Persian/Jewish Massacre of Christians

The Sasanian Persian conquest of Jerusalem in 614 CE

According to most sources (especially Christian ones), when the Persians finally broke in, a large-scale massacre followed. Tens of thousands of Christians were killed (estimates in medieval sources range from 57,000 to 90,000). Crucially, the Persians (with help from local Jewish forces) seized the True Cross—the most sacred relic in Christendom, believed to be the actual cross of Jesus’ crucifixion—which had been kept in Jerusalem. It was sent to the Sasanian capital Ctesiphon as a trophy.

Jewish forces from Galilee and elsewhere joined the Persians during the siege and in the subsequent violence against the Christian population.

For a brief period (roughly three years, 614–617), the Persians allowed the Jews to govern Jerusalem and even to begin rebuilding the Temple Mount