Siege of Jerusalem

Jerusalem was besieged and captured by the Rashidun army in 637 CE during the Islamic invasion of Byzantine Empire, shortly after the decisively defeating Byzantine army at the Battle of Yarmouk. Rashidun army under Abu Ubaidah besieged Jerusalem in November 636. After a prolong siege of six months, Patriarch Sophronius agreed to surrender the city but only to caliph himself. In April 637, Caliph Umar personally came to Jerusalem to receive its s... more

Jerusalem was besieged and captured by the Rashidun army in 637 CE during the Islamic invasion of Byzantine Empire, shortly after the decisively defeating Byzantine army at the Battle of Yarmouk. Rashidun army under Abu Ubaidah besieged Jerusalem in November 636. After a prolong siege of six months, Patriarch Sophronius agreed to surrender the city but only to caliph himself. In April 637, Caliph Umar personally came to Jerusalem to receive its submission. The Muslim conquest of Jerusalem solidified the Arab control over Palestine, which would not again be threatened until the Crusades. The city of Jerusalem came to be regarded as a holy site by Islam as well as the earlier major religions of Christianity and Judaism. After Muslim conquest of Jerusalem, it was first time after nearly 500 years of expulsion from holy land that Jews were allowed to live and practice their religion freely in Jerusalem by Caliph Umar. Jerusalem was the capital of Byzantine province of Palestine. Just... less