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82-580: Kairouan, founded by the Arab-Muslim conquerors in 670, is located in the middle of an arid steppe . Unlike most major towns of the era, it was not near a river or other abundant source of water, which meant that the provision of water was a perennial concern. According to the 11th-century Andalusi geographer al-Bakri , the Umayyad caliph Hisham (r. 724–743) ordered the construction of 15 water reservoirs outside Kairouan, but these have not survived to

164-455: A Berber chieftain. It began in southern Morocco , lasting through to 743. The rebels managed to massacre the Arab population of Tangier, its Arab governor, and capture a territory including modern Morocco, Western and Central Algeria whom were never recovered by an Oriental caliphate , but failed to capture Ifriqiya (Tunisia, East-Algeria and West- Libya ) after suffering a crushing defeat at

246-638: A Berber who was the lord and master of the Catholic tribe of Gomera." In any case, being an able diplomat who was adept in Visigothic, Berber, and Arab politics, Julian might well have surrendered to Musa on terms that allowed him to retain his title and command. At this time the population of Ceuta included many refugees from a ruinous Visigothic civil war that had broken out in Hispania (modern Portugal and Spain). These included family and confederates of

328-430: A larger basin, and a set of covered water tanks. The basins, circular in appearance, are built with rubble stone and covered in a waterproof coating, with rounded tops and edges. Their walls are reinforced with semi-circular buttresses both on the inside and outside. For the larger (western) reservoir, the small basin is a 17-sided polygon measuring 37.4 metres in diameter. It has a capacity of 4000 cubic metres. Water from

410-470: A leisure pavilion used by the rulers. This pavilion is described by al-Bakri (the aforementioned 11th-century writer), according to whom it was an octagonal tower topped by an open-sided kiosk covered by a dome. The pillar is 2.85 metres wide but Georges Marçais suggested that the pavilion was likely supported by corbels which would have allowed it to have a wider floor. During the Aghlabid period, water

492-437: A menagerie with lions, barracks and the royal stables. El-Mansur moved 14,000 Kutama families to the city and set up a souq , or marketplace. However, according to Ibn Muhadhdhab, "el-Muizz commanded the merchants of Kairouan to come to their shops and workshops in el-Mansuriya in the mornings, and to return home to their families in the evenings." Tolls amounting to 26,000 silver dirhams were collected daily on goods entering

574-441: A new canal on the aqueduct and added a 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) extension to carry water to el-Mansuriya. El-Muizz also had a great hall built. Its massive columns, more than 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) in diameter, were brought from Sousse , a day's march away. Construction of the city was not completed until 972, the year before el-Muizz moved to Egypt. The city was primarily a royal residence. It contained palaces, gardens,

656-413: A new version of the history of the conquest, which was finalised by Ibrahim ibn ar-Raqiq . This version was copied in its entirety and sometimes interpolated, by later authors, reaching its zenith in the 14th century by scholars such as ibn Idhari , ibn Khaldun and al-Nuwayri . It differs from the earlier version not only in greater detail but also in giving conflicting accounts of events. This, however,

738-604: A ravine, has been preserved near the present town of Haffouz . Muslim conquest of the Maghreb The Levant Egypt North Africa Anatolia & Constantinople Border conflicts Sicily and Southern Italy Naval warfare Byzantine reconquest The Muslim conquest of the Maghreb ( Arabic : فَتْحُ اَلْمَغْرِب , romanized :  Fath al-Maghrib , lit.   'Conquest of

820-564: A refuge and base for further operations. This would become the capital of the Islamic province of Ifriqiya (the Arabic pronunciation of Africa ), which would be today's western Libya , Tunisia , and eastern Algeria . After this, as Edward Gibbon writes, the fearless general "plunged into the heart of the country, traversed the wilderness in which his successors erected the splendid capitals of Fes and Morocco , and at length penetrated to

902-408: A trapezoidal form, with the longest side measuring 182 metres long. There are two surviving reservoirs today, located close to each other at a short distance north of the old city ( medina ) of Kairouan. The reservoirs functioned as settling tanks which partially purified the water before it was supplied to the city. Both reservoirs are composed of several connected sections: a smaller water basin,

