In 694/95, Yahya was appointed governor of Medina.[8] He was recalled to Damascus in the following year,[2] during which he led a summer campaign against the Byzantines in the general vicinity of Malatya and al-Massisa. In 697/98, he led a campaign against the Byzantine fortress at Marj al-Shahm.[9] This may have occurred in 698/699.[1] Yahya died prior to 700.[1] His tombstone, which in Kufic Arabic script reads "May my Lord have mercy on Yahya ibn al-Hakam and forgive him" was found in Katzrin in the Golan Heights.[10]