The Battle of Mamma or the Battle of Mammes () took place in 688 between the Arab Muslim forces 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 ...

and the Berbers led by Caecilius of the

Kingdom of Altava The Kingdom of Altava was an independent Berber kingdom centered on the city of Altava in present-day northern Algeria. The Kingdom of Altava was a successor state of the previous Mauro-Roman Kingdom which had controlled much of the ancient Roman ...

Background

The

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

general

Uqba ibn Nafi ʿUqba ibn Nāfiʿ ibn ʿAbd al-Qays al-Fihrī al-Qurashī ( ar, عقبة بن نافع بن عبد القيس الفهري القرشي, ʿUqba ibn Nāfiʿ ibn ʿAbd al-Qays al-Fihrī), also simply known as Uqba ibn Nafi, was an Arab general ser ...

had led his men in an expedition across North Africa, eventually reaching the Atlantic Ocean and marching as far south as the

Draa :''Dra is also the abbreviation for the constellation Draco.'' The Draa ( ber, Asif en Dra, ⴰⵙⵉⴼ ⴻⵏ ⴷⵔⴰ, ary, واد درعة, wad dərʿa; also spelled Dra or Drâa, in older sources mostly Darha or Dara) is Morocco's longest ...

and Sous rivers. On his return to the east, he was ambushed by the Berber-Byzantine coalition led by Caecilius at the

Battle of Vescera The Battle of Vescera (modern Biskra in Algeria) was fought in 682 or 683 between the Berbers of King Caecilius and their Byzantine allies from the Exarchate of Carthage against an Umayyad Arab army under Uqba ibn Nafi (the founder of Kairouan) ...

in which he was defeated and killed in 682. Caecilius at that time held undisputed mastery over North Africa and marched to

Kairouan Kairouan (, ), also spelled El Qayrawān or Kairwan ( ar, ٱلْقَيْرَوَان, al-Qayrawān , aeb, script=Latn, Qeirwān ), is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city was founded by t ...

in triumph. When Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan became the

caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

, he was effective in increasing the size of his empire. Therefore, he ordered

Zuhayr ibn Qays Zuhayr ibn Qays al-Balawī () (died 688) was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and an Arab commander who fought in the service of the Rashidun, Umayyad and Zubayrid caliphs. He played a key role in the early Muslim conquests of Egypt ...

who was stationed in Barqa to lead an army to retake Ifriqiya and its capital Kairouan. In order to mount a stronger resistance, Caecilius took a position in the Aurès Mountains in which he could manage to retreat in case of defeat, while the Muslim leader Zuhayr took a decision to camp outside Kairouan near the water resources. After a heavy battle in the valley of Mamma, the Arab invaders eventually managed to defeat the defending troops and to kill their king Caecilius which was heavily outnumbered by Arab forces

Aftermath

The Arab leader Zuhayr and his troops went back to Barqa to fight against the invading Byzantines. The incoming ships of Byzantines came with large numbers of soldiers which defeated the Arabs and killed Zuhayr.

References

Battles involving the Umayyad Caliphate Battles of the Arab–Byzantine wars Muslim conquest of the Maghreb 688 680s in the Umayyad Caliphate {{Battle-stub