History of al-Ṭabarī, Vol. 3: The Children of Israel

207 Pages·1991·10.17 MB·English

by  al-Ṭabarī

The
History of al-Tabari
The Children of Israel
Volume III
Translated by William M. Brinner
This volume continues the stories of the Israelite
patriarchs and prophets who figured in Volume II, as
well as of the semi-mythical rulers of ancient Iran. In
addition to biblical, (fur"anic, and legendary accounts
about Moses, Aaron, and the exodus of the Children of
Israel from Egypt; of the Judges, Samuel and Ezekiel; and
of Saul, David, and Solomon, it includes a version of
Iranian prehistory that emphasizes the role of Mantichihr
(Man'ushihr in Arabic) in creating the Iranian nation and
state.
Woven into these accounts are stories about figures
belonging to the very earliest literatures of the Middle
East: the mysterious al-Khiar, with echoes from the epic
of the Sumero-Akkadian hero Gilgamesh; the legendary
exploits of DhU 1-(2arnayn, mirroring the ancient romance
of Alexander; and incorporating elements about the
encounter of King Solomon and Bilgis, the Queen of
Sheba, of Jewish midrash and South Arabian lore.
The Islamic empire was at its political and economic
height during the tenth and eleventh centuries, and a
new civilization was forged at the caliphal court and in
society at large. One of the literary triumphs of that
civilization was this rich and colorful tapestry belonging
to the Islamic genre of "tales of the prophets." The tales
in this volume show how threads from all the ancient
civilizations of the Middle East were incorporated,
absorbed, and Islamized in the brilliant fabric of that new
civilization.
SLJNY Series in Near Eastern Studies
Said Amir Arjomand, Editor
State University 9l,I)CC
of New York Press
Visit our web site at:
http://www.sunypress.edu 41,"13118 I8 11 j!
THE HISTORY OFAL-TABARI
AN ANNOTATED TRANSLATION
VOLUME III
The Children of Israel
The History of al-Tabari
Editorial Board
Ihsan Abbas, University of Jordan, Amman
C. E. Bosworth, The University of Manchester
Franz Rosenthal, Yale University
Everett K. Rowson, The University of Pennsylvania
Ehsan Yar-Shater, Columbia University (General Editor)
Estelle Whelan, Editorial Coordinator
SUNY
SERIES IN NEAR EASTERN STUDIES
SaidAmir Arjomand, Editor
The preparation ofthisvolume was made possible inpart
by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities,
an independent federal agency.
Bibliotheca Persica
Edited by Ehsan Yar-Shater
The History of al-Tabari
(Ta'rikh al-rusul wa I muluk)
VOLUME III
The Children of Israel
translated and annotated
by
William M . Brinner
University of California, Berkeley
State University of New York Press
Published by
State University of New York Press, Albany
® 1991 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed inthe United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced
in any manner whatsoever without written permission
except inthe caseof brief quotations embodied in
critical articles and reviews.
For information, address the State University of New York Press,
9o State Street, Suite loo, Albany, NY 12207
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Tabari,838?-913.
(Ta'rikhal-rusul wa-al-muliik.English.Selections(
The Childrenof Israel/translated and annotatedby William M.
Brenner.
p. cm.-(The historyof al-']'abaci = Ta'rikh al-rusul wa 'I
muluk:v 3) (Bibliotheca Persica) (SUNYseries in Near Eastern
Studies)
11anslation of extracts from: Ta'rikh al-rusul wa-al-muluk.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBNo-7914-0687-3 (alk. paper).-ISBN0-7914-0688-i (pbk.:
alk. paper(
1. Jews-History-to 953B.C. x. Bible. O.T- History of
biblical events. 3. Prophets,Pre-Islamic. 4. Iran-History-To
640. 1.Brenner,WilliamM. II. Title. 111. Series: Tabari,
938?-923. Ta'rikh al-rusul wa-al-muluk.English ; v. ;.
IV. Series: Bibliotheca Persica(Albany, N.Y.) V. Series: SUNY
Series in Near EasternStudies.
DS38.z.T313 1985 vol. 3
(DSi21.55)
909'.1 s--dczo 9o-10264
1933'.011 CIP
10 9 9 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
(b
Preface
0
THE HISTORY OF PROPHETS AND KINGS (Ta'rikh al-rusul wa'l-mu-
luk) byAbu Ja`far Muhammad b. Jarir al-Tabari (839-923),here ren-
deredas The History of al-Tabari, is by common consent the most
important universal history produced in the world of Islam. It has
been translated here in its entirety for the first time for the benefit
