Ibn al-Athīr
Ibn al-Athīr (born May 12, 1160 in Jazīrat Ibn ʿUmar (today Cizre Province Şırnak , Turkey ); † 1233 in Mosul ), with full name ʿAlī ibn Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn ʿAbd al-Wāhid, Abū l-Hasan al-Jazarī asch-Schaibānī , with the honorary title ʿIzz ad-Dīn , Arabic علي بن محمد بن عبد الكريم بن عبد الواحد ، أبو الحسن الجزري الشيباني ، عز الدين, DMG ʿAlī b. Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Karīm b. ʿAbd al-Wāḥid, Abū ʾl-Ḥasan al-Ǧazarī aš-Shaibānī, ʿIzz ad-Dīn , was the most important Muslim historian of the High Middle Ages .
The family traced its ancestry back to the Arab tribe of the Banū Shaibān. "Al-Jazari" stands for his place of birth, Jazīrat Ibn ʿUmar, today Cizre, where the Banū al-Athīr were among the most famous extended families.
Works
- al-Kāmil fī ʾt-tarīch /الكامل في التأريخ / al-kāmil fī ʾt-taʾrīḫ / 'The Complete Story'. The author mentions the title in the introduction: "I have given (this book) the title that suits its purpose: al-Kāmil fī ʾt-taʾrīḫ."
In his main work, which was written in Mosul, he described the history of the Islamic world from creation to the year 1230–1231. Up to the year 922 the annalistically arranged work is a summarizing excerpt from the world history of at-Tabarī , the chains of which the author omits and harmonizes the text with other sources. Thus Ibn al-Athīr is "a synthesis of all that has been compiled from historiography ."
At times he interpreted his sources for the benefit of the Zengid dynasty whom he served. This work also contains information on the siege of Jerusalem in 1099 by the crusaders and their assault on the al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem . Al-Athīr's statement that tens of thousands of people were killed in the process is classified by modern history as grossly falsified. It is now assumed that the number of victims barely exceeded 3,000.
Numerous historians subsequently used the work as a source and thus spread the exaggerations.
The work was first published in Leiden from 1851–1876 by the Swedish orientalist C.J. Tornberg published under the title Ibn al-Athiri Chronicon quod perfectissium inscribitur in 14 volumes and has been reprinted several times since then.
- Usd al-ghāba fī maʿrifat as-sahāba /أسد الغابة في معرفة الصحابة / Usd al-ġāba fī maʿrifati ʾṣ-ṣaḥāba / 'The Lions of the Thicket for the Knowledge of the Companions of the Prophets'. This work is a comprehensive biography of the life and work of the Prophet's Companions, in which he described the lives of around 7,500 male companions of Mohammed , often with reference to the prophetic sayings that they passed down after Mohammed, in alphabetical order. He dedicated the last volume, in accordance with the customs of Islamic biographers, to the female companions.
He dealt with the Zengidic atabegs of Mosul in a work of praise.
literature
- Carl Brockelmann: History of Arabic Literature. Volume 1. 2nd edition adapted to the supplement volumes. Brill, Leiden 1943, pp. 422-423.
- Heribert Busse : Arab Historiography and Geography. In: Outline of Arabic Philology. Volume 2: Helmut Gätje (Ed.): Literary Studies. Reichert, Wiesbaden 1987, ISBN 3-88226-145-5 , pp. 264-297, here p. 272.
- The Encyclopaedia of Islam. = Encyclopédie de l'Islam. Volume 3: H - Iram. New Edition. Brill et al., Leiden et al. 1971, p. 723.
Web links
- Ibn al-Athīr in the online edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica (accessed May 12, 2010)
- Ibn al-Athīr's Accounts of the Rūs: A Commentary and Translation by William E. Watson from Canadian / American Slavic Studies
- Ibn al Athīr's description of the battle by the horns of Hattin
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ferdinand Wüstenfeld (Ed.): Jacut's geographical dictionary. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1866–1870, sn Ǧazīrat Ibn ʿUmar.
- ↑ See the author's introduction in the edition of al-Munīrīya, Cairo 1929, p. 7
- ^ Carl Brockelmann : The relationship of Ibn-al-Aṯīrs Kāmil fit-taʾrīḫ to Ṭabarīs Aḫbār er-rusul wal-mulūk. Trübner, Strasbourg 1890.
- ↑ a b Heribert Busse: Arab Historiography and Geography. In: Outline of Arabic Philology. Volume 2: Helmut Gätje (Ed.): Literary Studies. 1987, pp. 264-297, here p. 272.
- ↑ Thomas S. Asbridge: The Crusades . 7th edition. Klett-Cotta, 2016, ISBN 978-3-608-94921-6 , pp. 117 ( google.at ).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ibn al-Athīr |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Muslim historian of the High Middle Ages |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 12, 1160 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Jazīrat Ibn ʿUmar (today Cizre Province Şırnak , Turkey ) |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1233 |
| Place of death | Mosul in what is now Iraq |