The Sasanian conquest of Jerusalem occurred after a brief siege of the city by the Sasanian military in 614 CE, and was a significant event in the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 that took place after the Sasanian king Khosrow II appointed his spahbod (army chief), Shahrbaraz, to take control of the Byzantine-ruled areas of the Near East for the Sasanian Persian Empire. Following the Sasanian victory in Antioch a year earlier, Shahrbaraz had successfully conquered Caesarea Maritima, the administrative capital of the Byzantine province of Palaestina Prima. By this time, the grand inner harbour had silted up and was useless; however, the Byzantine emperor Anastasius I Dicorus had reconstructed the outer harbour, and Caesarea Maritima remained an important maritime city. The city and its harbour gave the Sasanian Empire strategic access to the Mediterranean Sea. Following the outbreak of a Jewish revolt against the Byzantine emperor Heraclius, the Sasanian Persians were joined by the Jewish leaders Nehemiah ben Hushiel and Benjamin of Tiberias, who enlisted and armed Jewish rebels from Tiberias, Nazareth and the mountain cities of the Galilee as well as from other parts of the southern Levant, after which they marched on the city of Jerusalem with the Sasanian military. Some 20,000–26,000 Jewish rebels joined the war against the Byzantine Empire. The joint Jewish–Sasanian force later captured Jerusalem; this occurred either without resistance or after a siege and breaching of the wall with artillery, depending on the source. Background Jews and Samaritans were persecuted frequently by the Byzantines resulting in numerous revolts. Byzantine religious propaganda developed strong anti-Jewish elements. In several cases Jews tried to help support the Sasanian advance. A pogrom in Antioch in 608 would lead to a Jewish revolt in 610 which was crushed. Jews also revolted in both Tyre and Acre in 610. The Jews of Tyre were massacred in reprisal. Unlike in earlier times when Jews had supported Christians in the fight against Shapur I, the Byzantines had now become viewed as oppressors. Following the Bar Kokhba revolt in 135 CE Jews were prohibited from entering the city. Constantine allowed Jews to enter for one day each year, during the holiday of Tisha B'Av. In 438 CE the Empress Eudocia removed the ban on Jews entering the city. However, following violent Christian opposition the ban was reinstated. The ban on settlement was maintained until the Arab conquest, except during the reign of the