The (also spelled ''Yarmuk'', ''Yarmuq'' or ''Hieromyax'') took place between the
Muslim Arab s and the
Byzantine Empire in
636 . It is considered by some historians to have been one of the most significant battles in the history of the world, since it marked the first great wave of
Muslim conquests outside
Arabia , and heralded the rapid advance of
Islam into
Christian Palestine ,
Syria and
Mesopotamia .
The battle took place only four years after the prophet
Muhammad died in
632 . He was succeeded by the first
Caliph ,
Abu Bakr , who sought to bring all the Arabic-speaking peoples under Muslim control. In
633 Muslim armies invaded Syria, and after raids and skirmishing quickly captured
Damascus in
635 . The
Byzantine Emperor Heraclius organized a force of about 70 000 troops on learning of the loss of
Damascus and
Emesa . The advance of this large Byzantine army, caused the Muslims under
Khalid Ibn Walid to abandon the cities, and retreat southward towards the
River Yarmouk , a tributary of the
River Jordan .
Part of the Byzantine force under Theodore the Sacellarius was defeated outside Emesa. The Muslims under Khalid ibn Walid met the other Byzantine commander, Baänes in the valley of the
Yarmouk River in late July. Baänes had only infantry forces to fight against Arab light cavalry, as Theodore had taken most of the cavalry with him. After a month of skirmishes, with no decisive action, the two armies finally confronted each other on
August 20 . According to Muslim accounts, a strong south wind blew clouds of dust into the Christians' faces, and the soldiers wilted under the heat of the August sun. Despite this, Khalid was at first pushed back, but although his army was only about half the size of the Byzantine force, it was more unified than the multinational Imperial Army which contained
Armenia ns,
Slavs and
Ghassanid s as well as regular Byzantine troops. According to Byzantine accounts, the Muslims successfully bribed elements in the Byzantine army to defect, this task being made easier by the fact that the Arab Christians,
Ghassanids , had not been paid for several months and whose
Monophysite Christianity was persecuted by the
Orthodox Byzantines. Some 12,000 Ghassanid Arabs switched sides. The Christian advance on the right flank, towards one of the camps containing the Arab women and families, was finally repulsed with the aid of some of the Arab women. Eventually renewed Muslim counter-attacks broke through the Byzantine lines, and a rout ensued. Most of Baänes men were either encircled and massacred, or driven to their deaths over a steep ravine. As a result of this, all of
Syria lay open to the Muslim Arabs. Damascus was recaptured by the Muslims within a month, and
Jerusalem fell shortly after.
When news of the disaster reached Heraclius at Antioch, it is said that he bade a last farewell to Syria, saying, "Farewell Syria, my fair province. Thou art an enemy's now"; and left
Antioch for
Constantinople . Heraclius began to concentrate his remaining forces on a defense of
Egypt instead.
- ''Yarmuk 636 A.D.'', The Muslim Conquest of Syria, David Nicolle; Osprey Campaign Series #31, Osprey Publishing, 1994.
- Kaegi, Walter E. ''Byzantium and the Early Islamic Conquests'', Cambridge, 1992.
