The old picture of a violent and sudden conquest of the eastern provinces of the Byzantine Empire by Muslim armies must be rethought, especially in light of the significant amount of archaeological evidence now available. This shows, first, that Byzantium was not in decline at the time of Muhammad; instead, the economic and cultural life of Syria and Palestine, including much of modern Jordan, was flourishing. Indeed, there were well-established Christian and Jewish settlements in Arabia itself. Second, there are many indications that life went on without serious disruption for several decades, even after the establishment of the Umayyad caliphate. Large-scale buildings continued to be erected by Christians, as at Madaba, and papyri from Nessana show how different communities coexisted on a daily basis. We must conclude, then, that the tales of violence and destruction in non-Muslim sources are often exaggerated, and that they are not good evidence for the actual state of affairs.