Yarmouk, Battle of

The followers of the Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam, embark on a movement to establish their religious and civil control throughout the eastern Mediterranean from their base in the Arabian Peninsula.

Their determination to conquer other lands results both from economic necessity and from religious beliefs, which imbue them with contempt for death.

Calling for a jihad (holy war) against non-Muslims, the Prophet's successor, Caliph Abu Bakr (632-34), brings Islam to the area surrounding Lebanon.

Dividing his forces into three groups, he orders one to move in the direction of Palestine, one toward Damascus, and one toward the Jordan River.

The Arab groups under General Khalid ibn al Walid defeat the forces from Constantinople in 636 at the Battle of Yarmouk in northwestern Jordan.

After the Battle of Yarmuk, Caliph Umar appoints Muawiyah as governor of Syria, an area that includes present-day Lebanon.

Muawiyah, the founder of the Umayyad dynasty, garrisons troops on the Lebanese coast and has the Lebanese shipbuilders help him construct a navy to resist any potential imperial attack.

He also stops raids by the Marada, a powerful people who have settled in the Lebanese mountains and who are used by Constantinople's rulers to prevent any Arab invasion that would threaten the Empire.

Concerned with consolidating his authority in Arabia and Iraq, Muawiyah negotiates an agreement in 667 with Constantine IV, the Byzantine emperor, whereby he agrees to pay Constantine an annual tribute in return for the cessation of Marada incursions.

Some of the Arab tribes settle in the Lebanese and Syrian coastal areas during this period.

Near East (532–675 CE): Rise and Expansion of Islam

The Near East from 532 to 675 CE experiences profound transformations, primarily driven by the emergence and rapid expansion of Islam, a new monotheistic faith that challenges and reshapes the region's religious, political, and social landscapes.

Early Byzantine Context and Christian Developments

The period begins with Christian glorification continuing under Byzantine emperor Justinian (527–565 CE), who rebuilds the Church of the Resurrection (Holy Sepulchre) in Jerusalem and establishes many churches, monasteries, and hospices. Christianity spreads into Nubia around 540 CE, notably through Monophysite missionaries sent by Empress Theodora, creating strong ecclesiastical links with Coptic Christianity in Egypt.

In 541 CE, the Plague of Justinian, first reported by historian Procopius from Pelusium near Suez, severely affects the region, contributing to the weakening of Byzantine rule.

Prelude to Islamic Expansion

Arabia experiences significant changes with the Great Dam of Marib in Yemen suffering catastrophic breaches in 570 or 575 CE, leading to large-scale migrations and signaling the decline of South Arabian kingdoms. In 570 CE, the Prophet Muhammad is born in Mecca, marking a pivotal turning point in Arabian history.

King Khosrow I of Persia intervenes in South Arabia around this period, establishing control over Yemen and challenging Byzantine influence in the Red Sea region.

Birth and Rapid Spread of Islam

In 610 CE, Muhammad begins preaching a monotheistic faith, Islam, based on revelations compiled into the Quran, a sacred text believed by Muslims to be the verbatim word of God. Central tenets include the Five Pillars of Islam—the shahada (declaration of faith), prayer (salat), almsgiving (zakat), fasting (sawm), and pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj).

Muhammad's teachings quickly gain followers, leading to the establishment of a unified Islamic state. After his death in 632 CE, his successors, known as caliphs, expand Islamic authority across Arabia and beyond.

Islamic Conquests and Administration

The Rashidun Caliphate rapidly expands into Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and Persia. In 636 CE, under General Khalid ibn al-Walid, the Arabs decisively defeat Byzantine forces at the Battle of Yarmouk, leading to the capture of Jerusalem in 638 CE. Caliph Umar designates Jerusalem as the third holiest city in Islam, after Mecca and Medina.

Islamic forces, under Amr ibn al-As, invade Egypt in 639 CE, capturing the fortress of Babylon (Bab al-Yun) in 641 CE. Alexandria surrenders in 641 CE, and the Arabs establish a new capital at Al-Fustat (present-day Old Cairo). Under Arab rule, Coptic Christians enjoy religious autonomy, marking a stark contrast with previous Byzantine persecution.

Islamic armies enter Nubia in 642 and again in 652 CE, but the resilient Nubians force them to withdraw after an armistice. Subsequent treaties establish peaceful relations, facilitating trade and intermarriage, contributing gradually to the region's arabization.

Societal Transformation and Religious Integration

Islamic rule introduces sharia (Islamic law), governing spiritual, ethical, and social aspects of life, and defines relationships with non-Muslim communities under the dhimmi system, permitting religious freedom in exchange for taxes and political allegiance.

