Proceedings of the Second Symposium on the History of Bilād al-Shām during the Early Islamic Period up to 40 A.H./640 A.D.: The Fourth International Conference on the History of Bilad al-Sham

224 Pages·1987·27.29 MB·English

by  Muhammad Adnan Bakhit (ed.)

University of Jordan Yarmouk University
Proceedings of the Second Symposium
on the
History of Biliid al-~ham During The
Early Islamic Period Up to 40 A.H./640 A.O.
The Fourth International Conference
On the History of Bilad al-Sham.
( English and French Papers )
Letter of Prophet MOHAMMAD to Heraclil
Edited
bY
Muhammad Adnan Bakhit
Vol. I Amman 1987
956 Proceedings of the Second Symposium on the History of Bilad al
PRO Sham d~ring the early Islamic period up to 40 A.H./ 640
A.D./edited by Muhammad Adnan Bakhit .-Ammari: University
of Jordan, 1987.
468 p. Vol. III
Deposit No. (68/2/1987)
1- Bilad al-Sham -History
I- Bakhit, Muhammad -Adnan (editor)
II- Title.

Contents
F.M. Donner 1
The Problem of Early Arabic Historiography in Syria
Lawrence I. Conrad· 28
Al-Azdi's History of the Arab Conquests in Bilad al-Sham: Some
Historiographical Observations.
A.G. Killick 63
Udruh and the Early Islamic Conquests
Ernst Axel Knauf 73
Aspects of Historical Topography Relating to the Battles of Mu'ta
and the Y armuk
Van Donze! 79
Arabic and Islam in Holland During the XVIlth Century
Michael G. Morony · 87
Syria Under the Persians 610-629
J .1\1. Fiey 96
The Last Byzantine Campaign into Persia and Its Influence on the
Attitude of the Local Populations Towards the Muslim Conquerors
7-16 H./628-636 A.D.
Walter Emil Kaegi, Jr. 104
The Strategy of Heraclius
C.E. Bosworth 116
The Byzantine Defence System in Asia Minor and the First Arab
Incursions
S. Gero 125
Early Contacts Between Byzantium and the Arab Empire: A
Review and Some Reconsiderations
R.J. Hebert 133
The Early Coinage of Bilad al-Sham
Maurice Sartre 155
Le Hawran Byzantin A La Veille De La Conquete Musulmane
Hugh Kennedy 168
The Origins of the Qays-Yaman Dispute in Bilad al-Sham
Stefan Leder 175
The Attitude of the Jews and Their Role Towards the Arab-Islamic
Conquest of Bilad al-Sham
Index 180
INTRODUCTION
The papers in this collection treat various issues in the history of Bilad
al-Sham during the critical century which witnessed the end of Byzanti"ne
and Persian rule in the region with the advent of Islam and the Arab
conquests.
Questions of historiography are adressed in two of the studies. In
examining the problem of early Arabic historiography in Syria, Fred
Donner turns to the Syrian hadith scholars to remedy the paucity of
historical accounts on the Islamic community in Bilad al-Sham pre-dating
the second Islamic century. Lawrence Conrad calls for a reappraisal of al
Azdi's Fut uh al-Sham, rejecting contemporary criticisms of the third/ninth
century text as excessive or ill-founded, arguing instead that the work
represents an important historical source if approached with discernment.
Comparative perspectives of Persian, Byzantine and Muslim rule over
Bilad al-Sham are presented in three studies. Michael Morony considers the
socio-economic consequences of nineteen years of Persian rule in Syria (610-
629 C.E.), with a comparative analysis of the attitudes of Jewish and
Jacobite communities to the transfer of authority from Byzantine, to
Persian, to Arab Muslim rule. J.M. Fiey, on the other hand, examines the
impact of Byzantine rule over the lands north of Baghdad taken in the last
Byzantine campaign into Persia. Reviewing the influence of the seven.year
Byzantine occupation on local Nestorian and Jacobite Christian
communities, the article sheds light on the ready acceptance of subsequent
Muslim rule. In light of Byzantine persecution of Syrian Jewry, Stefan
Leder attempts to reconstruct the attitudes of the Jewish community to th.e
Islamic conquests, considering the possibility of Jewish cooperation and
even collaboration with the Muslims.
Three studies examine Arab-Byzantine military history. Ernst Axel
Knauf provides a detailed account of the battles of Mu'ta and Yarmuk, with
a description of topographic and strategic feature which proved decisive in
the outcome of these. In the absence of a developed Byzantine military
strategy, Walter Kaegi examines the body of ideas which influenced
Heraclius in his campaign againstihe ArlipS. Following the Byzantine'
witlidrawal from Bilad-ai:sham~ C.E. Bosworth el~borates on the defensive
strategy adopted by Heraclius to protect Asia Minor against Arab
incursion, noting the success of this system in preventing the loss of
territory from 636 to 680 C.E.
