LE MUSEON REVUE D’ETUDES ORIENTALES FONDE EN 1881 PAR CH. DE HARLEZ 'SUBVENTIONNE PAR L'UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN TOME 111 — Fasc. 3-4 EXTRAIT LOUVAIN-LA-NEUVE 1998LE MUSEON REVUE D'ETUDES ORIENTALES PUBLIE PAR L’ASSOCIATION SANS BUT LUCRATIF «LE MUSEON» LE MUSEON parait actuellement en deux volumes doubles par an. Prix de l’abonnement annuel, payable d’avance: 3000 FB, port non compris. Adresse de la Rédaction (articles, épreuves, revues en échange, livres pour comptes rendus): Bernard Couute, LE MUSEON, Place Blaise Pascal, 1, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgique). Les articles sont soumis a avis de spécialistes choisis parmi les membres du Conseil d’ Administration de la revue, ou désignés par eux. Adresse de I’ Administration (abonnements, vente de volumes d’années écoulées): LE MUSEON, Editions Peeters, B.P. 41, 3000 Louvain (Belgique). Compte chéques postaux: Bruxelles, n° 000-0425099-45, Editions Peeters, B.P. 41, 3000 Louvain. Banque: Bruxelles-Lambert, Louvain — 330-0016770-43. ISSN 0771-6494 Ce tiré & part ne peut étre mis dans le commerce Le Mustow, Place B. Pascal, 1, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgique)ISAAC OF ANTIOCH AND THE SACK OF BETH HUR Isaac’s two homilies concerning the destruction of Beth Hur cannot be said to have been ignored by scholars. They are alluded to by Segal and Shahid, and discussed in detail by Klugkist in a recent Symposium Syriacum'. A scholarly consensus appears to have developed, evident in the work of Segal and Klugkist, which places the Arab assault on the town in the late 450s A.D®. And, since Isaac refers to a period of thirty- four years since the previous attack on Beth Hur, the earlier Persian cap- ture is placed in the 420s. It is the aim of this brief article to challenge this consensus, and to argue that the two attacks on Beth Hur occurred in AD. 440 and 474 rather than c.423 and c.457. The first point which needs to be raised is the location of Beth Hur. Klugkist, whose article contains the most recent treatment of the inva- sions, bizarrely locates Beth Hur near Amida. In fact, as Dillemann ar- gued, the town lay close to Nisibis, on the other side of the Tur Abdin from Amida’. Once this is established, it becomes clear how the inhabit- ants of Nisibis could accompany the invading Persian army. In order to pursue the discussion of the chronology of the two invasions, I here offer a translation of the relevant sections of Isaac's Homily XT. Why is our foolish community disquieted, so that it complains against its chastisements? For it pleads with the judge, seeking vengeance from him. Behold captivity and exile, along with the plundering of all our posses- sions. The Arabs (‘Arbaye) harry the land in the portion which they took from it. The whole world is in turmoil because the sons of Hagar, those wild asses, transgressed the boundaries of peace and are slaying the good alongside the wicked. Brothers, let us therefore consider Beth Hur, which was suddenly laid waste by the justice of the ruler of all things, who chas- tises us in order that he may help us. (X1.32-47) 1 J.B, SEGAL, Edessa, ‘The blessed city’, Oxford, 1970, p. 168 (hereafter: SEGAL, Edessa); 1. SHAHID, Byzantium and the Arabs in the fifth century, Washington, D.C. 1989, p. 38 (hereafter: SHAntD, BAFIC), and A.C. KLUGKIsT, Die beiden Homilien des Isaak von Antiocheia tiber die Eroberung von Bet Hur durch die Araber, in Symposium Syriacum IV (1984), ed. H.J.W. Druvers et al., Rome, 1987, pp. 237-56 (hereafter: KLUoKisr, Homilien des Isaak). 1 accepted this consensus in Rome and Persia at War, 502-532, Leeds, 1998, p. 13 n. 34 (hereafter: GREATREX, Rome and Persia at War). 