The Battle of Keramaia was a major
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
naval victory over the Egyptian fleet of the
Umayyad Caliphate
The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by th ...
at
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
in 746.
Battle
The battle is mentioned by the Byzantine historians
Theophanes the Confessor
Theophanes the Confessor ( el, Θεοφάνης Ὁμολογητής; c. 758/760 – 12 March 817/818) was a member of the Byzantine aristocracy who became a monk and chronicler. He served in the court of Emperor Leo IV the Khazar before taking u ...
,
Patriarch Nikephoros I of Constantinople, and
Anastasius Bibliothecarius. According to the sources, the Egyptian fleet sailed from
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
to
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
. The Byzantine ''
strategos
''Strategos'', plural ''strategoi'', Linguistic Latinisation, Latinized ''strategus'', ( el, στρατηγός, pl. στρατηγοί; Doric Greek: στραταγός, ''stratagos''; meaning "army leader") is used in Greek language, Greek to ...
'' of the
Cibyrrhaeots
The Cibyrrhaeot Theme, more properly the Theme of the Cibyrrhaeots ( gr, θέμα Κιβυρραιωτῶν, thema Kibyrrhaiōtōn), was a Byzantine theme encompassing the southern coast of Asia Minor from the early 8th to the late 12th centuries. ...
managed to surprise the Arabs and blockade the entrance of the harbour of Keramaia.
[Its location is unknown. .] As a result, almost the entire Arab fleet—Theophanes writes, with obvious exaggeration, of a thousand
dromons, while Anastasius gives the more plausible number of thirty vessels —was destroyed. According to Theophanes, "it is said that only three ships escaped".
Aftermath
This crushing defeat was a signal event: in its aftermath, the Egyptian fleets are not mentioned until the second half of the 9th century, following the
Sack of Damietta. Beginning with E. W. Brooks, several scholars assumed that during this entire period, there was no Egyptian navy to speak of. This is incorrect, as Arabic and Coptic sources clearly mention the presence of an arsenal at
Fustat and naval activity in Egypt throughout the period, but Egypt ceased to be a major base for naval expeditions against Byzantium during the century after Keramaia.
References
Sources
*
*
{{coord missing, Cyprus
Keramaia
740s in the Byzantine Empire
746
Medieval Cyprus
Keramaia
Keramaia
Keramaia
Keramaia
740s in the Umayyad Caliphate