from the shore. Three times he was offered his life if he accepted the Council of Chalcedon, and three times he refused, before he was thrown into the sea and drowned. The Arab Muslim general 'Amr ibn al-'As began his campaign to conquer Egypt in 639, eventually invading Alexandria itself on 17 September 642. History does not record whether the members of the Coptic church assisted the Arabs in this campaign, although it is known that they did help the Melkites. However the Syriac chronicle of Dionysius I Telmaharoyo explicitly says that "Benjamin, the patriarch of the Orthodox in Egypt at that time, delivered the country to the Arab general ‘Amr b. al-‘As out of antipathy, that is enmity, towards Cyrus, the Chalcedonian patriarch in Egypt". During this time some individuals took the opportunity to ransack and burn churches. St. Mark's Church on the seashore was plundered, as well as the churches and monasteries that were surrounding it. 'Amr issued a safe conduct to Benjamin to return. Benjamin took some time in returning, eventually arriving at the end of 643 or the beginning of 644. Benjamin seems to have received funds from Sanutius, the ruler of Thebaid, for the rebuilding of the Church of St. Mark. Benjamin worked to bring back order to the affairs of the church, improve the morale of the Coptic population which had been devastated by the actions of Cyrus, and restore churches that were damaged during the recent conflict. He then left Alexandria again, to meet with 'Amr. In the historic meeting between these two individuals, 'Amr is quoted as having said that he had never seen such an impressive man of God as Benjamin. The exact details of the meeting between these two parties remain unknown. The meeting was however conducted with a dignity which was not witnessed during the Asian battles. At the end of the conference, 'Amr restored to Benjamin all the rights that he had been denied by the Byzantines, and recognized him as the sole representative of the Egyptian people. The Copts were however made to pay a higher tax (gezya). Benjamin for his part publicly prayed for 'Amr and addressed him with admiration. Benjamin worked to restore the Coptic church by renewing some of the policies which had been put in place by his predecessor Pope Damian of Alexandria. He also established amicable relations with 'Amr and the conquerors