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Christian and Jewish Religious Dignitaries in Mamlûk Egypt and Syria: Qalqashandî's Information on their Hierarchy, Titulature, and Appointment (I)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2009

Extract

Together with those centuries of the Ottoman empire's florescence, the age of the independent Mamlûks(648–922/1250–1517)ranks as one of the best-documented periods of medieval Islamic history. Not only is its historical writing proper of an amazing bulk and richness, but the Mamlûk period produced encyclopedic compilations covering almost every branch of the Islamic sciences. In particular, there arose a flourishing minor genre of manuals of financial and secretarial practice, reflecting on the one hand the economic and commercial richness of the Mamlûk lands, and on the other the importance of the Mamlûk chancery and its truly international sphere of operations

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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1972

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References

page 59 note 1 The letter of the Emperor Manuel II Palacologus to the Mamlûk Sultan an-Nasir Nasir ad-Din Faraj(801-15/1399-1412), given by Qalqashandi in Subh al-a'shâ, vol. VIII, pp. 121–2(see below), shows by its humble and apologetic tone and its mention of internal disorders preventing the earlier despatch of an envoy, how enfeebled had become the vestigial Byzantine empire by the opening of the fifteeth century.Google Scholar

page 60 note 1 Islamic attitudes towards the Christian nations are well described by Bernard Lewis in his article 'The Muslim discovery of Europe', BSOAS, vol. xx(1957), pp. 409–16.Google Scholar

page 61 note 1 See Appendix 1.Google Scholar

page 61 note 2 See Appendix 2.Google Scholar

page 61 note 3 Revue de I'Orient Chretien, vol. Ix(1904), pp. 155–6. Lammens notes here that correspondence with the Kings of Castile seems to have been especially acidulous and full of veiled insults. Could this be a form of revenge for the dominant rôle of Leon-Castile in the reconquista and the subjugation of Muslim populations in the Iberian peninsula?Google Scholar

page 61 note 4 The secretaries of the Diwans who dealt with coded messages and their decipherment were perfectly aware of the necessity of tackling codes in these non-Arabic scripts, cf. Bosworth, 'The section on codes and their decipherment in Qalqashandi's Subh al-a'sha', JSS, vol. VIII(1963), pp. 24–6.Google Scholar

page 61 note 5 Wüstenfeld, Die Geographie und Verwaltung von Ägypten nach dem Arabischen des Abu'l-Abbas el Calcaschandi, Abh. der Königl. Gesellsch. der Wiss. zu Götingen, Phil. -Hist. Cl., vol. xxv (Göttingen, 1879);for a critique of this, see W. Björkman in his indispensable guide to Qalqashandî's Subh al-a'shā, Beiträge zur Geschichte der Staats-kanzlei im islamischen Ägypten(Hamburg, 1928), p. 96, n. 1.Google Scholar

page 62 note 1 Amari, 'De'titoli che usava la cancellaria de'Sultani di Egitto nel XIV secolo scrivendo a' reggitori di alcuni Stati italiani'Atti della Reale accademia dei Lincei, Serie Terza, Memorie della Classe di Scienze morali, storiche a filologiche, vol. XII(1883-4), pp. 507–34.Google Scholar

page 62 note 2 The original text for the Beirut transcription was presumably the manuscript of the Khedivial Library in Cairo(see Brockelmann, GAL2, vol. II, p. 166), although Lammens in ROC, vol. IX(1904), p. 152, is not explicit about this.Google Scholar

page 62 note 3 Lammens had printed the Arabic text of this extract in Machriq, vol. v(1902), pp. 206–9. Publication of a printed text of the Subh al-a'shâ at Bulaq was at this time only just begining, see Björkman, Beiträge, pp. 73–4;the superbly printed complete text issued by the Matba'a al-Amîriyya in Cairo under the direction of Shaikh Muhammad 'Abd ar-Rasûl Ibrâhîm was not finished until 1340/1922.Google Scholar

page 62 note 4 In ROC, vol. IX(1904), p. 163, n. 3, Lammens stated that by al-ard al-kabîra, the Arab geographers meant the Frankish empire as constituted by Charlemagne, but Qalqashandî's own definition of the term in the geopgraphical maqâla of the Subh al-a'shâ, apparently following Abû l-Fidâ, (called here Sâhib Hamât), is a wider one, sc. the region stretching westwards from the Gulf of Constantinople as far as the borders of al-Andalus(subh, vol. v, p. 412). In fact, the terminology of an earlier geographer like Ibn Haugal(second half of the tenth century)is quite different. He defines al-ard as-saghîra 'the Lesser Territory' as being that part of Europe west of the Gulf of Constantinople, and containing Calabria, Galicia, the land of the Franks, and Spain, together with half of the land of the Slavs and part of the Byzantine empire;whereas the main part of the great northern landmass, lying to the east of the ard as-saghîra (sc. from modern Russia east wards)comprises the ard al-kabîra. See his Kitâb-sûrat-al-ard, ed. J. H. Kramers(Leiden, 1938-9), vol. I, p. 191, tr. Kramers andG. Wiet, Configuration de la terre(Paris, 1964), vol. I, p. 188.Google Scholar

