The Muslims arrived at Alexandria in July 641
It was perhaps the most magnificent and biggest city they've encountered so far
Alexandria was founded by the Greek general Alexander the Great and is named after him
In Arabic it is called Al-Iskandariyah
Alexander meant for it to be a great center of Hellenistic culture
However Alexander left the city under the command of one of his generals soon after founding it. Then he went back on the warpath and never came back
At one point, it was the second most important city in the world after Rome; if Rome was like NYC then Alexandria was like London
Alexandria linked the Greek and Roman parts of Europe with and Arabia and Asia