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984-569: Is a record of the lavish marriage in 1022-23 of his grandson, the young Zirid el-Muizz bin Badis . Pavilions were built outside the city, a large array of textiles and manufactured good was displayed and music was provided by a great number of instruments. El-Muizz bin Badis, who ruled Ifriqiya under the Fatimids from 1015 to 1062, rebuilt the Kairouan city wall and built two walls on either side of

1066-423: Is left of several circular and rectangular basins. The basins may be identified with the artificial pools described by the court poet Ali ibn Muhammad el-Iyadi, which surrounded the palace. The foundations have been revealed through archaeological excavations. Traces of the great hall's columns are still visible. Some parts of the canal can still be seen. A minor excavation was undertaken by Georges Marçais in

1148-554: Is named after Fatimah. In 899 Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah became leader of the movement. He fled from his enemies to Sijilmasa in Morocco, where he proselytized under the guise of being a merchant. El-Mahdi was supported by a noble man named Abu Abdullah al-Shi'i , who organized a Berber uprising that overthrew the Tunisian Aghlabid dynasty, and then invited el-Mahdi to assume the position of imam and caliph. A new capital

1230-435: Is the best-known version and is the one given below. It is recorded by Ibn Abd al-Hakam that during the siege of Tripoli by Amr ibn al-As , seven of his soldiers from the clan of Madhlij, sub branch of Kinana , unintentionally found a section on the western side of Tripoli beach that was not walled during their hunting routine. These seven soldiers managed to infiltrate the city through this way without being detected by

1312-757: The Byzantine Empire in Africa . He gathered his allies, confronted the invading Islamic Arab forces and suffered defeat (647) at the Battle of Sufetula , a city 240 kilometres (150 mi) south of Carthage . With the death of Gregory, his successor, probably Gennadius , secured the Arab withdrawal in exchange for tribute. The campaign lasted fifteen months and Abdallah's force returned to Muslim territories in 648. All further Muslim conquests were soon interrupted, however, when Egyptian dissidents murdered Caliph Uthman after holding him under house arrest in 656. He

1394-692: The Byzantine navy that still fought on against the Muslim invasions. So he built a navy of his own which went on to conquer the Christian islands of Ibiza , Majorca , and Menorca . Advancing into the Maghreb, his forces took Algiers in 700. By 709, all of the top half of North Africa was under the control of the Arab caliphate. The only possible exception was Ceuta at the African Pillar of Hercules . Gibbon declares: "In that age, as well as in

1476-608: The Zirids until 1057, when it was destroyed by the invading Banu Hilal tribes. Any useful objects or relics were scavenged during the centuries that followed. Today, only faint traces remain. The Fatimid Caliphate originated in an Ismaili Shia movement launched in Syria by Abd Allah al-Akbar . He claimed descent through Ismail , the seventh Shia imam , from the Islamic prophet Muhammad 's daughter Fatimah . The Fatimid Dynasty

1558-494: The 14th century, after which trace of them was lost. The only thing that is certain is that at the beginning of French colonial rule in the Maghreb there were no longer any Romance-speaking or Christian communities. This ultimately complete Islamization of the entire population brought about the separation of the Mediterranean region into northern and southern halves, which continues to this day. The full Islamization of

1640-443: The 1920s. Slimane Mostafa Zbiss conducted a more thorough excavation in the 1950s of the palace in the southeast quadrant of the city. Further excavations by a Franco-Tunisian team were made around the southeast palace in the late 1970s, ending in 1982. Few results have been published from these earlier excavations, and no records were made of the stratigraphic locations of the stucco fragments that were found. A more careful project

1722-514: The Aghlabid period, but made use of some existing Roman-era infrastructure. Later, in 961, the Fatimid caliph al-Mu'izz refurbished the aqueduct, adding a second canal on top of the aqueduct's earlier canal. The Fatimid aqueduct diverted water first to Sabra al-Mansuriyya , the new Fatimid capital built near Kairouan, before the remaining water was brought to the main city's reservoirs. A 70-metre-long elevated section of this aqueduct, crossing over

