Agiptus | |||||||||
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Province of the Sasanian Empire | |||||||||
![]() Map of the Diocese of Egypt, which was controlled by the Sasanians. | |||||||||
Capital | Alexandria | ||||||||
Historical era | Late Antiquity | ||||||||
• Established | 618 | ||||||||
628 | |||||||||
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Today part of | Egypt Libya |
History of Egypt |
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Sasanian Egypt (known in Middle Persian sources as Agiptus) refers to the brief rule of Egypt and parts of Libya by the Sasanian Empire, following the Sasanian conquest of Egypt. It lasted from 618 to 628, until the Sasanian general Shahrbaraz made an alliance with the Roman Byzantine emperor Heraclius to have control over Egypt returned to him.
Egypt was conquered in 618 by the prominent Sasanian military leader Shahrbaraz, who governed the province briefly until he appointed Shahralanyozan as the new governor. Sahralanyozan held the title of karframan-idar ("steward of the court") and was the most powerful Iranian in Egypt. Besides being governor of Egypt, he was also the tax-collector of the province, and most likely resided in Faiyum. [1] In Middle Persian texts, the country is known as Agiptus and is described as follows: agiptus būm kē misr-iz xwānēnd 'the land of Agiptus which is also called Misr'. [a] The Nile is termed as rōd ī nīl. Several cities of the country are mentioned, such as Touphis, Kynon, Babylon, including some others, which displays the subjugation of the Sasanians in the area. [2]
Although Egypt suffered much damage during its invasion by the Sasanians, after the conquest was complete, peace, toleration and rehabilitation followed. Furthermore, the Sasanians retained the same administrative structure as the Byzantine Empire. [3] The Sasanians did not try to force the population of Egypt to renounce their religion and practise Zoroastrianism. They did, however, persecute the Byzantine Church whilst supporting the Monophysite Church. The Copts took advantage of the circumstances and obtained control over many of the Orthodox churches. [4] There were numerous Sasanian stations in the country, which included Elephantine, Herakleia, Oxyrhynchus, Kynon, Theodosiopolis, Hermopolis, Antinopolis, Kosson, Lykos, Diospolis, and Maximianopolis. The assignment of those stations was to collect taxes and get supplies for the military. Several papyrus papers mentions the collection of taxes by the Sasanians, which shows that they used the same method of the Byzantines for collecting taxes. [5] Another papyrus mentions an Iranian and his sister, which indicates that some families had settled in Egypt along with the soldiers. [6]
In 626, Shahrbaraz quarrelled with the Sasanian king Khosrow II (r. 590–628) and mutinied against him. It is not known whom Sahralanzoyan supported, since he is not mentioned in any source thereafter and Shahrbaraz is described as the ruler of the province. [7] Following the end of the Byzantine–Sasanian war in 628, by 630/1, Egypt had returned to Byzantine hands. [8] [7] Although Sasanian rule in Egypt wasn't long compared to that of the Byzantines, some marks of their influences is still present today; the Coptic New Year celebration called Nayrouz, where martyrs and confessors are honoured, stems from the Iranian New Year celebration Nowruz. [9] Another commemoration which is related to the Sasanians is the Holy Cross Day, that celebrates the discovery of the cross that Jesus was crucified on and its homecoming to Jerusalem in 628. Furthermore, Sasanian influence on Coptic art is also apparent. [10]
Date | Governor |
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618-621 | Shahrbaraz |
621-626(?) | Sahralanyozan |
626(?)-628 | Shahrbaraz |
Kavad I was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 488 to 531, with a two or three-year interruption. A son of Peroz I, he was crowned by the nobles to replace his deposed and unpopular uncle Balash.
Kavad II was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran briefly in 628.
Khosrow II, commonly known as Khosrow Parviz, is considered to be the last great Sasanian king (shah) of Iran, ruling from 590 to 628, with an interruption of one year.
Hormizd-Ardashir, better known by his dynastic name of Hormizd I, was the third Sasanian King of Kings (shahanshah) of Iran, who ruled from May 270 to June 271. He was the third-born son of Shapur I, under whom he was governor-king of Armenia, and also took part in his father's wars against the Roman Empire. Hormizd I's brief time as ruler of Iran was largely uneventful. He built the city of Hormizd-Ardashir, which remains a major city today in Iran. He promoted the Zoroastrian priest Kartir to the rank of chief priest (mowbed) and gave the Manichaean prophet Mani permission to continue his preaching.
Bahram IV, was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 388 to 399. He was likely the son and successor of Shapur III.
Ardashir III was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 6 September 628 to 27 April 630.
