Even Amr, whom Muslim histories portray as dealing moderately with the conquered populace—he left churches alone after the initial burning—receives a different rendering in the chronicles of the Coptic patriarchate and John of Nikiû: “He was a lover of money”; “he doubled the taxes on the peasants”; “he perpetrated innumerable acts of violence”; “he had no mercy on the Egyptians, and did not observe the covenant they had made with him, for he was of a barbaric race”; and “he threatened death to any Copt who concealed treasure.”
