Muslim conquest of Egypt
WarReligionRashidun forces under Amr ibn al-As take Egypt from the Byzantines and found the city of Fustat.
- Date
- 639 – 642 · View on map
- Countries
- Egypt
- Regions
- North Africa
- Importance
- ★★★★★
Rashidun forces under Amr ibn al-As take Egypt from the Byzantines and found the city of Fustat.
Muslim forces under Tariq ibn Ziyad cross the Strait of Gibraltar, defeat the Visigothic kingdom and take most of the Iberian Peninsula.
The first recorded pandemic of bubonic plague sweeps the Mediterranean, devastating the Byzantine Empire and killing vast numbers.
Fatima al-Fihri founds the al-Qarawiyyin mosque in Fez, which grew into a major centre of learning in the Islamic world.
The mathematician and philosopher Hypatia is murdered by a mob in Alexandria.
The Nubian Kingdom of Kush, whose capital Meroë was famed for ironworking and pyramids, came to an end around the mid-4th century amid campaigns by Aksum.
The Shia Fatimid Caliphate takes Egypt and builds Cairo as its new capital, along with the al-Azhar mosque.