Why Egypt?

Is there a reason the Jewish People were exiled specifically to Egypt, and that the Egyptians were punished so severly during the Exodus?

What a fascinating question! The Sages teach that Egypt represented the greatest physical might in the world at the time and it was also the epicenter of decadence and degeneracy in the world. That is why the battle that takes place - the battle of spirituality versus physicality - is one between the Egyptians and the Jewish Nation.