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Palaestina Prima or Palaestina I was a Byzantine province that existed from the late 4th century until the Muslim conquest of the Levant in the 630s, in the region of Palestine.; ; It included the historical regions of Judea, Samaria and the coastal plain. The province was temporarily lost to the Sasanian Empire (Persian Empire) in 614, but re-conquered in 628.
Despite Christian domination, until the 4th and 5th centuries developed some autonomy in the hill country of Samaria, a move that gradually escalated into a series of open revolts. The four major Samaritan Revolts during that period caused a near extinction of the Samaritan community as well as significant Christian losses. In the late 6th century, Byzantines and their Christian Ghassanid allies took a clear upper hand in the struggle.
In 602, the final war between the Byzantine Empire and its eastern rival the Sasanid Empire (Persian Empire) broke out. In 613 the Persians invaded the Levant and the Jews revolted against the Byzantines, hoping to secure autonomy for Jerusalem.; The following year Persian-Jewish forces captured Caesarea and Jerusalem, destroying its churches, massacring its Christian population, and taking the True Cross and other relics as trophies to the Persian capital Ctesiphon.; ; ; The event sent shock-waves through the Christian world. Since the days of Constantine the Great, Jerusalem had been the emblematic capital of Christianity and the symbolic center of the world. The Jews gained dominance over Jerusalem, but the Persians found it more expedient to side with the Christians who constituted the overwhelming majority of the population and in 617 the Persians returned the city to them.; ; ; Meanwhile, the Roman emperor Heraclius began a successful counter-offensive. By 627/8 he was advancing into the Persian heartland. The Persians sued for peace and had to return the Roman provinces they had captured and the stolen relics. In March 629, Heraclius triumphantly returned the True Cross to Jerusalem.; Heraclius had promised the Jews pardon for their revolt. However, at the prompting of the Christian leadership, Heraclius went back on his promise. The Jews were expelled from Jerusalem and thousands were massacred.;
Byzantine control of the province was again and irreversibly lost in 636, during the Muslim conquest of Syria.
Greek-speaking Byzantine Christians and Samaritans dominated the central regions of Palaestina Prima, while Christian Ghassanid Arabs and Nabataean Arabs dominated Palaestina Secunda and Tertia respectively. The Samaritan revolts in the 5th and 6th centuries, and the subsequent suppression of their communities, took its toll on their numbers. Many also converted to Christianity.
According to the 6th century hagiography Life of Barsauma, about a wandering monophysite monk, the Jews together with the pagans, constituted the majority in Palestine in the 5th century. However, some historians have questioned that claim.
Depending on the time, either a notable Byzantine Empire or Sassanid Empire military presence would be noted.
Variants of the Mosaic religion were still at large from the 4th until the 6th centuries, practiced by ethnoreligious communities of Samaritans and Jews. However, with the decline of the Samaritan and Jewish populations through war, emigration and conversion during the 6th and 7th century, the religion declined as well. By the late Byzantine period, fewer synagogues could be found and many were destroyed in violent events. The city of Hebron is notable in being one of the last Jewish cities remaining (although the Cave of the Patriarchs had been converted into a Church).
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