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 when a 20-man patrol of the Bikanir Camel Corps was attacked at Bir en Nuss east of Qantara by 200 Bedouin. The Bikanir Camel Corps lost more than half their patrol. By December El Arish was occupied by an Ottoman force and the defence of the Suez Canal was organised. There had been a pre-war suggestion that a force of camels could hold Nekhl just to the south and in the centre of the Ottoman Empire and Egyptian frontier. The difficulty of supporting such a force of camels from bases on the western side of the Suez Canal was recognised