the various quarters which has been transmitted to us affords a good idea of the tribes taking part in the conquest of Egypt; for the most part they were from South Arabia. We shall not be inaccurate if we date the commencement of Fūsṭāṭ even before the evacuation of Alexandria (642).
The conqueror of Egypt met the same fate as his great Syrian colleague Khālid; Omar did not choose to allow his various lieutenants to become too powerful, unless he was absolutely sure of them. He appears, therefore, shortly before his death to have transferred Upper Egypt as an independent province to 'Abdallāh ibn Sa'd ibn 'Abī Sarḥ. 'Abdallāh was probably more of a financier than a warrior; he remitted more to the central exchequer, but had no personal authority with the troops. After Omar's death Othman placed him also in authority over Lower Egypt, and recalled 'Amr. When however, after the restoration of order in Constantinople, a Byzantine fleet under the command of Manuel suddenly appeared before Alexandria, and the town rose in rebellion (645), 'Abdallāh was helpless. At the instigation of the troops Othman sent back the tried and trusted 'Amr, who in a very short time drove the Byzantines out of the country and retook Alexandria, this time by force, in 646. Immediately after this success however he was compelled again to relinquish the province to 'Abdallāh, as he refused with scorn to retain the military command without the civil administration. Personal enrichment to some extent — and that has always been the principal aim of the heroes of the conquest — was only possible by manipulation of the taxes; and 'Abdallāh was a foster-brother of the Caliph. Still it must be admitted that 'Abdallāh was not without merit, not only in regard to the taxes, but also in the extension of the boundaries. Thus, for instance, he regulated the conditions on the Upper Egyptian border by treaty with the Nubians (April 652), and on the western side he advanced as far as Tripolis. His greatest achievement however was the extension of the fleet.
Here he joined the efforts of Mu'āwiya in Syria, who himself built ships. The main dockyard however appears to have been Alexandria, and in all the great sea-fights we find a co-operation of Egyptian and Syrian vessels. Arabian tradition neglects their maritime expeditions to a surprising extent, but Western sources have always emphasised this feature of the Arabian success in warfare. The intelligence gathered from the papyri during the last few years shews that the care for the building and manning of the fleet was, at all events in Egypt at the end of the seventh century, one of the chief occupations of the administration. Mu'āwiya required the fleet first and foremost against Byzantium, for, as long as the Greeks had command of the sea, no rest might be expected in Syria and as little in Alexandria. The first task for Mu'āwiya was to seize from the Byzantines their naval base, Cyprus, which lay dangerously near. The first marine expedition of the Arabs was against Cyprus in
