The following paper attempts to periodize the end of late antique period in the Near East (628 to 651 CE). The fall of the Sasanians has been usually discussed in light of the devastating wars with the Byzantines, followed by the rapid Arab Muslim conquest of the Near East. Recently, divisions within Iranian families of the Parthian and Persian houses have been suggested as a cause of the decline and fall of the Sasanians. This essay provides a periodization which could explain the stages and ways in which there was a collapse of the Sasanians before the Muslim conquest. It is proposed that there were three major period in the late Sasanian history: I) Fratricide; II) Civil War and the Waning of Political Legitimacy; and III) Wandering Kingship. The first period begins with the death of Khusro II from 628 to the rule of Kawad II and his son who killed all his brothers and legitimate heirs to the throne by 630 CE. The second period begins with the rule of Queen Boran to the rule of Yazdgerd III (629-631 CE) This period is characterized by simultaneous rule of kings, queens and other provincial contenders; and finally the third period is the time of Yazdgerd III (632-651 CE) when the king moved from city to city trying to gain assistance from the local lords and provincial governors.