The Arab conquest of Egypt
Arab Muslim armies under Amr ibn al-As take Egypt from the Byzantine Empire, beginning its slow transformation into an Arabic-speaking, mostly Muslim country.
- The Great Arab Conquests — Hugh Kennedy, Weidenfeld & Nicolson (2007)
- The Cambridge History of Egypt, Volume 1: Islamic Egypt, 640–1517 — Carl F. Petry (ed.), Cambridge University Press (1998)
- Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria — Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Christians versus Muslims in Modern Egypt: The Century-Long Struggle for Coptic Equality — S. S. Hasan, Oxford University Press (2003)
- A History of the Arab Peoples — Albert Hourani, Faber and Faber (1991)
In the 630s the armies of the new Muslim state in Arabia swept out of the peninsula, taking Syria and Iraq from the exhausted Byzantine and Persian empires. In late 639 a commander named Amr ibn al-As led a few thousand men from Palestine into Egypt, the richest province of the Byzantine Empire and the granary of Constantinople.
- The Great Arab Conquests — Hugh Kennedy, Weidenfeld & Nicolson (2007)
- The Cambridge History of Egypt, Volume 1: Islamic Egypt, 640–1517 — Carl F. Petry (ed.), Cambridge University Press (1998)
The campaign
Amr won a battle at Heliopolis in 640 and besieged the great Roman fortress of Babylon, at the head of the Delta, which surrendered in 641. Later that year the Byzantine authorities agreed to hand over Alexandria, the capital, which the Arabs entered in 642. The Byzantines briefly retook the city in 645–646 before being driven out for good.
- The Great Arab Conquests — Hugh Kennedy, Weidenfeld & Nicolson (2007)
- The Cambridge History of Egypt, Volume 1: Islamic Egypt, 640–1517 — Carl F. Petry (ed.), Cambridge University Press (1998)
The conquest was quick partly because Byzantine rule was unpopular. Constantinople had spent two centuries trying to force the Egyptian church to accept the theology of the Council of Chalcedon, and the Coptic patriarch Benjamin had been in hiding for years. Under the new rulers he returned to his see.
- Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria — Encyclopaedia Britannica
- The Great Arab Conquests — Hugh Kennedy, Weidenfeld & Nicolson (2007)
A new capital
Amr did not settle in Greek Alexandria but founded a garrison town, Fustat, next to the fortress of Babylon. The mosque of Amr ibn al-As there, rebuilt many times, is counted as the first mosque in Egypt and Africa. Fustat grew into a great commercial city and was the seed from which Cairo would later grow.
- Cairo — André Raymond, Harvard University Press (2000)
- The Cambridge History of Egypt, Volume 1: Islamic Egypt, 640–1517 — Carl F. Petry (ed.), Cambridge University Press (1998)
A slow transformation
At first very little changed for most Egyptians. The Arabs were a small ruling minority, and Christians and Jews became dhimmis, “protected people” who kept their faith, churches and courts in return for paying the jizya poll tax. Coptic-speaking officials continued to run the tax system, and Greek and Coptic were used in administration for decades.
- The Cambridge History of Egypt, Volume 1: Islamic Egypt, 640–1517 — Carl F. Petry (ed.), Cambridge University Press (1998)
- A History of the Arab Peoples — Albert Hourani, Faber and Faber (1991)
Over the following centuries, though, Arab tribes settled in the Nile Valley, Arabic became the language of government (from about 706) and then of everyday life, and more and more Egyptians converted, partly from conviction and partly to escape the poll tax and discrimination. Tax pressure set off Coptic revolts in the eighth and ninth centuries, the last major one in the 830s, which were harshly suppressed.
- The Cambridge History of Egypt, Volume 1: Islamic Egypt, 640–1517 — Carl F. Petry (ed.), Cambridge University Press (1998)
- Christians versus Muslims in Modern Egypt: The Century-Long Struggle for Coptic Equality — S. S. Hasan, Oxford University Press (2003)
- The Cambridge History of Egypt, Volume 1: Islamic Egypt, 640–1517 — Carl F. Petry (ed.), Cambridge University Press (1998)
- Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria — Encyclopaedia Britannica
Two memories
Egypt’s modern identity is built on this layering. Most Egyptians are proud Muslims and Arabic speakers who see Islam’s arrival as a liberation and the start of Egypt’s great medieval age. Copts, who still pray in the Coptic language descended from the pharaohs’ tongue, see in the same centuries the beginning of their long life as a minority. Many Egyptians of both faiths insist they are one people, “the two elements of the nation”, sharing ancestry, food and customs, whatever their religion.
- Christians versus Muslims in Modern Egypt: The Century-Long Struggle for Coptic Equality — S. S. Hasan, Oxford University Press (2003)
- A History of the Arab Peoples — Albert Hourani, Faber and Faber (1991)
The opening (fath) of Egypt brought Islam and freed Egyptians from Byzantine oppression. Amr ibn al-As is honoured as the founder of Fustat, the first Muslim capital, and his mosque still stands in Old Cairo. The conquerors guaranteed Christians their lives, churches and property.
- The Great Arab Conquests — Hugh Kennedy, Weidenfeld & Nicolson (2007)
- The Cambridge History of Egypt, Volume 1: Islamic Egypt, 640–1517 — Carl F. Petry (ed.), Cambridge University Press (1998)
The Byzantines had persecuted the Coptic church, and some Copts at first saw the Arabs as less bad. But the poll tax, periodic persecutions and the slow pressure to convert turned the church's people from the majority into a minority. Many Copts see themselves as the most direct descendants of the ancient Egyptians.
- Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria — Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Christians versus Muslims in Modern Egypt: The Century-Long Struggle for Coptic Equality — S. S. Hasan, Oxford University Press (2003)
Most historians stress how gradual the change was. Arabic replaced Coptic as the spoken language over several centuries, and Muslims probably only became a majority around the tenth century or later; estimates vary. Revolts such as the Coptic Bashmuric uprising of the 830s show resistance as well as accommodation.
- The Cambridge History of Egypt, Volume 1: Islamic Egypt, 640–1517 — Carl F. Petry (ed.), Cambridge University Press (1998)
- The Great Arab Conquests — Hugh Kennedy, Weidenfeld & Nicolson (2007)
Why it matters today
The conquest made Egypt part of the Islamic and later the Arab world, and most Egyptians today see it as the coming of Islam and the beginning of their present identity. Copts remember the same era as the start of a long life as a minority. How the two memories are told, side by side, says a lot about relations between Egypt's Muslims and Christians.