Shahrbaraz, 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 usurping the Sasanian throne he was a spahbed (general) under Khosrow II (590–628). He is furthermore noted for his important role during the climactic Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, and the events that followed afterwards.
Boran was Sasanian queen (banbishn) of Iran from 630 to 632, with an interruption of some months. She was the daughter of king Khosrow II and the Byzantine princess Maria. She is the second of only three women to rule in Iranian history, the others being Musa of Parthia, and Boran's sister Azarmidokht.
Rostam Farrokhzād was a dynast from the Ispahbudhan family, who served as the spahbed of the northwestern quarter (kust) of Adurbadagan under the Sasanian monarchs Boran and Yazdegerd III. Rostam is remembered as a historical figure, a character in the Persian epic poem Shahnameh, and as a touchstone of many Iranian nationalists.
Azarmidokht was Sasanian queen (banbishn) of Iran from 630 to 631. She was the daughter of king (shah) Khosrow II. She was the second Sasanian queen; her sister Boran ruled before and after her. Azarmidokht came to power in Iran after her cousin Shapur-i Shahrvaraz was deposed by the Parsig faction, led by Piruz Khosrow, who helped Azarmidokht ascend the throne. Her rule was marked by an attempt of a nobleman and commander Farrukh Hormizd to marry her and come to power. After the queen's refusal, he declared himself an anti-king. Azarmidokht had him killed as a result of a successful plot. She was, however, killed herself shortly afterwards by Rostam Farrokhzad in retaliation for his father's death. She was succeeded by Boran.
The Sasanian conquest of Egypt took place between 618 and 621 CE, when the Sasanian Persian army defeated the Byzantine forces in Egypt and occupied the province. The fall of Alexandria, the capital of Roman Egypt, marked the first and most important stage in the Sasanian campaign to conquer this rich province, which eventually fell completely under Persian rule within a couple of years. An account of the event is given by A. J. Butler.
Farrukhzad was an Iranian aristocrat from the House of Ispahbudhan and the founder of the Bavand dynasty, ruling from 651 to 665. Originally a powerful servant of the Sasanian king Khosrow II, he, along with several other powerful aristocrats made a conspiracy against the latter and ended his tyrannical rule. They thereafter put Khosrow's son Kavadh II on the throne, whose rule lasted only a few months, before he was killed by a plague, being succeeded by his son Ardashir III, who was only after one year murdered by the rebellious former Sasanian army chief (spahbed) Shahrbaraz, who usurped the throne.
Farrukh Hormizd or Farrokh Hormizd, also known as Hormizd V, was an Iranian prince, who was one of the leading figures in Sasanian Iran in the early 7th-century. He served as the military commander (spahbed) of northern Iran. He later came in conflict with the Iranian nobility, "dividing the resources of the country". He was later killed by Siyavakhsh in a palace plot on the orders of Azarmidokht after he proposed to her in an attempt to usurp the Sasanian throne. He had two children, Rostam Farrokhzad and Farrukhzad.
The siege of Ctesiphon took place on 27 April 629 between the forces of Shahrbaraz and Ardashir III. Shahrbaraz managed to capture Ctesiphon with a small force, revealing to all the weakness of the Sasanian Empire.
Piruz Khosrow, also known as Piruzan or Firuzan, was a powerful Persian aristocrat who was the leader of the Parsig (Persian) faction that controlled much of the affairs of the Sasanian Empire during the Sasanian civil war of 628-632. He was killed at the Battle of Nahāvand in 642.
The Sasanian civil war of 628–632, also known as the Sasanian Interregnum was a conflict that broke out after the execution of the Sasanian king Khosrow II between the nobles of different factions, notably the Parthian (Pahlav) faction, the Persian (Parsig) faction, the Nimruzi faction, and the faction of general Shahrbaraz. Rapid turnover of rulers and increasing provincial landholder power further diminished the empire. Over a period of four years and fourteen successive kings, the Sasanian Empire weakened considerably, and the power of the central authority passed into the hands of its generals, contributing to its fall.
Shahralanyozan was an Iranian officer who served as the military governor of Sasanian Egypt during the 620s.
The Sasanian navy was the naval force of the Sasanian Empire active since its establishment. It operated in the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, and briefly in the Mediterranean Sea.
Pars was a Sasanian province in Late Antiquity, which almost corresponded to the present-day province of Fars. The province bordered Khuzestan in the west, Kirman in the east, Spahan in the north, and Mazun in the south.
Khuzistan or Huzistan was a Sasanian province in Late Antiquity, which almost corresponded to the present-day province of Khuzestan. Its capital was Gundeshapur. During the late Sasanian era, the province was included in the southern quadrant (kust) of Nemroz.