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OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 435 They consulted the caliph whether they should march to Caesarea or Jerusalem ; and the advice of Ali determined the immediate siege of the latter. To a profane eye, Jerusalem was the first or second capital of Palestine ; but, after Mecca and Medina, it was revered and visited by the devout Moslems, as the temple of the Holy Land which had been sanctified by the revelation of Moses, of Jesus, and of Mahomet himself. The son of Abu Sophian was sent with five thousand Arabs to try the first ex- periment of surprise or treaty ; but on the eleventh day the town was invested by the whole force of Abu Obeidah. He addressed the customary summons to the chief commanders and people of Mlia.^^ " Health and happiness to every one that follows the right way ! We require of you to testify that there is but one God and that Mahomet is his apostle. If you refuse this, consent to pay tribute, and be under us forthwith. Other- wise I shall bring men against you who love death better than you do the drinking of wine or eating hogs' flesh. Nor will I ever stir from you, if it please God, till I have destroyed those that fight for you, and made slaves of your children." But the city was defended on every side by deep valleys and steep ascents ; since the invasion of Syria, the walls and towers had been anxiously restored ; the bravest of the fugitives of Yermuk had stopped in the nearest place of refuge ; and in the defence of the sepulchre of Christ the natives and strangers might feel some sparks of the enthusiasm which so fiercely glowed in the bosoms of the Saracens. The siege of Jerusalem lasted four months ; not a day was lost without some action of sally or assault ; the military engines incessantly played from the ram- parts ; and the inclemency of the winter was still more painful and destructive to the Arabs. The Christians yielded at length to the perseverance of the besiegers. The patriarch Sophronius appeared on the walls, and by the voice of an interpreter de- manded a conference. After a vain attempt to dissuade the lieutenant of the caliph from his impious enterprise, he proposed, in the name of the people, a fair capitulation, with this extra- ordinary clause, that the articles of security should be ratified by the authority and presence of Omar himself. The question 91 In the name of the city, the profane prevailed over the sacred ; Jerusalem was known to the devout Christians (Euseb. de Martyr. Palest, c. xi. ) ; but the legal and popular appellation of .-^lia (the colony of /Elius Hadrianus) has passed from the Romans to the Arabs (Reland, Palestin. torn. i. p. 207, torn. ii. p. 835 ; d'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, Cods, p. 269, Ilia, p. 420). The epithet o^ Al Cods, the Holy, is used as the proper name of Jerusalem.