 Abdullāh al-Mahdi's control soon extended over all of central Maghreb, an area consisting of the modern countries of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, which he ruled from Mahdia, his capital in Tunisia.The Fatimids entered Egypt in the late 10th century, conquering the Ikhshidid dynasty and founding a capital at "al-Qāhira"(Cairo) in 969.The name was a reference to the planet Mars, "The Subduer", which was prominent in the sky at the moment that city construction started.