their children and countrymen: Syria became the seat and support of
the house of Ommiyah; and the revenue, the soldiers, the ships of that
powerful kingdom were consecrated to enlarge on every side the empire of
the caliphs. But the Saracens despise a superfluity of fame; and their
historians scarcely condescend to mention the subordinate conquests
which are lost in the splendor and rapidity of their victorious career.
To the _north_ of Syria, they passed Mount Taurus, and reduced to their
obedience the province of Cilicia, with its capital Tarsus, the ancient
monument of the Assyrian kings. Beyond a second ridge of the same
mountains, they spread the flame of war, rather than the light of
religion, as far as the shores of the Euxine, and the neighborhood of
Constantinople. To the _east_ they advanced to the banks and sources of
the Euphrates and Tigris: the long disputed barrier of Rome and Persia
was forever confounded the walls of Edessa and Amida, of Dara and
Nisibis, which had resisted the arms and engines of Sapor or Nushirvan,
were levelled in the dust; and the holy city of Abgarus might vainly
produce the epistle or the image of Christ to an unbelieving conqueror.
To the _west_ the Syrian kingdom is bounded by the sea: and the ruin of
Aradus, a small island or peninsula on the coast, was postponed during
ten years. But the hills of Libanus abounded in timber; the trade of
Phnicia was populous in mariners; and a fleet of seventeen hundred barks
was equipped and manned by the natives of the desert. The Imperial
navy of the Romans fled before them from the Pamphylian rocks to the
Hellespont; but the spirit of the emperor, a grandson of Heraclius, had
been subdued before the combat by a dream and a pun. The Saracens rode
masters of the sea; and the islands of Cyprus, Rhodes, and the Cyclades,
were successively exposed to their rapacious visits. Three hundred years
before the Christian Êra, the memorable though fruitless siege of Rhodes
by Demetrius had furnished that maritime republic with the materials
and the subject of a trophy. A gigantic statue of Apollo, or the sun,
seventy cubits in height, was erected at the entrance of the harbor, a
monument of the freedom and the arts of Greece. After standing fifty-six
years, the colossus of Rhodes was overthrown by an earthquake; but the
massy trunk, and huge fragments, lay scattered eight centuries on the
ground, and are often described as one of the wonders of the ancient
world. They were collected by the diligence of the Saracens, and sold
to a Jewish merchant of Edessa, who is said to have laden nine hundred
camels with the weight of the brass metal; an enormous weight, though
we should include the hundred colossal figures, and the three thousand
statues, which adorned the prosperity of the city of the sun.
II. The conquest of Egypt may be explained by the character of the
victorious Saracen, one of the first of his nation, in an age when the
meanest of the brethren was exalted above his nature by the spirit of
enthusiasm. The birth of Amrou was at once base and illustrious; his
mother, a notorious prostitute, was unable to decide among five of the
Koreish; but the proof of resemblance adjudged the child to Aasi, the
oldest of her lovers. The youth of Amrou was impelled by the passions
and prejudices of his kindred: his poetic genius was exercised in
satirical verses against the person and doctrine of Mahomet; his
dexterity was employed by the reigning faction to pursue the religious
exiles who had taken refuge in the court of the ∆thiopian king. Yet
he returned from this embassy a secret proselyte; his reason or his
interest determined him to renounce the worship of idols; he escaped
from Mecca with his friend Caled; and the prophet of Medina enjoyed at
the same moment the satisfaction of embracing the two firmest champions
of his cause. The impatience of Amrou to lead the armies of the faithful
was checked by the reproof of Omar, who advised him not to seek
power and dominion, since he who is a subject to-day, may be a prince
to-morrow. Yet his merit was not overlooked by the two first successors
of Mahomet; they were indebted to his arms for the conquest of
Palestine; and in all the battles and sieges of Syria, he united with
the temper of a chief the valor of an adventurous soldier. In a visit
to Medina, the caliph expressed a wish to survey the sword which had cut
down so many Christian warriors; the son of Aasi unsheathed a short and
ordinary cimeter; and as he perceived the surprise of Omar, "Alas," said
the modest Saracen, "the sword itself, without the arm of its master, is
neither sharper nor more weighty than the sword of Pharezdak the poet."
After the conquest of Egypt, he was recalled by the jealousy of the
caliph Othman; but in the subsequent troubles, the ambition of a
soldier, a statesman, and an orator, emerged from a private station.
