View source for The Pivotal Years

The Roman response was swift, to counter the Jewish insolence there was the largest ever meeting of Merovingian Bishops, the Fifth Council of Paris in Gaul (France), They decided that all Jews holding military or civil positions must accept baptism, together with their families.  Massive Jewish persecutions began to occur throughout Roman Empire.

When news of the sack of Jerusalem reached Khosrau, he was terrified.  He did not intend it to go this far.  Now regarding those who had been arrested, an order was issued by the king to have mercy on them, to build a city and to settle them there, establishing each person in his former rank/profession. He commanded that the Jews be driven from the city, and the king's order was quickly implemented, with great urgency.<ref>"Sebeos' History", Chapter 24</ref> The Jewish troops were stationed outside the Eastern Gate of the Temple Mount.<ref>Sefer Zerubavel</ref>

The distrust between the Jews and Khosrau reached its lowest point, as the Jews said that Khosrau had acted treacherously and plotted the assassination of Nehemiah.<ref>"Sebeos' History", Chapter 24</ref>  There arose great discord between the allies, which ended in the deportation of many Jews to Persia.<ref>The Jewish Encyclopedia - Chosroes (Khosru) II. Parwiz</ref> Shallum, Nehemiah's brother was sold into slavery, until his redemption ten years later.

Within a year after this victory the Persian troops over-ran Jordan, Israel and the whole of the Sinai Peninsula, and reached the frontiers of Egypt. Arabia was split between those who were for Persia and those for Byzantium.  In Mecca, the followers of the Prophet, who had declared his support for Rome, were being fought under the command of the chiefs of the Quraish.  The conflict had reached such a stage that in 615 CE, a substantial number of the Muslims had to leave their homes and take refuge with the Christian kingdom of ''Habash'', Abyssinia, which was an ally of the Byzantine Rome.

The Romans were losing more and more ground every next day. In Asia Minor the Persians beat and pushed back the Romans to Bosporus, and in 617 CE, they captured Chalcedon (modern, Kadikoy) just opposite Constantinople.  As a gesture to Rome, Khosrau issued an order to grant amnesty to prisoners.  He orders Jewish soldiers to leave Jerusalem and forbade Jews to settle within a three mile radius of the city.<ref> Jewish History (Ohr Sameach) http://www.jewishhistory.org.il/</ref> The Persians placed a certain Christian archpriest named Modestos over the city as governor.<ref>John, prefect of Cyprus, not only saw to the needs of the Persian prisoners but was able to raise enough money to ransom Patriarch Modestos of Jerusalem and to arrange further payment to the Persian conqueror Rasmiozis for sparing the sacred shrines of Christendom in the Holy City</ref> Disillusioned with Persian promises, the Jewish soldiers did not heed Khosrau and continued to encamp outside golden gate.

By 619 CE, the whole of Egypt had passed into Sassanid hands and the Persian armies had reached as far as Tripoli. The Emperor sent an envoy to Khosrau, praying that he was ready to have peace on any terms, but he replied, "I shall not give protection to the emperor until he is brought in chains before me and gives up obedience to his crucified god and adopts submission to the fire god."  But Khosrau, as a gesture to the Romans, withdrew his protection over the Jewish troops encamped outside the Golden Gate.  The Persians turned on their would-be allies. Trapped, the Persians violently slaughtered the Jewish regiment outside Golden Gate and left bodies to rot.<ref>Sefer Zerubavel; In 1969, Jerusalem archaeologist James Fleming was investigating the Eastern wall of the Temple where a Muslim cemetery has long been located. It had rained heavily the night before and the ground remained soggy the next day. As he investigated the area immediately in front of the Golden Gate, the ground beneath his feet gave way and he dropped into a hole about eight feet deep. Fleming found himself "knee-deep in bones" and became suddenly aware he had fallen into a mass burial site. (BAR, Jan./Feb. 1983, p30)</ref>  As many as 20,000 were killed. The Golden Gate was sealed.  In Arabia, the year it was called "the Year of Sorrow".<ref> The "year of sorrow" is traditionally attributed to the Prophet's Uncle, Abu Talib and his wife Khadijah who passed away that year.</ref>  It was during these events that the Prophet had his "Night Journey" vision, flying from Mecca to Jerusalem on a winged animal.

Heraclius, unsatisfied with Persian gestures, went on a rampage killing every Jew found in Israel.  Men, women and children are killed without mercy, sparking the author of "The Prayer of Shimon bar Yochai" to bemoan how quickly the Priests grant forgiveness to the soldiers after committing such attrocities.  By 622 CE, the Roman Emperor Heraclius had assembled an international army against the Persians.  He had retaken Judea from the Sassanid Persians and the Jewish cause looked hopeless.

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[[Category:Islam and Judaism]]
[[Category:The Persian and Islamic conquests of Jerusalem]]