Jewish revolt against Heraclius

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Jewish revolt against Heraclius
Part of the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628
Date 614–617/625 CE Location Palaestina Prima of the Diocese of the East (Byzantine Empire) Result Jewish surrender and expulsion Byzantine defeat and temporal rule of Persians and Jews over parts of Diocese of the East Expulsion of Jews from the region Brief restoration of Byzantine (Eastern Roman) rule 630–640 Territorial changes Palaestina Prima and Secunda temporarily annexed to the Persian Empire.
Belligerents
Byzantine Empire	Sasanian Empire Jewish allies
Commanders and leaders
Emperor Heraclius Patriarch Zacharias (614)  (POW) Abba Modestus (from 617)	Shahrbaraz Nehemiah ben Hushiel  Benjamin of Tiberias
Strength
Byzantine Empire Christian rebels Byzantine army	Sasanian Empire Sassanian army 20,000 or 26,000 Jewish rebels[1]: 81
Casualties and losses
Tens of thousands	Tens of thousands

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The Jewish revolt against Heraclius was part of the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 and is considered the last serious Jewish attempt to regain autonomy in Palaestina Prima prior to modern times.

Following the Battle of Antioch in 613, Shahrbaraz led his forces through Palaestina Secunda and into Palaestina Prima provinces.^[2]: 123 In 614, Shahrbaraz conquered Caesarea Maritima, the administrative capital of the Palaestina Prima province.^[3]: 206 The Persian army reinforced by Jewish forces led by Nehemiah ben Hushiel and Benjamin of Tiberias would shortly capture Jerusalem without resistance.^{[3]: 207 [4]}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.^{[3]: 69–71 [5][6]: 169} Christians were able to briefly retake the city before the walls were breached by Shahrbaraz's forces who lay siege to the city.^[3]: 207 According to the Armenian bishop and historian Sebeos the siege resulted in a total Christian death toll of 17,000,^[3]: 207 Christian sources later exaggerated the extent of the massacre, claiming a death toll as high as 90,000.^{[3]: 207–208} In addition, 35,000 or 37,000 people including the patriarch Zacharias are said to have been deported to Mesopotamia.^{[3]: 69–71 [2]: 123 [7]} The city is said to have been burnt down. However, neither widespread burning nor destruction of churches have been found in the archaeological record.^[8][9][10]

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.^[11] The Jews had hoped that Khosrow 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.^{[3]: 208 [12]}

By 622 CE, the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius had assembled an army to retake the territory lost to the Sasanian Empire.^[5] In 628, following the deposition of Khosrow II, Kavad II made peace with Heraclius, but Kavad 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.^[13] On 21 March 630, Emperor Heraclius marched in triumph into Jerusalem with the True Cross.^[14] A general massacre of the Jewish population ensued.^[8][15] The massacre devastated the Jewish communities of the Galilee and Jerusalem.^[16][17][18] Only those Jews who could flee to the mountains or Egypt are said to have been spared.^[19]: 38

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).