His powerful support, both in council and in the field, established the
throne of the Ommiades; the administration and revenue of Egypt were
restored by the gratitude of Moawiyah to a faithful friend who had
raised himself above the rank of a subject; and Amrou ended his days in
the palace and city which he had founded on the banks of the Nile. His
dying speech to his children is celebrated by the Arabians as a model
of eloquence and wisdom: he deplored the errors of his youth but if the
penitent was still infected by the vanity of a poet, he might exaggerate
the venom and mischief of his impious compositions.
From his camp in Palestine, Amrou had surprised or anticipated the
caliph's leave for the invasion of Egypt. The magnanimous Omar trusted
in his God and his sword, which had shaken the thrones of Chosroes and
CÊsar: but when he compared the slender force of the Moslems with the
greatness of the enterprise, he condemned his own rashness, and listened
to his timid companions. The pride and the greatness of Pharaoh were
familiar to the readers of the Koran; and a tenfold repetition of
prodigies had been scarcely sufficient to effect, not the victory,
but the flight, of six hundred thousand of the children of Israel: the
cities of Egypt were many and populous; their architecture was
strong and solid; the Nile, with its numerous branches, was alone an
insuperable barrier; and the granary of the Imperial city would be
obstinately defended by the Roman powers. In this perplexity, the
commander of the faithful resigned himself to the decision of chance,
or, in his opinion, of Providence. At the head of only four thousand
Arabs, the intrepid Amrou had marched away from his station of Gaza when
he was overtaken by the messenger of Omar. "If you are still in Syria,"
said the ambiguous mandate, "retreat without delay; but if, at the
receipt of this epistle, you have already reached the frontiers of
Egypt, advance with confidence, and depend on the succor of God and
of your brethren." The experience, perhaps the secret intelligence,
of Amrou had taught him to suspect the mutability of courts; and he
continued his march till his tents were unquestionably pitched on
Egyptian ground. He there assembled his officers, broke the seal,
perused the epistle, gravely inquired the name and situation of the
place, and declared his ready obedience to the commands of the caliph.
After a siege of thirty days, he took possession of Farmah or Pelusium;
and that key of Egypt, as it has been justly named, unlocked the
entrance of the country as far as the ruins of Heliopolis and the
neighborhood of the modern Cairo.
On the Western side of the Nile, at a small distance to the east of the
Pyramids, at a small distance to the south of the Delta, Memphis, one
hundred and fifty furlongs in circumference, displayed the magnificence
of ancient kings. Under the reign of the Ptolemies and CÊsars, the seat
of government was removed to the sea-coast; the ancient capital was
eclipsed by the arts and opulence of Alexandria; the palaces, and at
length the temples, were reduced to a desolate and ruinous condition:
yet, in the age of Augustus, and even in that of Constantine, Memphis
was still numbered among the greatest and most populous of the
provincial cities. The banks of the Nile, in this place of the breadth
of three thousand feet, were united by two bridges of sixty and of
thirty boats, connected in the middle stream by the small island of
Rouda, which was covered with gardens and habitations. The eastern
extremity of the bridge was terminated by the town of Babylon and the
camp of a Roman legion, which protected the passage of the river and the
second capital of Egypt. This important fortress, which might fairly be
described as a part of Memphis or _Misrah_, was invested by the arms of
the lieutenant of Omar: a reÎnforcement of four thousand Saracens soon
arrived in his camp; and the military engines, which battered the walls,
may be imputed to the art and labor of his Syrian allies. Yet the siege
was protracted to seven months; and the rash invaders were encompassed
and threatened by the inundation of the Nile. Their last assault was
bold and successful: they passed the ditch, which had been fortified
with iron spikes, applied their scaling ladders, entered the fortress
with the shout of "God is victorious!" and drove the remnant of the
Greeks to their boats and the Isle of Rouda. The spot was afterwards
recommended to the conqueror by the easy communication with the gulf and
the peninsula of Arabia; the remains of Memphis were deserted; the tents
of the Arabs were converted into permanent habitations; and the first
mosch was blessed by the presence of fourscore companions of Mahomet. A
new city arose in their camp, on the eastward bank of the Nile; and
the contiguous quarters of Babylon and Fostat are confounded in their
present decay by the appellation of old Misrah, or Cairo, of which they
form an extensive suburb. But the name of Cairo, the town of victory,
more strictly belongs to the modern capital, which was founded in the
tenth century by the Fatimite caliphs. It has gradually receded from the
river; but the continuity of buildings may be traced by an attentive eye
from the monuments of Sesostris to those of Saladin.