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1804-457: The Arab army, receiving less pay than an Arab would have. This led to much dissatisfaction and ultimately the death of Maghreb Arab governor, Yazid ibn Abi Muslim at the hands of one of his bodyguards after ordering them to tattoo his name on their arms to signal his ownership. In 740, a Berber Revolt was prompted by the taxation of the Berbers. The rebels were lead at first by Maysara ,

1886-546: The Berber reign. Thus Hassan was welcomed upon his return, and managed to kill Kahina at the Battle of Tabarka . Gibbon writes that “the friends of civil society conspired against the savages of the land; and the royal prophetess was slain in the first battle.” The successful general Musa bin Nusair was appointed the governor of Ifriqiya . His armies brutally put down the Berbers, consisting of various faiths, who fought against

1968-525: The Berbers, the Arab chieftains had greatly extended their African dominions, and as early as the year 682 Uqba had reached the shores of the Atlantic, but he was unable to occupy Tangier, for he was forced to turn back toward the Atlas Mountains by a man who became known to history and legend as Count Julian . Moreover, as Gibbon writes, Uqba, "this Mahometan Alexander, who sighed for new worlds,

2050-735: The Church nor the ruling Byzantine veneer was able to resist the propagation of Islam , particularly since they were at odds with each other, and that without any particular persecution on the part of the Muslim rulers, who treated the Christians leniently because they were " People of the Book ". Had the first Muslim conquerors persecuted the North African Christians rather than tolerating them, Christianity may well have continued to flourish. Many causes have been seen as leading to

2132-650: The Iberian Peninsula, defeated Roderic, and went on to besiege the Visigothic capital of Toledo . He and his allies also took Córdoba , Ecija , Granada , Málaga , Seville , and other cities. Due to this, the Umayyad conquest of Hispania completed the Arab conquest of North Africa. Fearing that the Byzantine Empire might reconquer it, they decided to destroy Roman Carthage in a scorched earth policy and establish their headquarters somewhere else. Its walls were torn down, its water supply cut off,

2214-474: The Latin and Punic speaking population began. Contrary to widespread opinion, the Latin language did not disappear promptly or completely from the Maghreb, which can be read both from Latin grave inscriptions dating back to the eleventh century and from the numerous and conspicuous Latin foreign words in today's Berber languages on site. But the special features of the dialects of Maghrebi Arabic that developed after

2296-486: The Maghreb along with the full Arabization of the non-Berber population may have been favored by the following factors: Archaeological and scholarly research has shown that Christianity existed after the Muslim conquests. The Catholic church gradually declined along with local Latin dialect . According to a view, Christianity in North Africa effectively continued a century after the Muslim conquest but that neither

2378-524: The Romans and Persians ) is said to range from 30,000 to 300,000 in various Muslim histories and some even allude to a higher number. Philip Khuri Hitti described the attribution of figures such as 300,000 slaves (also capturing 30,000 noble maidens of Spain) to him as exaggerated which was due to the high number of slaves that were available after Muslim conquests. An assertion which is confirmed by historian Kishori Saran Lal . Musa also had to deal with

2460-628: The West';) or Arab conquest of North Africa by the Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates commenced in 647 and concluded in 709, when the Byzantine Empire lost its last remaining strongholds to Caliph Al-Walid I . The North African campaigns were part of the century of rapid early Muslim conquests . By 642 AD, under Caliph Umar , Arab Muslim forces had laid control of Mesopotamia (638 AD), Syria (641 AD), Egypt (642 AD), and had invaded Armenia (642 AD), all territories previously split between

2542-542: The advancing Muslims. Their conquest reached the Atlantic coast in 708. He was noted for the vast number of mawla he had amassed which consisted of Berber converts to Islam and people from other regions as well. In 698-702 AD all the major capitals in the Berber states were taken definitively by the Arabs: Christian Carthago was completely destroyed, half the inhabitants were killed (only a few hundreds could escape by boats toward Byzantine Sicily) and

