BILBAYS

also spelled Bilbeis, or Bilbis, town, southwestern ash-Sharqiyah muhafazah (governorate) in the eastern Nile River delta, Lower Egypt. Bilbays lies northeast of Cairo, on the main road from Ismailia and Port Said and on the al-Isma'iliyah Canal. Its name is an Arabic corruption of the Coptic Phelbes. Situated on a caravan and natural invasion route from the east, Bilbays was conquered in AD 640 by the Arabs, who in 727 resettled some of the Qays tribe there and later built a chain of fortresses to protect Cairo. In 1163 the Frankish crusaders under Amalric I occupied the town, which had often served as a camping place for Arab armies moving east. The modern town has textile manufacturing and is served by a railway station at Mit Hamal, just northwest. Bilbays military base with an airfield is 3 miles (5 km) southeast. Pop. (1986) 96,511.