After occupying the patriarchal throne for only fifteen months, Kosmas died.  In the 109th year of the Hegira (a. d. 727-28) Kosmas was succeeded by the patriarch Theodore.  He occupied the seat for eleven years.  His patriarchate was a period of peace and quiet for the church of Alexandria, and caused a temporary cessation of the quarrels between the Melchites and the Jacobites.  A vacancy of six years followed his death until, in the year 127 of the Hegira (749 a. d.), Ibn Khalil was promoted to the office of patriarch, and held his seat for twenty-three years.

Walid II. succeeded to the caliphate in the year 749.  One of his first acts was to take the government of Egypt from Hafs, in spite of the kindness of his rule, the wisdom and moderation of which had gained for him the affection of all the provinces which he governed.  He was replaced by Isa ibn Abi Atta, who soon created a universal discontent, as his administrative measures were oppressive.

In the year 750 the Ommayads were supplanted by the Abbasids, who transferred the capital from Damascus to Baghdad.  The first Abbasid caliph was Abu’l-Abbas, who claimed descent from Abbas, the uncle of Muhammed.  The caliph Merwan II., the last of the Ommayads, in his flight from his enemies came to Egypt and sent troops from Fostat to hold Alexandria.  He was now pursued to his death by the Abbasid general Salih ibn Ali, who took possession of Postat for the new dynasty in 750.  The change from the Ommayad to the Abbasid caliphs was effected with little difficulty, and Egypt continued to be a province of the caliphate and was ruled by governors who were mostly Arabs or members of the Abbasid family.

Abu’l-Abbas, after being inaugurated, began his rule by recalling all the provincial governors, whom he replaced by his kinsmen and partisans.  He entrusted the government of Egypt to his paternal uncle, Salih ibn Ali, who had obtained the province for him.  Salih, however, did not rule in person, but was represented by Abu Aun Abd el-Malik ibn Yazid, whom he appointed vice-governor.  The duties of patriarch of Alexandria were then performed by Michel, commonly called Khail by the Kopts.  This patriarch was of the Jacobite sect and the forty-fifth successor of St. Mark:  he held the office about three years.  He in turn was succeeded by the patriarch Myna, a native of Semennud (the ancient Sebennytus).

In the year 754 Abu’l-Abbas died at the age of thirty-two, after reigning four years, eight months, and twenty-six days, the Arabian historians being always very precise in recording the duration of the reign of the caliphs.  He was the first of the caliphs to appoint a vizier, the Ommayad caliphs employing only secretaries during their administration.  The successor of Abu’l-Abbas was his brother Abu Jafar, surnamed El-Man-sur.  Three years after his accession he took the government of Egypt from his uncle, and in less than seven years Egypt passed successively through the hands of six different governors.