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2624-626: The agricultural land was ravaged and its harbors made unusable. The destruction of the Exarchate of Africa marked a permanent end to the Byzantine Empire's influence in the region. It is visible from archaeological evidence, that the town of Carthage continued to be occupied. Constantine the African was born in Carthage. The fortress of Carthage was used by the Muslims until Hafsid era and

2706-854: The caliph. The names give some hint of the nature of the palaces: the Camphor Audience Hall, the Chamber of the Diadem, the Fragrant Audience Hall and the Silver Chamber. El-Mansuriya was completed under al-Muizz li-Din Allah , who ensured the water supply with the construction of an aqueduct. This aqueduct, 36 kilometres (22 mi) in length, was based on a similar structure built by the Aghlabids. El-Muizz built

2788-500: The character of a prophetess, they attacked the invaders with an enthusiasm similar to their own. The veteran bands of Hassan were inadequate to the defence of Africa: the conquests of an age were lost in a single day; and the Arabian chief, overwhelmed by the torrent, retired to the confines of Egypt. In 703, five years passed before Hassan received fresh troops from the caliph. Meanwhile, the people of North Africa's cities chafed under

2870-527: The citizens hailed the ensign of the cross, and the winter was idly wasted in the dream of victory or deliverance.” In 698, the Arabs conquered Carthage under Hassan ibn al-Nu'man and completed the conquest of the eastern Barbary coast. Anticipating attempts at Byzantine reconquest however, they decided to destroy it. The walls were torn down, the agricultural land ravaged, the aqueducts and harbors made unusable. They established their base instead at Tunis which

2952-437: The city guards, and then managed to incite riots within the city while shouting Takbir (God is the greatest), causing the confused Byzantine garrison soldiers to think the Muslim forces were already inside in the city and to flee towards their ship leaving Tripoli, thus, allowing Amr to subdue the city easily. Later, the Muslim forces besieged Barqa ( Cyrenaica ) for about three years to no avail. Then Khalid ibn al-Walid , who

3034-600: The city through the four gates. In its heyday, el-Mansuriya was the capital of a state that encompassed most of North Africa from Morocco to Libya, as well as Sicily, although it had to guard against attack from the Byzantine Empire and from King Otto I of Germany, both active in southern Italy. In 957, an embassy from Byzantium brought the tribute from the Emperor for his occupation of Calabria from there, with gifts of gold and silver vessels adorned with jewels, silks, brocades and other valuables. In Italy, El-Muizz planned

3116-402: The city's residents lived in houses that were supplied by their own private wells and cisterns , so the water from these reservoirs was used to supplement them in times of drought or to supply water to livestock and caravans . Another Aghlabid water reservoir that has been preserved up to modern times was built to supply their new capital at Raqqada (founded in 876), near Kairouan. It has

3198-695: The close of 643. The next invasion of the Maghreb , ordered by Abdallah ibn Sa'd , commenced in 647. 20,000 soldiers marched from Medina in the Arabian Peninsula , with another joining them in Memphis, Egypt where Abdallah ibn Sa'd then led them into the Byzantine Africa , the Maghreb region. The invading army took Tripolitania (in present-day Libya ). Count Gregory , the local Byzantine governor, had declared his independence from

3280-458: The conquest were also shaped primarily in the lexis of Latin. The same applies to Christianity in the Maghreb, which did not end with the Arab conquest, but is also documented afterwards by sporadic sources. In what is now Tunisia, for example, Muslims were probably in the majority towards the end of the ninth century. The decline of Christian institutions only accelerated towards the end of the eleventh century; individual communities survived until

3362-458: The countryside was channeled into this basin first, where sediments fell and were deposited. When the water level was high enough, water from this basin then flowed into the larger basin to the southeast via an outlet. The larger basin is a 48-sided polygon measuring 128 metres in diameter. The basin is 4.8 metres deep and has a capacity of over 57,000 cubic metres. Here water was stored for further use, while undergoing some further filtration. Lastly,