page 63 note 1 Qalqashandî uses both the Syriac from Malkaâniyya and the Arabic one Malakiyya;Ibn Fadlallâh's at-Ta'rîf bi-l-mustalah ash-sharîf, from which Qalqashandî quotes (see on this work, below, p. 67), uses the first form only.Google Scholar

page 63 note 2 Qalqashandî's inclusion of the Greek principality of Sinope is very anachronistic, for it had ceased to exist two centuries before he wrote. At the beginning of the thirteenth century, Sinope came into the hands of the Trebizond Comneni, but in 611/1214 it was captured by the Rûm Seljuq Sultan 'Izz ad-Din Kai Kâ'ûs I (hence Qalqashandî's mention of the Turkmens as inheritors of the Greeks). In the early fourteenth century it passed to the Turkmen dynasty of the Isfendiyar Oghullarï of Kastamonu; they held Sinope when Ibn Battûta visited it, probably in 732/1332, before he took ship to the Crimea. Eventually it was acquired by Mehmet the Conqueror. SeeIbn-Battûta, Rihla, ed. C. Defre'mery andB. Sanguinetti(Paris, 1853-9), vol. ii, pp. 348–56, tr. H. A. R. Gibb(Cambridge, 1958-62), vol. 11, pp. 465–9, and also J. H. Kramers, EP- Art. ‘Sīnūb’, and Besim Darkot, IA Art. ‘Sinop’. The question of who controlled Sinope was important for the Mamlûks, for it and Samsun were the Black Sea ports which received imports from the Crimea and the lands of the Golden Horde, above all, slaves (see below, n. 4). In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the Genoese were prominent in the Black Sea trade, and by 1351 there was a Genoese colony and almost certainly a Genoese consul in Sinope; a Venetian colony and consul seems also to have existed there. SeeW. Heyd, Histoire du commerce du Levant(Leipzig, 1885-6), vol. I, pp. 550–4.Google Scholar

page 63 note 3 Such is Lammens's very plausible identification of the mysterious Malik Mûnfurâd. The Montferrat principality of Thessalonica, a by-product of the' Latin capture of Constantinople in 1204, had of course long ceased to exist by the fourteenth century; Boniface of Montferrat's son Demetrius (1207-22) was the last of the family to reign there, and the principality was eventually regained by John III Ducas Vatatzes of Nicaea in 1246, cf. A. A. Vasiliev, History of the Byzantine Empire(Madison, Wise. 1964), vol. I p. 532. Thus as is the case with Sinope, Qalqashandî's mention of these rulers is some two centuries out of date.Google Scholar

page 63 note 4 Kaffa was of significance to the Mamlûk empire because in the early period, the greater part of the Mamlûk ruling and miliray institution came from the Qīpchaq Steppe and western Turkestan, the salve trade from these regions being controlled by the Golden Horde. Qīpchaq and also Russian slaves, and other commodities of the steppes like horses, furs, hides, wax et., were shipped through entrepots like Genoese-held Kaffa and the Tatar-controlled ones of Sughdaq and Old Qrim, through the Black Sea and either overland across Anatolia or through the Bosphorus and thence to Alexandria, Byzantium forming the third component of what spuler calls'the Sarây-Cairo axis'. Even during the Burjî Mamlûk period, Circassian slaves from the western Caucasus were still exported through Kaffa. SeeB. Spuler, Die Goldene Horde:did Mongolen in Russland 1223-1502(Leipzig, 1943), pp. 4–5, 46-7, 371-2, 391-408 and A. N. Poliak, 'Le caractere colonial de L'état, manelouk dans ses rapports avec la Horde d'Or', REI, vol. IX(1935), pp. 232–5, 241-4. There now exists a monograph specifically devoted to this question of relations between the Golden Horde and the Mamlûks, that ofS. Zakirov, Diplomatiches ie otnosheniya Zolotoy Ordy s Egiptom(XIII-XIV vv. )(Moscow, 1966), cf. Abstracta Islamica vingt-deuxieme serie(Paris, 1968), p. 20. no. 135.Google Scholar

