Factoid of the week

The Persians invaded the Roman (Byzantine) empire and sacked Jerusalem and killed most of the Christians there in 614, something that is mentioned in the Koran.

and this military history site adds:



When the Persian conquest of Palestine took place in 614 CE, no one could have foreseen the long range consequences of this event. However, with hindsight it becomes evident that this was a major turning point in the history of the Near East. The brutalities of the invading armies, involving large scale damage to churches and a mass killing of the local Christian population, was undoubtedly one of the causes for the rapid Muslim conquests, twenty years later.

Source: http://www.defence.pk/forums/military-history-strategy/174340-persian-conquest-jerusalem.html#ixzz2PSskNdZW

more about the conquest and the conquerer at Wikipedia.

 

No, the Persians were Zorastrian, not Muslims. Like a lot of the Middle East, the wars are about the clash of empires and ethnic groups, not religion.

 

archeologists are sceptical, as usual...

mainly book marked for later reading since I wasn't aware of the incident...