Jewish revolt against Heraclius

The Revolt against Heraclius was a Jewish insurrection against the Byzantine Empire , coming to the aid of the Persian invaders. It began in 610 AD with the riots in Antioch and ended with the execution of Benjamin of Tiberias and other revolutionaries by Theodosius in 625 AD.

The Jewish revolt against Heraclius was the final in a series of Samaritan and Jewish revolts . The revolt was part of the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 . Many historians view this war as marking the end of antiquity. Some historians believe the war reduced and weakened the Christian population not just in Jerusalem but across the near east, allowing the success of the following Arab invasion. However, over the past thirty years the archaeological evidence has not supported the ancient manuscripts which record the devastation of the Christian community in Jerusalem. A history of Palestine from 135 A.D. to modern times .

Following the Battle of Antioch in 613, Shahrbaraz led his forces through Palaestina Secunda and into Palaestina Prima provinces. In 614, Shahrbaraz conquered Caesarea Maritima , the administrative capital of the Palaestina Prima province. The Persian army reinforced by Jewish forces led by Nehemiah ben Hushiel and Benjamin of Tiberias would shortly capture Jerusalem without resistance. After only a few months a Christian revolt occurred. Nehemiah ben Hushiel and his council of sixteen people were killed along with many other Jews, some throwing themselves off the city walls. Christians were able to briefly retake the city before the walls were breached by Shahrbaraz's forces who lay siege to the city. According to the Armenian bishop and historian Sebeos the siege resulted in a total Christian death toll of 17,000, Christian sources later exaggerated the extent of the massacre, claiming a death toll as high as 90,000. In addition, 35,000 or 37,000 people including the patriarch Zacharias are said to have been deported to Mesopotamia. The city is said to have been burnt down. However, neither wide spread burning nor destruction of churches have been found in the archaeological record. Bands of Jews from Jerusalem, Tiberias, Galilee, Damascus, and even from Cyprus, united and undertook an incursion against Tyre , having been invited by the 4,000 Jewish inhabitants of that city to surprise and massacre the Christians on Easter night. The Jewish army is said to have consisted of 20,000 men. The expedition, however, miscarried, as the Christians of Tyre learned of the impending danger, and seized the 4,000 Tyrian Jews as hostages. The Jewish invaders destroyed the churches around Tyre, an act which the Christians avenged by killing two thousand of their Jewish prisoners. The besiegers, to save the remaining prisoners, withdrew. The Jews had hoped that Khosrau II would give them all of the Land of Israel in exchange for their support. By 617 CE the Persians had reversed their policy and sided with the Christians over the Jews, probably because of pressure from Mesopotamian Christians in Persia itself. By 622 CE, the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius had assembled an army to retake the territory lost to the Sasanian Empire . In 628, following the deposition of Khosrau II , Kavadh II made peace with Heraclius, but Kavadh II would only have a brief reign. It is said that Benjamin, a man of immense wealth and one of the leaders of the failed revolt, accompanied Heraclius on his voyage to Jerusalem, was persuaded to convert, and obtained a general pardon for himself and the Jews. On 21 March 630, Emperor Heraclius marched in triumph into Jerusalem with the True Cross. A general massacre of the Jewish population ensued. The massacre devastated the Jewish communities of the Galilee and Jerusalem. Only those Jews who could flee to the mountains or Egypt are said to have been spared. Archaeological work doesn't support the written sources, which claim that the conflict led to large-scale massacres perpetrated against Christian and Jewish communities in Jerusalem and the destruction of churches in the city (see below ). A history of Palestine from 135 A.D. to modern times . Jews of Spain: A History of the Sephardic Experience . A Psychoanalytic History of the Jews . Palestine in Late Antiquity . Catastrophe: An Investigation into the Origins of the Modern World .

The Crucifixion, Book 1 . History of the Jews . A history of Palestine from 135 A.D. to modern times . "Forgotten Jewish revolts show poor historical literacy in Jewish world - opinion" . 25 June 2024.

It was the last time Jews had autonomy over Jerusalem prior to modern times. Taking advantage of the weakening Byzantine control in the eastern provinces, Jewish communities in Palestine allied with the invading Persian forces against Byzantine rule, which had long imposed religious and legal restrictions on them. When the Persians captured Jerusalem in 614 , Jewish rebels briefly gained influence in the city, ruling in some capacity until 617. At this point, the Persians reversed course, siding with the local Christians. When Heraclius later defeated the Persians and reconquered the region in the late 620s, Byzantine authority was re-established, and severe reprisals followed. These included massacres, forced conversions, and expulsions of Jews, ultimately ending the revolt. A sub-sequent Jewish revolt (614–25) against Heraclius the Younger ended with the Byzantines recapturing Palestine, with Jews massacred and driven into exile. A Psychoanalytic History of the Jews . But in 628–29 the emperor Heraclius, having defeated the Avars in Europe, recaptured Palestine from the Persians. A history of Palestine from 135 A.D. to modern times . "Forgotten Jewish revolts show poor historical literacy in Jewish world - opinion" . 25 June 2024. The lineaments of Islam: studies in honor of Fred McGraw Donner . Islamic history and civilization.