Impact of the Arab conquest on late Roman settlement in Egypt
The Arab conquest of Egypt in 642 AD affected the development of Egyptian towns in various ways. The actual military struggle, the subsequent settling of Arab tribes and changes in administration are discussed in chapter 1, with reference to specific sites and using local archaeological sequences. Chapter 2 assesses whether our understanding of the archaeological record of the seventh century is detailed enough to allow the accurate dating of settlement changes. The site of Zawyet al-Sultan in Middle Egypt was apparently abandoned and partly burned around the time of the Arab conquest. Analysis of surface remains at this site confirmed the difficulty of accurately dating this event on the basis of current information. Chapters 3 and 4 analyse the effect of two mechanisms of Arab colonisation on Egyptian towns. First, an investigation of the occupation by soldiers of threatened frontier towns (ribats) is based on the site of Tinnis. Examination of the archaeological remains indicates a significant expansion of Tinnis in the eighth and ninth centuries, which is confirmed by references in the historical sources to building programmes funded by the central government. Second, the practice of murtaba ' aljund,
Gascoigne, Alison Lucy
Egyptian towns
Impact of the Arab conquest on late Roman settlement in Egypt. The Arab conquest of Egypt in 642 AD affected the development of Egyptian towns in various ways. The actual military struggle, the subsequent settling of Arab tribes and changes in administration are discussed in chapter 1, with reference to specific sites and using local archaeological sequences. Chapter 2 assesses whether our understanding of the archaeological record of the seventh century is detailed enough to allow the accurate dating of settlement changes. The site of Zawyet al-Sultan in Middle Egypt was apparently abandoned and partly burned around the time of the Arab conquest. Analysis of surface remains at this site confirmed the difficulty of accurately dating this event on the basis of current information. Chapters 3 and 4 analyse the effect of two mechanisms of Arab colonisation on Egyptian towns. First, an investigation of the occupation by soldiers of threatened frontier towns (ribats) is based on the site of Tinnis. Examination of the archaeological remains indicates a significant expansion of Tinnis in the eighth and ninth centuries, which is confirmed by references in the historical sources to building programmes funded by the central government. Second, the practice of murtaba ' aljund,
impact arab_conquest late_roman settlement egypt arab_conquest egypt affect_development egyptian town various_way actual military struggle subsequent settle arab tribe change administration discuss_reference specific sit use local archaeological_sequence assess_whether archaeological_record detail enough allow accurate date settlement change site sultan middle egypt apparently abandon partly burn around_time arab_conquest analysis surface remain site confirm difficulty accurately date event basis current information analyse_effect mechanism arab colonisation egyptian town first investigation occupation soldier threaten frontier town base site examination archaeological_remains indicate significant expansion eighth ninth centuries confirm reference historical_source build programme central_government second practice