Page 62 - A Walk to Caesarea / Joseph Patrich

48 Historical Review

The Muslim siege and conquest of Caesarea is described in a variety of chronicles
in Greek, Syriac, Arabic, and even Ethiopic. From a review of all the sources one
may propose the following sequence of events: in 634, an ambush defeating Sergius,
the patrikios of Caesarea and dux Palaestina, who led a combined Roman-Samaritan
force; that same year, Romans and Samaritans (apparently members of the upper
class and the wealthy) from the cities and villages along the coastal plain felt
threatened and decided to flee to Byzantium. The Samaritans left their property
with their high priest, cAqbu¯n ben Elcazar, in Bayt S. a¯ma; in October 640 or at the
beginning of 641 Caesarea was conquered by Muca¯wiya, the governor of Syria, in
time the caliph who founded the Ummayad Dynasty.

Muslim Conquest of Caesarea (October 640 or beginning of 641): continuation of the
Samaritan chronicle of Abu l-Fath.

"[The Muslims] set camp against it [Caesarea], and besieged

it for six years before they conquered it. Now the Byzantines

were making use of the sea before the Muslims were

acquainted with it. In the fortress of Caesarea, at its north,

in the northwest corner, there was a small gate which was

hidden from view. The Byzantines used to come and go

through it without the Muslims knowing. The Byzantines

forgot and left it open, and a dog came out of it. When [the

Muslims] saw it, they followed it to the gate without raising

the alarm. They rode in, and there was killing in the city.

They continued killing for a whole day in the lower market

before it was known in the upper [market], because it was

built in the form of one city above another. Whoever was

able to flee fled by sea, whoever opposed them they killed,

and whoever submitted to them was unharmed. The city

was captured, and they inhabited it. After they captured Fig. 54
it, every place else stood in awe of them" (Trans. Milkah A blocked small wicket in the northern wall of the
Levy-Rubin). Byzantine city

According to the Samaritan source cited here, a stray dog revealed the small door in
the wall to the Muslims (Fig. 54). A different, Muslim source, tells that a treacherous
Jew of Caesarea, whose name was Yusuf, showed the Muslims a hidden passage
way – apparently the tunnel of the Lower Level Aqueduct – thus enabling them to
invade the city secretly. There are other traditions as well. According to one source,
the number of victims killed reached 7,000, while another relates that 4,000 captives
were sent to cUmar ibn-al-Khattab in Medina. The children were scattered among
orphanages in the city, and others became clerks and artisans for the Muslims. The
exiled captives probably belonged to the educated and craftsmen circles of Caesarea,