This is a reference to the Muslim Prophet Muhammad’s companion, Amr bin al-As and his Arabian tribesmen, who invaded and conquered Egypt circa 641. Under al-As and subsequent Muslim rule, many Egyptian antiquities were destroyed as relics of infidelity. While most Western academics argue otherwise, according to early Muslim writers, the great Library of Alexandria itself—deemed a repository of pagan knowledge contradicting the Koran—was destroyed under bin al-As’s reign and in compliance with Caliph Omar’s command.

However, while book-burning was a simple process in the 7^th century, destroying the mountain-like pyramids and their guardian Sphinx was not—even though many early Muslim leaders certainly tried; by the time gunfire was invented, Egypt’s Medieval Mamluk rulers even managed to “de-nose” the Sphinx during target practice (though popular legend naturally attributes it to a Westerner, Napoleon).