Yezid 4 | Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire |
| Sex | M |
| Floruit | M VIII |
| Dates | 744 (taq) / 744 (ob.) |
| Variant Names | Izid; Yzyd |
| Religion | Muslim |
| Ethnicity | Arab |
| Locations | Mesopotamia; Armenia; Egypt; Persia; Damascus; Damascus (residence) |
| Titles | Caliph (office) |
| Textual Sources | Chronicon Anonymi ad annum 1234 pertinens, ed. and tr. J.-B. Chabot, I = CSCO 81-82 (Paris, 1916-20), II = CSCO 109 (Louvain, 1937) (chronicle); Michael the Syrian, Chronicle, ed. and tr. J.-B. Chabot, La chronique de Michel le Syrien (Paris, 1899-1904) (chronicle); Theophanes Confessor, Chronographia, ed. C. de Boor, 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1883-85, repr. Hildesheim/NewYork, 1980); tr. and comm. C. Mango and R. Scott, The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor, Oxford 1997 (chronicle) |
Nicknamed Ἰζὶδ ὁ Λειψός, Yezid 4 became caliph in succession to al-Walid II (Walid 2) (καὶ κρατεῖ τῆς ἀρχῆς Ἰζὶδ ὁ Λειψός); he came to power in Damascus and received recognition there and in Persia and Egypt; he was opposed however by Marwan 2 in Armenia and Mesopotamia; Yezid 4 died after a reign of only five months and was succeeded at Damascus by his brother Abraim (Ibrahim 1) (ὁ Ἰζὶδ καταλείψας Ἀβραΐμ, τὸν ἑαυτοῦ ἀδελφόν, ἐπὶ τῆς Δαμασκοῦ διάδοχον): Theoph. AM 6235.
Yezid 4 was half-brother of Abbas (Abas 2) and as the son of a freeborn woman was eligible to become caliph (unlike Abas 2); he conspired with Abas 2 to overthrow and murder Walid 2, having first seized Damascus and all the treasures that were stored there: Chron. 1234, §169 (pp. 315-316). Civil wars broke out, but after only five months Yezid 4 fell ill and died: Chron. 1234, §§170-171 (pp. 316-317). He was caliph in 744.
Yezid 4 was the brother of Walid 2, whom he overthrew and killed and succeeded as caliph; after five months he fell ill and died, and was succeeded by his brother Ibrahim 1, who died after a few days: Mich. Syr. II 502, 505.
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