2 Sato, BAFIC, p. 38, on the other hand, appears to connect the second attack on Beth Hur to the war of 440, 3 KiucKist, Homilien des Isaak, p. 243. L. DILLEMANN, Haute Mésopotamie et pays adjacents, Paris, 1962, p. 232, convincingly places the town near Nisibis, however, where Kafer Hawar was later situated.288 G. GREATREX When the Persians plundered our frontiers, many people from within the city’ of Nisibis joined (them). But after a little time the army which had come to our border was lost, (together) with those who had joined it, so that their records were destroyed’. Those who became wealthy from us were reduced to poverty, and those who plundered were (themselves) plundered. Justice destroyed them by wars and by pestilences. For us, as restitution, with the swiftness of (the case of) Job, the Lord turned around our captivity and doubled our previous riches. Our houses on the moun- tains and our forts on the plains grew numerous. Our city is full of our men, our land (full of) our possessions. On every side there is abundant fruit of the vines and (in) the fields, sheep and cows®, horses and camels. Just as we have increased, (so) the peoples who plundered us for have decreased. (400) Behold, (it is) 34 years since they suffered, yet they have not paid attention. Their heart is like that of Pharaoh and their hatred like that of the Egyptians. Because they are obstinate, they are slain, and be- cause they are arrogant, they are humiliated. Thousands of them are wiped out’ in war, and huge numbers in battles. Their treasury store houses are empty and what they had gathered has been spent. On all sides peoples provoked to war have stirred and risen up, and have terrified the hearts of the tyrants with the diversity of their names. Everyone coming has laid waste and taken off for himself booty of gold and silver, and then has de- parted, giving encouragement to others, so that they too may come and plunder, just as they had taken (plunder). There is no end to their lan- guages, nor limit to their numbers, just as the earth brought forth® the vari- ‘ous tribes of Huns. He that is just therefore, who paid back the Persians who injured us, will pay back the sons of Hagar who did evil to us on ac- count of our sins. (X1.374-424)? From these two passages the following sequence of events may be proposed. (1) A predatory Persian incursion into Roman territory took place, in which the inhabitants of Nisibis took part. This inflicted some damage on the border region around Beth Hur, but the invaders too suffered. (2) There followed a period of thirty-four years of peace, in which the Roman border area prospered. The Persians, on the other hand, were not so fortunate, falling victim to attacks by various tribes, and exhausting their treasury. . Literally, ‘fortified city’. Te. they vanished without a trace. Literally ‘with the goods of sheep and cows’. Literally ‘diminished’. Literally, ‘belched forth’. > Both translations by Marina Greatrex, from the edition of G. BIcKELL, S. Isaaci Antiocheni Opera Omnia, vol.1, Giessen, 1873. There is a translation of the first passage in SEGAL, Edessa, p. 168.ISAAC OF ANTIOCH AND THE SACK OF BETH HUR 289 (3) Then, after these thirty-four years, came the Arab attack described towards the beginning of the homily, for which Isaac’s audience de- manded vengeance"®. Now the fifth century was in general a peaceful one for Rome's eastern frontier. Only two wars between Rome and Persia took place, one from 421 to 422, and another in 440. In both cases fighting took place in the vicinity of Nisibis!. If Isaac’s figure of thirty-four years is accepted — and there seems to be no reason to doubt it — then we should hope to find a record of an Arab incursion in either 455/6 or 474", And in fact a Byzantine source, Evagrius, does report an attack by Arabs on the eastern provinces in 474, the year Zeno ascended the throne: In these ways therefore did Zeno change his way of life at the opening (of his reign). His subjects both in the East and the West suffered badly, on the ‘one side (on acount) of the barbarian Scenitae laying waste everything...'