[9] 



mission, and was eminently successful in his arduous 

 undertaking. Idolatry was quickly abolished among the 

 Arabs, and replaced by the religion of Mohammed. On 

 the death of the prophet his successors as vigorously 

 pursued the course he had entered upon. Ali, the general 

 of Khalif Omar's army, in A.D. 637, captured Jerusalem 

 and conquered Syria in the name of the one true god 

 and his prophet Mohammed. The Khalif rode from 

 Medina to Jerusalem upon a red camel, and, as he 

 entered the conquered city, issued the following procla- 

 mation : " In the name of the most merciful God. From 

 Omar Ebno'l Alchitab to the inhabitants of CElia. They 

 shall be protected and secured, both in their lives and 

 their fortunes ; and their churches shall neither be pulled 

 down nor made use of by any but themselves." Sophro- 

 nius, the chief Christian priest, having invited the con- 

 queror to pray in a Christian church, received a polite 

 refusal, Omar contenting himself with kneeling on the 

 steps outside, so that his followers might not have 'any 

 excuse for seizing the edifice or otherwise annoying the 

 conquered Christians. The Khalif and his followers 

 then pressed northwards, conquered the Roman Emperor 

 Heraclius, sent a fleet to the Hellespont, defeated the 

 Roman fleet, and laid siege to Constantinople, then 

 called Byzantium. Egypt was next conquered, the rem- 

 nants of the Serapion destroyed, and the whole of North 

 Africa added to the dominions of the Khalif. Spain 

 was then seized upon, and the entire country, as far 

 north as the Loire, annexed to the growing empire. In 

 732 Charles Martel succeeded in stopping the Saracen 

 foe at Poictiers and driving him back to Spain, thus re- 

 lieving the anxiety of the Church, which was now becom- 

 ing intense. In 846 a Mussulman fleet sailed up the 

 Tiber, menaced Rome, and carried away St. Peter's altar 

 to Africa, the Christian empire being saved from further 

 trouble only by the Mohammedan power being divided 

 into three Khalifates. 



According to the Koran, the earth was a square plane, 

 on the edges of which rested the heavenly vault, divided 

 into seven stones, in the topmost of which dwelt god in 

 his omnipotence. This theory, however, was quickly 

 given up by the learned Saracens, Al-Mamun declaring 



