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At the commencement of the Muslim conquest of Egypt, Egypt was part of the Byzantine Empire with its capital in Constantinople. The initial Arab Muslim conquests (632–732 (فتح Fatah, literally opening, also referred to as the Islamic conquests or Arab Events By Place Europe Clovis II succeeds Dagobert I as king of the Franks in Neustria and Burgundy Events By Place Europe Rhodes is invaded by an Arab force remains of the Colossus of Rhodes are sold off A Muslim (مسلم pronounced Muslim, not Muzlim) is an adherent of the Religion The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding The Rightly Guided Caliphs or The Righteous Caliphs ( ar الخلفاء الراشدون) is a term used in Sunni Islam to refer to the first The Caliph is the Head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS However, it had been occupied just a decade before by the Persian Empire under Khosrau II (616 to 629 AD). The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia Khosrau II or Khosrow II ( Chosroes II or Xosrov II in classical sources sometimes called Events By Place Europe Eadbald succeeds Ethelbert as king of Kent. Events By Place Persian and Byzantine Empires September - Jerusalem is reconquered by the Byzantine Empire from
It was also religiously alienated. The orthodox Christianity of the Byzantines held to the doctrine of Christ having two natures, one divine and one human. The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian Communion in the world In Egypt however the christological position of Miaphysitism prevailed, which supported the doctrine of Christ having only one "nature" in which Divinity and Humanity were united. Christology (from Christ and Greek grc -λογία -logia) is a field of study within Christian theology which is concerned with Miaphysitism (sometimes called henophysitism) is the Christology of the Oriental Orthodox Churches Although the Christian Council of Chalcedon, held in 451, had ruled in favor of the orthodox position, Egypt had remained a hotbed of Miaphysite sentiment. The Council of Chalcedon was the fourth Ecumenical council. It was held from 8 October to 1 November 451 at Chalcedon (a city of Events By Place Western Roman Empire April 7 — The Huns sack Metz. So, with the restoration of Byzantine political control in 629, Emperor Heraclius began persecuting the Copts whom he considered Monophysites, expelling their patriarch (Oriental Orthodox are in fact miaphysites and not monophysites). Events By Place Persian and Byzantine Empires September - Jerusalem is reconquered by the Byzantine Empire from Heraclius, or Herakleios (Flavius Heraclius Augustus;) (c 575 - February 11, 641) was a Byzantine Emperor, who ruled the East A Copt ( Coptic: ouRemenkīmi enEkhristianos, literally Egyptian Christian) is a native Egyptian Christian.
It was in the context of this state of affairs that an army of some 4,000 Arabs, led by Amr ibn al-As, was sent by the Caliph Umar to spread Islam in the land of the ancient pharaohs. The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding ˤAmr ibn al-ˤĀs (عمرو بن العاص (born c583 - d January 6, 664 CE was an Arab Military commander who is most noted for leading The Caliph is the Head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah Umar (a=عمر بن الخطاب|t=`Umar ibn al-Khattāb c 581-83 CE &ndash 7 November, 644) also known as Umar the Great or Omar the Great For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. The Arabs crossed into Egypt from Palestine in December 639 and advanced rapidly into the Nile Delta. Palestine is a name which has been widely used since Roman times to refer to the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. Events By Place Europe Clovis II succeeds Dagobert I as king of the Franks in Neustria and Burgundy The Nile Delta ( Arabic: دلتا النيل) is the delta formed in Northern Egypt ( Lower Egypt) where the Nile River spreads The imperial garrisons retreated into the walled towns like Babylon Fortress, where they successfully held out for a year or more. Babylon Fortress was an ancient fortress city or castle in the Delta of Egypt, located at Babylon in the area today known as Coptic Cairo. But the Arabs sent for reinforcements and the invading army, joined by another 5,000 men in 640, defeated a Byzantine army at the Battle of Heliopolis. Events By Place Europe Tulga succeeds his father Suinthila as king of the Visigoths. The Battle of Heliopolis or "Ayn Shams" was a decisive battle between Arab Muslim armies and Byzantine forces for the control of Egypt Amr next proceeded in the direction of Alexandria, which was surrendered to him by a treaty signed on November 8, 641. Alexandria ( Egyptian Arabic: اسكندريه Eskendereyya; Standard Arabic: ar الإسكندرية Al-Iskandariyya; Ἀλεξάνδρεια Events 1519 - Hernán Cortés enters Tenochtitlán and Aztec ruler Moctezuma welcomes him with great a Celebration Events By Place Europe Chindaswinth deposes Tulga, and becomes king of the Visigoths. The Thebaid seems to have surrendered with scarcely any opposition. The Thebaid or Thebais (Θηβαΐς or Θηβαΐδα is the region of Ancient Egypt containing the thirteen southernmost nomes of Upper Egypt
The ease with which this valuable province was wrenched from the Byzantine Empire appears to have been due to the treachery of the governor of Egypt, Cyrus [1], Melchite (i. Cyrus of Alexandria was a Melchite patriarch of the Egyptian see of Alexandria in the seventh century one of the authors of Monothelism and last The term Melkite (also written Melchite) is used to refer to various Christian churches and their members originating in the Middle East. e. , Byzantine/Chalcedonian Orthodox, not Coptic) Patriarch of Alexandria, and the incompetence of the generals of the Byzantine forces. The Patriarch of Alexandria is the Archbishop of Alexandria and Cairo, Egypt. Cyrus had persecuted the local Coptic Christians. History of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria Apostolic foundation Egypt is identified in the Bible as the place of refuge that the He is one of the authors of monothelism, a seventh century heresy, and some supposed him to have been secretly a convert to Islam. Monothelitism (a Greek Loanword meaning "one will" is a particular teaching about how the divine and human relate in the person of Jesus, known as a For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation.