page 65 note 1 for an example of one of these denunciatory tracts, Jamâl ad-Dîn 'Abd ar-Rahmân al-Asnawî's al-Kalima al-muhimma fî mubâsharat ahl adh-dhimma 'An earnest appeal regarding the employement of Dhimmîs'(composed c. 755-60/1354-9), see M. Perlmann, ‘Notes on anti-Christian progapanda in the Mamlûk empire’, BSOS, vol. X(1940-2), pp. 843–61, with the Arabic text given by the same author in his article'Asnawi's tract against Christian officials', Ignaz Goldziher Memorial Volume, ed. S. LöwingerandJ. Somogy(Budapest, 1948-58), vol. II, pp. 172–208.Google Scholar

page 65 note 2 Maqrîzî, Khitat(Cairo, 1324-6/1906-8), vol. 4, pp. 425 ff.Google Scholar, tr. by B. T. A. Evetts and A. J. Butleras an appendix to their translation of Abû Sâlih the Armenian, The Churches and Monasteries of Egypt and some Neighbouring Countries(Oxford, 1895), pp. 328–40Google Scholar, and also byL., Leroy, 'Les dglises des chr^tiens. Traduction de l'arabe d'al- Makrizi', ROC, vol. 12(1907), pp. 196ff.Google Scholar; cf. alsoA. S., Tritton, The Caliphs and Their Non-Muslim SubjectsA Critical Study of the Covenant of 'Umar(London, 1930), pp. 61–77.Google Scholar

page 65 note 3 Cf. E., Strauss, 'L'inquisition dans l'état mamlouk', RSO, vol. 25(1950), pp. 21–3.Google Scholar

page 66 note 1 For succinct surveys of this question of persecution of Christian Dhimmîs. see the excellent article ofG. Wiet, EP ‘Kibt’;H. Laoust, Essai sur les doctrines sociales et politiques d'lbn Taimiya (Cairo, 1939), pp. 60–2; A. S. Atiya, A History of Eastern Christianity(London, 1968), pp. 79 ff. ; and W. H. C. Frend, 'Christianity in the Middle East: survey down to 1800', in Religion in theMiddle East. Vol. I. Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1969), pp. 276–8.Google Scholar

page 66 note 2 The standard source for the history of the Jewish communities under the Mamlûks is E. Strauss's T6led6t ha-Yehûdîm be-Misrayim ve-Sûriyyah tahat shiltôn ham-Mamlûkîm (Jerusalem, 5704-11/1944_51), and there are some succinct comments on the depressed condition of the Dhimmîs in medieval Islam in the same author's article, 'The social isolation of Ahl adh-Dhimma', Études orientates a la mimoiré de Paul Hirschler, ed. O. Komlós (Budapest, 1950), pp. 73–94. A forthcoming, second volume of Goitein's A Mediterranean Society, the Jewish Communities of the Arab World as Portrayed in the Documents of the Cairo Geniza (of which vol. I, Economic Foundations, appeared in 1967 from the University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles), will deal with such topics as communal organization and institutions, internal autonomy and government control, during the period immediately preceding that of the Mamlûks, sc. that of the Fatimids and Ayyubids.Google Scholar

page 66 note 3 Section 1, Subh, vol. v, pp. 444 ff., is on the titles used by Muslim office-holders and professional men, those in use from early Islamic times and those peculiar to the Mamlûk period.Google Scholar

page 66 note 4 Qalqashandî's observation that the initial p of Pap is a mufakhkham articulation of b is interesting. Fakhâma or tafkhim simply means 'strengthening', in the definition of Lisân al-'arab1, vol. xv, pp. 346–7, ta'zîm (where it is also described, in a phonological context, as being the opposite of imâla). It is not to be supposed that Qalqashandî means that the Muslims pronounced the initial consonant of Pâp with an emphatic articulation, for according to J. Cantineau, although an emphatic Þ occurs amongst Semitic languages in Ge'ez and Christian Palestine Aramaic, it is obviously a localized, secondary phonetic development which can have no link with the present phenomenon (‘Le consonantisme du Sémitique’, Semitica, vol. iv [1951-2], pp. 80–1). The modern usage of mufakhkham for ‘emphatic’ should not be projected backwards, for the classical grammarians classified the four ‘emphatics’ s, d, t, z, as mutbaq ‘velarized’ and as subsumed under a wider phenomenon of tafhhîm. which also included q, kh, gh, and, in certain conditions, r and l. The common feature here is a more energetic pronunciation, and it was this which prevented imâla of the classical a vowel sound. Cf. Cantineau, Le dialecte arabe de Palmyre, vol. 1, Grammaire (Beirut, 1934), pp. 37 ff., an excellent statement of the problems involved in the elucidation of this terminology. Clearly, Qalqashandi regards the aspirated quality of the unvoiced labial plosive Þ as creating a ‘strengthened’ pronunciation analogous to the increased pressure in the laryngo-pharyngeal tract characteristic of the conventionally mufakhkham consonants of Arabic.Google Scholar

