The Oases of Egypt's Western Desert from Byzantine to Islamic Rule: Problems and New Perspectives

Abstract

Once a part of Byzantine Egypt, the oases of Egypt's Western Desert acquired the status of an independent kingdom in the early Islamic period and retained this status at least until the advent of the Fatimid dynasty. As I argue in this article, a nuanced interpretation of a limited dossier of Greco-Latin and Arabic texts (consisting mostly of literary sources) yields insight into the mechanisms behind the political and administrative changes that the Egyptian oases underwent after the collapse of Byzantine rule following the Arab conquest of Egypt.