°. It may therefore be proposed that the two invasions referred to by Isaac are those of 440 and 474. Further confirmation of this hypothesis comes from the Armenian sources, which are the only ones to provide any de- tails on the Persian attack of 440. ‘The latter (Yazdgerd I), forgetting the treaty, as soon as he gained the throne attacked the Greek army at Nisibis and ordered the forces of Azerbaijan to enter our country (Armenia)'*, In his great folly, like a ferocious wild beast he (Yazdgerd Il) attacked the land of the Greeks. He struck as far as the city of Nisibis and ruined in his assault many Roman provinces; all the churches he put to the torch, he amassed plunder and captives, and terrified all the troops of the land! © This interpretation does not differ greatly from that of KLuGKist, Die Homilien, pp. 242-3. M See G. GREATREX, The two fifth-century wars between Rome and Persia, in Florilegium, 12 (1993), pp. 1-14 on these two invasions. ® KiuGKist, Die Homilien, p. 243 seeks to place the second invasion in 457/9, during the period of civil strife in the Persian empire; he also claims that Peroz, having emerged the victor from the civil war, then invaded the Roman empire in conjunction with the Saracens. Not only is there no evidence of such an incursion, but if one had taken place in 459, as he proposes, then the earlier attack would have had to have been in 425 — when, again, there is no evidence of hostilities between Romans and Persians. "2 'Evagrius, HE 1.2 (ed. Biprz. and PaRMENTIER, p.100), tr. GREATREX with Theo- phanes, Chronographia, ed. C. DE Boor, vol.1, Leipzig, 1883, A.M. 5966 (p. 120), tr. C. Maxco and R. Scorr, Oxford, 1997, pp. 186-7. See also SHantD, BAFIC, pp. 114-15. Moses Khorenats‘t, History of the Armenians, tr. R.W. THOMSON, Cambridge, Mass., 1978, IIL.67 (p. 347). 1S Btishe: History of Vardan and the Armenian War, tt. R.W. THOMSON, Cambridge, Mass., 1982, p. 7 (61). The attack is dated to the second year of Yazdgerd II's reign, ie. 439-40.290 G. GREATREX Etishé goes on to describe how Theodosius II despatched Anatolius as an emissary to Yazdgerd, and how Anatolius managed to persuade the Persian king to withdraw by gifts and concessions. As emerges from the Armenian accounts, the Persian invasion of 440 clearly took place around the area of Nisibis, and enjoyed some success. No mention is made of losses sustained by the Persian army or by the Nisibenes who joined in the attack, but the detail offered by the accounts is limited any- way. Two further points remain to be considered. First, the thirty-four years of troubles endured by the Persians. This does not seem to be too much of an exaggeration, The reign of Yazdgerd II saw numerous Persian campaigns against the Chols or Kidarite Huns to the north-east of the Sasanian empire, as well as a major Armenian uprising (449-51) and in- vasions by various tribesmen from north of the Caucasus!’ Yazdgerd was succeeded briefly by Hormizd II (457-9), who was beaten, how- ever, in a civil war by his younger brother Peroz (459-84). Peroz’s reign was still less happy for the Persian empire: although the Kidarites were defeated, probably in the 460s, the passes through the Caucasus moun- tains continued to be attacked and there was an uprising in Albania, Worst of all, the place of the defeated Kidarites was taken by the more formidable Hephthalite Huns, who repeatedly triumphed over the Per- sians, Thus, as is clear from numerous sources, the Persian treasury was indeed approaching exhaustion by the 470s; and it was further damaged by a severe seven-year long drought from 464!7, Second, Isaac himself. One reason why the dates of 440 and 474 may not have been proposed for the two invasions is because the date of Isaac’s death is uncertain; Segal actually places his death in 460". Very little can be said with certainty concerning the chronology of Isaac’s life, since he was soon confused in the later tradition with Isaac of Amida, who also lived in the fifth century'®. While Isaac of Amida seems to have died c. 459, can we be sure that Isaac of Antioch was still alive at the time of the Arab incursion of 474? It can be argued that we can, For