Deviations in my copies of the Annals of Eutychius (ca. 900)

I’ve started to look at the second big Arabic Christian history, the Annals of Eutychius, or Sa`id ibn Bitriq as he was known to taxi-drivers.  I have the CSCO edition and translation here, and also an Italian translation. 

The thing is, the Italian translation is a lot bigger than the German one.  For the section that starts with the 11th year of Heraclius, the German runs out after a dozen or two pages.  Most of it is concerned with the early days of Islam; then there is a sudden jump without explanation and two pages on events a century later.  By contrast the Italian has section after section on the period in between.  Which is right?

Only one way to find out; hunt through the verbose introductions.  Hate that.

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Sbath project – sample of Hunain gets the raspberry

An unexpected problem; the sample of a translation of Hunain ibn Ishaq has got the raspberry from the person I sent it to for checking.  “Make sure the person you use has a solid training in classical Arabic”, I am admonished.  Actually I think the translator has.  Have sent the comments to the translator, and am awaiting the explosion!

Meanwhile I have offered a commission for treatises 15-19 (a grand total of 12 pages!) to an old and trusted translator.  But with the new term coming up, now may not be the best time.

I’ve really enjoyed being on holiday this summer.  How rarely can one take more than a week or two off at this time, as I have been able to do?  Back to work on Tuesday.  A little unenthusiastic, as is usual after a holiday. Also there is no air-conditioning in its offices, except for the offices of the directors. Still, it will be good to get back in the routine.

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Hunain ibn Ishaq translation now underway

I’ve found a translator and commissioned a translation of the work of Hunain ibn Ishaq, the 10th century Christian translator of scientific works who worked for the Abbassid caliphs, plus a commentary on it by a Coptic author.  The two make up 20 pages in Paul Sbath’s Vingt traites, although for the Hunain work there is a critical text by Samir Khalil Samir which we’ll use instead.  It’s about valid and invalid ways to prove your religion is true.  The result will be public domain and posted on the web so we can all access it.

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From my diary

To Cambridge, to obtain a photocopy of Sbath’s Vingt traites.  The copiers double as scanners, and I tried to scan rather than photocopy but they defeated me.  Various puzzled-looking people were trying to work out how to charge their cards for the photocopier.  So I now have a pile of photocopies, and a PDF of Sbath.

Item 20 in the collection looks interesting: “20.  Of the way in which the truth of religion should be understood, by Hunain ibn Ishaq, Nestorian physician and philosopher, died 873.  Followed by the explication of this treatise by Yohanna ben Mina, a coptic writer of the 12th century.”  I might try commissioning a translation of that.  It’s 20 pages,  I think.

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Thinking about Sbath’s “twenty philosophical and theological treatises”

A few weeks ago I had a gentleman write to me offering his services to translate some Arabic stuff, for money.  His CV on the face of it seemed good, and I was wondering  what I could offer him to do. So I enquired in the North American Society for Arabic Christian Studies group whether anyone knew of any short but interesting Arabic Christian texts that might usefully be translated.

A reply popped up a couple of days ago, from Sasha Trieger, suggesting some of the treatises published by Paul Sbath in Cairo in 1929 as Vingt traités philosophiques et theologiques (Cairo, 1929). There is a French introduction and notes, but apparently few have been translated into any other language. 

Of course the first problem is simply to get hold of the book.  There are three copies in the UK, so I learn from COPAC.  One is in Cambridge.  Well, I could go there.  Unfortunately they have closed their car park next week for resurfacing, which makes it difficult; other car parks charge meanly high prices, out of an elitist anti-car ideology.  The book is 200 pages, which might take a bit of copying.  Still, maybe the car park will be open tomorrow.  A quick check reveals that it will, at least to 5pm.  It will cost me around $30 in petrol to get there, plus photocopying charges.  Hmm.

I can’t help noticing how inefficient this pre-internet way of publishing was!  Just to work on a text involves unnecessary awkwardness.  But back to the contents.

Dr. T. listed the contents, by author. Unfortunately I’m pretty ignorant of Arabic Christian authors.  So I thought it might be fun to expand the list.  I grabbed Graf’s majestic handbook, pulled down the index, and let’s see just what’s what.

  • Ibn Zur`a (Nos. 1-4).  Graf 2, pp. 252-254. 

This chap was born in 943 in Baghdad, died 16 April 1008.   He was a Jacobite.  Sbath pp. 6-19 is a letter to a Moslem friend on the attributes of God.   pp.19-52 is a letter to a Jew in 4 chapters.  pp. 52-68 is an apologetic treatise against Islam. pp. 68-75 is another apologetic work, “On the Trinity. 

Ibn Zur`a also wrote treatises in response to questions about biblical contradictions; another with 12 answers to further questions such as the historical existence of Christ; a treatise on the single nature of Christ; two more on monophysite theology; and finally one on why Christians can make use of logic and philosophy.  All the treatises are short, and many sound as if they could use attention. The only ones published are the first four, the rest being still in manuscript.

  • Elias of Nisibis (No. 5), Graf II 177-189.

