Alfred J. Butler.

The Arab Conquest of Egypt and the Last Thirty Years

of the Roman Dominion (Oxford, Clarendon Press; 1902)
‘Amr ibn al ‘Aṣî
He was born about 595 to a mother from the ‘Anazîah tribe. The
traditional genealogy given for him is: Ibn al ‘Asi, ibn Wa’il, ibn
Hashim, ibn Saḥm, ibn Huṣaiṣ, ibn Ka’b, ibn Lu’aig, ibn Ghâlib, ibn
Fiḥr, ibn Mâliḥ, ibn An Naḍr, ibn Kinânah, abû ‘Abdallah, al Ḳuraishî
aṣ Ṣaḥmî Saḥâbî.
In early 625 he allied with the Quryash led by Khalid ibn al-Walid in
their attack on Mohammed and his followers, nearly annihilating the
new sect. Both men would defect to Mohammed’s cause within a few
years. Both his half-brother Hisham and his son 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr
ibn al-'As converted to Islam before he did, the latter in 629. His
conversion came in 630, possibly while he was in Abyssinia.
He impressed the Prophet early for in 630 he was entrusted with the
mission to the kings of Omân requesting their conversion to the new
religion. He carried Mohammed’s letter, believed to be from 630,
written on leather, which is in the National Museum of Oman:
“In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. From
Mohammed, the messenger of Allah, to Jaifar and Abd, sons of
Al Julanda. Peace is upon him who follows the guidance. I am
calling both of you, in the name of Islam. You will be safe if you
submit to Islam.
I am the Messenger of Allah to all people warn all living that
Islam will prevail. I hope you will accept Islam, but if you do not,
then you will lose your country, and my horsemen will invade
your territory and my prophecy will dominate your country”
That Omân was converted to Islam by ‘Amr in 628 can not be correct
as ‘Amr did not convert until 630. Perhaps impressed with his
success, he was made a military commander by the Prophet and, by
the end of October 631, was posted to patrol the Syrian border at the
head of a small force. In 632(?) he participated in the Arab invasion of
Syria under General Yazîd ibn Abî Sufiyân where he led a division. He
fought at the battle of the Chains or battle of As Salâsil in April 633
and was appointed the governor of Omân soon afterwards. In the
autumn of 633 he led one of four columns of 3,000 men under Abu
Ubaydah into Palestine where they were joined by Khalid ibn al-Walid;
Damascus soon fell.
He played a major role in the invasion of Syria. He led the right wing
of the Muslim army at the 5-day battle of Yarmouk that started 15
August 636; his half-brother Hisham was killed. After the fall of
Jerusalem, ‘Amr takes part in the siege of Caesarea. He earned his
reputation as a highly-skilled negotiator when he met with the
Byzantine Emperor Heraclius to end hostilities. While at Jerusalem he
told the Caliph Umar of his plans to invade Egypt which was put off
until the Syrian campaign was nearly over. He was one of the
signatories to the treaty that handed Jerusalem over to the expanding
Caliphate. While the siege of Caesarea was still going, he broached
the subject of invading Egypt with the Caliph at Al Jâbîah near
Damascus in the autumn of 639. He stated that no nation was so
wealthy and defenseless. He also reminded Umar that the Roman
governor of Jerusalem, Aretion, had fled there and was probably
raising an army to invade Palestine. ‘Amr offered to start with a force
of 3,500 to 4,000 men. He then returned to the siege but soon
received a letter from Umar sanctioning the invasion but warning to
keep it secret and proceed southward in easy stages.
‘Amr left in the middle of the night and near the border at Rafaḥ a
messenger arrived with a letter from the Caliph. Sensing what it
contained, he refused to receive the messenger until they had crossed
into Egypt which he wisely verified with his generals before opening
the letter. It contained an order to withdrawal from the venture if they
were still in Palestine but to continue if they were in Egypt. Most of
his army was from the tribe of ‘Akk, the rest being from the Ghâfiḳ
tribe, with some converts to Islâm – Romans from Syria and Persians
from Yemen.
At the time of the Egyptian expedition he was about 45, short &
strong, broad-shouldered and –chested, with dark piercing eyes quick
to anger or humor with heavy eyebrows and a large mouth. His face
was pleasant and cheerful. He dyed his beard black. He was well-
spoken – eloquent, quick-witted. He did not stammer which is
sustained by the fact that he lead prayers, acting as imâm, and
Muslim law prohibits one
who stammers from that
office.
