.. and it looks like they've been served by almost everybody in the entire Mediterranean. So far they have been conqured by: Nubians 800 BC Persians 600 BC Greeks 400 BC Romans 31 BC (Bye Bye Cleopatra) Arabs 600 AD Ottoman Turks 1500 AD FINALLY get their Independance in 1953 This doesnt include all the other countries that have invaded them between these times and kicked the crap out of them!