Although the Fatimids failed to achieve their goal of replacing the caliph in Baghdad, they did succeed in building up a large empire centered on Egypt. Under them, the Egyptian economy prospered. Trade expanded, as, with Fatimid control of the Red Sea, Egypt became once again the great entrepot of long-distance maritime trade between east and west. The Fatimid capital, Cairo, became the chief cultural centre of the Islamic world, with Muslim literature, philosophy and science thriving.

Under Fatimid rule, thousands of Arabs settled in Egypt. At one point these posed such a serious threat to the regime that the Fatimids encouraged two of the largest Arab tribes to emigrate westwards into the Maghreb. Here they destabilize the emirate of Tunis.

By the mid-12^th century, Fatimid rule had weakened, and a Turkish general from Syrian, Saladin, was able to gain control of the country (c. 1170) and going on to annex parts of Arabia and Syria. With the capture of Jerusalem from the Crusaders (1187), most of Palestine also came under his rule. Saladin’s descendants, the Ayyibids, have indulged in frequent power-struggles, however, and this has allowed the Crusaders to hold on to their remaining possessions in the Levant.