of non-Arabists, with historical and philological notes for those in-
terested in the particulars of the text.
Al-Tabari's monumental work explores the history of the ancient
nations,with special emphasis on biblical peoples and prophets, the
legendary and factual history of ancient Iran, and, in great detail, the
rise of Islam, the life of the Prophet Muhammad, and the history of
the Islamic world down to the year 915. The first volume of this
translation will contain a biography of al-Tabari and a discussion of
the method, scope, and value of his work. It will also provide infor-
mation on some of the technical considerations that have guided the
work of the translators.
TheHistoryhas been divided into 39 volumes, each of which cov-
ers about two hundred pages of the original Arabictext in the Leiden
edition. An attempt has been made to draw the dividing lines be-
tween the individual volumes in such a way that each is to some de-
gree independent and can be read as such.The page numbers of the
original in the Leiden edition appear on the margins of the trans-
lated volumes.
Al-Tabari very often quotes his sources verbatim and traces the
chain of transmission (isnad) to an original source. The chains of
transmitters are, for the sake of brevity,rendered by only a dash (-
vi Preface
between the individual links in the chain .Thus, "according to Ibn
Humayd-Salamah-Ibn Isliaq"means that al-Tabari received the
report from Ibn Humayd,who said that he was told by Salamah, who
said that he was told by Ibn Ishaq, and so on. The numerous subtle
and important differences in the original Arabic wording have been
disregarded.
The table of contents at the beginning of each volume gives a brief
survey of the topics dealt with in that particular volume. It also in-
cludes the headings and subheadings as they appear in al-Tabari's
text, as well as those occasionally introduced by the translator.
Well-known place names, such as, for instance, Mecca, Baghdad,
Jerusalem, Damascus, and the Yemen, are given in their English
spellings. Less common place names, which are the vast majority,
are transliterated. Biblical figures appear in the accepted English
spelling.Iranian names are usually translated according to their Ar-
abic forms, and the presumed Iranian forms are often discussed in
the footnotes.
Technical terms have been translated wherever possible, but
some, such as dirham and imam, have been retained in Arabic
forms. Others that cannot be translated with sufficient precision
have been retained and italicized as well as footnoted.
The annotation aims chiefly at clarifying difficult passages, iden-
tifying individuals and place names, and discussing textual difficul-
ties. Much leeway has been left to the translators to include in the
footnotes whatever they consider necessary and helpful.
The bibliographies list all the sources mentioned in the annota-
tion.
The index in each volume contains all the names of persons and
places referred to in the text, as well as those mentioned in the notes
as far as they refer to the medieval period. It does not include the
names of modem scholars.A general index, it is hoped, will appear
after all the volumes have been published.
For further details concerning the series and acknowledgments,
see Preface to Volume ii.
Ehsan Yar-Shater
e
Contents
0
Preface / v
Abbreviations / ix
Translator's Foreword / xi
The Tale of al-Khidr and His History; and the History
of Moses and His Servant Joshua / i
Manushihr / r9
The Genealogy of Moses b. Amram, His History, and
the Events That Took Place in His Era and That of
Manushihrb. Manushkharnar / 30
The Deaths of Moses and of Aaron, the Sons of
Amram / 85
The Affair of Korah b. Izhar b. Kohath / 99
The Mention of Those among Our Past Scholars Whose Reports
about That Have Reached Us / roo
viii Contents
The Persians Who Ruled in Babylon after
Manushihr / 112
The Israelites and the Chiefs Who Were Over Their
Affairs after Joshua / ir8
Elijah b.Yasin b.Phineas b. Eleazar b.Aaron b. Amram / 122
The History of Samuel b. Bali b. Elkanah ... and of
Saul and Goliath / 129
The Account of David b. Jesse... / 140
The History of Solomon b. David / 152
What We Have Heard about Solomon's Campaigns,
among Them His Raid during Which He
Corresponded with Bilgis / r56
Solomon's Campaign against the Father of His Wife,
Jaradah, and the Story of the Devil Who Tbok
Solomon's Signet Ring / 166
Bibliography of Cited Works / 175
Index / 179