In papers considering related influences between Byzantium and
Islam, Maurice Sartre provides a socio-economy of the Hawran region just
prior to the Islamic conquest. S. Gero addresses the current debate which
seeks to link the iconoclasm of the U mayyad caliph Ya zid II and Byzantine
emperor Leo III, concluding that available evidence does not support direct
transmission so much as a notion of parallel development in Muslim and
Byzantine cultures.
Archaeology, numismatics and traditional historical sources are
exploited to cast new light on the first century of Arab rule in Bilad al-Sham.
R.J. Hebert provides a description and outline classification of the coinage
of Bilad al-Sham cast in relation to the history of the region. Hugh Kennedy
draws on the Muslim sources to chronicle the origins of the Qays and
Yam an factions in the power struggle which followed the death of the caliph
Mu'awiya. Using archaeological evidence, Dr. Kennedy concludes that the
defeat of the Qays at Marj Rahit ushered in a period of power and
prosperity. A.C. Killick presents preliminary archaeological findings at
Udruh, exploiting these and other historical and epigraphic sources
pertinent to Udruh during the early Islamic conquests.
An additional paper by E. Van Donzel moves the study from Bilad al
Sham in the first Islamic century to "Arabic and Islam in Holland during
the XVII Century," in which Dr. Van Donzel traces the origins of, and
landmarks in Dutch studies of Arabic and Islam.
Dr. M.A. Bakhit
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
It gives nie pleasure here to acknowledge the great support which we
have received from the President of the University, Dr. Abd al-Salam al
Majali, as well as the encouragement of Dr. Muhammad Hamdan of
Yarmouk University. Particular appreciation is due to Mrs. M. Matthews,
who kindly proof-read the English.texts, and to Mr. Noufan Al-Hmoud, who
was kind enough to prepare the index. Mr. Muhammad Abbadi gave of his
valuable time to follow this text through the press. Had it not been for the
patience and perseverance of the Director of the Jordan University Press,
Mr. Mahmud Buruni, this text would not have been finished within so short
a time. I
I
Though the publication of this volume is a result of the efforts of many,
all shortcomings remain my sole responsibility.
Dr. M.A. Bakhit
Amman
September 20, 1987.
The IVth International Conference on Bilad al-Sham
The Problem of Early Arabic Historiography in Syria
Fred M. Donner, The University of Chicago
I. Introduction
Until recently, discussions of the rise of early Arabic historical writing
focused almost entirely upon developments in Iraq and the Hijaz
(particularly Medina). Not only were the Iraqi and Medinese historical
traditions far better preserved than the Syrian; there was also a general
perception that Arabic historiography in Syria really only developed at a
late date, and that it never matched Medina or Iraq in its output. H.A.R
Gibb claimed that the monographic treatment of historical episodes after
the death of the Prophet Muhammad was limited to Iraq Similarly, ~bd
1.
al - ~ztz al-Dori's · The Rise of Historical Writing Among the Arabs2
presented a survey of the historical schools of Medina and Iraq, but
contained only passing references to Syria, and thus implicitly denied that
there was a significant Syrian tradition of historical writing. Julius
Wellhausen and Sarni Dahan both admitted that an early Syrian
historiographical tradition had existed, but had little of substance to say
about it3•
This point of view derived, of course, from the fact that the most
important surviving historical compilations for the study of the early
Islamic community--~t least, those most readily accessible before the 1960s
were marked by a bias in favor of the Iraqi, or to a lesser extent the
Medinese, interpretation of Islamic history. Al-'fabari (d. 310/923), for
example, relied overwhelmingly on Iraqi or Medinese informants for his
accounts of the events of the early Islamic period, and only rarely cites
Syrian informants-even when he relates episodes in the history of Syria. Of
the approximately 200 separate accounts in his Histroy dealing with the
history of Syria from the beginnings of the Islamic conquest (12 A.H.) to the
year 100 A.H., about 80% are provided with isnads tracing the account to
1. H.A.R. Gibb, "Ta'rikh," El (1st ed.), Supplement.
2. Original title: Nash'at 'ilm al-ta'rikh 'indal-'Arab (Beirut: Catholic Press, 1960). English
translation by Lawrence I. Conrad (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983f·,-.
3. J. Wellhausen, Das arabische Reich und sein Sturz (2nd. ed., Berlin: de Gruyter, 1960), p. xii;
Sarni Dahan, "The Origin and Development of the Local Histories of Syria, " in Bernard
Lewis and P.M. Holt (eds.), Historians of the Middle East (London: Oxford University
Press, 1962), pp. 108-117.
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The Problem of Early Arabic Historiography in Syria -Fred M. Donner
Iraqi or Medinese informants-in particular, Sayf b. <umar (d. ca. 180), al
Waqid1 (d. 207), and al-Mada'in1 (d. ca-235). Of the remaining 20%many are
given with incomplete isnads, and hence may also in fact derive from Iraqi
or Medinese sources. Indeed, even the overall balance of information offered
in al-Tabari's History reinforced this impression of a highly developed Iraqi
and Medinese historiography, contrasted with a poorly developed early
Syrian historiography, for it devotes overwhelmingly more space to events
in the Hijaz and in Iraq than to events in Syria.
