from cairo to casablanca: the seventh century arab invasions of north africa
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Slides to accompany a lecture given to guests on the “Queen Mary 2.” These are the slides as delivered, extemporaneously.TRANSCRIPT
“Eamonn is an amiable and well informed guide with a tremendous eye for a good anecdote ...vital background reading for anyone who wants to understand the deep roots of the Arab Spring.”
- David Loyn, BBC Foreign correspondent
From Cairo to Casablanca:
The Seventh Century Arab Invasions of North Africa
Outline
Out of Arabia: The Armies of Islam invade Egypt
Westward ho! Battling across the continent
Conquest completed, continuing consequences
Romano-Byzantine Empire under Constantine the Great, 336AD
Rome
Arabia
Africa
Europe
Asia
By 395, the Roman Empire split permanently
Rome Byzantium
Alexandria
In 571, there were two superpowers inthe Greater Middle East:
the Byzantine-Roman Empire
AND
the Persian-Sassanian Empire
In that year, 571, war broke out
between these two powers.
The war raged for 70 years.
In 628 peace was declared, but the Byzantines and Sassanians were
- exhausted
- impoverished
- disorganised
Byzantine and Sassanid Empires, 635 AD
Why 635 AD?
The Prophet of Islam, Muhammad,
from the city of Mecca in western Arabia,
was born in 570,
and died in 632.
By the time of his death, Muhammad had received
many converts to Islam and
conquered almost the entire Arabian Peninsula
By 635 Islam was ready
to break out of its Arabian heartland
A L G E R I A
M A L I
N I G E R
N I G E R I A
S E N E G A L
M A U R I TA N I A
C H A D
S U D A N
L I B YA
E G Y P T
M O R O C C O
CAIRO
Luxor
Alexandria
TRIPOLI
TUNISALGIERS
RABAT
NOUAKCHOTT
DAKAR
BAMAKO
NIAMEY
N’DJAMENA(Fort Lamy)
KHARTOUM
Red Sea
Mediterranean SeaAtlantic
Ocean
Gao
Tessalit
Ghadames
Lake Chad
Niger
R.
Senegal R.
Niger R.
Nile
AtlasMountains
Tamanrasset
DjanetGhat
Murzuq
Ouargla
Tindouf
Tlemcen
Smara
Taoudeni
Wualata
St Louis
Kufra
Siwa
Djado
Bilma
Mopti
Agadez
Kano
El-Fasher
Aswan
Assekrem
In Salah
Timimoun
Tumu
Tangier
Casablanca
Essaouira(Mogador) Marrakech Benghazi
Jaghbub
Kharga
Dakhla
Timbuktu
Lagos
Tarfaya
Sijilmasa
Wadi Halfa
Tobruk
GilfKebir
QattaraDepression
D a r f u r
Blue Nile
White
Nile
Bardai
Biskra
Annaba(Hippo)
Sabha
Gobero
Laayoune
Dajla
Chottel-Djerid
G
r eat S
an
d S
ea
Fayoum
Bahariya
F e z z a n
TibestiMts. Emi
Koussi
EnnediMts.
Air Mts.AdrarMts.Arawan
Ahaggar Mts.
Grand Erg Occidenta
l
Grand Erg Oriental
Tassili N’Ajjer
CapeJuby
Draa R.
White Desert
Tataouine
Gafsa
Matmata
Isle of Djerba
THE SAHARA
WESTERNSAHARA
AtarChinguetti
Ouadane
BURKINA FASO
OUAGADOUGOU
ABUJA
Zouar
Arlit
Dongola
Sirte
disputedborder
disputed border
El Alamein
TUNISIA
km
miles
0 500
0 300
LibyaEgypt
Tunisia
AlgeriaMorocco
SudanChadNigerMaliMauritania
Western Sahara
South Sudan
Out of Arabia: The Armies of Islam invade Egypt
Byzantine Emperor Heraclius,scourge of Sassanians and Egyptians alike
Gold coin showing Heraclius and his son
Assassination of Persian leader Chosroes (or Khosrau) II, the so-called Ever Victorious, in 628
635 AD, three years after the death of Muhammad
641 - Fustat foundedEgypt’s new capital
Fustat
The name Fustat comes from an Arabic word for ‘tent’
Replaces Alexandria as Egypt’s capital, after 800 years
Still the capital of Egypt, now renamed Cairo, 1370 years later
Islamic Cairo
Westward ho!
Battling across the continent
The whole of North Africa wasconquered by the Arabs in just 70 years
How did these illiterate desert nomads do what they did?
