The Babylon Fortress, a major military stronghold of the Byzantine Empire in Egypt, was captured by forces of the Rashidun Caliphate after a prolonged siege in 640. It was a major event during the Muslim conquest of Egypt.

Al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam ibn Khuwaylid al-Asadi was an Arab Muslim commander in the service of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the caliphs Abu Bakr and Umar who played a leading role in the Ridda wars against rebel tribes in Arabia in 632–633 and later participated in early Muslim conquests of Sasanid Persia in 633–634, Byzantine Syria in 634–638, and the Exarchate of Africa in 639–643.