFrench Revolutionary Wars1792 to 1802

Where it sits in the French Revolutionary Wars

Battle of Quiévrain, 1792Siege of Thionville, 1792Battle of Verdun, 1792Siege of Namur, 1792Siege of Pondicherry, 1793Siege of Breda, 1793Battle of Neerwinden, 1793Battle of Mas Deu, 1793Action of 18 June 1793, 1793Battle of Brécourt, 1793Battle of Perpignan, 1793Battle of Vihiers, 1793Action of 31 July 1793, 1793Revolt of Lyon against the National Convention, 1793Siege of Dunkirk, 1793Battle of Menin, 1793Battle of Epierre, 1793Battle of Courtrai, 1793Battle of Peyrestortes, 1793Battle of Truillas, 1793Battle of Wattignies, 1793Action of 20 October 1793, 1793Action of 24 October 1793, 1793Sunda Strait campaign of January 1794, 1794Battle of Martinique, 1794Action of 23 April 1794, 1794Battle of Villers-en-Cauchies, 1794Battle of Beaumont, 1794Atlantic campaign of May 1794, 1794Action of 7 May 1794, 1794Battle of Tournay, 1794Frigate action of 29 May 1794, 1794Glorious First of June, 1794Battle of Mykonos, 1794Battle of Boxtel, 1794Battle of Sprimont, 1794First Battle of Dego, 1794Battle of Île Ronde, 1794Action of 6 November 1794, 1794Siege of Luxembourg, 1794Croisière du Grand Hiver, 1794Battle of Genoa, 1795Action of 10 April 1795, 1795Battle of Muizenberg, 1795Battle of Groix, 1795Action of 24 June 1795, 1795Battle of Hyères Islands, 1795Action of 22 August 1795, 1795Action of 7 October 1795, 1795Battle of Voltri, 1796Battle of Montenotte, 1796Battle of Mondovì, 1796Battle of Borghetto, 1796Battle of Rastatt, 1796Battle of Lonato, 1796Battle of Castiglione, 1796Battle of Friedberg, 1796Battle of Rovereto, 1796Action of 8 September 1796, 1796Second Battle of Kehl, 1796Battle of Cembra, 1796Second Battle of Bassano, 1796Battle of Calliano, 1796Battle of Caldiero, 1796Battle of Rivoli, 1797Action of 13 January 1797, 1797Action of 25 January 1797, 1797Bali Strait Incident, 1797Battle of Tarvis, 1797Battle of San Juan, 1797Action of 16 May 1797, 1797Assault on Cadiz, 1797Battle of Camperdown, 1797Battle of the Raz de Sein, 1798Battle of the Îles Saint-Marcouf, 1798French invasion of Switzerland, 1798Action of 30 May 1798, 1798Action of 27 June 1798, 1798Action of 30 June 1798, 1798Battle of the Pyramids, 1798Siege of Malta, 1798Battle of Tory Island, 1798Action of 24 October 1798, 1798Action of 14 December 1798, 1798Macau Incident, 1799Action of 9 February 1799, 1799Action of 28 February 1799, 1799Order of battle at the Battle of Stockach, 1799Battle of Verona, 1799Battle of Pech-David, 1799Battle of Carbonne, 1799Battle of Bergen, 1799Battle of Port Louis, 1799Battle of the Malta Convoy, 1800Action of 31 March 1800, 1800Action of 6–7 April 1800, 1800Raid on Dunkirk, 1800Battle of Ampfing, 1800Action of 19 February 1801, 1801Battle of Mandora, 1801Siege of Fort Julien, 1801Siege of Cairo, 1801Siege of Porto Ferrajo, 1801Raids on Boulogne, 1801Siege of Alexandria, 1801Battle of Mahé, 180117921801Battle of the Pyramids, 1798
106 placed engagements of the French Revolutionary Wars in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date21 July 1798
PlaceImbaba, Egypt
30.083N, 31.200E
KindBattle, Revolutionary and Napoleonic
Strength25,000
Commanders
  • Murad Bey
  • Ibrahim Bey (Mamluk)
Battle of the PyramidsBattle of the PyramidsCapture of CairoSiege of CairoBattle of GhamraBattle of al-BabeinSiege of Babylon FortressBattle of al-BabeinAlexandriaBur SaidEl FaiyumIsmaïliaEl MansuraDamanhûrBeni SuefTanta100 km30.083N, 31.200E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Battle of the Pyramids
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 10 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Battle of the Pyramids today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2024-08-15. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024.

The recorded site stands at about 29 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from -2 to 65 m, 68 m of relief, gently rolling country and today it is 83% built-up, 6% cropland, 6% water.

built-up: 83%cropland: 6%water: 6%tree cover: 3%built-up 83%cropland 6%water 6%tree cover 3%
west to east, 10.0 km14 to 37 mnorth to south, 10.0 km13 to 39 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

Contested ground: this site was fought over 6 times between AD 632 and 1801.

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1798

Combat data (CDB90)

Attacker: FR ARMYDefender: MAMELUKE ARMY
Strength25,00021,000
Casualties300 (1.2%)5,000 (23.8%)
Mission accomplishment, 1 to 1092
Outcomeattacker won
Duration1 day
Front width5 km6.2 km
Attacker advanced3 km

From the US Army Concepts Analysis Agency Database of Battles (CDB90, battle 108), public domain, in the CC0 tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold. Figures are the database's estimates, compiled in 1990 from published histories, and may differ from the Wikipedia infobox above.

Battle of the Pyramids is one of 2,009 engagements of the 18th century in the atlas and one of 110 in present-day Egypt.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q332543, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of the Pyramids, revision 1371801221, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.