page 67 note 1 Sc. the Tathqîf at-ta'rîf of Qâdî Taqî d-Dîn 'Abd ar-Rahmân b. Nâzir al-Jaish, who served as a Dîwân official under Sultan al-Mansûr Salâh ad-Dîn Muhammad (762-4/1361-3) and his successor al-Ashraf Nâsir ad-Dîin Sha'bân (764-78/1363-76). The texts of letters of his, addressed to the Jalâyirid Shaikh Uwais of Iraq and Azerbaijan and his son Hasan, to Sultan al-Mansûr Salâh ad-Dîin Muhammad's son al-Malik as-Sâlih Sharaf ad-Dîin Muhammad, to the Khan of the White Horde in Siberia, Muhammad ( = Urus, 762-77/1361-75 ?), and one written on the occasion of the 772/1370-1 peace treaty between the Mamlûks and Franks, are given by Qalqashandî in Subh, vol. vil, pp. 260–1, 267-9, 295-8, vol. XIII, pp. 315–17. The Tathqîf is, as its name suggests, an improved version of the secretarial manual, much utilized by Qalqashandî, the Ta'rif bi-l-mustalah ash-sharîf of Shihâb ad-Dîin Ibn Fadlallâh al-'Umari (d. 748/1348); this last work was printed at Cairo in 1312/1894-5. Ibn Fadlallâh himself composed an improve version of his Ta'rîf, the 'Urf at-ta'rîf, also cited (though less frequently than the Tathqîf) by Qalqashandî, cf. Björkman, Beitrâge zur Geschichte der Staatskanzlei im islamischen Ägypten, pp. 74–5. Qalqashandî makes particular use of the Tathqîf for the period immediately after the composition of Ibn Fadlallâh's Ta'rîf.Google Scholar

Hâjjî Khalîfa mentions the 'Urf, but not the Tathqîf; yet the latter has survived, whereas the former has apparently not. It was the merit of Amari first to draw attention to the Tathqîf and its author, and to discuss the four manuscripts of it known to him in European libraries (viz. in the Escurial, the Ambrosiana, the Bodleian and the Asiatic Museum, St Petersburg); it nevertheless remains unprinted, and curiously enough, is not mentioned by Brockelmann in GAL. See Amari, ‘De’ titoli che usava la cancellaria de' Sultani di Egitto nel XIV secolo scrivendo a' reggitori di alcuni Stati italiani', and M. Gaudefroy- Demombynes, La Syrie d époque des Mamelouks d'après les auteurs arabes(Paris, 1923), pp. xii-xiii.Google Scholar

page 68 note 1 The ‘Petrine’ origins of the sees of Rome, Alexandria and Antioch (at which last city, accorDîing to Eusebius and St Jerome, St Peter was first bishop before his translation to Rome) were reflected in the superiority accorded to them by early medieval Popes like St Gregory the Great over the ‘upstart’sees of Constantinople and Jerusalem. Cf. G. Every, S. S. M., The Byzantine Patriarchate(London, 1947), p. 189.Google Scholar

page 68 note 2 It is surprising that Lammens did not cite these two paragraphs when he made his detailed analysis in ROC, vol. vin (1903), pp. 101–10, of Qalqashandî's section on correspondence with the Pope ( = Subh, vol. vin, pp. 42–3, cf. above, p. 62). In this article, Lammens adduced such points emerging from Qalqashandî's text as the pre-eminent treatment accorded to the Pope above all other Christian sovereigns, the description of the Pope as ‘Caliph of the Christians’ and equal of the Mongol Khans, and above all, the application to the Pope of the title Batriyark al-Malakiyya ‘Patriarch of the Melkites’, as proofs that the Pope was recognized, even after the Photian and Cerularian schisms, as head of the Melkite or Orthodox churches in Syria and Egypt. He further cited other Arabic authors, from Ibn Rusta to Ibn Khaldûn, on the Roman supremacy. Without embracing whole-heartedly the Jesuit scholar's enthusiastic papalism, research since his time has indeed tended to show t at he effects of the schism of 1054 between Michael Cerularius and Leo IX were less immediately divisive than were once thought. It is also relevant to bear in mind that the Melkites or Orthodox of Syria, and to a lesser extent, Egypt, were not Byzantines and Greeks and did not necessarily recognize the oecumenical authority of the Patriarch of Constantinople as the Latins and Franks of the west recognized that of the Pope of Rome. There is, to this extent, justice in Lammens's attempts to demonstrate the tenacity of links between the Latin Church and the non-Greek, Orthodox Churches of the east. For a balanced discussion of these questions, see Every, op. cit., PP- 1 S3 fl.Google Scholar

