In the early 7th century AD, the Byzantine Empire, ruling Christian Egypt from Constantinople, was exhausted by a long war with Persia; the Persians even held Egypt for about ten years, from AD 619. Soon after the Byzantines returned, a new power arose in Arabia.
Key idea
The conquest step by step
- AD 639: Amr crossed from Sinai with a small army; early in AD 640 he took Pelusium.
- AD 640: he defeated a Byzantine army near Heliopolis.
- AD 641: after a siege, the fortress of Babylon surrendered; later that year the Byzantine authorities agreed to give up Alexandria.
- AD 642: the Byzantine garrison sailed away from Alexandria.
Why it works
What changed, and how slowly
Christians and Jews kept their religion, paying a special tax. Greek and Coptic remained in use in government for decades; Arabic became the language of administration early in the 8th century. Over the following centuries more and more Egyptians became Muslim and spoke Arabic, but this took a very long time. Coptic was spoken in some villages for many centuries, and it is still the language of worship of the Coptic Orthodox Church today.
Worked example: Where to end the course?
- For about a thousand years, since Alexander, Egypt had been ruled from the Greek and Roman world.
- In AD 641 it passed into the Islamic world, with a new capital, new rulers and, in time, a new language and majority religion.
- Historians treat this as the turning point from ancient to medieval Egypt, even though change came slowly.
Answer: Because the conquest ended Byzantine rule and began Egypt's Islamic history, a major turning point.
Common mistake