Egypt in the Middle Ages

As early Islamic period is called - in the context of Egypt - the period between the conquest of the country by the Arabs in the year 642 and the start of Fatimid rule on the Nile in the year 969

The conquest of Egypt

After the conquest of Syria by the Muslim Arabs this end 639 began to penetrate further into Egypt. The Caliph Umar sent his commander Amr ibn al-As, who had previously been subject to Palestine and then penetrated with 9,000 men in one of the most important provinces of the Byzantine Empire ( the Egyptian grain supplies were vital for Konstantin Opel ). The decisive event represents the siege of the fortress of Babylon in the ancient Heliopolis, which controlled the river crossing above the Delta. After their surrender in 641 almost the entire country was occupied, the new, rapidly erblühendes center al - Fustat, Amr camp at Babylon, was; here was the Conqueror also named after him first mosque built in Africa. The ancient capital Alexandria, the seat of the Patriarch Cyrus ( called by the Arabs Muqauqis ), capitulated after Heraclius ' death 642, as the Copts - who provided the majority of the population throughout the early Islamic period - the freedom of religion was guaranteed. Byzantine attempts to regain Alexandria from the sea should remain unsuccessful.

Early Islamic period

After the conquest of Egypt, the first Muslim governor Amr was to 644, initially starting point for further Arab campaigns in North Africa was. During raids into Nubia (641, 651 ) have failed and the independence of the local Christian Empire Makuria had to be 652 recognized by contract ( the limit remained at Aswan ), despite some setbacks succeeded the conquest of the Maghreb, who was also the governor of Egypt to 705. In the following years Egypt was ruled first by the Umayyads, then (more than 750 ) of the Abbasids and was an important base for the struggle for naval supremacy in the Mediterranean Sea with Byzantium. So conquered refugees from al -Andalus from Egypt, the Byzantine Crete where they set up their own emirate.

Since the 9th century, the control of the Abbasid caliphs of Egypt began to loosen after they had Turkish military ( Mamluk ) as governor. Thus, Ahmad ibn Tulun 868 made ​​virtually independent from the Caliphate and gave Egypt its lost after Cleopatra's reign political independence back. He organized the country according to his ideas again and took me his newly created army even the Levant to the Taurus Mountains. Al- Fustat was expanded in this time to a new neighborhood called al - Qatai of which is preserved today, the outstanding Ibn Tulun Mosque. The dynasty founded by Ahmad of Tulunids whose schillerndster representative is safe Chumarawaih, was able to hold true only until 905, when the Abbasids, the reconquest of the country succeeded, but won Egypt already 935 its independence back. It was again a relatively short-lived foreign regime that has been re-established by a Turkish commander Muhammad ibn Tughdsch. The Ichschid (an ancient Central Asian title of nobility ) used as Ahmad ibn Tulun, the weakness of the Caliphate out to his own dynasty, to justify the Ichschididen. Under it, a fleet was built, but had to be ceded to the Hamdanids northern Syria. As he promoted the arts as regent and, for example, drew the poet al - Mutanabbi in his yard, gave the Abyssinian eunuch Kafur gave the Ichschididen rule once again shine before the dynasty was attacked by the Ismaili Fatimids of Ifriqiya and finally toppled. 969 conquered Jawhar as- Siqilli Egypt, whereupon the Fatimid caliphs the country to a new center of her - completely independent of the Sunni Abbasids - raised empire and north of al - Fustat, the residence city of Cairo founded.

The increasing independence of Egypt was also favored by an economic boom. The unrest in the Abbasid Iraq led to the lucrative maritime trade between India and the Mediterranean gradually shifted since the 10th century from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea again, the so regained its old pre-eminence. From this, the rulers of Egypt were able to achieve significant revenue, which allowed them an independent policy towards the Baghdad Caliphate. That being said, however, the country remained very influenced by his dependent on the Nile Agriculture, traditionally necessitated a high degree of central planning and regulation.