page 69 note 1 The ‘Suspended Church’ in Fustat is the one also known as the Cathedral Church of the Virgin (Kanîsat al-‘Adhrâ‘, Kanîsat as-Sayyida), oldest of the churches in the Qasr ash-Sham'a, the ancient Roman fortress of Old Cairo, and derives its name from its suspension between two bastions of the Roman wall. Its position nestling into the walls shows that its construction dates from before the Muslim conquest, in Butler's opinion, possibly to the sixth century. When Christodulos (437-68/1045-76) was chosen as Coptic Patriarch, he revived the ancient usage of being consecrated in the Mu'allaqa Church, instead of the adjacent one of Abû Sarja, and it was thus used for several of his successors; it seems, indeed, that it was regarded as the episcopal church of the see of Old Cairo. Like so many of the Christian churches of Egypt, it suffered attack and plundering by fanatical Muslim mobs under the Mamlûks; amongst all the other churches, it was closed down by an-N sir Muhammad b. Qalâ'ûn in 700/1301 and only reopened a year later at the intercession of the Byzantine Emperor, see below, p. 68. On the history of the church, see A. J. Butler, The Ancient Coptic Churches of Egypt(Oxford, 1884), vol. I, pp. 206–35;S. Lane Poole, A History of Egypt in the Middle Ages (London, 1901), p. 301; and E. Tisserant and G. Wiet, 'La liste des patriarches d'Alexandrie dans Qalqachandi', ROC, Ser. 3, vol. in (1922_3), pp. 140–1. There was also a convent for nuns attached to the Mu'allaqa, described by Maqrîzî as the most celebrated in Fustât, see Khitat. vol. IV, p. 421, tr. in Evetts and Butler, The Churches and Monasteries of Egypt, p. 322.Google Scholar

page 69 note 2 Sc. Abû Sa'd al-'Alâ' b. al-Hasan, Ibn al-Mausilâyâ, with the honorific of Amîn ad-Daula (d. 497/1103-4). He was, as the Syriac form of his father's nisba would suggest, a Christian for most of his life, and only became a Muslim in 484/1091 during the Caliphate of al-Qâ'im's successor al-Muqtadî, when the Vizier Abû Shujâ' Muhammad b. al-Husain ar-Rûdhrâwarî instituted draconian measures against the Dhimmîs of Baghdad (cf. Bundari, Zubdat an-nusra, ed. M. T. Houtsma[Leiden, 1889], p. 78, and Ibn al-Jauzi, al-Muntazam[Hyderabad, 1357-9/1938-41], vol. IX, p. 55). Ibn al- Mausilâyâ's literary style was famous in its day; Ibn Khallikân says that his epistles and his poetry had been collected into two volumes (Wafayât al-a'yân, no. 520, tr. M. G. de Slane [Paris 1842-71], vol. ii, p. 415).Google Scholar

page 69 note 3 This variant spelling is mentioned also in Subh, vol. vi, p. 91. Forms like al-Fatrak, pi. al-Fatârika, the verb tafatraka ‘become Patriarch’, etc., are in fact quite common in medieval Christian Arabic usage, see G. Graf, Verzeichnis arabischer kirchlicher Termini2, Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, vol. CXLVII(Louvain, 1954), p. 84. The title of that section of the Nestorian author Mârîi b. Sulaim>n's encyclopaedia of the religious sciences, the Kit>b al-mijdal li-l-istibs>r wa-l-jadal, which deals with the history of the Nestorian Patriarchs is, for instance, called the Akhb>r fat>riqat kursî l-mashriq. The normal rendering in Arabic of Þ/π is b>' cf. Patricius/ΠaτplKios > Bitrîq, palatium/ παλáπov balât, and fâ' rendersÆ, as in Æávos > fânûs 'lantern'. But Graf, op. cit., pp. 82–6, gives several examples of ecclesiastical terms in which π > fâ' such as >âρákληπος > fârâqlît ‘Paraclete’, and Πεντηκοοτη> fantîqustî ‘Pentecost’. My colleague Dr J. D. Latham further reminds me that some Greek botanical and medical terms are similarly rendered, e. g. παωυια> fâwînâ ‘peony’, πεσσáριου> farzaja ‘pessary’.n's+encyclopaedia+of+the+religious+sciences,+the+Kit>b+al-mijdal+li-l-istibs>r+wa-l-jadal,+which+deals+with+the+history+of+the+Nestorian+Patriarchs+is,+for+instance,+called+the+Akhb>r+fat>riqat+kursî+l-mashriq.+The+normal+rendering+in+Arabic+of+Þ/π+is+b>'+cf.+Patricius/ΠaτplKios+>+Bitrîq,+palatium/+παλáπov+balât,+and+fâ'+rendersÆ,+as+in+Æávos+>+fânûs+'lantern'.+But+Graf,+op.+cit.,+pp.+82–6,+gives+several+examples+of+ecclesiastical+terms+in+which+π+>+fâ'+such+as+>âρákληπος+>+fârâqlît+‘Paraclete’,+and+Πεντηκοοτη>+fantîqustî+‘Pentecost’.+My+colleague+Dr+J.+D.+Latham+further+reminds+me+that+some+Greek+botanical+and+medical+terms+are+similarly+rendered,+e.+g.+παωυια>+fâwînâ+‘peony’,+πεσσáριου>+farzaja+‘pessary’.>Google Scholar