one of Isaac of Antioch’s other homilies (VID sings the praises of a cer- tain parrot which was able to recite the entire Trisagioh, with the anti- 16 A. CHRISTENSEN, L'Iran sous les Sassanides, second edition, Copenhagen, 1944, Pp. 287-91 and GREATREX, Rome and Persia at War, pp. 44-7. "7 Cf. GREATREX, Rome and Persia at War, p. 46; also Joshua the Stylite, The Chroni- cle of Joshua the Stylite, ed. and tr. W. WRIGHT, Cambridge, 1882, §§18-19. © SecaL, Edessa, p. 168. ™ See DHGE, XXVI, 1995, col. 75 (putting Isaac of Antioch in the second half of the fifth century); Encyclopedia of the Early Church, ed. A. Dt BERNARDINO, Cambridge, 1992, p. 416 (M. van Esbroeck) and Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, II, p. 1013.ISAAC OF AN IOCH AND THE SACK OF BETH HUR, ae Chalcedonian addition ‘Who was crucified for us’. This formula, devel- oped by Peter the Fuller, patriarch of Antioch, only became popular in the period after 469, and more particularly during the time when Peter held his post in Antioch”, We thus have a terminus post quem of 469, and a probable date of the 470s for this other homily. In conclusion, therefore, it has been shown firstly that Isaac of Antioch composed his Homily XI on the sack of Beth Hur in 474 or soon afterwards, and hence that he must have been alive up until the mid-470s. And second, more importantly, the two invasions he describes have been fixed in 440 and 474. Dalhousie University Geoffrey GREATREX Dept. of Classics Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada B3H 335 % See M. VAN Essroeck in Encyclopedia of the Early Church (above) and W.H.C. FREND, The Rise of the Monophysite Movement, Cambridge, 1972, pp. 167-8; also Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, III, pp. 1641-2. Peter's first tenure of office was between 469/ 70 and 471.zeni opera. Versio iberica, 1 (B. COULIE), p. 456. P.A. BENGTSSON, Two Arabic Versions of the Book of Ruth (J. GRAND’HENRY), p. 458. — R. ARNZEN (Hrsg.), Aristoteles’ De Anima. Eine verlorene spatantike Paraphrase in arabischer und persischer Uberlieferung (J. JANSSENS), p. 462. — G. STROHMAEER, Von Demokrit bis Dante. Die Bewahrung antiken Erbes in der arabischen Kultur (J. JANSSENS), p. 468. — Ouvrages envoyés a la Rédaction, p. 469.SOMMAIRE (Tome 111 — Fasc. 3-4) ARTICLES Luccuest, E., D’un papyrus copte d’Antinoé . 269 Scuwpr, A., Ein unbekannter syrischer Kommentator zu den Homilien des Gregor von Nazianz .. . 279 Greateex, G., Isaac of Antioch and the sack of Beth Hur... 287 Stone, M.E., The Mixed Erkat'agir Bolorgir Script in Armenian Manuscripts... 293 Russett, JR., The Armenian Shrines of the Black Youth (ux manuk). . fe. 319 Luruer, A., Abgar Prahates filius rex (CIL VI, 1797) 345 Nieto-Ts4Rez, J.-M., A Latin Translation of the Homilies of Saint Macarius in the Codex Graecus Upsaliensis No.3. . 359 Aucock, A., The Arabic Life of Anba Samaw’ll of Qalamén: It. 377 Torrout, R., Muslim Attitudes towards Prostration (sujiid), II. The Prominence and Meaning of Prostration in Muslim Literature 405 KLEIN-FRANKE, F., and Zu, M., Rashid ad-Din and the Tansuqna- mah. The Earliest Translation of Chinese Medical Literature inthe West 2 2 2 0. ee ee ee ee ADT BIBLIOGRAPHIE C. MOLLER-KESSLER, M. SoKoLorr, A Corpus of Christian Palestinian Aramaic, et TI (J.-C. HABLEWYCK), p. 447. — P.C. BEENTIES, The Book of Ben Sira in Hebrew (J.-C. HAELEWYCK), p. 448, — N. NE- BES, Die Konstruktionen mi /fa-l im Altsiidarabischen (J.-C. HARLE- wyck), p. 449. — A. Wal, Studio su al-Mu’taman Ibn al-‘Assal (E. Luccuest), p. 451. — F. BRIQUEL-CHATONNET, Manuscrits syriaques de la Bibliotheque nationale de France, de la Bibliotheque Méjanes a’Aix-en-Provence, de la Bibliotheque municipale de Lyon et de la Bib- liothéque nationale et universitaire de Strasbourg (A.B." SCHMIDT), p. 454. — RY. Elev, A. VAN Rory, L.R. WickHAM (eds.), Petri Callinicensis Patriarchae Antiocheni tractatus contra Damianum, TI (A.B. Scumapt), p. 456. — H. MerREVELI (dir.), Sancti Gregorii Nazian-