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Battle Of Alexandretta
The Battle of Alexandretta was the first clash between the forces of the Byzantine Empire and the Fatimid Caliphate in Syria. It was fought in early 971 near Alexandretta, while the main Fatimid army was besieging Antioch, which the Byzantines had captured two years previously. The Byzantines, led by one of Emperor John I Tzimiskes' household eunuchs, lured a 4,000-strong Fatimid detachment to attack their empty encampment and then attacked them from all sides, destroying the Fatimid force. The defeat at Alexandretta, coupled with the Qarmatian invasion of southern Syria, forced the Fatimids to lift the siege and secured Byzantine control of Antioch and northern Syria. Background On 28 October 969, Antioch fell to the Byzantine commander Michael Bourtzes. The fall of the great metropolis of northern Syria was soon followed by a treaty between the Byzantines and the Hamdanid Emirate of Aleppo, which made Aleppo a tributary vassal and handed over to the Byzantine Empire the ent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arab–Byzantine Wars
The Arab–Byzantine wars were a series of wars between a number of Muslim Arab dynasties and the Byzantine Empire between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. Conflict started during the initial Muslim conquests, under the expansionist Rashidun and Umayyad caliphs, in the 7th century and continued by their successors until the mid-11th century. The emergence of Muslim Arabs from Arabia in the 630s resulted in the rapid loss of Byzantium's southern provinces ( Syria and Egypt) to the Arab Caliphate. Over the next fifty years, under the Umayyad caliphs, the Arabs would launch repeated raids into still-Byzantine Asia Minor, twice besiege the Byzantine capital of Constantinople, and conquer the Byzantine Exarchate of Africa. The situation did not stabilize until after the failure of the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople in 718, when the Taurus Mountains on the eastern rim of Asia Minor became established as the mutual, heavily fortified and largely depopulated frontier. Under the Ab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jihad
Jihad (; ar, جهاد, jihād ) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God's guidance, such as struggle against one's evil inclinations, proselytizing, or efforts toward the moral betterment of the Muslim community (''Ummah''), though it is most frequently associated with war. In classical Islamic law (''sharia''), the term refers to armed struggle against unbelievers, while modernist Islamic scholars generally equate military ''jihad'' with defensive warfare. In Sufi circles, spiritual and moral jihad has been traditionally emphasized under the name of ''greater jihad''. The term has gained additional attention in recent decades through its use by various insurgent Islamic extremist, militant Islamist, and terrorist individuals and organizations whose ideology is based on the Islamic notion of ''jihad''. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ikhshidid
The Ikhshidid dynasty (, ) was a Turkic mamluk dynasty who ruled Egypt and the Levant from 935 to 969. Muhammad ibn Tughj al-Ikhshid, a Turkic mamluk soldier, was appointed governor by the Abbasid Caliph al-Radi. The dynasty carried the Arabic title "Wāli" reflecting their position as governors on behalf of the Abbasids. The Ikhshidids came to an end when the Fatimid army conquered Fustat in 969. The Ikhshidid family tomb was in Jerusalem.Max Van BerchemMIFAO 44 - Matériaux pour un Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum Part 2 Syrie du Sud T.2 Jérusalem Haram (1927) p13-14 (no.146): “L’émir Muhammad mourut à Damas en 334 (946) et son corps fut transporté et inhumé à Jérusalem. L’émir Unūdjūr mourut en 349 (960) et son corps fut porté à Jérusalem et inhumé à côté de celui de son père. L’émir ‘Ali mourut en 355 (966) et son corps fut transporté à Jérusalem et inhumé à côté de ceux de son père et de son frère. Enfin l'ustādh Kāfūr mourut en 357 (96 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip of Palestine and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. The Gulf of Aqaba in the northeast separates Egypt from Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Cairo is the capital and largest city of Egypt, while Alexandria, the second-largest city, is an important industrial and tourist hub at the Mediterranean coast. At approximately 100 million inhabitants, Egypt is the 14th-most populated country in the world. Egypt has one of the longest histories of any country, tracing its heritage along the Nile Delta back to the 6th–4th millennia BCE. Considered a cradle of civilisation, Ancient Egypt saw some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, ur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jawhar Al-Siqilli
Al-Qaid Jawhar ibn Abdallah ( ar, جوهر بن عبد الله, Jawhar ibn ʿAbd Allāh, better known as Jawhar al Siqilli, al-Qaid al-Siqilli (The Sicilian General); died 28 April 992) was a Shia Muslim Fatimid general from the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire who led the conquest of Maghreb, and subsequently the conquest of Egypt, for the 4th Fatimid Imam-Caliph al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah. He served as viceroy of Egypt until al-Mu'izz's arrival in 973, consolidating Fatimid control over the country and laying the foundations for the city of Cairo. After that, he retired from public life until his death. He is variously known with the ''nisba''s al-Siqilli ( ar, الصقلي, al-Ṣiqillī, The Sicilian, links=no), al-Saqlabi, al-Rumi ( ar, الرومي, al-Rūmī, the Roman, links=no); and with the titles al-Katib ( ar, الكَاتِب, al-Kātib, the Secretary, links=no) and al-Qa'id ( ar, القائد, al-Qāʾid, the General, links=no). Biography The birth date of Al-Qaid Ja ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ifriqiya
