Battle of Nikiou
| Battle of Nikiou | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Arab–Byzantine Wars) | |||||||
 Amr Mosque in Cairo commemorating Muslim victories in Egypt over the Byzantines | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Rashidun Caliphate | Byzantine Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Amr ibn al-A'as | Manuel | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 15,000 | 20,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Heavy | Heavy | ||||||
The Battle of Nikiou took place between
Overview
Following their victory at the
Constans II was determined to retake the land, and ordered a large fleet to carry troops to Alexandria. These troops, under Manuel, took the city by surprise from its small Arab garrison towards the end of 645 in an amphibious attack. In 645, the Byzantine thus temporarily won Alexandria back.[2] Amr at the time might have been in Mecca, and was quickly recalled to take command of the Arab forces in Egypt.[3]
The battle took place at the small fortified town of Nikiou (Coptic: ⲡϣⲁϯ Pashati),[4] about two-thirds of the way from Alexandria to Fustat,[5] with the Arab forces numbering around 15,000, against a smaller Byzantine force. The Arabs prevailed, and the Byzantine forces retreated in disarray, back to Alexandria.[1]
Although the Byzantines closed the gates against the pursuing Arabs, the city of Alexandria eventually fell to the Arabs, who stormed the city sometime in the summer of that year. The defeat of Manuel's forces marked the last attempt by the Byzantine Empire to recapture Egypt for some 500 years, with only Emperor
References
- ^ ISBN 9781848846128. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
- ISBN 9781907795633. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
- ISBN 9781858289403. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
- ^ "أسماء بعض البلاد المصرية بالقبطية". st-takla.org (in Arabic).
- ISBN 9781438109077. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
- ^ Stone, Andrew (21 November 2004). "Manuel I Comnenus (A.D. 1143-1180)". An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors. University of Western Australia. Archived from the original on 1 November 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
- ^ "Manuel I Comnenus". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 21 November 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
Further reading
- Butler, Alfred J. The Arab Conquest of Egypt and the Last Thirty years of Roman Dominion Oxford, 1978.
- ISBN 978-1-889758-87-9.
- Ostrogorsky, George (1956). History of the Byzantine State. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.