Phonologically speaking, it seems that the Arabs felt that the salient characteristic of the Greek phoneme π was its bilabial quality, which they maintained in the majority of cases by rendering it as bâ'; but in the case of the Christian ecclesiastical terms like batrak/fatrak, and of some scientific terms, the intermediacy of Syriac was probably vital in producing the initially unvoiced version, for π can be rendered in Syriac orthography and pronunciation alike (as also in Hebrew) as either Þ orf.Google Scholar

page 70 note 1 In the time of Justinian, there were three Patriarchs in Egypt, a Monophysite or Jacobite one, a Chalcedonian or Melkite one, and one for the Aphthartodocetae or extremist Monophysite adherents of Julian of Halicarnassus; and although there was a break of a century following the Arab invasion of Egypt before a Melkite Patriarch could once more be appointed, there were throughout the Muslim Middle Ages normally both Coptic and Orthodox or Melkite Patriarchs in Egypt. Cf. Every, The Byzantine Patriarchate, pp. 61, 75.Google Scholar

page 70 note 2 On this term ( >[έπ]ισκοπος), see Graf, Verzeichnis, p. 8.[έπ]ισκοπος),+see+Graf,+Verzeichnis,+p.+8.>Google Scholar

page 70 note 3 On mitrân/matrân/mutrân (>μητροπολιτης), see ibid. pp. 106.

page 70 note 4 On qissîs/qass/qiss ( >Syriac qeshîshâ), see ibid. p. 90.

page 70 note 5 On jâthâlîq/jâthalîq/jathlîq (> καθολικός), see ibid. p. 33.

page 70 note 6 On this term ( >Syriac shamshâ), see ibid. p. 67.

page 70 note 7 Ra'îs al- Yahûd, in Hebrew Nagîd; on the analogy of the Aramaic title for the Exilarch of the Babylonian Jews, one might have expected a title like Rôsh ha- Yehûdîm, but this is not in fact found. Concerning the Arabic sources on the Nagîd, see Strauss, Tôledôt ha-Yehûdîm be-Misrayim ve Sûriyah, vol. H, pp. 239 ff., and now the important and well-documented article of S. D. Goitein, ‘The title and office of Nagid: a re-examination’, JQR, vol. m i (1962-3), pp. 93–119.Google Scholar

page 71 note 1 This term, in modern usage 'cantor', has had a variety of meanings at different stages of Jewish history. In Mamlûk times he did, as Qalqashandî states, fulfil some of the duties of the Muslim khatîb, the dignitary who preached formalized sermons during the Friday congregational worship. But the Hazzân had other functions also. He was usually a scholar, and acted as a teacher and expositor, as well as being an intoner of prayers. In particular, in his role as Pay tan he was the composer and reciter of piyyûtîm, called by Zunz ‘synagogal poetry’, these being liturgical compositions in a florid and artificial style even more intricate than that of Arabic saj' or rhymed prose, and meant for recitation on the Sabbath and on festivals. Cf. J. Mann, The Jews in Egypt and in Palestine under the Fdtimid Caliphs, a Contribution to Their Political and Communal History(Oxford, 1920-2), vol1, pp. 268–9; Strauss, op. it. vol. 11, p. 376; M. Wallenstein, Some Unpublished Piyyutim from the Cairo Geniza(Manchester, 1956), introd.Google Scholar

page 71 note 2 The Shelî'ah sibbûr, literally ‘Messenger of the Congregation’, because he acted as the leader and conveyor of the congregation's prayers to God. Qalqashandî's equation of this figure with the Muslim imam is an apposite one, because the Shelû'ah sibbûr was not necessarily a paid official, but any pious Jew with a good voice might act in this capacity, just as any pious Muslim might lead the Friday prayer. Cf. Strauss, op. cit. vol. ii, p. 379.Google Scholar