Yet the Arabs, after a glorious and profitable enterprise, must have
retreated to the desert, had they not found a powerful alliance in the
heart of the country. The rapid conquest of Alexander was assisted by
the superstition and revolt of the natives: they abhorred their Persian
oppressors, the disciples of the Magi, who had burnt the temples of
Egypt, and feasted with sacrilegious appetite on the flesh of the god
Apis. After a period of ten centuries, the same revolution was renewed
by a similar cause; and in the support of an incomprehensible creed,
the zeal of the Coptic Christians was equally ardent. I have already
explained the origin and progress of the Monophysite controversy, and
the persecution of the emperors, which converted a sect into a nation,
and alienated Egypt from their religion and government. The Saracens
were received as the deliverers of the Jacobite church; and a secret
and effectual treaty was opened during the siege of Memphis between a
victorious army and a people of slaves. A rich and noble Egyptian,
of the name of Mokawkas, had dissembled his faith to obtain the
administration of his province: in the disorders of the Persian war
he aspired to independence: the embassy of Mahomet ranked him among
princes; but he declined, with rich gifts and ambiguous compliments, the
proposal of a new religion. The abuse of his trust exposed him to the
resentment of Heraclius: his submission was delayed by arrogance and
fear; and his conscience was prompted by interest to throw himself on
the favor of the nation and the support of the Saracens. In his first
conference with Amrou, he heard without indignation the usual option of
the Koran, the tribute, or the sword. "The Greeks," replied Mokawkas,
"are determined to abide the determination of the sword; but with the
Greeks I desire no communion, either in this world or in the next, and
I abjure forever the Byzantine tyrant, his synod of Chalcedon, and his
Melchite slaves. For myself and my brethren, we are resolved to live
and die in the profession of the gospel and unity of Christ. It is
impossible for us to embrace the revelations of your prophet; but we are
desirous of peace, and cheerfully submit to pay tribute and obedience to
his temporal successors." The tribute was ascertained at two pieces of
gold for the head of every Christian; but old men, monks, women, and
children, of both sexes, under sixteen years of age, were exempted
from this personal assessment: the Copts above and below Memphis swore
allegiance to the caliph, and promised a hospitable entertainment of
three days to every Mussulman who should travel through their country.
By this charter of security, the ecclesiastical and civil tyranny of the
Melchites was destroyed: the anathemas of St. Cyril were thundered from
every pulpit; and the sacred edifices, with the patrimony of the church,
were restored to the national communion of the Jacobites, who enjoyed
without moderation the moment of triumph and revenge. At the pressing
summons of Amrou, their patriarch Benjamin emerged from his desert; and
after the first interview, the courteous Arab affected to declare that
he had never conversed with a Christian priest of more innocent manners
and a more venerable aspect. In the march from Memphis to Alexandria,
the lieutenant of Omar intrusted his safety to the zeal and gratitude
of the Egyptians: the roads and bridges were diligently repaired; and
in every step of his progress, he could depend on a constant supply of
provisions and intelligence. The Greeks of Egypt, whose numbers could
scarcely equal a tenth of the natives, were overwhelmed by the universal
defection: they had ever been hated, they were no longer feared: the
magistrate fled from his tribunal, the bishop from his altar; and
the distant garrisons were surprised or starved by the surrounding
multitudes. Had not the Nile afforded a safe and ready conveyance to the
sea, not an individual could have escaped, who by birth, or language, or
office, or religion, was connected with their odious name.
