sides of the Yarmuk for some weeks. Futile negotiations were carried on. Perhaps both sides awaited reinforcements and feared to risk attack. Apparently the Greeks at length took the offensive. The Arab victory was of supreme importance for the future of Islam and therefore for the history of the world. Unfortunately the course of the battle cannot be ascertained in detail. Certainly the Moslems were not greatly superior in point of numbers. During one phase of the struggle the Greeks appear to have been within sight of victory. But the composite character of their army was a disadvantage. Their leaders were at variance and perhaps their full force was not employed. Although most of the Arabs fought on foot they had a distinguished cavalry leader (Khalid ibn Walid), who seems to have dealt the decisive blow. A sand-storm blowing in the faces of the Greeks may have turned the scale against them (20th August, 636).
After this battle Heraclius abandoned Syria. Probably his resources were exhausted by the Persian war, so that he could not do otherwise. The fate of the country therefore depended upon the attitude of its own population. Jews, Samaritans, and Christians all welcomed the Arabs as their deliverers from the persecution and oppression of the 'orthodox' Greeks. Naturally the Arab tribes of the eastern frontier were ready to throw in their lot with the new-comers. Not a single Syrian town was captured by force of arms. Sooner or later they all accepted the generous terms of the Arab chiefs. Jerusalem and Caesarea were strongholds of Greek sentiment and power. They submitted in the years 639 and 640 respectively, and, after the surrender of Caesarea, Gaza and Ascalon made their submission.
Palestine under the Omayyad and ʾAbbasid Khalifs.—For a century after the Arab conquest Palestine enjoyed almost unbroken peace within its borders. From 661 till 750 it was ruled from Damascus by the Omayyad Khalifs, and, after their overthrow by the ʾAbbasids (so called on account of their descent from the Prophet's paternal uncle