Clearly an important chap, from the length of his entry!  So what does Dr. Graf have to say about him?  Born 975, died after 1049. He was a Nestorian monk, then bishop, in Mosul.  He wrote a big Chronicle in Syriac, which we have in his own hand, with a parallel Arabic translation, also in his own hand for the most part.  He composed a Syriac-Arabic dictionary.  He wrote lots, apparently.  Sbath pp.75-103 is a theological treatise on the creation and the trinity.

  • Sam’an ibn Kalil (No. 6),

 I couldn’t find this author in Graf.

  • Ibn `Assal (Nos. 7-8),

Nor this one.

  • `Abdallah ibn al-Fadl (No. 9), Graf II. 52-64.

This one was a Melchite, and sometime Metropolitan of Antioch, ca. 1052 AD.  He was also a translator from Greek, translating the commentary on the Six Days of Creation by Basil the Great, and sermons of Chrysostom.  Unfortunately Graf does not indicate which of his works is edited here by Sbath.

  • Daniyal ibn al-Khattab (No. 10), Graf II 281-284, as “Daniel ibn al-Hattab”.

Born 1327, died sometime after 1382.  A Jacobite from Mardin, but lived in Egypt.  Sbath pp. 148-151 contain five chapters of his “Dogmatic compendium”, which has also been translated into French by Sbath on Revue de l’Or. chret. 22 (1920-21), p. 203.  The first 14 chapters of the work are intended as a reply to Elias of Nisibis.

  • Ishoyab ibn Malkun (Nos.  11-14),

I can’t find him in Graf.

  • Yahya ibn `Adi (Nos. 15-17), Graf II 233-249.

Another Jacobite, born in 893 at Tikrit, went to Baghdad and studied in the philosophical school there.  Died 13 August 974.  A voluminous writer.  Sbath  pp. 168-171 contain a treatise on the truth of the Gospel, using syllogisms. p. 171f is another similar treatise;  p. 172-175 on the credal statement, “He became flesh by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary.”

  • Abu al-Khayr ibn al-Tayyib (No.  18), Graf II 344-348

A Copt, writing between 1204 and 1245.  Sbath p. 176-178 prints an extract only of his book “The medicine of understanding”, 24 chapters against the attacks of Moslem polemicists.

  • Abu al-Faraj ibn al-Tayyib (No. 19), Graf II 160-176.

An Iraqi Nestorian, philosopher, physician, monk and priest in the first half of the 11th century.  Another voluminous writer, including massive biblical commentaries on the Psalms and Gospels.  Sbath prints p.179f, a work on miracles and philosophy.

  • Hunayn ibn Ishaq, with a commentary by Yuhanna ibn Mina (No. 20).   Graf II p.122 f.
Of course we all know Hunain, as the translator of so many Greek scientific works at the court of the Abbassid caliphs, especially Galen.  Sbath p.181-185 includes a work, with commentary on 186-200, but with my dodgy German I can’t quite work out the subject!

So there we have it.  Does it make your blood tingle?  Because it certainly doesn’t mine!  Yes, we ought to have all this in English.  But I have to say that all this Trinitarian and Christological noodling seems dull to me.

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How the Moslems handled the defeated Franks

Dioscorus Boles has translated from Arabic into English a hitherto unpublished passage in ‘Abu Salih’ (actually the Coptic writer, Abu’l Makarem) which deals with the plight of the defeated ordinary crusaders in Egypt after the failure of the Second Crusade.  It’s here, in the comments on a post on Michael the Syrian which turned into a discussion of Abu Salih.

I recommend it highly, and I hope that Dioscorus will give us more of this writer.

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An Arabic Orthodox blog

I’ve just discovered a blog dedicated to Arabic Christianity, and patristics in general, Notes on Arab Orthodoxy.  Great news!

I’ve been in Cambridge today, and struck gold in the Eusebius project, but I’ll blog about this later.

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Abu Al-Majdalus, “Commentary on the Nicene Creed” – now online

Some months ago I obtained images of two manuscripts from the Oriental Library at St. Joseph University in Beirut, containing a 15th century and 18th century text of the Commentary on the Nicene Creed of the 10th century Arabic Christian writer, al-Majdalus.  I then commissioned Samuel Noble to transcribe and translate this work into English.

The transcription and translation are now online, and may be downloaded in Word format from here.  I place them both in the public domain — do whatever you like with them.  At the weekend I will reformat them into HTML and place that in my collection of additional Fathers.

An article here by Dr. Khalil Samir gives background info on the text.  My own interest was in the citations of Greek writers which it contains, although it does not contain one of Zoroaster, as I had hoped.

PS: Nick Norelli has created a PDF with the two in parallel columns.  It’s here.

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Al-Majdalus translation completed

Some may remember that I commissioned a translation of the Commentary on the Nicene Creed by al-Majdalus, an Arabic Christian writer of uncertain date and affiliation, but probably a 10th century Melkite.  The text has never been published, but I obtained a microfilm of a manuscript from Sainte-Joseph University in Beirut.

I wanted to make it accessible because he might mention a saying attributed to Zoroaster in it; “whoever does not eat my body and drink my blood, the same does not have salvation.”  This saying is from the collections of sayings attributed to pagan philosophers and predicting the coming of Christ.

It seems that the translator has almost completed the translation (he has also transcribed it), a couple of words aside.  I’m looking forward to reading it!  It does indeed include some sayings from Hermes and Aristotle of this kind, although not Zoroaster as far as I can see.

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