George Elmacin
Encyclopedia
George Elmacin (1205–1273), also known as Ibn Amid, was an Arabic Christian historian.
in Egypt
in 1205. His full name in Arabic was Ğirğis ibn Abī Ùl-Yāsir ibn Abī Ùl-Mukārīm ibn Abī Ùt.-T. ayyib al-ÿAmīd (called) al-Makīn. His great grandfather was a merchant from Tikrit
in Iraq who settled in Egypt.
He was a Coptic Christian
and was known in the east as Ibn-Amid. He held high office in the military office (dīwān alğayš) in Cairo.
Such a position carried risks. He was twice imprisoned, possibly because of links to the contemporary unrest in Syria at the time of the Mongol invasion; in one case for over a decade.
After his release, he wrote his chronicle in the years 1262-8, after his career (and his time in prison) was over.
Later he moved to Damascus
, where he died in 1273.
. The second half is a history of the Saracens, which extends from the time of Mohammed to the accession of the Mameluke Sultan Baybars in 1260. The second half is mainly derived from the Persian writer Al-Tabari, as the author tells us, and was used by later Moslem and Christian writers.
In the first half, the work is structured as a series of numbered biographies of the most important men of the time, with Adam as the first. Down to 586 BC, the history is based on the bible. Later data is based on various sources, some otherwise unknown to us. The first half ends with a list of Patriarchs of the church of Alexandria.
The work was not hugely original. He drew on earlier sources, including the world history of ibn al-Rahib. But it was very influential in both East and West. It was used by the 14-15th century Moslem historians Ibn Khaldun
, al-Qalqashandi, and al-Maqrizi.
The second half was published in Arabic
and Latin
at Leiden in 1625. The Latin version is a translation by Erpenius (van Erpen), under the title, Historia saracenica, and from this a French
translation was made by Wattier as L'Histoire mahomtane (Paris
, 1657). An abbreviated English translation was also made from the Latin by Purchas. The translation by Erpenius was one of the first ever made of an Arabic text in modern times, and suffers accordingly from the lack of Lexica and difficulties with the language.
No edition of the whole work exists; no critical edition of any part of it, or any translation into any modern language of any but trivial portions. This lack is a considerable problem for philology, and renders the text effectively inaccessible to scholarship. Manuscripts of the complete text exist, as well as manuscripts of each half individually. The British Library has the oldest complete manuscript, BL. Or. 7564, from 1280 A.D. The Bodleian Library in Oxford has a manuscript which includes an unpublished Latin translation of the end of the first half and all of the second.
An Ethiopic translation of the whole work also exists, again unpublished, which follows the Arabic closely. It was made in the reign of Lebna Dengal (1508–40). A copy exists in the British Library, shelfmark "Ms. Oriental 814", comprising 119 folios of the 175 folio book. From this E.Wallis Budge translated the chapter on Alexander the Great, which contains verbatim extracts from the old Arabic Hermetic work al-Istamakhis.
A continuation of the Chronicle also exists, written by Al-Muffadal ibn abi Al-Fada`il, who was also a Copt and may have been the author's great-nephew. It continues the text to the death of al-Malik al-Nasir in 1341. This contains only limited references to events in the Coptic community, and is mainly a secular history concerned with Moslem affairs. The continuation survives in only a single manuscript, and was apparently written for personal use.
Life
The details of his life come from passages at the end of his own history. He was born in CairoCairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
in 1205. His full name in Arabic was Ğirğis ibn Abī Ùl-Yāsir ibn Abī Ùl-Mukārīm ibn Abī Ùt.-T. ayyib al-ÿAmīd (called) al-Makīn. His great grandfather was a merchant from Tikrit
Tikrit
Tikrit is a town in Iraq, located 140 km northwest of Baghdad on the Tigris river . The town, with an estimated population in 2002 of about 260,000 is the administrative center of the Salah ad Din Governorate.-Ancient times:...
in Iraq who settled in Egypt.
He was a Coptic Christian
Copt
The Copts are the native Egyptian Christians , a major ethnoreligious group in Egypt....
and was known in the east as Ibn-Amid. He held high office in the military office (dīwān alğayš) in Cairo.
Such a position carried risks. He was twice imprisoned, possibly because of links to the contemporary unrest in Syria at the time of the Mongol invasion; in one case for over a decade.
After his release, he wrote his chronicle in the years 1262-8, after his career (and his time in prison) was over.
Later he moved to Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
, where he died in 1273.
Works
His sole surviving work is a world chronicle in two parts, entitled al-Majmu` al-Mubarak (The blessed collection). The first portion runs from Adam down to the 11th year of HeracliusHeraclius
Heraclius was Byzantine Emperor from 610 to 641.He was responsible for introducing Greek as the empire's official language. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, successfully led a revolt against the unpopular usurper Phocas.Heraclius'...
. The second half is a history of the Saracens, which extends from the time of Mohammed to the accession of the Mameluke Sultan Baybars in 1260. The second half is mainly derived from the Persian writer Al-Tabari, as the author tells us, and was used by later Moslem and Christian writers.
In the first half, the work is structured as a series of numbered biographies of the most important men of the time, with Adam as the first. Down to 586 BC, the history is based on the bible. Later data is based on various sources, some otherwise unknown to us. The first half ends with a list of Patriarchs of the church of Alexandria.
The work was not hugely original. He drew on earlier sources, including the world history of ibn al-Rahib. But it was very influential in both East and West. It was used by the 14-15th century Moslem historians Ibn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldūn or Ibn Khaldoun was an Arab Tunisian historiographer and historian who is often viewed as one of the forerunners of modern historiography, sociology and economics...
, al-Qalqashandi, and al-Maqrizi.
The second half was published in Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
and Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
at Leiden in 1625. The Latin version is a translation by Erpenius (van Erpen), under the title, Historia saracenica, and from this a French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
translation was made by Wattier as L'Histoire mahomtane (Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, 1657). An abbreviated English translation was also made from the Latin by Purchas. The translation by Erpenius was one of the first ever made of an Arabic text in modern times, and suffers accordingly from the lack of Lexica and difficulties with the language.
No edition of the whole work exists; no critical edition of any part of it, or any translation into any modern language of any but trivial portions. This lack is a considerable problem for philology, and renders the text effectively inaccessible to scholarship. Manuscripts of the complete text exist, as well as manuscripts of each half individually. The British Library has the oldest complete manuscript, BL. Or. 7564, from 1280 A.D. The Bodleian Library in Oxford has a manuscript which includes an unpublished Latin translation of the end of the first half and all of the second.
An Ethiopic translation of the whole work also exists, again unpublished, which follows the Arabic closely. It was made in the reign of Lebna Dengal (1508–40). A copy exists in the British Library, shelfmark "Ms. Oriental 814", comprising 119 folios of the 175 folio book. From this E.Wallis Budge translated the chapter on Alexander the Great, which contains verbatim extracts from the old Arabic Hermetic work al-Istamakhis.
A continuation of the Chronicle also exists, written by Al-Muffadal ibn abi Al-Fada`il, who was also a Copt and may have been the author's great-nephew. It continues the text to the death of al-Malik al-Nasir in 1341. This contains only limited references to events in the Coptic community, and is mainly a secular history concerned with Moslem affairs. The continuation survives in only a single manuscript, and was apparently written for personal use.