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3444-423: The death of the rebel leader. This development brought about a return of domestic order that allowed the caliph to resume the Islamic conquest of North Africa. It began with the renewed invasion of Ifriqiya. Gibbon writes: the standard was delivered to Hassan governor of Egypt, and the revenue of that kingdom, with an army of forty thousand men, was consecrated to the important service. In the vicissitudes of war,

3526-442: The decline of Christianity in Maghreb. One of them is the constant warfare, as well as persecutions. In addition, many Christians migrated to Europe. The Church at that time lacked the backbone of a monastic tradition and was still suffering from the aftermath of heresies including the so-called Donatist heresy, and this contributed to the early obliteration of the Church in the present day Maghreb. Some historians contrast this with

3608-504: The expanding Rashidun Caliphate . With Afghanistan and North Africa being targets of major invasions and Muslim sea raids ranging from Rhodes to the southern coasts of the Iberian Peninsula , the Byzantine navy was defeated in the eastern Mediterranean. The earliest Arab accounts are those of ibn Abd al-Hakam , al-Baladhuri , and Khalifah ibn Khayyat , all of which were written in the ninth century, some 200 years after

3690-528: The fate of his predecessor in the Battle of Mamma . He vanquished the native population in many battles but he was overthrown by a powerful army, which Constantinople had sent to the relief and liberation of Carthage ." Meanwhile, a new civil war among rivals for the monarchy raged in Arabia and Syria. It resulted in a series of four caliphs between the death of Mu'awiya in 680 and the accession of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan in 685; strife ended only in 692 with

3772-557: The first invasions. These are not very detailed. In the case of the most informative, the History of the Conquest of Egypt and North Africa and Spain by Ibn Abd al-Hakam, Robert Brunschvig has shown that it was written with a view to illustrating points of Maliki law rather than documenting history and that some of the events it describes are probably ahistorical. Beginning in the 12th century, scholars at Kairouan began to construct

3854-399: The hand of Ifriqiya governor Handhala ibn Safwan al-Kalbi . One of the unifying forces of these rebellions were the teachings of Arab Kharijite missionaries who had worked as merchants. They were able to convert some sections to their way of thinking and this provided a "unifying discipline and revolutionary zeal that powered the Berber rebellion of 739" through 743. The loss of Africa

3936-401: The homes of poor people. Anything that could be reused for construction or other purposes has been scavenged during the centuries since it was abandoned. Stones, bricks, glass and metal were all removed. Little survived except fragments of unusable stucco. Aerial surveys of the site have confirmed that there was a very large artificial enclosure, roughly circular in shape, within which are what

4018-402: The imperial throne, for his officers, afraid of being held responsible for the defeat, elevated him to the position of anti-emperor and overthrew Leontios, who had his nose cut off. Another effect was that there were no longer any major Latin or Romance-speaking provinces in the Byzantine Empire and Greek finally prevailed. With the conquest of Carthage, the Arabs laid the basis for domination of

4100-518: The interior provinces had been alternately won and lost by the Saracens. But the seacoast still remained in the hands of the Greeks; the predecessors of Hassan had respected the name and fortifications of Carthage; and the number of its defenders was recruited by the fugitives of Cabes and Tripoli . The arms of Hassan were bolder and more fortunate: he reduced and pillaged the metropolis of Africa; and

4182-588: The invasion of Egypt, whose conquest would make the Fatimids rivals in power to the Abbasids in Baghdad. The Fatimid general, Jawhar, conquered Egypt in 969. He built a new palace city in Egypt, near Fustat , which he also called el-Mansuriya. When the imam arrived in 973, the name was changed to el-Qahra ( Cairo ). The new city was rectangular rather than round in plan. Both cities had mosques named el-Azhar after

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4264-496: The invasion of non-Muslim neighboring states, attacking Sicily and Anatolia (in Asia Minor) in 663. In 664, Kabul , Afghanistan, fell to the invading Muslim armies. The years 665 to 689 saw a new Arab invasion of North Africa . It began, according to Will Durant , to protect Egypt "from flank attack by Byzantine Cyrene". So "an army of more than 40,000 Muslims advanced through the desert to Barca , took it, and marched to

