The Sasanian conquest of Egypt took place between 618 and 621 CE, when the
Sasanian Persian army defeated the
Byzantine forces in
Egypt and occupied the province. The fall of
Alexandria, the capital of
Roman Egypt
, conventional_long_name = Roman Egypt
, common_name = Egypt
, subdivision = Province
, nation = the Roman Empire
, era = Late antiquity
, capital = Alexandria
, title_leader = Praefectus Augustalis
, image_map = Roman E ...
, marked the first and most important stage in the Sasanian campaign to conquer this rich province, which eventually fell completely under Persian rule within a couple of years. An account of the event is given by A. J. Butler.
Background
The
Persian shah,
Khosrow II
Khosrow II (spelled Chosroes II in classical sources; pal, 𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩, Husrō), also known as Khosrow Parviz (New Persian: , "Khosrow the Victorious"), is considered to be the last great Sasanian king (shah) of Iran, ruling fr ...
, had taken advantage of the internal turmoil of the
Byzantine Empire after the overthrow of Emperor
Maurice by
Phocas to attack the Roman provinces in the East. By 615, the
Persians had driven the Romans out of
northern Mesopotamia,
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, and
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
. Determined to eradicate Roman rule in Asia, Khosrow turned his sights on
Egypt, the Eastern Roman Empire's granary.
[Frye (1993), p. 169]
Fall of Egypt
The Persian invasion of Egypt began either in 617 or 618, but little is known about the particulars of this campaign, since the province was practically cut off from the remaining Roman territories.
[Dodgeon et al. (2002), p. 196] The Persian army headed for Alexandria, where
Nicetas
Nicetas or Niketas () is a Greek given name, meaning "victorious one" (from Nike "victory").
The veneration of martyr saint Nicetas the Goth in the medieval period gave rise to the Slavic forms: ''Nikita, Mykyta and Mikita''
People with the name N ...
, Heraclius' cousin and local governor, was unable to offer effective resistance. He and the
Chalcedonian
Chalcedonian Christianity is the branch of Christianity that accepts and upholds theological and ecclesiological resolutions of the Council of Chalcedon, the Fourth Ecumenical Council, held in 451. Chalcedonian Christianity accepts the Christolo ...
patriarch,
John V John V may refer to:
* Patriarch John V of Alexandria or John the Merciful (died by 620), Patriarch of Alexandria from 606 to 616
* John V of Constantinople, Patriarch from 669 to 675
* Pope John V (685–686), Pope from 685 to his death in 686
* J ...
, fled the city to
Cyprus.
[Frye (1993), p. 169] According to the ''
Khuzistan Chronicle'', Alexandria was then betrayed to the Persians by a certain Peter in June 619. The Persians also sacked the monastic centre at the
Enaton, nine miles west of Alexandria along the coastal road.
After the fall of Alexandria, the Persians gradually extended their rule southwards along the
Nile.
[ Sporadic resistance required some mopping-up operations, but by 621, the province was securely in Persian hands.][Howard-Johnston (2006), p. 99]
Aftermath
Egypt would remain in Persian hands for 10 years, run by general Shahrbaraz from Alexandria.Heraclius
Heraclius ( grc-gre, Ἡράκλειος, Hērákleios; c. 575 – 11 February 641), was List of Byzantine emperors, Eastern Roman emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the Exa ...
, reversed the tide and defeated Khosrow, Shahrbaraz was ordered to evacuate the province, but refused. In the end, Heraclius, trying both to recover Egypt and to sow disunion amongst the Persians, offered to help Shahrbaraz seize the Persian throne for himself. An agreement was reached, and in the summer of 629, the Persian troops began leaving Egypt.[
]
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
{{coord missing, Egypt
Byzantine Egypt
Sasanian Egypt
Egypt
610s conflicts
620s conflicts
Military history of Alexandria
7th century in Egypt
610s in the Byzantine Empire
620s in the Byzantine Empire
Egypt
Egypt
610s in the Sasanian Empire
620s in the Sasanian Empire