Talk:Revolt against Heraclius

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Euphemism?

I am not a native English speaker. Do the phrase "to run the city" mean in the context that the Jews governed the city peacefully or that they slaughtered 60000 Christians at the beginning? (e.g. http://www.jewishgates.com/file.asp?File_ID=81).

According to Armenian historian Sebeos writing in the 690s, the Persians originally negotiated a peaceful takeover of the city of Jerusalem and appointed a Persian governor. It has been suggested that this governor was the son of a Jewish Exilarch, called Nehemiah ben Hushiel. Sebeos relates that after only 3 months, the Persian governor was lynched by a Christian mob and all the foreigners were expelled from the city. Persian troops who were in the middle of the conquest of Palestine, turned their attention to the city and laid siege for 19 days. After tunneling under the walls of the city, Persian troops broke into the city: "ten days after Easter, the Iranian forces took Jerusalem and putting their swords to work for three days they destroyed [almost] all the people in the city. Stationing themselves inside the city, they burned the place down. The troops were then ordered to count the corpses. The figure reached 57,000." http://rbedrosian.com/seb7.htm

It is not clear how inflated this number is (as with many other numbers in his history) or how many fell on either side. But what is noticeably absent from this description is the claim that the Jews purchased slaves from the Persians for the purpose of slaughtering them in cold blood. A claim that was often repeated in Byzantine circles. A claim that has been used repeatedly as justification for many retaliations agains the Jews. Historian2 18:41, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

Thank you. Now I think it may be good if somebody with good knowledge about the events expand the first paragraph. It is clear that Jerusalem was handed to the Jews twice, not once, and the sequence of the battle in Jerusalem and the siege should be made more clear. And probably there was some massacre of the population during the first months. If it was used repeatedly by Byzantine propaganda against Jews, it should be explained with details, not omitted. Reading only this Wikipedia article I had an impression the rebellion was quite peaceful (I came here to verify some informations about history of Jerusalem), but after reading the references cited it is clear it was not without blood. After all, it is Sesebos who write about 57000 killed http://rbedrosian.com/seb8.htm. This number may be inflated, of course, but "tens of thousands" that escaped from Palestine to Egypt, may be inflated, too (what is the source?) and the only massacre mentioned is the massacre of Jews in 629. The other thing: I think the sentence "Reports indicate that at the time 150,000 Jews were living in 43 settlements throughout Palestine." should be either cancelled or expanded. The reason of the information is not clear, and it makes the article like written from the point of view of Jews living in the Palestine. What was the number of Christians in Palestine? How big was Jerusalem (is the 57000 figure possible at all)? Were there any non-Jewish settlements? Who were the foreigners mentioned by Sebeos: Persians, Jews, Bizantynians? Wider context would be better and more neutral. It is also not clearly explained, why at all did the Jews made an agreement with Persians, who mercilessly persecuted them in the near past. Was the rebel risky initiative of Jews or a proposal of Persians? 84.10.114.122 10:52, 18 December 2006 (UTC), a casual visitor, Poland.

It was anything but peaceful. The final wars between Byzantium and Persia were some of the most brutal in history until that time. Soldiers were chained in columns to prevent their desertion, whole towns were raised and their populations slaughtered. The conquest of Jerusalem and the revolt against Heraculius, were small parts within the context of a very bloody war. There are many sources here, although I think the article is biased. too.http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/journals/jss/jss4-2.html If I get some time I will write more. You are welcome to add information to wikipedia.

This would be a difficult history to write, as there is little objective information and many conflicting version of events. --Historian2 12:51, 18 December 2006 (UTC)