The conquest significantly reshapes the linguistic and cultural identity of the region. Arabic gradually supplants Greek, Aramaic, and Coptic languages, embedding Islamic culture deeply into the societal fabric.

Consolidation under the Umayyads

After the First Islamic Civil War (Fitna), Mu'awiya I founds the Umayyad Caliphate in 661 CE, establishing its capital in Damascus. Under Umayyad rule, Islamic influence extends further into North Africa, establishing the city of Kairouan in 670 CE and initiating naval confrontations with Byzantium, including early raids on Constantinople from 668 to 674 CE.

Legacy of the Age

The period 532 to 675 CE fundamentally reshapes the Near East, transforming it into a predominantly Islamic region and laying the groundwork for the expansive Islamic civilization that profoundly influences subsequent historical, religious, and cultural developments across the Mediterranean, Africa, and beyond.

Heraclius instructs his general Vahan not to engage in battle with the Muslims before receiving explicit orders; however, fearing more Arab reinforcements, Vahan attacks the Muslim army in the Battle of Yarmouk.

Khalid had early in 636 withdrawn south of the Yarmouk, the eastern tributary of the Jordan River, before a powerful Roman force under Theodorus Trithurius that advances from the north and from the coast of Palestine.

The Roman armies are composed mainly of Christian Arab, Armenian, and other auxiliaries, however; and when many of these desert the Romans, Khalid, reinforced from Medina and possibly from the Syrian Arab tribes, attacks and destroys the remaining Roman forces along the ravines of the Yarmuk valley on August 20, 636.

Almost fifty thousand Roman troops are slaughtered, opening the way for many other Islamic conquests.

The defeat forces the empire to surrender most of Syria; the Muslims gain control of Homs in 636.

This battle, which effectively completes the Muslim conquest of Syria, will be regarded as one of the most decisive battles in military history, marking the first great wave of Muslim conquests after the death of Muhammad.

Eudokia, first wife of Heraclius, had died on August 13, 612.

According to the Chronographikon syntomon of Ecumenical Patriarch Nikephoros I of Constantinople, the cause of death was epilepsy.

Martina according to Theophanes married her maternal uncle not long after, placing the marriage in 613 at the latest.

Nikephoros, however, places the marriage during the wars with the Eurasian Avars that took place in the 620s.

The marriage was considered to fall within the prohibited degree of kinship, according to the rules of Chalcedonian Christianity concerning incest.

This particular case of marriage between an uncle and a niece had been declared legal since the time of the Codex Theodosianus.

Despite his disapproval and attempts to persuade Heraclius to repudiate Martina, Patriarch Sergius I of Constantinople had performed the ceremony himself and crowned Martina in the Augustaeum after she was proclaimed Augusta by Heraclius.

Even the members of the imperial family had voiced their objections, with Heraclius' brother (and Martina's uncle) Theodore continually criticizing Heraclius.

The Emperor and the Empress are, however, clearly a close couple: Martina has accompanied her husband in his most difficult campaigns against the Sassanid Empire.

She is also at his side at Antioch in August 636 when the news is received of the serious defeat by the Arabs at the river Yarmouk.

The Sassanid Empire, with the threat from Constantinople ended, remains a formidable power with vast manpower reserves, and the Muslim Arabs soon find themselves confronting a huge Persian army with troops drawn from every corner of the empire and commanded by its foremost generals.

Among the troops are fearsome war elephants that the Persian commander brings with him for the sole purpose of frightening and vanquishing the Muslims.

Within three months, Saad defeats the Persian army in the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah, effectively ending Sassanid rule west of Persia proper.

From this battle, the Arab Muslims gain a large amount of spoils, including the famed jewel-encrusted royal standard, called the Derafsh-e-Kāveyān (the 'flag of Kāveh').

The jewel is cut up and sold in pieces in Medina.

The Arab fighters become known as ‘’ahl al-Qādisiyyah’’ and will hold the highest prestige of the later Arab settlers within Iraq and its important garrison town, Kufa.

Once the battle of Qadisiyya is over, Sa'ad sends a report of the Muslim victory to Umar.

The battle shakes the Sassanian rule in Iraq to its foundations but is not the end of their rule in Iraq.

As long as the Sassanids hold their capital Ctesiphon, there is always the danger that at some suitable moment they will make an attempt to recover what they had lost and drive away the Arabs from Iraq.

Caliph Umar thus sends instructions to Saad that as a sequel to the battle of Qaddisiyyah, the Muslims should push forward to capture Ctesiphon.

The Muslims next take Tiberias, which, together with Jerusalem and Zefat, is another of the four holy cities of Judaism.