Introduction

The present block aims at studying North Africa from the 7^th to the 19^th centuries by which it had to undergo several foreign dominations: Omeyad, Fatimid, Mameluke and Ottoman.It expanded towards the Maghreb, in spite of a strong Berber opposition. As for Nubia, it tried to resist, but in vain. Only Ethiopia managed to safeguard its independence, but it quickly found itself completely isolated among the Islamised countries.

This block aims at leading to you:

–             understand that Egypt was under foreign domination during the expansion of Islam

–             see that the Maghreb was constrained to accept Mohamed’s religion after a long resistance,

–             notice that Ethiopia managed to resist the Moslem invasions victoriously

What is in this block?

There are 4 sections in this block:

Section 1: Birth of Islam

Section 2: The Conquest of Egypt

Section 3: The Maghreb

Section 4: Nubia and Ethiopia

Estimated study time

We think that you will need 7 or 8 hours to achieve all the activities that are proposed to you in this block.

Learning objectives

By the end of this block, you should be able to:

• describe how the Arabs conquered Egypt,
• point out the outstanding facts of Berber resistance and the Almoravid as well as the Almohad movements,
• describe resistances against Islamisation in Nubia and Ethiopia.

How will I assess my learning in this block?

This block has 4 activities. They are designed to help you to evaluate your progress in the study of the contents of the block.

After having studied each section, do the activities, which are proposed to you. Compare then your answers with those suggested at the end of the block. If you have difficulties in finding the answers, please review the section.

If difficulties persist, ask for help from a colleague or your tutor.