The Art And Architecture of Islamic Cairo

8 The Art and Architecture of Islamic Cairo
Besides the Hellenes and Egyptians, the Alexandrian commun-
ity consisted of Syrians, Persians, Arabs and Jews. Egypt had been a
refuge for the Jews since the time of Nebuchadnezzar, and they
formed significant colonies in Aswan, Memphis and Alexandria.
Under Caesar Augustus the Alexandrian Jews were granted a degree
of autonomy and privilege which caused much jealousy and hostility
among the Greeks. 3 After the Jewish diaspora of AD 70 the city
accommodated the largest Jewish community outside Palestine,
and discord between them and their Greek, Roman and Christian
neighbours remained a continuing factor in Alexandrian life. At
the time of the Arab conquest the population of Jews in Alexandria
numbered 70,000. 4 With the Persian conquest of Syria and
Palestine in 615 the city increased its population with a new influx
of refugees, including a number of Syrian bishops. One consequence
of this was the union between the Coptic and Syrian
churches, a union which strengthened Monophysite resistance to
Byzantine rule. There was, however, no unity in this diversity, and
when the Arabs arrived in 639 they found a society in which all the
factions – rulers and ruled, Melkites and Monophysites, Christians
and Jews – were at odds with each other.
The Arab conquest was spearheaded by one of the Prophet’s
most illustrious Companions, Amr ibn al-As, who had intimate
knowledge of Egypt through his previous trading contacts there.
He had distinguished himself as a soldier in the Syrian campaigns
and his great ambition was to secure Egypt for Islam, thus gaining
in the west what Khalid ibn al-Walid (known as the Sword of Islam)
had achieved in Syria. Amr put forward his invasion plans to the
caliph Omar, arguing the necessity of striking Egypt in order to
forestall a possible attack from that quarter by the former Byzantine
governor of Jerusalem. Recognizing the dangers of Amr’s scheme,
Omar was equivocal, but he sanctioned an expeditionary force of
approximately 4,000 men. This was quickly dispatched to the border,
but before entering Egypt Amr was intercepted by messengers
who delivered a letter from the Caliph. Sensing the import of its
contents, Amr chose to ignore it until he reached al-Arish, just
inside Egyptian territory. His intuitions were justified because the
letter instructed him to return if his men were still in Palestine, but
to proceed if he had reached Egypt.
Following the coastal route, the Arabs took Pelusium and
Bilbays, but rather than advance on Alexandria they turned south
to capture the fortress of Babylon, which occupied a critical position
at the apex of the Nile Delta. Without the capture of this stronghold