4346-501: The late King Wittiza , Arian Christians fleeing forced conversions at the hands of the Visigothic Catholic church, and Jews . As Gibbon puts it, Musa received an unexpected message from Julian, "who offered his place, his person, and his sword" to the Muslim leader in exchange for help in the civil war. Though Julian's "estates were ample, his followers bold and numerous", he "had little to hope and much to fear from

4428-460: The mention of scaling-ladders may justify the suspicion, that he anticipated, by a sudden assault, the more tedious operations of a regular siege. Having lost Carthage to the Muslims in 695, the Byzantine Empire responded with troops from Constantinople, joined by soldiers and ships from Sicily and a powerful contingent of Visigoths from Hispania. This forced the invading Arab army to run back to Kairouan. Then, writes Gibbon, “the Christians landed;

4510-401: The neighborhood of Carthage", defeating a defending Byzantine army of 20,000 in the process. Next came a force of 10,000 Muslims led by the Arab general Uqba ibn Nafi and enlarged by thousands of others. Departing from Damascus, the army marched into Africa and took the vanguard. In 670, the city of Kairouan (roughly 150 kilometers [80 mi] south of modern Tunis ) was established as

4592-682: The new reign." And he was too feeble to challenge Roderic directly. So he sought Musa's aid. For Musa, Julian, "by his Andalusian and Mauritanian commands, ... held in his hands the keys of the Spanish monarchy." And so Musa ordered some initial raids on the southern coast of the Iberian Peninsula in 710. In the spring of that same year, Tariq ibn Ziyad —a Berber, a freed slave, and a Muslim general—took Tangier. Musa thereupon made him governor there, backed by an army of 6,700. The next year, 711, Musa directed Tariq to invade Hispania. Disembarking from Ceuta aboard ships provided by Julian, Tariq plunged into

4674-586: The present day. In the 9th century, when Kairouan was the center of the Aghlabid Emirate , which governed the region nominally on behalf of the Abbasid Caliphs , the Aghlabid ruler Abu Ibrahim Ahmad (r. 856–63) commissioned the construction of the two large reservoirs which are still visible today. They were built between 860 and 862 and the construction was supervised by Khalaf al-Fata, an emancipated slave who served Abu Ibrahim Ahmad. Many of

4756-590: The present, the kings of Spain were possessed of the fortress of Ceuta [...] Musa, in the pride of victory, was repulsed from the walls of Ceuta, by the vigilance and courage of Count Julian, the general of the Goths." Other sources, however, maintain that Ceuta represented the last Byzantine outpost in Africa and that Julian, whom the Arabs called Ilyan, was an exarch or Byzantine governor. Valdeavellano offers another possibility, that "as appears more likely, he may have been

4838-549: The prophet Muhammad's daughter, Fatima el-Azhar, and both had gates named Bab el-Futuh and Bab Zuwaila. Both cities had two palaces, for the caliph and for his heir, opposite each other. After the Fatimid caliphs moved to Egypt, el-Mansuriya remained the capital of the Zirids , who became the local rulers, for the next eighty-five years. The Zirid ruler el-Mansur bin Buluggin built a palace for himself at el-Mansuriya. There

4920-540: The rest enslaved, erasing forever the main center of Greco-Roman influence in the Maghreb. Musa bin Nusair, a successful Yemeni general in the campaign, was made governor of "Ifriqiya" and given the responsibility of putting down a renewed Berber rebellion and forcefully converting the population to Islam. Musa and his two sons prevailed over the rebels, slaughtered nearly all the Christian Berber civilians of his Ifriqiya and enslaved 300,000 captives (in those years

5002-546: The road from Kairouan to el-Mansuriya. He ordered the transfer to el-Mansuriya of the crafts and commerce from Kairouan. The city faced attacks from Arab nomads from the Banu Hilal tribe. In 1057 the Zirids abandoned it for el-Mahdia, and it was never occupied again. Its building materials were later used by the inhabitants of Kairouan. As of 2009 the site of the city was a wasteland, crossed by many ditches, surrounded by

