In the previous article, we started talking about Pope Benjamin I, his birth, ordinance patriarch to succeed Pope Andronicus, his contemporariness with the Persian invasion and the Roman persecution, his disappearance in Upper Egypt, and the Arab conquest.
Amr and Cyrus reconciled. Yet, Cyrus had to wait for Emperor Heraclius’ orders. Thus, the Arab and Roman armies remained in their places, awaiting Heraclius’ say regarding the reconciliation. Cyrus traveled to Alexandria to tell Theodore and General Constantine about the terms of the treaty. He asked them to tell the Emperor about these terms and persuade him to approve of them. Likewise, he met some generals and elites of Alexandria and showed them the conditions, asking them to accept them. Yet, he did not tell the Alexandrians about it.
No sooner had the Emperor known of this treaty than he summoned Cyrus to settle Egypt’s account with him. He sent him a message, asking him to come promptly. Heraclius was upset with Cyrus. He accused him of betraying the Roman Empire and giving Egypt up to the Arabs. Thus, he sentenced him to death. Cyrus was handed over to the city’s nomarch who banished him. Thus, Heraclius refused the reconciliation. So, the two armies resumed fighting. Yet, rarely did the Romans come out of the fortress to fight the Arabs. On the other hand, the Arabs resumed their attacks until the Romans were enfeebled. Likewise, supplies were late to arrive to the Roman troops, along with Heraclius’ wrath, Cyrus’s exile, and the rejection of the reconciliation. After a few days, news of Heraclius’ death arrived, which affected both armies. While the Romans became weaker, the Arabs got stronger and fought more fiercely. Matters remained thus until new troops, led by al-Zubayr bin al-Awwam, reached Amr. Historians maintain that bin al-Awwam put a ladder against the fortress fence without anybody noticing him and climbed it until he reached the top of the fortress, after which he started to cry out “God is Great” (Allah Akbar), with his sword in his hand. This made the Roman generals ask Amr for reconciliation. Historians maintain that the Roman commander offered giving up the fortress in return of the safety of his troops. Amr accepted reconciliation. Yet, al-Zubayr had a different opinion. He said, “If you wait for a little while, I shall go down the fence and enter the fortress. Things can go the way we want.” However, Amr had already written the agreement, allowing the Roman sentries to leave within three days, carrying their supplies with them.
The Romans did leave the fortress, through the river. This took place prior Easter. Abdul Aziz Jamal al-Din writes, “Worthy mentioning is that the Roman generals did not learn a lesson from what had happened. They were never sympathetic with the Copts. Nor were they respectful of Easter. Rather, they continued to detest the Copts, for religious discrimination was deeply rooted in their hearts. We mentioned beforehand that they had imprisoned most of the Copts who were inside the fortress. Moreover, upon Easter, which was the day of leaving the fortress, the Romans coerced the poor Copt prisoners: They dragged them from the cells, flogged them, and then chopped their hands. They were ordered to do so by their commander, Eudokian.” Likewise, bishop John of Nikiu asserts that the conquest of the fortress was God’s punishment afflicted on the Romans for what they did to the Copts.
The Romans were very much affected by the Arab conquest of the fortress, for they lost control over Upper Egypt. In fact, that fortress was the entrance of Upper Egypt. Thus, Amr bin al-‘As took over Pelusium, Belbeis, Athribis, Heliopolis, then, the fortress of Babylon, after which he headed to Alexandria with his troops. On his way, he passed by Nikiu and Shabshir which was a strong fortress with a great military importance due to its position between Babylon and Alexandria, which is why the Romans assembled there to resume fighting. Yet, commander Domenitian was too scared to face the Arabs. So, he fled to Alexandria, leaving his troops and fleet. The moment his troops saw him flee, they threw their weapons and fled to the pond fearfully. Yet, the Arabs followed them and overcame them. As soon as Nikiu was conquered, the road to Alexandria was opened before Amr, for the Romans started retreating toward the capital. Afterwards, Amr headed to Damanhur. But the Romans met him southward, at Santis. The Arabs overcame the Romans who fled to Alexandria, reaching Crayon fortress, the last fortress on the way to Alexandria. Unlike other fortresses, Crayon was not strong. Romans could not but face the Arabs there. The fiercest of battles broke out there. Historians maintain that the two armies continued to fight for ten days. Amr prevailed and conquered the city. As such, the way to Alexandria was smooth.
Alexandria
Before tackling the incidents of Alexandria, we should point out that instability overwhelmed the Roman Empire. After Heraclius had died, the patriarch of Constantinople ousted Martina and her children, anointing Constantine, Heraclius’ eldest son and the son of Eudoxia, along with Heraclius the son of Martina, Emperors. Yet, Constantine got severely ill. He remained thus throughout one hundred days, which was the duration of his tenure. It is said that Martina poisoned him to death.
After Constantine had died, his half-brother, Heraclius, took over. Yet, he was too young to rule the Empire. Thus, his mother had the upper hand. During her tenure, the Melchite patriarch returned from his exile. Likewise, Cyrus returned to Alexandria with absolute power only to reconcile with the Arabs unconditionally. Moreover, the treasurer was banished, which ignited rebellion against Martina and her children.
The Melchite patriarch wanted to reconcile with Amr. At that time, the Empire was going through internal turmoil, as the army wanted to restore sovereignty to Constantine’s children. In effect, the army was instigated against the Emperor. So, the soldiers turned to the Emperor, ignoring the battle with the Arabs. At that time, a message was dispatched to Theodore, ruler of Alexandria, and all the Empire’s provinces in Africa, telling them not obey Martina or her children.
Thus, the turmoil that was going on in the Empire affected its commanders’ attention, especially the conflicts that broke out between the Blues and Greens, leading to a civil war. Domenitain was able to attract the Blues, whereas Minas attracted the Greens. They fought so fiercely that Theodore managed to overcome them.
Cyrus returned to Alexandria. At that time, patriarch George who was appointed by young Heraclius had got old and given up his authority to the ruler. Yet, another story is told about Cyrus’ entering the grand church of Alexandria and that the people welcomed him. Someone comments on this saying, “We cannot but ascribe this except to the fewness of the Copts. They were a minority which nobody heeded.” It came to pass that on that day, the traditional hymnals were replaced by others. This made the congregation say, “These hymnals were ominous to Cyrus, for they did not follow the Church’s tradition. Thus, Cyrus would never attend Easter again in Alexandria.” This prophecy echoed loudly, “Cyrus violated the Church’s rules.” Cyrus returned to Amr one year after the Babylon treaty which late Heraclius had refused angrily, and met him, carrying the surrender agreement. Amr welcomed him, saying, “It is good you turned to us.” Cyrus answered, “The people will pay jizya so that the war may stop.” Reconciliation took place on Thursday, November 8, 641 A.D. However, it was still imperative to obtain the approval of Omar bin al-Khattab, the Roman Emperor and Pope Benjamin who was still hiding in Upper Egypt… Thus went the story. Stories never end in Beautiful Egypt.
General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