By the retreat of the Greeks from the provinces of Upper Egypt, a
considerable force was collected in the Island of Delta; the natural
and artificial channels of the Nile afforded a succession of strong and
defensible posts; and the road to Alexandria was laboriously cleared by
the victory of the Saracens in two-and-twenty days of general or partial
combat. In their annals of conquest, the siege of Alexandria is perhaps
the most arduous and important enterprise. The first trading city in
the world was abundantly replenished with the means of subsistence
and defence. Her numerous inhabitants fought for the dearest of human
rights, religion and property; and the enmity of the natives seemed to
exclude them from the common benefit of peace and toleration. The sea
was continually open; and if Heraclius had been awake to the public
distress, fresh armies of Romans and Barbarians might have been
poured into the harbor to save the second capital of the empire. A
circumference of ten miles would have scattered the forces of the
Greeks, and favored the stratagems of an active enemy; but the two sides
of an oblong square were covered by the sea and the Lake MarÊotis, and
each of the narrow ends exposed a front of no more than ten furlongs.
The efforts of the Arabs were not inadequate to the difficulty of the
attempt and the value of the prize. From the throne of Medina, the eyes
of Omar were fixed on the camp and city: his voice excited to arms the
Arabian tribes and the veterans of Syria; and the merit of a holy war
was recommended by the peculiar fame and fertility of Egypt. Anxious
for the ruin or expulsion of their tyrants, the faithful natives devoted
their labors to the service of Amrou: some sparks of martial spirit were
perhaps rekindled by the example of their allies; and the sanguine
hopes of Mokawkas had fixed his sepulchre in the church of St. John of
Alexandria. Eutychius the patriarch observes, that the Saracens fought
with the courage of lions: they repulsed the frequent and almost daily
sallies of the besieged, and soon assaulted in their turn the walls and
towers of the city. In every attack, the sword, the banner of Amrou,
glittered in the van of the Moslems. On a memorable day, he was betrayed
by his imprudent valor: his followers who had entered the citadel
were driven back; and the general, with a friend and slave, remained a
prisoner in the hands of the Christians. When Amrou was conducted before
the prÊfect, he remembered his dignity, and forgot his situation: a
lofty demeanor, and resolute language, revealed the lieutenant of the
caliph, and the battle-axe of a soldier was already raised to strike off
the head of the audacious captive. His life was saved by the readiness
of his slave, who instantly gave his master a blow on the face, and
commanded him, with an angry tone, to be silent in the presence of his
superiors. The credulous Greek was deceived: he listened to the offer
of a treaty, and his prisoners were dismissed in the hope of a more
respectable embassy, till the joyful acclamations of the camp announced
the return of their general, and insulted the folly of the infidels.
At length, after a siege of fourteen months, and the loss of
three-and-twenty thousand men, the Saracens prevailed: the Greeks
embarked their dispirited and diminished numbers, and the standard
of Mahomet was planted on the walls of the capital of Egypt. "I have
taken," said Amrou to the caliph, "the great city of the West. It is
impossible for me to enumerate the variety of its riches and beauty; and
I shall content myself with observing, that it contains four thousand
palaces, four thousand baths, four hundred theatres or places of
amusement, twelve thousand shops for the sale of vegetable food, and
forty thousand tributary Jews. The town has been subdued by force of
arms, without treaty or capitulation, and the Moslems are impatient
to seize the fruits of their victory." The commander of the faithful
rejected with firmness the idea of pillage, and directed his lieutenant
to reserve the wealth and revenue of Alexandria for the public service
and the propagation of the faith: the inhabitants were numbered; a
tribute was imposed, the zeal and resentment of the Jacobites were
curbed, and the Melchites who submitted to the Arabian yoke were
indulged in the obscure but tranquil exercise of their worship. The
intelligence of this disgraceful and calamitous event afflicted the
declining health of the emperor; and Heraclius died of a dropsy about
seven weeks after the loss of Alexandria. Under the minority of his
grandson, the clamors of a people, deprived of their daily sustenance,
compelled the Byzantine court to undertake the recovery of the capital
of Egypt. In the space of four years, the harbor and fortifications of
Alexandria were twice occupied by a fleet and army of Romans. They were
twice expelled by the valor of Amrou, who was recalled by the domestic
peril from the distant wars of Tripoli and Nubia. But the facility of
the attempt, the repetition of the insult, and the obstinacy of the
resistance, provoked him to swear, that if a third time he drove the
infidels into the sea, he would render Alexandria as accessible on
all sides as the house of a prostitute. Faithful to his promise, he
dismantled several parts of the walls and towers; but the people was
spared in the chastisement of the city, and the mosch of _Mercy_ was
erected on the spot where the victorious general had stopped the fury of
his troops.
Chapter LI: Conquests By The Arabs.--Part VII.