II. 1. XI. IN THE MIDDLE AGES 141
At the beginning of the seventh century both they and the bulk
of KenANA still worshipped the idol Uzza^, and the two tribes were accustomed to act in unison in time of war^.
When the Prophet proclaimed his mission he met with the most
serious opposition from his own tribesmen of Kuraysh, and it was
they and other Kenana who signally defeated him in 625 at Ohod and attempted in the following year to besiege him at Medina^.
In 630 Muhammad took Mekka and the idol of Uzza was broken
to pieces by Khalid ibn Wali'd^. The Kuraysh then submitted.
The date and extent of the Kenana immigration into Egypt are both uncertain, but in the time of the Patriarch Shenudi's biographer,
at the end of the seventh century, the Beni Mudlag section were
strong enough to besiege Alexandria, sack monasteries, and refuse
to pay taxes until an army was sent against them^.
In 818 A.D., and again thirteen years later, we find the Kenana, and in particular the Beni Mudlag section, which appears to have been more or less independent of the main tribe, and to have been very prone to rebellion, taking part in the Coptic revolts^.
In 1249, when Louis IX of France besieged Damietta, the
garrison consisted of Kenana. They fled, however, on the first approach of the enemy, and in consequence the Sultan hung as many of them as he could catch'.
By the end of the fourteenth century the Kenana proper in Egypt were divided into three main divisions, the Damra^, the Layth and the Firas : their headquarters were round Sakia Kolta. The Kuraysh included the Awlad 'Adi ibn Ka'ab, the Beni Makhzum, the Beni Ommayya, the Beni 'Abbas and many others, and may be assumed to have been well represented at the conquest
of Egypt since both 'Amr ibn el 'Asi and el Zubayr ibn el 'Awwam, who reinforced him, and several others of the more famous chieftains were tribesmen of Kuraysh^. Many more immigrated with succes-
^ Caussin de Perceval, i, 269. Other Kenana worshipped the Moon and Alde- baran (ibid. 1, 349, and cp. Van Dyck, p. 38).
- E.g. in 580 A.D. broke out the famous "Holy Wars" between the Kuraysh and other branches of Kenana on the one hand and the Beni Hawazin on the other: these lasted for about ten years (Caussin de Perceval, loc. cit. i, 296 ff.).
* Ibid. Ill, 90. Caussin de Perceval, iii, 241 ff.
^ MS. Arab 140, pp. 33 ff., ap. Quatremere, 11, 198. Shenudi died in 451. His biography was written in 685 or 690 (Butler, Arab Conquest..., pp. 87 and 88).
* E.g. see Makrizi, Khetdt, 11, 494, 495, 496.
' Makrfzi, Seluk, p. 512; Lane-Poole, Hist. p. 232.
^ Wustenfeld (N), "Dhamra"; Quatremere, "Damrah."
* Ibn 'Abd el Hakam, as quoted by Abu el Mahasin, gives a list of the " Ashab " who accompanied 'Amr. Nearly all of these were Kurayshites, and of them, again, the majority, including 'Amr and Zubayr, belonged to the Beni Ka'ab section (see Butler, p. 229 note).