Other Iraqi or Medinese compilations tended in general to confirm the
apparent infirmity of the Syrian historiographical tradition. Al-Ya 'qubi'
rarely provides references to his sources in his History, but when he does, it
is usually to the Medinese al-Waqidi. Al-llinawari and al-Masc:udi similarly
seem to follow largely Iraqi traditions. Only the Futuf.i ai-buldan of al
Baladhuri (d.279) seems to provide a bit more balanced view, for its material
on'Syria relied on Syrian as well as Iraqi and Medinese informants. It was
largely this evidence that led Wellhausen and Dahan to posit the existence
of an historical tradition in Syria, most of it lost except for scattered.
fragments.
More recent scholarship has begun to reexamine these is'.sues, however,
largely on the basis of new information provided by historical compilations
of Syrian, rather than Iraqi, origin. In general terms, the study of the
developm~nt of early Islamic IJ,adith has shown that Syria was an active
cent.e. r of }:iadith study in the first three Islamic centuries. Whtile the study of
J.iadith is not by any means the same as the study of history, the two were, in
the early Islamic period, closely related, and many of the earliest
"historians" were first and foremost }:iadith scholars who related historical
akhbar, and not merely akhMr about the Prophet or his immediate
companions. The presence in Syria of many well-known muJ:iaddithD-n,
such as Makl}.ul al-Sha~1 (d. 112-119), al-Awza'i (d. 157), and others, then,
might be seen as providing an appropriate milieu in which the development
of history could also have flourished An examination of the activities of
4.
Syrian traditionists, then, such as that undertaken by Malika Abyaq, Al
Tarbiya wal-thiqafa al-<arabiyya al-islamiyya fil-Sham wal-Jazira Khilu.l
al-qurun al-thalatha al-'Ulalil-hijra, on the basis of Ibn <Asakir's Ta'rikh.
madinat Dimashq5-- can provide important backgrotlnd material for the
study of early Islamic historiography in Syria.
4. For a different opinion, however, see the discussion on p. 15 below.
5. Beirut: Dir al-'ilm lil-malD.y!n, 1980. I have not seen the French origir.i;.~ of this work,
Culture et education arabo-islamiques au Sham pendant les trois premiers siecles. de
l'Islam.
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The IVth International Conference on Bilad al-Sham
With regard to historiography in particular, even scrutiny of al
Baladhurt'sFutu}.i brings to light the names of some Syrian historians and
compilers from ~he second and third centuries A.H., and an examination of
Syrian compilations not utilized by earlier researchers confirms and
augments this i;nformation. Gernot Rotter's examination of the manuscript
of the Ta'rikh of Abu Zur~a al-Dimashqi (d. 281)6 provided him with the
opportunity to make sonie general remarks on a number of these Syrian
historians-- Sa4d b. 'Abd al-~ziz al- Tanukhi (d. 167 or 168), al-Wa:fid b.
Muslim (d. 195 br 196), Abu Mushir al-Ghassan1 (d. 218), and lbn CA'idh (d.
233 or 234)-- and on their relationship toAbu Zur'a.'s work7•
On the bas~s of these studies, it now seems clear that in the second half
of the second century and in the third century A.H., Syria was the scene of
historiographical activity roughly comparable to that of Iraq and Medina.
The figures mentioned by Rotter, as well as others, such as Abu Hafe al
Dimashqi and [Hisham b. ~mmar al- Dimashqi (d. 245), appear to have
· been actively writing historical compilations during this period most of
8,
which unfortunately have not survived.
What is not yet so clear is whether Syria was a center of
historiographical activity before the middle of the second century A.H. (ca.
770 A.D.). That is, were the later Syrian historians of the second and third
centuries transmitting an indigenous early Syrian tradition, or were they
essentially conveying material of Iraqi or Medinese origin? (The latter
possibility is not as improbable as it might at first seem; Rotter has shown,
for example, that Abu Zurca derives most of his material about the life of the
Prophet form Iraqi or Medinese informants, even though he cites Syrians,
as well as Iraqis and Medinese, in. dealing with other subjects.) If this were
the case, it might explain in part why later Iraqi sources such as al-Tabari
fail to cite Syrian authorities for information about the early Islamic period:
because there was, in essence, nothing to cite. It would also suggest that the
6. The text has since been edited and published on the basis of the (unique) Istanbul
manuscript by Shukrallah al-QiijanL, (2 vols.,Damascus: Majm'a al-lugha al-Carabiyya,
1980). I
7. Ger not Rotter, "Abu Zur'a ad-Dimalqi (st. 281/894) und das Problem derfriihen arabischen
Geschichtsschreibung in Syrien;" Die Welt. des Orients 6 (1971), pp. 80-104. On these
authorities, see pp. 99ff.
8. Pace S. Dahan, " ... Local Histories of Syria," who states (p. 109): "During the 2nd/8th
century not a single historian in Syria is known who was working on the history of his
country."
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