11. 2. XXVIII. AND THE INVASION OF DONGOLA 173
severe defeat. In consequence he fled to Nubia, where the king then was Raphael^, but was captured at the monastery of St Sinuthius in
1006, taken to Cairo, and impaled^.
Fresh risings, chiefly engineered by the Ketama, supervened, and in 1021 Hakim was murdered^.
Hakim's mad rule had been a reign of terror : that of his successor
el Zahir was equally so.
XXVIII From 1036 to 1094 el Mustansir, the grandson of Hakim,
ruled Egypt, but Syria was no longer subservient, and the Sanhaga and Ketama Berbers to the west off^ered no more than a nominal
allegiance: they frequently gave less*.
About 1044 the Sanhagi governor of North Africa, Mu'izz, renounced Shi'ism, and two years later proclaimed his independence^. We have already seen how the Beni Hilal and Beni Sulaym, with
other parties of Arabs, were dispatched from the Sa'id to bring him
to reason, how they laid waste his country, and how they then amalgamated with the Berbers and remained in practically independent
possession^.
In spite of the loss of its provinces and the exactions of its rulers Egypt appears to have been fairly tranquil and prosperous. A Persian
traveller has left a record' of his visit between 1046 and 1049 and has
described the luxury of the capital. The composition of el Mustansir 's
forces at this time is worth noting: there were "20,000 mounted Ketama Berbers, 10,000 Batilis, 20,000 blacks, 10,000 'Orientals' [Turks and Persians], 30,000 purchased slaves, 15,000 Bedawis of
the Hegaz, 30,000 black and white slave attendants and chamberlains
(ustad), 10,000 palace servants (serayi), and 30,000 negro swordsmen." With such a heterogeneous army it is not surprising that in 1062 a
serious internal crisis arose between the Turks and the Berbers on
the one hand and the blacks on the other ^. Neither side was animated by any loyalty to the Egyptian Khalifate and while 50,000 of the
blacks were driven into Upper Egypt, whence they continued for some years to harry the more northernly provinces^, the Berbers
^ According to Abu Salih (p. 265) Raphael introduced into Nubia a new stjle of architecture. "The King's house [at Dongola] is lofty, with several domes built of red brick, and resembles the buildings in Al 'Irdk; and this novelty was intro- duced by Raphael who was King of Nubia in the year 392 of the Arabs."
^ See Abu Salih, pp. 262, 265 : also Abu el Fida, Annales, 11, 616, there quoted.
' Lane-Poole, p. 134. * Lane-Poole, Hist. pp. 136, 137.
* Lane-Poole, p. 138. * See p. 146.
' See Lane-Poole, pp. 139-142. * Lane-Poole, Hist. pp. 145-149.
' It is obviously most unlikely that Nubia paid any tribute during this period. About now we hear of Christodulus the 66th patriarch (1047-1100, see Evetts, ap. Abu Salih, p. 121) at Alexandria requesting and obtaining monetary assistance