| Battle of Mamma | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theMuslim conquest of the Maghreb andArab–Byzantine wars | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Umayyad Caliphate | Kingdom of Altava | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Zuhayr ibn Qays | Caecilius † | ||||||
  Battle of Mamma Location within Algeria | |||||||
TheBattle of Mamma or theBattle of Mammes (Arabic:معركة ممس) took place in 688 between the Arab Muslim forces of theUmayyad Caliphate and theBerbers led byCaecilius of theKingdom of Altava.
TheArab generalUqba ibn Nafi had led his men in an expedition across North Africa, eventually reaching the Atlantic Ocean and marching as far south as theDraa andSous rivers. On his return to the east, he was ambushed by the Berber-Byzantine coalition led by Caecilius at theBattle of Vescera in which he was defeated and killed in 682.[1] Caecilius at that time held undisputed mastery over North Africa and marched toKairouan in triumph.[1]
WhenAbd al-Malik ibn Marwan became thecaliph, he was effective in increasing the size of his empire. Therefore, he orderedZuhayr ibn Qays who was stationed inBarqa to lead an army to retakeIfriqiya and its capital Kairouan.
In order to mount a stronger resistance, Caecilius took a position in theAurès Mountains in which he could manage to retreat in case of defeat, while the Muslim leader Zuhayr took a decision to camp outside Kairouan near the water resources.[2]
After a heavy battle in the valley of Mamma, the Arab invaders eventually managed to defeat the defending troops and to kill their king Caecilius which was heavily outnumbered by Arab forces.[3]
The Arab leader Zuhayr and his troops went back toBarqa to fight against the invadingByzantines. The incoming ships of Byzantines came with large numbers of soldiers which defeated the Arabs and killed Zuhayr.
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