242 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Acade?np. 



poll-tax {jizya). The two ecclesiastics were disposed to accept, and 

 returned to el-Mukawkis to report the negotiations. But Aretion 

 ( j^jt^i in 'the Arabic, happily emended as ^y^j^ by Mr. Butler 

 — Aretion had previously been governor of Jerusalem), the Eoman 

 governor of the fortress, rejected the proposals absolutely and gave 

 orders for an attack. The patriarch and bishop then said to the 

 people of Misr : ' "We will try to ward off evil from you, but we 

 cannot return till four days hence.' They had to go to Alexandria, 

 one presumes, to consult el-Mukawkis, and apparently they brought 

 him south with them, for he was present in the fort when the Arabs 

 laid siege to it. Meanwhile 'Amr joined by reinforcements under ez- 

 Zubeyr and others camped at Heliopolis ('Ayn Shems). Tabari does 

 not mention the battle of Heliopolis by name in this connexion; but 

 he afterwards speaks of the encounter of 'Amr and el-Mukawkis at 

 'Ayn Shems, and John of Nikiu gives a detailed account of the battle, 

 which, he records, was followed by the fall of Tendunyas (Umm 

 Duneyn), a fortified place on the site of the later mediaeval Maks 

 and the modern Ezbeklya quarter of Cairo ; and this involved the fall 

 of the city of Misr, which is recorded by John of Mkiu merely in the 

 heading of a chapter. Tabari goes on to relate how the people of 

 Misr, alarmed at the approach of the Arabs, entreated their ruler 

 ( /»#^3^ ) to make terms with them, but he refused ; 'and this was 

 the fourth day' ; so there was a battle ( ^ j,j'Ui ), and after the 

 victory ez-Zubeyr scaled the wall and opened a gate — Tabari does 

 not say of what city or fortress — whereupon the people came to sue 

 for peace, and the Treaty of Misr was concluded. 



The mention of the fourth day, when the patriarch and bishop 

 were expected to return, points to an armistice, and shows that the 

 Eomans were awaiting the return of the ambassadors. It is not 