page 71 note 3 This is the normal spelling of the Geniza records.Google Scholar

page 71 note 4 Section 1, Subh, vol. vi, pp. 121 ff., is on the titles of the Muslims. Before this, Qalqashandî has given alphabetical lists of the titles used in correspondence with both Muslim potentates and the infidel ones (vol. vi, pp. 5–78 and 78-96 respectively); within these two sections, the titles are grouped first under single words (e. g. al-Asad, al-Asîl, al-Anjâlûs, amongst the Christian titles), and then under compound expressions (e. g. Akhir mulûk al-Yûnân, Uswat al-mulûk wa-s-salâtîn, al-'Âdil fî millatihi, amongst the Christian titles), with appendixes on alqâb which are feminine, either by grammatical signification or by natural gender (e. g. al-Hadra and al-Malika al-jalîla … kabîrat dîn an-Nasrâniyya, amongst the Christian titles).Google Scholar

page 72 note 1 Division 2, Subh, vol. vi, pp. 174–9, deals with the titles of the kings of the Christians, and Division 3, Subh, vol. vi, pp. 180–3, deals with their governors and consuls (nuwwâb mulûkihim wa-kanâsilatuhum).Google Scholar

page 72 note 2 The general meaning of mutadayyin is, of course, that of ‘devotee, worshipper’, but here it would seem to embrace only the higher religious leaders.Google Scholar

page 72 note 3 al-falîl. In the section on the titles used in addressing the infidels, mentioned in a note above, at Subh, vol. vi, p. 80, it is said that the application of this epithet to infidel rulers only means that they are great in relation to other infidel rulers (i. e. but not in relation to Islamic rulers; in absolute terms, an infidel cannot have greatness attributed to him). Qalqashandî observes that since al-falîl' the majestic, the one worthy of veneration' is one of the 'Most beautiful names of God' (accorDîing to Ghazâlî's al-Maqsad al-asnâ, this epithet has particular reference to the divine beauty of God, see L. Gardet, El2 Art. ‘al-Asmā’ al-husnā'), it is the best practice to avoid using it in profane contexts. However, Qalqashandî in Subh, vol. vi, p. 11, says that it has a secular use amongst Muslim dignitaries. It is applied to great commanders who have performed the Pilgrimage, e. g. as al-Hâjj al-falîl; it is synonymous with 'azîm, but should be used to denote a higher grade than this.Google Scholar

page 72 note 4 al-Qiddîs. AccorDîing to Subh, vol. vi, p. 82, this is used only by religious dignitaries of the rank of Pope or Patriarch.Google Scholar

page 72 note 5 ar-Rûhânî. This is used, accorDîing to Subh, vol. vi, p. 81, for religious dignitaries, without specification of grade.Google Scholar

page 72 note 6 al-Khâshi'. Again, this is said to be one of the titles used by Popes and Patriarchs, but is also used for holy men, Sûfîs and religious scholars of the Muslims—even for the military classes, arbâb as-suyûf, if they possess the requisite quality of humility (Subh, vol. vi, pp. 3, 80). Its application to the Pope is reminiscent of Gregory the Great's title Servus servorum Dei.Google Scholar

page 72 note 7 More narrowly defined in Subh, vol. vi, p. 20, as ‘striving earnestly in good works, industrious in pious devotions’ when used by the Muslims, amongst whom it is found given to both civilians and the military.Google Scholar

page 72 note 8 al-Qudwa ‘pattern, model’, a term used also by the Muslim ulema and religious devotees (Subh, vol. vi, p. 23).Google Scholar

page 72 note 9 Mumallik mulûk an-Nasrâniyya. Perhaps an echo of the Papal claim, strenuously upheld during the Investiture Contest, to set the seal of divine approval on the secular authority of rulers.Google Scholar

page 72 note 10 Hâfiz al-bihâr wa-l-khuljân. This is explained in Subh, vol. vi, p. 87 (with the variant hâmi for hâfiz), as being used by all potentates of the Christians whose territories border on the sea. By ‘gulfs’ are perhaps meant such specific ones as the Golden Horn and the ‘Gulf of Venice’, i. e. the Adriatic.Google Scholar

page 73 note 1 Sâdiq al-mulûk wa-s-salâtîn, explained in Subh, vol. vi, p. 89, as being a term applied to the rulers of the Christians and as referring to the love and affection which they show towards the kings and rulers of Islam.Google Scholar

