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
Raid on the Suez Canal a line of communication and also the site for a military base as the well equipped ports at Alexandria and Port Said made the region particularly useful. However, the popularity of the British was in decline in Egypt as the people disliked the occupation and the imposition of a foreign country and alien religion in control of their country. The Convention of Constantinople of 1888 by the European Powers guaranteed freedom of navigation of the Suez Canal. In August 1914 Egypt was defended by 5,000 men in the Force in Egypt. Abbas Hilmi, the reigning Khedive, who had opposed the