In the reign of Heraclius, a countless host of
Persians--fire-worshippers--under the leadership of Sarbar, poured
like a torrent upon Palestine, and carried their ravages to the gates
of Jerusalem, of which they took possession. Nearly a hundred thousand
Christians perished on this occasion: the great eastern inundations
of hordes of barbarous conquerors, being always effected by numbers,
necessarily produce an amount of carnage in the vanquished which is
sometimes staggering to our belief. But the loss most felt by the
Christians, was that of the holy cross, which the conqueror carried
away with him, in a case sealed with the seal of Zacchariah, then
Patriarch of Jerusalem. The Holy Sepulchre and the churches were given
up to the flames.