Karak Resources Project

The battle of Yarmūk was not the first military conflict between the armies of the Arabs and the Byzantine empire. One of the most important early encounters was the battle of Mu’ta in 629 C.E. (Hijra year 8). The exact site of the battle is unknown, but it has been traditionally associated with the town of Mu’ta on the Karak plateau (map 1). Later Arabic accounts give a variety of reasons of the expedition, but it appears that the Prophet Muhammad dispatched the force of about 3,000 men because he wanted to bring the Arab population of the south of Jordan under his control. We know little about the inhabitants of the Karak plateau at this time, but they probably consisted of both Christians and pagans. By the sixth century most of southern Jordan was probably controlled by Arab allies of the Byzantines known as the Ghassānids. Judging by the account given by the Byzantine historian Theophanes (died ca.818), it was a local official (known by the title of vicarius) named Theodorus who, learning of the planned expedition, gathered the garrisons of local fortresses and led the attack. The Muslim army was routed and three of the leaders, Zayd ibn Hāritha, Ja`far b. Abī Tālib (also known as Ja`far al-Tayyār) and `Abd Allāh ibn Rawāha were killed. The remnants of the army were saved by the leadership of Khālid ibn al-Walīd, a general who was later to become famous for his military successes in Syria.

The shrine of Ja`far – in its present form mainly constructed in the 14th century – still stands in near the modern town of Mu’ta, while a modern mausoleum is to be found in the nearby town of Mazar.

Although this battle led to a heavy defeat for the Arab armies, it nevertheless signalled the wider military intentions of the Muslims. Further major battles occurred in Ajnādayn in southern Palestine and Fihl (ancient Pella) in the Jordan valley. It was the battle of Yarmūk that decisively broke the military strength of the Byzantine empire in Jordan, Palestine and Syria. Within seven years of the defeat at Mu’ta the whole of Jordan was under Muslim control, and this was quickly followed by the fall of Damascus, and the remainder of Syria and Palestine after 637.