Egyptians the Copts, became dhimmis. In time the power of the Arabs waned throughout the Islamic Empire so that in the 10th century, the Turkish Ikhshids were able to take control of Egypt and made it an independent political unit from the rest of the empire. Egyptians continued to live socially and politically separate from their foreign conquerors, but their rulers like the Ptolemies before them were able to stabilize the country and bring renewed economic prosperity. It was under the Shiite Fatimids from the 10th to the 12th centuries that Muslim Egyptian institutions began to take form along with the
Monarchs, Rulers, Dynasties and Kingdoms of the World book begins with a bibliography arranged by author's name in alphabetical order, followed by a Guide to Dynasties and States, a 150-page section giving brief descriptions and indicating where the related list(s) can be found. It is a good reference for finding the main rulers of a particular part of the world at various times. Tapsell briefly describes some royal family ties and attempts to help the reader locate many of the early realms of the world using the modern map, providing some history on each country or province. Minor criticisms of the book center on the complicated nature of