Anecdota Oxoniensia. Semitic series.

INTRODUCTION.

xix

especially to the more important periods, such as the Mahometan
conquest, the overthrow of the Omeyyad dynasty, the rule of Ahmad
ibn Tulun and his son Khamarawaih, and the invasion by the Fatimide
caliph Al-Mu'izz. The conquest of Egypt began in A.H. I8, when 'Amr
ibn al-'Asi entered the country by the Syrian frontier, and subdued the
imperial forces in a battle near Pelusium, where the Arab town of AlFarama afterwards stood. 'Amr then advanced upon the fortress of
Babylon, about ten miles to the south of Heliopolis, which was, after
a long siege, ceded to him by the treachery of George son of Mennas, the
'Muklaukis.' After this it was necessary to attack the capital of the
country, Alexandria, and here again serious resistance was offered to
the Muslims. The siege of Alexandria lasted several months, so that the
conquest of Egypt was not completed until the first of Muharram,
A. H. 20 (A. D. 641). The conqueror did not, however, select Alexandria
as his capital, but chose a spot easier of access from M/ecca and Medina,
namely the Fortress of Babylon and its neighbourhood, as the site of
the new city which he founded and named Fustat Misr.
From the time of the conquest, Egypt was governed by walis,
appointed by the caliphs, who rarely visited the country themselves.
The last of the Omeyyad caliphs, however, Marwan II, who reigned
from A. H. 126 to 133, took refuge in Egypt from the armies of the new
claimant to the caliphate, As-Saffah, the Abbaside. The Khorassanian
troops of the latter pursued Marwan, who set fire to the city of Fustat
Misr, and, having crossed the Nile, destroyed all the boats upon the river
in order to stop the progress of the enemy. A vivid picture of this
disastrous conflict is given us by an eye-witness, the contemporary
biographer of the Coptic patriarch Michael, whose life is included in
the compilation of Severus of Al-Ushmunain. The Khorassanians soon
found boats with which to cross the river; and they pursued Marwan as
far as Busir KuIridus, near the entrance to the Fayyum, where they put
him to death. His head was sent round the country as a proof of the
extinction of the Omeyyad dynasty and the victory of the Abbasides.
The Omeyyad caliphs had resided at Damascus, and the Abbasides
established their court in A. D. 750 at the newly-erected city of Bagdad,
so that Egypt was still ruled by walis, who, on account of their remote2