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5084-614: The strong monastic tradition in Coptic Egypt , which is credited as a factor that allowed the Coptic Church to remain the majority faith in that country until around after the 10th century despite numerous persecutions. In addition, the Romans were unable to completely assimilate the indigenous people like the Berbers. Mansouria, Tunisia El-Mansuriya or Mansuriya ( Arabic : المنصورية ), also known as Sabra or Sabra al-Mansuriyya , near Kairouan , Tunisia ,

5166-512: The time, el-Mahdia was under siege by the Kharidji rebel Abu Yazid . El-Mansur launched his campaign against Abu Yazid, and by August 946 had gained the upper hand in the battle for control of Kairouan . After his victory, he decided to found his new capital city at the site of his camp in the battle, just south of Kairouan. He laid out the plan immediately after the battle, in 946, although it would take another year of struggle before Abu Yazid

5248-618: The top of the wall and allowed these warriors to enter the city, opening the gates and killing the guards, thus allowing the Muslim forces to enter and capturing the city. Then caliph Umar, whose armies were already engaged in conquering the Sassanid Empire , did not want to commit his forces further in North Africa while Muslim rule in Egypt was still insecure and ordered 'Amr to consolidate the Muslims' position in Egypt and that there should be no further campaigning. 'Amr obeyed, abandoning Tripoli and Burqa and returning to Fustat towards

5330-561: The total population of the Maghreb was around one million, and this gives an idea of the massacre and why Christianity disappeared). The caliph's portion was 60,000 of the captives. He sold into slavery these Christian Berbers (mainly in Damascus, after a deadly deportation through the desert from southern Tunisia to Egypt): the proceeds from their sale went into the Arab public treasury. Daniel Pipes The number of slaves he took in his various campaigns (including campaigns outside Africa, against

5412-465: The verge of the Atlantic and the great desert ". In his conquest of the Maghreb (western North Africa), he besieged the coastal city of Bugia as well as Tingi or Tangier , overwhelming what had once been the traditional Roman province of Mauretania Tingitana . But here he was stopped and partially repulsed. Luis Garcia de Valdeavellano writes: In their invasions against the Byzantines and

5494-547: The warring Byzantine and Sasanian empires, and were concluding their conquest of Sasanian Persia with their defeat of the Persian army at the Battle of Nahāvand . It was at this point that Arab military expeditions into North African regions west of Egypt were first launched, continuing for years and furthering the spread of Islam . In 644 at Medina , Umar was succeeded by Uthman , during whose twelve-year rule Armenia, Cyprus , and all of modern-day Iran , would be added to

5576-405: The water was allowed to flow into two small rectangular cisterns on the large basin's southeast side. These cisterns are covered by barrel vaults supported by arches supported by pillars. The vaulted ceilings are pierced by six openings through which water could then be drawn. In the middle of the largest water basin today is a polylobed masonry pillar which may have been part of the foundations of

5658-517: The western Mediterranean, since they could now use the African ports there as a springboard for operations against the Balearic Islands, Sardinia and Sicily. They also prepared for the invasion of Spain 13 years later by eliminating the flank threat. The capture of Septem, in turn, removed the last immediate obstacle. On the territory of the Exarchate of Carthage, after the conquest, a rather gradual but ultimately complete Arabization of

5740-447: Was a severe blow to the Byzantine Empire. In 698, after Egypt, the second large granary and a significant source of taxes went here was lost, which in retrospect did not detract from the empire's ability to survive, but significantly impaired the decades-long defensive struggles against the caliphate. Financially, the lost tax revenue for Eastern Rome/Byzantium could not be compensated for a long time. The fall of Carthage brought Tiberios

5822-457: Was brought to the city and the reservoirs from the surrounding plains and lowlands by drawing it from Oued Merguellil and its tributaries . The waters were diverted by a system of small dams, weirs, and canals to the reservoirs. An aqueduct was also built that brought water from springs in the Shreshira (or Chrechira) Mountains, 36 kilometres west of Kairouan. It was probably also built during

