The siege of Ctesiphon took place on 27 April 629 between the forces of

Shahrbaraz Shahrbaraz (also spelled Shahrvaraz or Shahrwaraz; New Persian: ), was shah (king) of the Sasanian Empire from 27 April 630 to 9 June 630. He usurped the throne from Ardashir III, and was killed by Iranian nobles after forty days. Before usurpi ...

and

Ardashir III Ardashir III ( pal, 𐭠𐭥𐭲𐭧𐭱𐭲𐭥, Ardašir; 62127 April 630) was the Sasanian King of Kings () of Iran from 6 September 628 to 27 April 630. Name ''Ardashir'' is the Middle Persian form of the Old Persian ''Ṛtaxšira'' (also s ...

. Shahrbaraz managed to capture

Ctesiphon Ctesiphon ( ; Middle Persian: 𐭲𐭩𐭮𐭯𐭥𐭭 ''tyspwn'' or ''tysfwn''; fa, تیسفون; grc-gre, Κτησιφῶν, ; syr, ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢThomas A. Carlson et al., “Ctesiphon — ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢ ” in The Syriac Gazetteer last modi ...

with a small force, revealing to all the weakness of the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...

Background

In 602, the last Byzantine-Sasanian war began; it was the most devastating of the series of wars fought between the two empires. In 618,

Khosrau 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 ...

sent

to conquer

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

; one year later the

Sasanians The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

managed to capture

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

, the capital of

Byzantine 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 ...

. After the fall of Alexandria, the Sasanians gradually extended their rule southwards along the

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...

. By 621, the province was securely in Sasanian hands. Egypt would remain in Sasanian hands for 10 years, run by general Shahrbaraz from Alexandria. As the new Roman emperor,

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 Khosrau II, Shahrbaraz was ordered to evacuate the province, but refused. In the end, Heraclius, trying both to recover Egypt and to sow disunion amongst the Iranians, offered to help Shahrbaraz seize the Sasanian throne for himself. An agreement was reached, and in the spring of 629, the Sasanian troops began leaving Egypt.

Siege

Luckily for Shahrbaraz, a civil war began in 628 that divided the resources of the

, and a devastating plague in the western provinces killed half of the population along with

Kavadh II Shērōē (also spelled Shīrūya, New Persian: ), better known by his dynastic name of Kavad II ( pal, 𐭪𐭥𐭠𐭲 ''Kawād''; New Persian: قباد ''Qobād'' or ''Qabād''), was king (shah) of the Sasanian Empire briefly in 628. He was t ...

, weakening the empire. Shahrbaraz marched towards Ctesiphon with 6,000 men, besieged it and then captured it, betraying the Sasanian nobles and killing many of them, including two notable ones named Ardabīl and

Mah-Adhur Gushnasp Mah-Adhur Gushnasp ( fa, ماه‌آذر گشنسپ), also known by the Arabicized form of Mahadharjushnas, was an Iranian nobleman who served as the '' wuzurg framadār'' (vizier or prime minister) of the Sasanian Empire during the reign of the chi ...

Aftermath

After capturing Ctesiphon, Shahrbaraz killed

and took the throne for himself. However, his reign did not last long, because he was killed by Sasanian nobles after forty days, and two daughters of

reigned in succession.

References

Sources

* * * *{{cite book, last=Pourshariati, first=Parvaneh, title=Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran, location=London and New York, publisher=I.B. Tauris, year=2008, isbn=978-1-84511-645-3, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I-xtAAAAMAAJ

629 Sieges of Ctesiphon