The siege of Ctesiphon took place on 27 April 629 between the forces of

Shahrbaraz Shahrbaraz (also spelled Shahrvaraz or Shahrwaraz; New Persian: ) was shah (king) of the Sasanian Empire from 27 April 630 to 9 June 630. He usurped the throne from Ardashir III, and was killed by Iranian nobles after forty days. Before usurp ...

and

Ardashir III Ardashir III (; 62127 April 630) was the Sasanian King of Kings () of Iran from 6 September 628 to 27 April 630. Name ''Ardashir'' is the Middle Persian form of the Old Persian ''Ṛtaxšira'' (also spelled ''Artaxšaçā'', meaning "whose rei ...

. Shahrbaraz managed to capture

Ctesiphon Ctesiphon ( ; , ''Tyspwn'' or ''Tysfwn''; ; , ; Thomas A. Carlson et al., “Ctesiphon — ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢ ” in The Syriac Gazetteer last modified July 28, 2014, http://syriaca.org/place/58.) was an ancient city in modern Iraq, on the eastern ba ...

with a small force, revealing to all the weakness of the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...

Background

In 602, the last Byzantine-Sasanian war began; it was the most devastating of the series of wars fought between the two empires. In 618,

Khosrau II Khosrow II (spelled Chosroes II in classical sources; and ''Khosrau''), commonly known as Khosrow Parviz (New Persian: , "Khosrow the Victorious"), is considered to be the last great Sasanian King of Kings (Shahanshah) of Iran, ruling from 590 ...

sent

to conquer

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

; one year later the

Sasanians The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...

managed to capture

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

, the capital of

Byzantine Egypt Roman Egypt was an imperial province of the Roman Empire from 30 BC to AD 642. The province encompassed most of modern-day Egypt except for the Sinai. It was bordered by the provinces of Crete and Cyrenaica to the west and Judaea, l ...

. After the fall of Alexandria, the Sasanians gradually extended their rule southwards along the

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

. By 621, the province was securely in Sasanian hands. Egypt would remain in Sasanian hands for 10 years, run by general Shahrbaraz from Alexandria. As the new Roman emperor,

Heraclius Heraclius (; 11 February 641) was Byzantine emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the Exarch of Africa, led a revolt against the unpopular emperor Phocas. Heraclius's reign was ...

, reversed the tide and defeated Khosrau II, Shahrbaraz was ordered to evacuate the province, but refused. In the end, Heraclius, trying both to recover Egypt and to sow disunion amongst the Iranians, offered to help Shahrbaraz seize the Sasanian throne for himself. An agreement was reached, and in the spring of 629, the Sasanian troops began leaving Egypt.

Siege

Luckily for Shahrbaraz, a civil war began in 628 that divided the resources of the

, and a devastating plague in the western provinces killed half of the population along with

Kavadh II Kavad II () was the Sasanian King of Kings () of Iran briefly in 628. Born Sheroe, he was the son of Khosrow II () and Maria. With help from different factions of the nobility, Sheroe overthrew his father in a coup d'état in 628. At this junct ...

, weakening the empire. Shahrbaraz marched towards Ctesiphon with 6,000 men, besieged it and then captured it, betraying the Sasanian nobles and killing many of them, including two notable ones named Ardabīl and

Mah-Adhur Gushnasp Mah-Adhur Gushnasp (), also known by the Arabicized form of Mahadharjushnas, was an Iranian nobleman who served as the ''wuzurg framadār'' (vizier or prime minister) of the Sasanian Empire during the reign of the child ruler Ardashir III (r. 628� ...

Aftermath

After capturing Ctesiphon, Shahrbaraz killed

and took the throne for himself. However, his reign did not last long, because he was killed by Sasanian nobles after forty days, and two daughters of

reigned in succession.

References

Sources

* * * *{{cite book, last=Pourshariati, first=Parvaneh, title=Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran, location=London and New York, publisher=I.B. Tauris, year=2008, isbn=978-1-84511-645-3, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I-xtAAAAMAAJ

629 Sieges of Ctesiphon Civil wars in Iran Fall of the Sasanian Empire