Sasanian conquest of Jerusalem and capture of the True Cross
- Date
- 614 CE
- Category
- Military & conflict
- Region
- Levant (Jerusalem)
- Era
- Post-Classical / Medieval
- Significance
During the great Byzantine–Sasanian war of 602–628, Persian forces under Khosrow II overran the empire's eastern provinces, and in 614 they besieged and stormed Jerusalem.
The city was sacked, many inhabitants killed or deported, churches including the Holy Sepulchre damaged, and, most shockingly to contemporaries, the relic of the True Cross was carried off to the Sasanian capital at Ctesiphon. The loss of the holiest city of Christendom and its central relic was a profound psychological blow to the Byzantine world and helped cast the conflict in increasingly religious terms. It set the stage for the dramatic counter-offensive of the emperor Heraclius, who after years of recovery shattered Persian power at Nineveh in 627; following Khosrow's overthrow, the True Cross was restored to Jerusalem around 630. The exhausting war left both the Byzantine and Sasanian empires drained and overextended, leaving the Near East dangerously vulnerable to the Arab Muslim conquests that erupted within a decade.
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Empires active in 614 CE
- Sassanid Empire224 CE – 651 CE
- Byzantine Empire330 CE – 1453 CE
- Classic Maya Civilization250 CE – 900 CE
- Kingdom of Aksum100 CE – 940 CE
- Pyu City-States200 BCE – 1050 CE
- Dvaravati575 CE – 1100 CE
Related military & conflict events
- Battle of the Yarmuk ends Byzantine rule in SyriaAugust 636 CE
- The An Lushan Rebellion devastates Tang China755–763 CE
- Arab conquest of Egypt and founding of Fustat641–642 CE
- The Lombards invade Italy568 CE
- Calakmul's coalition defeats Tikal in a 'star war', beginning the Tikal HiatusApril 562 CE
- The Gothic War and Byzantine reconquest of Italy535–554 CE
Further reading
The wider story
Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire
The standard accessible introduction to Sasanian Iran.
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