Limited opposition;
Superior organisation;
Four legs are better than two.
A camel
(just in case anyone didn’t know!)
“The sands of Barca might be impervious to a Roman legion;
but the Arabs were attended by their faithful camels; and the natives of the desert beheld without terror
the familiar aspect of the soil and the climate.”
Edward Gibbon“The Decline and Fa# of the Roman Empire”
Barca
Camel or dromedary?
One hump or two?
“The camel has a single hump; The dromedary, two;
Or else the other way around. I’m never sure. Are you?”
Ogden Nash, “The Camel”
670 - Kairouan founded
“The conquest of Ifriqiya is impossible; scarcely has one Berber tribe been exterminated
than another takes its place.”
An Arab governor of I$iqiyareporting to the Caliph
Al-Kahina (died c.700), the Prophetess, greatest leader of Berber resistance to the Arab invasion
“Oh God, if the sea had not prevented me, I would have galloped on forever
like Alexander the Great, upholding your faith and fighting the unbelievers!”
Arab general Uqba bin Nafi,“Conqueror of Africa,” upon riding into the Atlantic
Conquest complete (710):
continuing consequences
A L G E R I A
M A L I
N I G E R
N I G E R I A
S E N E G A L
M A U R I TA N I A
C H A D
S U D A N
L I B YA
E G Y P T
M O R O C C O
CAIRO
Luxor
Alexandria
TRIPOLI
TUNISALGIERS
RABAT
NOUAKCHOTT
DAKAR
BAMAKO
NIAMEY
N’DJAMENA(Fort Lamy)
KHARTOUM
Red Sea
Mediterranean SeaAtlantic
Ocean
Gao
Tessalit
Ghadames
Lake Chad
Niger
R.
Senegal R.
Niger R.
Nile
AtlasMountains
Tamanrasset
DjanetGhat
Murzuq
Ouargla
Tindouf
Tlemcen
Smara
Taoudeni
Wualata
St Louis
Kufra
Siwa
Djado
Bilma
Mopti
Agadez
Kano
El-Fasher
Aswan
Assekrem
In Salah
Timimoun
Tumu
Tangier
Casablanca
Essaouira(Mogador) Marrakech Benghazi
Jaghbub
Kharga
Dakhla
Timbuktu
Lagos
Tarfaya
Sijilmasa
Wadi Halfa
Tobruk
GilfKebir
QattaraDepression
D a r f u r
Blue Nile
White
Nile
Bardai
Biskra
Annaba(Hippo)
Sabha
Gobero
Laayoune
Dajla
Chottel-Djerid
G
r eat S
an
d S
ea
Fayoum
Bahariya
F e z z a n
TibestiMts. Emi
Koussi
EnnediMts.
Air Mts.AdrarMts.Arawan
Ahaggar Mts.
Grand Erg Occidenta
l
Grand Erg Oriental
Tassili N’Ajjer
CapeJuby
Draa R.
White Desert
Tataouine
Gafsa
Matmata
Isle of Djerba
THE SAHARA
WESTERNSAHARA
AtarChinguetti
Ouadane
BURKINA FASO
OUAGADOUGOU
ABUJA
Zouar
Arlit
Dongola
Sirte
disputedborder
disputed border
El Alamein
TUNISIA
km
miles
0 500
0 300
Three new Arab capitals for three Arab provinces:
Fustat in Misr
Kairouan in Ifriqiya
and Fes in al-Maghreb
Cairo or
al-Medina al-Qahira
“The City Victorious”
Cairo, the view from Saladin’s Citadel
Kairouan:
in Persian
“a military camp”
Kairouan:
in English
“a caravan”
The Great Mosque in Kairouana global centre of Arabic learning and law
Courtyard of the Great Mosque, also known as the Mosque of Uqba
The old walls around Fes
Bab Boujloud, Fes
The world’s largest contiguous car-free urban area
The Strait of GibraltarLess than nine miles between Europe and the Arab Armies
Strait of Gibraltar mapped by the great Ottoman cartographer Piri Reis
Gibraltar, named after the Arab general who invaded Europe:
Gebel al-Tariq or Tariq’s Mountain
Conclusion:
How important was all this?
After the introduction of the camel to North Africa,
the Arab invasion was the most important moment
ever in the region’s history
Thank you,
or as we say in Arabic,
شكرا(shukran!)
“A well-written book that armchair and desert travellers will appreciate. Explorers should certainly have a copy in their libraries.”
- Colonel John Blashford-Snell, OBE