The Conquest of Alexandria

al-Baladhuri relates two accounts of Alexandria. In the first, al-Muqawqis made peace with Amr ibn al-As, but the king of the Byzantines overturned that, and Amr conquered the city by force. In the second, Amr marched to it in 21 AH, besieged it for three months, and then took it by the sword. ¹

On the chain of Ibn Lahi'a from Yazid ibn Abi Habib: al-Muqawqis made peace with Amr on condition that those Byzantines who wished could leave and those who wished could stay, and that the Copts be assessed two dinars. This reached the king of the Byzantines, who was enraged and sent armies. They closed the gate of Alexandria and gave Amr notice of war. al-Muqawqis asked Amr three things: that he should not offer the Byzantines what he had offered him, that he should not break faith with the Copts, and that he should be buried in a church he named. ¹

Then Amr took Alexandria by force and wrote of the conquest to Umar. According to Yazid ibn Abi Habib, all of it was a treaty. ¹

Amr marched in 21 AH, and he appointed Kharija ibn Hudhafa over Egypt. He met those of the Byzantines and Copts who had gathered for him at al-Karyun and routed them. Then he besieged the city for three months, took it by the sword, spared its people and made them dhimmis. He sent the conquest and the fifth to Umar with Mu'awiya ibn Hudayj. ¹

It is said that al-Muqawqis made peace with him for thirteen thousand dinars and two dinars for each adult male of the Copts. Amr appointed Abd Allah ibn Hudhafa over Alexandria with a garrison of Muslims. ¹