Muslim conquest of the Levant
Muslim armies enter Byzantine Syria and Palestine; Khalid reinforces them from Iraq
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Original prompt & settings (JSON) ↗The often-repeated 8,000-man army dissolves under scrutiny into reports ranging from a few hundred to 10,000.
Four forces, four frontier districts
In the opening phase of 634, Abu Bakr dispatched separate forces toward Byzantine territory: Amr ibn al-As in southern Palestine, Shurahbil ibn Hasana in Jordan, Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan around the Balqa and Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah in the Golan. Fred Donner puts the combined strength at about 24,000.
The sources do not establish a single overall commander, nor agree on the order in which the commanders departed or whether Abu Ubayda went with the first dispatch. Donner finds a general consensus only around early spring 634; the armies may have set out in late 633.
The first fighting, near Gaza
Amr’s force reached Dathin and Badan near Gaza. When negotiations with Gaza’s military commander failed, a skirmish followed and the Muslim force prevailed.
Abu Bakr then ordered Khalid ibn al-Walid to leave his base at al-Hira in Iraq and reinforce the armies already campaigning in Syria.
A famous march with no agreed map
Khalid emerged near Damascus and joined the other Muslim armies around Bosra. His route and chronology cannot be reconstructed securely — scholars cannot choose confidently between itineraries involving Palmyra and Dumat al-Jandal, and medieval chroniclers appear to have moved incidents from his earlier Iraqi campaigns into the story.
Reported strengths for the reinforcement run to 500, 800, 3,000, 7,000, 9,000 or 10,000, with no secure figure. His departure also did not mean Iraq was finished: Sasanian forces soon recovered ground and defeated a Muslim army at the Battle of the Bridge.
Sources
Researched 23 Aug 2026 3 sources 2 audit passes Date disputed
How this was checked
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Date disputed. Sources disagree about when this happened.
What the sources leave uncertain
- The opening armies may have departed in late 633 or early 634; Donner finds a general consensus only around early spring 634.
- The sources conflict over the order in which the commanders departed, whether Abu Ubayda accompanied the first dispatch, and who—if anyone—held overall command.
- Accounts of Khalid's route disagree between itineraries involving Palmyra and Dumat al-Jandal and incorporate incidents probably belonging to earlier Iraqi campaigns.
- The claim that Khalid brought exactly 8,000 men is not supported by a stable source tradition.