In this campaign, the chivalry of Khâlid made such an impression upon Omar that he received him back into favour, and bestowed on him the command of Kinnisrîn. ‘Verily,’ he said, in announcing the appointment, ‘Khâlid hath proved himself a prince among men. Blessed be the memory of Abu Bekr, for verily he knew mankind better than I.’ The reconcilement, however, was not of long duration.[320] CHAPTER XX. CONQUEST OF PALESTINE. A.H. XV. A.D. 636. [Sidenote: Territorial division of Palestine.] _Palestine_, according to the Arabs, is the tract that lies west of the Dead Sea. If a line were drawn from the top of the sea obliquely to Mount Carmel, all to the south of it would be Palestine. The zone immediately to the north of the line, including the Ghôr, or valley watered by the Jordan, is called _Ordonna_, or the province of the _Jordan_. The country still farther north is _Syria_, and that to the east of the Jordan the _Haurân_.[321] [Sidenote: Palestine invaded.] The first inroads of the Arabs were upon the province of the Jordan. Issuing from Arabia, their beaten course, as we have seen, was the highway to Damascus, along the pilgrim route of the present day, to the east of the Dead Sea. The base of operations was, throughout the Syrian campaign, at Jâbia, a town some little distance east of the Sea of Tiberias; from whence, as a rendezvous, columns could be forwarded, by the great military roads, either to Damascus, Báalbek, and the north; or, again, to Tiberias, the Jordan, and Palestine. Soon after the siege of Damascus and battle of Fihl, the greater part of the province of the Jordan fell rapidly under the arms of Amru and Shorahbîl. In Palestine proper, with Egypt in its rear, and Cæsarea open to reinforcements by sea, the Roman power remained, for some time longer, unbroken. The province was heavily garrisoned at Gaza, Ramleh, Jerusalem, and other places. The Patrician Artabûn, commanding in Palestine, divided his army into two parts. One guarded Jerusalem. With the other, taking his stand at Ajnadein, some distance to the west, he sought to hold the invaders advancing from Beisân, in check. This foolhardy general is said to have invited Amru to a conference, having laid an ambush by the way to slay him.[322] But he was outwitted by the wily Arab, and, before long, found himself cut off all round from his communications with Cæsarea, Jerusalem, and Ramleh. [Sidenote: Battle of Ajnadein. A.H. XV. Spring, A.D. 636.] Amru then attacked the Roman army; and a heavy and decisive engagement took place at Ajnadein. Of its details we know little, for we are simply told that ‘the battle of Ajnadein was fierce and bloody as the battle of Wacûsa.’ After great slaughter, Artabûn was driven back upon Jerusalem. Amru encamped on the battle-field, and the way was now clear to the Holy City. But he took the precaution first to secure his rear, still bristling with