5904-536: Was captured by the Crusaders during the Eighth Crusade . Remnants of former Roman Carthage was used as a source to provide building materials for Kairouan and Tunis in 8th century. Although the area was under control of the caliphate, there were still some sections of the population that would resist the spread of Islam. The Berber people were thought of as inferior and made to convert to Islam and join

5986-497: Was circular, as was the original Baghdad , and the choice of layout may have been intended as a challenge to the Sunni Muslim Abbasid Caliphate based in Baghdad. The walls were twelve cubits wide, made of burned brick jointed with lime mortar. The space between the walls and the interior buildings was equal to the width of a highway. The city included a congregational mosque. The caliph's palace

6068-519: Was established at Mahdia . The Fatimid Caliphate grew to include Sicily and to stretch across North Africa from the Atlantic Ocean to Libya . The third Fatimid caliph in Ifriqiya was al-Mansur bi-Nasr Allah , an Ismaili Shia leader. He was invested as Imam on 12 April 946 in el-Mahdia, five weeks before his father died in great pain. He took the name el-Mansur , "the victor." At

6150-480: Was finally defeated. El-Mansuriya was located less than 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) south of the existing city of Kairouan. It replaced el-Mahdia as the capital of the empire. El-Mansur moved to the new city in 948. The Kharijite rebels had destroyed the Aghlabid city of Raqqada , and building materials were taken from this old residence. The new city covered an area of about 100 hectares (250 acres). The city

6232-459: Was heavily expanded, though Kairouan remained the governor's capital until late-9th century. This was immediately followed by a Berber rebellion against the new Arab overlords and a decisive victory at the Battle of Meskiana . Gibbon writes: Under the standard of their queen Kahina , the independent tribes acquired some degree of union and discipline; and as the Moors respected in their females

6314-404: Was near the center of the city, which contained other palaces used for ceremonial, diplomatic and administrative purposes. The main palace was called Sabra ("fortitude"). The palace grounds covered an area of 44 hectares (110 acres). The historian Ibn Hammad described the palace buildings as high and splendid structures surrounded by gardens and waters. They demonstrated the wealth and power of

6396-455: Was previously involved in the conquest of Oxyrhynchus , offered a radical plan to erect catapult which filled by cotton sacks. Then as the night came and the city guard slept, Khalid ordered his best warriors such as Zubayr ibn al-Awwam , his son Abdullah , Abdul-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr , Fadl ibn Abbas , Abu Mas'ud al-Badri, and Abd al-Razzaq to step into the catapult platform which filled by cotton sacks. The catapult launched them one by one to

6478-486: Was replaced by Ali , who in turn was assassinated in 661. The Umayyad Caliphate of largely secular and hereditary Arab caliphs, then established itself at Damascus and Caliph Muawiyah I began consolidating the empire from the Aral Sea to the western border of Egypt. He put a governor in place in Egypt at al-Fustat , creating a subordinate seat of power that would continue for the next two centuries. He then continued

6560-585: Was the capital of the Fatimid Caliphate during the rule of the Ismaili Imams al-Mansur bi-Nasr Allah (r. 946–953) and al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah (r. 953–975). Built between 946 and 972, el-Mansuriya was a walled city holding elaborate palaces surrounded by gardens, artificial pools and water channels. It was briefly the centre of a powerful state that encompassed most of North Africa and Sicily . It continued to serve as provincial capital of

6642-460: Was unable to preserve his recent conquests. By the universal rebellion against muslim occupation of the Greeks and Africans he was recalled from the shores of the Atlantic." On his return, a Berber-Byzantine coalition under the berber king of Altava known as Kusaila ambushed and crushed his forces near Biskra , killing Uqba and wiping out his troops. Then, adds Gibbon, "The third general or governor of Africa , Zuhayr , avenged and encountered

6724-417: Was undertaken between 2003 and 2008, with more effort made to place the stucco fragments. There is evidence of multiple phases of occupation with different styles of decoration, including flower and leaf patterns, geometric patterns, animal and human figures and epigraphy. Some decorations resemble pre-Islamic Tunisian work, while others are common to other Islamic sites. Evidence of cultural exchange with Egypt

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