Pelusium, the gateway into
Egypt, fell at the end of 639,
Heliopolis fell in June 640,
and the Roman fortress/city
of Babylon fell after a siege
lasting seven months in December; in November 641 the Byzantine
capital of Alexandria fell,
followed by the rest of Egypt in
642. ‘Amr stayed in Alexandria
for six months, where he
wanted to set up the new
capital. Instead, he was
instructed to build a new
capital that was safe from attack by sea. He decided the site of his
camp during the siege of Babylon was suitable. ‘Amr founded Fusṭâṭ
just 500 yards northeast of the fort.1 By all accounts, it was quite an
amazing city with some buildings 7 stories tall! The Mosque of ‘Amr
was built in 641-2; his son 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As died in 684
and was buried in the mosque. In the summer of 642 ‘Amr ordered an
expedition into Nubia under the command of his cousin/nephew Uqba
ibn Nafi which was unsuccessful. He then marched west in September
642 to secure the western borders and sent Uqba on to Fezzan which
submitted without resistance while ‘Amr brought the army to Tripoli
in the spring of 643. Most of these gains would be handed back when
‘Amr returned to Fusṭâṭ later that year.
Cairo was built north of Fusṭâṭ at a later date and supplanted the
older city as the capital. Fusṭâṭ, still identified as such, was absorbed
into the new city and is in old Cairo with the fortress being in the
section of old Cairo called the Coptic Cairo. Returning from the
western campaign during the summer of 643 he noticed a weakness in
the defenses of the capital and ordered a fortress to be built at Jîzah
(Giza) on the west bank of the Nile to address this. The banks of the
Nile had only recently been connected by a pair of bridges: a small
foot bridge over the small waterway to the island of Rauḍah (Rawdah
or Roda Island, just west of old Cairo) and a larger one over the main
body of the river.
He filled the Caliph’s coffers with gold, filled his granaries, extended
his domains and only received abuse and ingratitude from Umar.
Disputes over taxes erupted into a full-scale war of words and charges
hurled back and forth. ‘Amr adhered to the terms of the treaties with
the Egyptians and paid 2 million dinars to the Caliph between 641 and
647 but the greed of Umar caused him to violate those treaties. This
was the amount left over after paying the salaries for the military,
state employees, members of the diwan and their families plus making
all the necessary repairs to buildings and construction of new ones,
plus bridges, fortresses, etc. Unsatisfied, one of Umar’s last acts
before his death in 644, was to remove half of Egypt from his
jurisdiction and replaced ‘Amr’s treasurer. His successor Uthman ibn
Affan removed ‘Amr all-together in 645, replacing him with his foster
brother Abdallah Ibn Abî Sahd. ‘Amr retired to Syria where he became
the chief lieutenant for its ruler Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan. It is
unknown if he was on the first Muslim naval expedition against
Cyprus which was successfully led by Muawiyah. He was called back
to the Caliphate’s military command when the Romans invaded Egypt
late in 645. He found the defenses had been neglected and the money
1
Guest, A. R. “The Foundation of Fustat and the Khittahs of That Town.” Journal of the
Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 1907, pp. 49–83. JSTOR,
www.jstor.org/stable/25210365. Accessed 15 Dec. 2020.
earmarked for them was pocketed by Uthman’s appointee. At the
battle of Nikiou in May 646, his horse was hit by an arrow and he had
to dismount and fight on foot. He besieged Alexandria from the east;
the city was taken in the summer of 646 from treason from within.
The mosque of Mercy marks the spot where ‘Amr ordered the end of
the pillaging of the city.
After Uthman was killed in 656, ‘Amr allied with Muawiyah ibn Abi
Sufyan against the 4th Rashidun Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib, the cousin &
son-in-law of the Prophet. This first civel war, called the First Fitna,
lasted from 656 to 661. An opportunistic pairing as Muawiyah was
bent on avenging Uthman’s murder while ‘Amr was not unhappy that
the murder was committed. In July 657 he fought in the Battle of Siffin
after which he was appointed the arbitrator for Muawiyah and the
Syrian faction. During the arbitration process, ‘Amr attacked and
conquered Egypt for the 2nd time in his life; he killed Ali’s governor,
Muhammed ibn Abu Bakr, becoming governor once again in Aug-Sep
658. The arbitrator’s decision was announced in January 659. Abu
Musa, Ali’s undesired arbitrator, was conned by ‘Amr, according to
some historians, into stating their verdict that both men should be
removed from the Caliphate. Muawiyah had never been Caliph but
this pronouncement made him the equivalent of the Caliph Ali. The
verdict continued with the next Caliph would be elected by the
Muslims. Muawiyah and Ali rejected the verdict and the civil war
resumed. In May 660 Muawiyah declared himself Caliph while in
Jerusalem. His declaration became a reality after Ali was attacked by
an assassin on 24 January 661 and died three days later. Muawiyah
became the first Umayyad Caliph. He tried to increase the tribute paid
by Egypt but this was successfully resisted by ‘Amr. In retaliation
perhaps, ‘Amr was fined by the Caliph for enriching himself at the
expense of the provincials.
