change from the Ommayad to the Abbasid caliphs was effected with little
difficulty, and Egypt continued to be a province of the caliphate and
was ruled by governors who were mostly Arabs or members of the Abbasid
family.

Abu'l-Abbas, after being inaugurated, began his rule by recalling all
the provincial governors, whom he replaced by his kinsmen and partisans.
He entrusted the government of Egypt to his paternal uncle, Salih ibn
Ali, who had obtained the province for him. Salih, however, did not rule
in person, but was represented by Abu Aun Abd el-Malik ibn Yazid, whom
he appointed vice-governor. The duties of patriarch of Alexandria were
then performed by Michel, commonly called Khail by the Kopts. This
patriarch was of the Jacobite sect and the forty-fifth successor of St.
Mark: he held the office about three years. He in turn was succeeded by
the patriarch Myna, a native of Semennud (the ancient Sebennytus).

In the year 754 Abu'l-Abbas died at the age of thirty-two, after
reigning four years, eight months, and twenty-six days, the Arabian
historians being always very precise in recording the duration of the
reign of the caliphs. He was the first of the caliphs to appoint a
vizier, the Ommayad caliphs employing only secretaries during their
administration. The successor of Abu'l-Abbas was his brother Abu
Jafar, surnamed El-Man-sur. Three years after his accession he took the
government of Egypt from his uncle, and in less than seven years Egypt
passed successively through the hands of six different governors. These
changes were instigated by the mistrustful disposition of the caliph,
who saw in every man a traitor and conspirator, dismissing on the
slightest provocation his most devoted adherents, some of whom were even
put to death by his orders. His last choice, Yazid ibn Hatim, governed
Egypt for eight years, and the caliph bestowed the title of Prince
of Egypt (Emir Misri) upon him, which title was also borne by his
successors.

These continual changes in the government of Egypt had not furthered
the prosperity and well-being of the inhabitants. Each ruler, certain
of speedy dismissal, busied himself with his personal affairs to the
detriment of the country, anxious only to amass by every possible
means sufficient money to compensate him for his inevitable deposition.
Moreover, each governor increased the taxation levied by his
predecessor. Such was the greed and rapacity of these governors that
every ind