Siege of Melite (870)

Siege of Melite
Part of the Muslim conquest of Sicily (Arab–Byzantine wars)
Ruins of the Domvs Romana, one of the few surviving vestiges of Melite
Date c. 870 AD Location Melite, Byzantine Empire (modern Mdina, Malta) Coordinates: 35°53′10″N 14°24′11″E / 35.886003°N 14.403017°E / 35.886003; 14.403017 Result Decisive Aghlabid victory Melite captured and destroyed Malta depopulated until around the 11th century
Belligerents
Aghlabids	Byzantine Empire
Commanders and leaders
Halaf al-Hādim † Sawāda Ibn Muḥammad	Amros (Possibly Ambrosios) (POW)
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Heavy

Decisive Aghlabid victory

The Siege of Melite was the capture of the Byzantine city of Melite (modern Mdina, Malta) by an invading Aghlabid army in 870 AD. The siege was initially led by Halaf al-Hādim, a renowned engineer, but he was killed and was replaced by Sawāda Ibn Muḥammad. The city withstood the siege for some weeks or months, but it ultimately fell to the invaders, and its inhabitants were massacred and the city was sacked.

The Maltese islands had been part of the Byzantine Empire since 535 AD, and archaeological evidence suggests that they probably had an important strategic role within the empire. When the early Muslim conquests began in the 7th century, the Byzantines were threatened in the Mediterranean, so probably efforts were made to improve the defences of Malta. At this point, they might have built a retrenchment which reduced Melite to one third of its original size.

A Muslim reconnaissance raid to Malta might have taken place in 221 AH (835–36 AD).

Most details about the siege of Melite are known from Kitab al-Rawd al-Mitar, which was written by Muhammad bin 'Abd al-Mun'im al-Himyarī in the 15th century. This account states that the attack on Melite was initially led by an engineer Halaf al-Hādim, who was killed during the siege. The invaders wrote to the Aghlabid ruler Abu ‘Abd Allāh, who ordered Muḥammad Ibn Hafāğa, the governor of Sicily, to send a new leader. The wali Sawāda Ibn Muḥammad was sent, and he continued the siege and captured Melite. Its ruler Amros (possibly Ambrosios) was taken prisoner, and the invaders "demolished its fortress, and they looted, and desecrated whatever they could not carry." Marble from Melite's churches was used to build the castle of Sousse (in modern Tunisia) and the bridge leading to it.

Al-Himyarī further states that the island of Malta remained an uninhabited ruin after the siege, at times being visited by shipbuilders, fishermen and those who collect honey. The island was repopulated by Muslims in 440 AH (1048–49 AD), who built a settlement known as Medina on the ruins of Melite. The Byzantines besieged the new settlement in 445 AH (1053–54 AD) but were repelled.

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