‘Amr died at almost 70 years old at Fusṭâṭ on 6 Jan 664; he was buried
at the foot of the Muḳaṭṭam Hills near the entrance to the ravine, east
of the city walls of Fusṭâṭ. The exact site is unknown as the ravine was
long-ago erased but the al-Qarafa or Southern Cemetery of the vast
Islamic necropolis is undoubtedly the general area and the cemetery
of the Quraysh tribe, of which ‘Amr was a member, is believed to be
the site where the first burials took place. Since the early 9th century
that area has been identified with the mausoleum of Imam al-Shafi'i
which was built on top of the Quraysh cemetery.
It is said that just before he died he spoke to his sons and left them
great weight of gold – some sources say it was in two chests, others
say it was 70 skins of dinars, each weighing 2 Egyptian ardebb. This
was a staggering amount – each skin weighing about 660 pounds (300
kg) give a total weight of 46,200 pounds (21,000 kg) or over 23 tons!
His sons refused to take it until any of those to whom it might belong
claimed their share which, to many historians, implies that his sons
may have thought that some of it was ill-gotten gains. In any event,
the Caliph, ever-greedy, stepped in and claimed the entire amount, to
the chagrin of the sons no doubt who probably wished, after-the-fact,
that they had accepted their father’s bequest first and then made the
offer to pay any claims on the amount.
He was devout though swayed by worldly motives, upright in the main
and high-principled; he was held to be the cleverest of Arabs and the
most accomplished. He preserved all churches – Christian and Copt –
until his death. It has been said that he even prayed in a Church as it
was oriented towards Mecca. It is also said he was of savage
extraction and treated the Egyptians without pity and regularly broke
the treaties he had made with them. Another story has it that a man in
Upper Egypt, a Copt named Peter, denied having any great treasure;
consequently he was imprisoned. ‘Amr made some inquiries and found
that Peter was in regular contact with a certain monk. ‘Amr sent a
messenger to the monk with a note that was sealed with Peter’s seal;
it stated Send me what you have. The answer came back in a lead-
sealed Syrian pot which contained the message Your money is under
the big pool. Fifty ardebbs (33,000 pounds or 16.5 tons) in gold coin
was found buried there. Looks like Peter had a good claim against
‘Amr’s 70 skins of gold! Peter was executed as a warning and many
other Copts fetched their hidden treasures. Several pertinent facts are
missing from this story: why did
they need to show their stored
treasure? Was it to verify any
amount they claimed so they could
be properly taxed? What was the
penalty for evading taxes at that
time? What happened to the other
Copts treasures; were they
confiscated or merely taxed? As the
reader may well imagine, historians
have had a field-day with this story.
‘Amr is a tyrannical monster and the most learned and benevolent of
rulers, and every shade in-between – all from this single story.
Of Fusṭâṭ only the mosque of ‘Amr stands, though it is of later
construction. The oldest parts date to 827. Much of the city is thought
to be well-preserved as it has been under a dump for over a century;
ongoing excavations continue to reveal new findings annually.

Sources
Alfred J. Butler. The Arab Conquest of Egypt and the Last Thirty Years of the Roman
Dominion (Oxford, Clarendon Press; 1902) pp. 144 – 149, 194 – 199 – 206, 433 –
456, 473 – 495.
Julius Wellhausen. The Arab Kingdom and its fall. (Trans) Margaret Graham Weir
(Calcutta, Calcutta University Press; 1927) pp. 46 – 47, 76 – 79, 90 – 103, 135 – 137.
Arthur S. Tritton. The Caliphs and their non-Muslim Subjects, A Critical Study of the
Covenant of ‘Umar. (London, Oxford University Press; 1930) pp. 39, 102, 207 – 209,
220 – 229.
Robert Payne. The Holy Sword. (New York, Harper & Bros; 1959) pp. 92 – 119.