ABSTRACT
The documented history of Suakin 4 begins after the rise of Islam and the conquest of Egypt and Syria by the Arabs in 641 A.D. In 750, the son of the Caliph Marwan II fled southwards down the Nile after the assassination of his father, and made his way to Axum in Abyssinia via Suakin and Aqiq, and from then on the area along the Red Sea coast becomes the scene of frequent skirmishes between the Beja tribes and the Egyptians. The name Suakin may have originated some time between this date and 969 when it is mentioned by the envoys of the Turkish Sultan who were sent there to try and convert the Sudan to the Moslem Faith, it being at that time still a Christian kingdom. In 1172, Salah ed Din (Saladin) invaded Nubia and his capture of Jerusalem drew the attention of Europe to the Eastern Mediterranean.
