62 Third Historical Accident, 1258 The Mongol Shock (Could the Jews be farmers in the long-run ) The Mongols invaded Persia (earliest 1220) and Mesopotamia in 1256-1260 and destroyed the urban economy Because of massacres, starvation, epidemics, total population was reduced by half Jewish population shrank from about 800 thousands to nearly 200-300 thousands
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