Jerusalem 614 CE: The Persian Conquest and the True Cross

In 614 CE, the Sasanian Persian army under General Shahrbaraz besieged Jerusalem, aided by Jewish rebels from the Galilee. The city fell after three weeks, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was burned. The True Cross, Christianity's most sacred relic, was captured and taken to Ctesiphon. Emperor Heraclius would spend years planning its recovery. This episode explores the motivations of the Persian king Khosrow II, the role of the Jewish leader Nehemiah ben Hushiel, the massacre of Jerusalem's Christian population, and the political fallout that reshaped the Byzantine and Persian worlds. We also examine the competing narratives of this conquest: Byzantine chronicles that called it a catastrophe, and Jewish traditions that saw a brief restoration of Jewish control over the Temple Mount. What does the Persian conquest tell us about Jerusalem's role as a prize in ancient superpower rivalries?

#Jerusalem #SasanianEmpire #ByzantineEmpire #KhosrowII #Shahrbaraz #TrueCross #Heraclius #ChurchOfTheHolySepulchre #NehemiahBenHushiel #Ctesiphon #PersianConquest #614CE #JewishHistory #ChristianHistory #MiddleEastHistory #History #FexingoHistory

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