Ifriqiya ( '), also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna ( ar, المغرب الأدنى), was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia and eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania (today's western Libya). It included all of what had previously been the Byzantine province of Africa Proconsularis and extended beyond it, but did not include the Mauretanias. To the south, Ifriqiya was bounded by the semi-arid lands and salt marshes named el-Djerid. The northern boundary fluctuated from as far north as Sicily to the North African coastline, and the western boundary usually reached Béjaïa. The capital was briefly Carthage, then Kairouan, Qayrawan (Kairouan), then Mahdia, then Tunis. The Aghlabids, from their base in Kairouan, initiated the invasion of Southern Italy beginning in 827, and established the Emirate of Sicily and Emirate of Bari which lasted until it was conquered by the Normans. History The province of Ifriqiya was created in 703 CE when the Umayyad Caliphate, Umayy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nikephoros II Phokas
Nikephoros II Phokas (; – 11 December 969), Latinized Nicephorus II Phocas, was Byzantine emperor from 963 to 969. His career, not uniformly successful in matters of statecraft or of war, nonetheless included brilliant military exploits which contributed to the resurgence of the Byzantine Empire during the 10th century. In the east, Nikephoros completed the conquest of Cilicia and even retook the islands of Crete and Cyprus, thus opening the path for subsequent Byzantine incursions reaching as far as Upper Mesopotamia and the Levant; these campaigns earned him the sobriquet "pale death of the Saracens". Meanwhile in the west, he inflamed conflict with the Bulgarians and saw Sicily completely turn over to the Muslims, while he failed to make any serious gains in Italy following the incursions of Otto I. At home, Nikephoros' administrative policies caused controversy. He financed his wars with increased taxes both on the people and on the church, while maintaining unpopular th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shayzar
Shaizar or Shayzar ( ar, شيزر; in modern Arabic Saijar; Hellenistic name: Larissa in Syria, Λάρισα εν Συρία in Greek) is a town in northern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located northwest of Hama. Nearby localities include, Mahardah, Tremseh, Kafr Hud, Khunayzir and Halfaya. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Shaizar had a population of 5,953 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004 . Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Hama Governorate. During the |
Arqa
Arqa ( ar, عرقا; akk, 𒅕𒋡𒋫, translit=Irqata) is a Lebanese village near Miniara in Akkar Governorate, Lebanon, 22 km northeast of Tripoli, near the coast. The town was a notable city-state during the Iron Age. The city of ''Irqata'' sent 10,000 soldiers to the coalition against the Assyrian king in the Battle of Qarqar. The former bishopric became a double Catholic titular see (Latin and Maronite). The Roman Emperor Alexander Severus was born there. It is significant for the Tell Arqa, an archaeological site that goes back to Neolithic times, and during the Crusades there was a strategically significant castle. Names It is mentioned in Antiquity in the Amarna letters of Egypt-(as ''Irqata''), as well as in Assyrian documents. The Roman town was named Caesarea (of Lebanon/Phoenicia) or Arca Caesarea. History Early Bronze In the Early Bronze IV, the Akkar Plain had three major sites in Tell Arqa, Tell Kazel and Tell Jamous. The cultural focus had bee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tripoli, Lebanon
Tripoli ( ar, طرابلس/ALA-LC: ''Ṭarābulus'', Lebanese Arabic: ''Ṭrablus'') is the largest city in northern Lebanon and the second-largest city in the country. Situated north of the capital Beirut, it is the capital of the North Governorate and the Tripoli District. Tripoli overlooks the eastern Mediterranean Sea, and it is the northernmost seaport in Lebanon. It holds a string of four small islands offshore. The Palm Islands were declared a protected area because of their status of haven for endangered loggerhead turtles (''Chelona mydas''), rare monk seals and migratory birds. Tripoli borders the city of El Mina, the port of the Tripoli District, which it is geographically conjoined with to form the greater Tripoli conurbation. The history of Tripoli dates back at least to the 14th century BCE. The city is well known for containing the Mansouri Great Mosque and the largest Crusader fortress in Lebanon, the Citadel of Raymond de Saint-Gilles. It has the second hig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orontes River
The Orontes (; from Ancient Greek , ) or Asi ( ar, العاصي, , ; tr, Asi) is a river with a length of in Western Asia that begins in Lebanon, flowing northwards through Syria before entering the Mediterranean Sea near Samandağ in Turkey. As the chief river of the northern Levant, the Orontes was the site of several major battles. Among the most important cities on the river are Homs, Hama, Jisr al-Shughur, and Antakya (the ancient Antioch, which was also known as "Antioch on the Orontes"). Names In the 9th century BCE, the ancient Assyrians referred to the river as Arantu, and the nearby Egyptians called it Araunti. The etymology of the name is unknown, yet some sources indicate that it might be derived from ''Arnt'' which means "lioness" in Syriac languages; others called it ''Alimas'', a "water goddess" in Aramaic. However, ''Arantu'' gradually became "Orontes" in Greek. In the Greek epic poem '' Dionysiaca'' (circa 400 CE), the river is said to have been named after ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
