Aida Mary Jane Phillips-Matz argues that the source is actually Temistocle Solera. Isma'il Pasha, Khedive of Egypt, commissioned Verdi to write an opera for performance to celebrate the opening of the Khedivial Opera House, paying him 150,000 francs, but the premiere was delayed because of the Siege of Paris (1870–71), during the Franco-Prussian War, when the scenery and costumes were stuck in the French capital, and Verdi's "Rigoletto" was performed instead. "Aida" eventually premiered in Cairo in late 1871. Contrary to popular belief, the opera was not written to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, for which Verdi
Suez Canal Company and Israel attacked Egypt and destroyed large portions of Port Said. The canal was returned to Egypt after the United States disapproved of the action. For the following ten years, the canal was operated by Egypt who paid an amount to the Suez Canal Company for its use. In 1967, another war with Israel arose and the canal was made impassable with scuttled ships. The canal would not reopen until 1975 after the Camp David Accord. Traffic through the canal began to fall in the early 1980s after petroleum pipelines eroded ship traffic business. After the company became defunct in