An attempt was made in the year 645 to regain Alexandria for the Byzantine Empire, but it was retaken by Amr in 646. Events By Place Byzantine Empire The Byzantines recapture Alexandria from the Arabs Asia Events An edict of the Taika Reforms is promulgated in Japan Alexandria is recaptured by the Arabs after a Byzantine In 654 an invasion fleet sent by Constans II was repulsed. Events By Place Europe Rhodes is invaded by an Arab force remains of the Colossus of Rhodes are sold off Constans II ( Greek: Κώνστας Β' Kōnstas II) also called "Constantine the Bearded" ( Kōnstantinos Pogonatos) ( November 7 From that time no serious effort was made by the Byzantines to regain possession of the country.
The Muslims were assisted by some Copts, who found the Muslims more tolerant than the Byzantines, and of these some turned to Islam. In return for a tribute of money and food for the troops of occupation, the Christian inhabitants of Egypt were excused from military service and left free in the observance of their religion and the administration of their affairs. Others sided with the Byzantines, hoping that they would provide a defense against the Arab invaders. [2]
After the negotiated surrender, taxes were raised to a level which the Egyptians found unbearable, notably during the Umayyad era. This article is about the contemporary North African ethnic group Nevertheless, during Amr's lifetime the churches and people were not subjected to further assaults and were left in peace:
On the twentieth of Maskaram Theodore and all his troops and officers [the Byzantines] set out and proceeded to the island of Cyprus, and abandoned the city of Alexandria. And thereupon 'Amr the chief of the Moslem made his entry without effort into the city of Alexandria. And the inhabitants received him with respect; for they were in great tribulation and affliction. . . And 'Amr became stronger every day in every field of his activity. And he exacted the taxes which had been determined upon, but he took none of the property of the churches, and he committed no act of spoliation or plunder, and he preserved them throughout all his days. . . . And he increased the taxes to the extent of twenty-two batr of gold till all the people hid themselves owing to the greatness of the tribulation, and could not find the wherewithal to pay. . . . And none could recount the mourning and lamentation which took place in that city: they even gave their children in exchange for the great sums which they had to pay monthly. And they had none to help them, and God destroyed their hopes, and delivered the Christians into the hands of their enemies. The Chronicle of John, Bishop of Nikiu Chapters CXX-CXXI
The Arab rulers remained in control of the country from this point until 1517, when it became part of the Ottoman Empire. During the initial Islamic invasion in 639 AD, Egypt was ruled at first by governors acting in the name of the Righteous Caliphs, and then the Ummayad The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish
References
- Charles, R. H. The Chronicle of John, Bishop of Nikiu: Translated from Zotenberg's Ethiopic Text, 1916. Hermann Zotenberg (1836 Silesia – 1894 Paris) was an Orientalist and Arabist. Reprinted 2007. Evolution Publishing, ISBN 978-1-889758-87-9. [3]
See also
- Aegyptus (Roman province)
- Aslim Taslam
- Muslim conquests
- Byzantine-Arab Wars
- Umayyad conquest of North Africa
- Spread of Islam
External links
- Edward Gibbon, History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Chapter 51
- Bishop John NIkiou The Chronicle of John, Bishop of Nikiu Chapters CXVI-CXXI
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