Реферат: Islamic Conquests Up To 700 Ad

Byzantines than there were for the Muslims at Yarmuk.? Similarly, at the decisive battle of Qadisiyya, the Persians,

under the command of Rustam, were numerically superior to the Arabs.? Evidence is sparse and unreliable, but the

way in which the Muslims consistently defeated both empires suggests that in

military terms they must have had some advantage.? Whether this advantage was due to intelligent strategy, religious

fanaticism, a crop of talented generals or better communications is in some

ways irrelevant.? It would be extremely

hard not to suggest that the Arabs had some kind of military advantage.The Byzantine entry into

Ctesiphon in 628 is a false indicator of Byzantine strength.? The Persians were suffering from a series of

internal crisis?s and the Byzantines ultimate victory was largely a result of

Turkish assistance.? Most significantly

the entry into Ctesiphon was the culmination of two decades of damaging warfare

with the Persians.? It was remarkable

that Heraclius managed to raise the necessary resources to launch his

counter-offensive against the Turks.? At

the time the Persians occupied large parts of Palestine and Syria and the imperial

authorities faced a financial crisis.?

The melting down of bronze statues and the removal of plate from

churches highlight the financial plight of the empire.? Similarly the need for Turkish allies shows

us the severe recruitment crisis faced by Heraclius.? Heraclius? remarkable comeback was achieved at a cost.? Generations of civilians in Syria and

Palestine had grown up without imperial rule.?

The populations of these important border lands were alienated from the

empie.? The religious divisions that

plagued the near east can only have intensified this alienation.? Whilst we must not suggest that the division

between Monophytism and imperial orthodoxy encouraged active resistance to the

Byzantines, it cannot have encouraged passionate resistance to Muslim

invaders.? In Egypt however the

religious divisions were more pronounced.?

These divisions, which were inextricably linked with cultural divisions,

created a popular attitude that was ambivalent at best to Byzantine rule.? The situation in Egypt was not helped by the