Revolt against Heraclius

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The Revolt against Heraclius (613–617 CE) was a Jewish revolt against the Byzantine Empire coming into aid of the Persian invaders.

[edit] Revolt

The Jews of Palestine joined Persia in a revolt against Emperor Heraclius in order to liberate Jerusalem and to able to control it autonomously. The main battle was in Jerusalem, where the city fell to the combined forces of the Persians and the Jews after a 20-day siege. Jews were given permission to run the city and they had effectively done so for the next 5 years.

Reports indicate that at the time 150,000 Jews were living in 43 settlements throughout Palestine.

Benjamin of Tiberias was the Jewish leader who aided the Persians in their battles.[1].

[edit] Consequences

The Jews of Jerusalem gained autonomy to some degree, but frustrated with its limitations and anticipating its loss offered to assist the Byzantines in return for amnesty for the revolt.

In 617 CE, the Persians signed a peace treaty with Byzantines. At that time the Persians betrayed the agreements with the Jews and expelled the Jewish population from Jerusalem, forbidding them to live within 3 miles of it.

In 625 CE, the Byzantine army reconquered the territory. Amnesty was granted to Benjamin of Tiberias and the Jews who had joined the Persians.

In 629 CE, the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius marched into Jerusalem at the head of his army. After the defeat of the Persian Empire, a new threat, the Islamic Empire, had emerged in the region. Heraclius sought to consolidate and secure his gains. Though he had previously granted the Jews amnesty for their revolt, he would not risk another likely revolt in a war with the Arabs. His solution was to disperse the Jews as Titus had in the Jewish Revolt, and so a massacre of the Jews in Jerusalem ensued and tens of thousands of Jews were put to flight from Palaestina to Egypt.

In 638 CE, the Byzantine Empire lost control of the territory of Palaestina to the Arabs. The Arab Islamic Empire under Caliph Omar conquered Jerusalem and the lands of Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt.