Battle of Nikiou
| date | 646 |
|---|---|
| place | Nikiou |
| output | Arab victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
Manuel |
|
| Troop strength | |
| approx. 15,000 | unknown |
| losses | |
|
unknown |
unknown |
Al-Hira - Jarmuk - Kadesia - Heliopolis - Nehawend - Constantinople I - Constantinople II - Talas
Byzantine-Arab Wars
Early battles
Mu'ta - Tabuk - Dathin - Firaz
Arab conquest of the Levant
Qartin - Bosra - Adschnadain - Marj al-Rahit - Fahl - Damascus - Marj ad Dibadsch - Emesa - Yarmouk - Jerusalem - Hazir - Aleppo
Muslim conquest of Egypt
Heliopolis - Alexandria - Nikiou
Umayyad conquest of North Africa
Sufetula - Vescera - Carthage
Umayyadidische invasion of Anatolia
and Constantinople
Iron bridge - Germanikeia - 1. Konstantin Opel - Sebastopolis - Tyana - 2. Konstantin Opel - Nicaea - Akroinon
Arabic-Byzantine border war
Kamacha - Kopidnadon - Krasos - Anzen and Amorion - Mauropotamos - Lalakaon - Bathys Ryax
Sicily and Southern Italy
1st Syracuse - 2nd Syracuse - Campaigns of the Maniac
Byzantine counter-attack
Marasch - Raban - Andrassos - Campaigns of Nikephoros Phokas - Campaigns of John Tzimiskes - Orontes - Campaigns of Basil II. - Azaz Sea
operations
Phoinix - Muslim Conquest of Crete - Thasos - Damiette - Thessalonike - Byzantine reconquest of Crete
The Battle of Nikiou (or Nikiu ) was a clash between the Arab troops under ' ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀs and the Eastern Roman Empire in the course of Islamic expansion .
prehistory
After the victory in the Battle of Heliopolis and the subsequent surrender of Alexandria in November 641 , Arab troops were able to completely occupy the Roman province of Aegyptus . The advisors of the new Eastern Roman-Byzantine emperor Constans II , who was still a child, immediately began preparing for the reconquest of the former provinces after his enthronement . The Eastern Romans tried to take advantage of the fact that the Arabs initially seemed to concentrate on smashing the Sassanid Empire . In 645 the imperial general Manuel landed near Alexandria and was able to drive the weak garrison of the Arabs out of the city.
The battle
After 'Amr ibn al-'As learned of the fall of Alexandria, he immediately set off with a strong army from Mecca for Egypt. The two armies met two-thirds of the way between Alexandria and Fustat , near the fortified town of Nikiu (Nikiou). After long and costly fighting, the Arabs succeeded in slaying a Byzantine commander and forcing Manuel's army to retreat. The remnants of the imperial army holed up in Alexandria, which was now besieged by the Arabs. In the summer of 646 Amr ibn al-A'as was finally able to take the city.
consequences
With the now final loss of Egypt ended the 30 BC. Continuous rule of the Roman emperors over the Nile country. It was not until 500 years later that Manuel I tried again to win Egypt back for Byzantium, just as unsuccessfully as Konstans II.
swell
- Charles, RH The Chronicle of John, Bishop of Nikiu: Translated from Zotenberg 's Ethiopic Text , 1916. Reprinted 2007. Evolution Publishing, ISBN 978-1-889758-87-9 . [1]
literature
- Alfred J. Butler: The Arab Conquest of Egypt and the Last Thirty Years of Roman Dominion. 2nd edition. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1978, ISBN 0-19-821678-5 .