At a glance
- Era
- The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks
- Region
- Egypt & Nile
- Identifiers
- Wikidata
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
In time
Overview
On the twenty-sixth of Dhu al-Hijja 569 AH the fleet of the lord of Sicily arrived at Alexandria. It was sent in response to letters from conspirators who were in league to restore the Fatimid dynasty, in the context of the plot to restore the Fatimids. 1
The fleet
Ibn al-Athir mentions two hundred galleys for the infantry, thirty-six flat boats for the horses, six large ships for the siege engines, and forty ships for provisions. It carried fifty thousand infantry and fifteen hundred horsemen. Its commander was a cousin of the lord of Sicily. 1
The fighting
They arrived when the people of the city were unprepared, landed by the sea and the lighthouse, and set up the rams and the catapults. The people of the city held firm, though they had only a small garrison. The fighting lasted three days. On the second day those who held nearby fiefs came with the Muslim forces. 1
The third day
The Muslims opened the city's gate and came out on them from every side, and burned the rams. Salah al-Din sent a slave to call out near him, and the people returned to the fighting. The Muslims attacked the tents of the Franks and took them, and the killing among them grew. 1
Three hundred of their horsemen took refuge on top of a hill until the morning, and became between killed and captured. 1
Connections
- Had participant
- Saladin (Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub)
- Occurred at
- Alexandria
- Part of
- The plot to restore the Ubaydid da'wa and the crucifixion of its partisans
People and things also explored
The plot to restore the Ubaydid da'wa and the crucifixion of its partisans· Saladin (Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub)· The battle of the Ford of Sorrows (Jacob's Ford, 575 AH)· Battle of Hattin· The Franks take Acre and kill the captives· The Frankish siege of Damietta (564 AH)· The battle of the Sudan between the two palaces· Saladin the Victorious
Sources
- al-Kamil fi'l-Tarikh of Ibn al-Athir , p. 63-64
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “The Sicilian assault on Alexandria (569 AH)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/sicilian-assault-alexandria-569/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-20.