page 73 note 2 al-Hadra as-Sâmiya. The history of the usage of this ancient title of al-Hadra is given in detail by Hasan al-Bâshâ in his al-Alqâb al-islâmiyya fi-t-ta'rikh zoa-l-wathâ' iq wa-l-âthâr(Cairo, 1957), pp. 260–4Google Scholar, tracing its use from 'Abbâsid, Fâtimid and Bûyid practice of the tenth century through the Seljuqs and Ayyûbids down to the Mamlûks. The Ayyûbid author Ibn Shîth states in his book on secretarial practice, the Ma'âlim al-kitâba wa-maghânim al-isâba that it should be used for addressing great men of state below the rank of Vizier. In Mamlûk times, it was one of the most widely used of designations, being used for addressing both Muslim and infidel rulers. Qalqashandî in Subh, vol. v, p. 498, notes that it is used in investiture diplomas (wilâyât) for dignitaries like the Patriarch, who is addressed_as in the present passage_as al-Hadra ash-Shaikh or al-Hadra al-Batrak. The use of as-sâmiya, the less exalted form of the adjective see below, p. 16, n. 4), shows, however, that a Christian dignitary was not to be placed on the same level as that of the higher Muslim ones.Google Scholar

page 73 note 3 Apparently the letter of appointment for a Patriarch of the Jacobites or Coptic Christians in Egypt given in Subh, vol. xi, pp. 395–7. the titles of the Patriarch being given on p. 396.Google Scholar

page 73 note 4 ar-Ra'îs, stated in Subh, vol. vi, p. 14, to be a title used by outstanding and most noble civilians, whether of the secretarial classes or of the uletna; on the authority of Jauharî's Sahâh, one may have either ra'îs or rayyis, on the pattern of qayyim (see above, p. 71), and the latter form is normal in Middle Arabic, e. g. Judaeo-Arabic (seeA. L. Motzkin, ‘Some aspects of Judaeo-Arabic in the thirteenth century’, JSS, vol. xv [1970\, P. 58).Google Scholar

page 73 note 5 al-Mukarram, linked with al-mu'azzaz in Subh, vol. vi, pp. 29–30, as titles used by the kings of the Maghrib.Google Scholar

page 73 note 6 al-Muhtasham. In Subh, vol. vi, p. 83, it is commented that this is a term used by Byzantine and Frankish merchants, and means essentially ‘a great man, who has an extensive hasham, sc. a following of servants and attendants’, i. e. it is a term applied to secular prominent men. However, Qalqashandî adds that popular usage (‘urf al-’âmma) gives it the same meaning as al-mustahyî ‘modest, humble’, and this is the meaning intended here, since it is applied to a religious dignitary.Google Scholar

page 74 note 1 al-'Ârif al-Habr. In Subh, vol. VI, pp. 12, 19, it is said that al-habr or al-hibr (both pronunciations being given by Ibn Qutaiba in his Adab al-kâtib, ed. M. Grûnert[Leiden, 1900], p. 554, but the popular pronunciation being with an a vowel; it is true that the Hebrew original of the word is of course hâbêr) is used only by the greatest of ulema. Likewise, al-'ârif is used by outstandingly pious and holy men. Qalqashandî adds that some people distinguish between al-‘ârif and al-’âlim, in that ma'rifa may be preceded by jahl, but not ‘Urn; hence al-’Âlim is an epithet applicable to God, but not al-'Ârif. Certainly, we find al-'Âlim and not al-Ârif as one of the conventionally recognized Most Beautiful Names of God, on the reasoning that 'Urn is a natural attribute of God's essence (dhât). and because the speculative theologians or mutakallimûn distinguished ‘Urn from ma'rifa, describing the latter as knowledge obtained in the course of experience, reflection or intuin, i. e. as gnosis; see D. B. Macdonald, El2 Art. ‘'Ilm’.Google Scholar

page 74 note 2 Dhukhr al-Milla al-Masîhiyya, Kanz at-Tâ'ifa al-'Îhâwiyya. These two titles, and the one Kanz at-Tâ'ifa as-Salîbiyya given in the previous paragraph as a title of the Patriarchs in Egypt, are close to the Dhukhr al-umma an-Nasrâniyya described in Subh, vol. vi, p. 88, as applicable to all the rulers of the Christians, Melkite and Jacobite.Google Scholar

page 74 note 3 Muhyû d-Dîin Abû 1-Fadl Yahyâ b. Muhyî d-Dîin Abî 1-Ma'alî Muhammad az-Zak al-Qurashî (590-668/1194-1269) was himself the son of a qaâî of Damascus (on whom see Ibn Khallikân, no. 605, tr. de Slane, vol. n, pp. 633–42). Abû 1-Fadl Yahyâ's decree to the head of the Jews in Syria must have been issued in his first year as Qâdî of Damascus. During the Mongol invasion, he went over to Hûlegû's side and became Qâdî of Syria under him; he later suffered for this under the Mamlûks, and was exiled to Egypt for the rest of his life. See Ibn al'Imâd alHanbalî, Shadharât adh-dhahab fî akhbâr man dhahab(Cairo, 1350-1/1931-3), vol. v, pp. 327–8, and H. L. Gottschalk, Al-Malik al-Kāmil von Egypten und seine Zeit(Wiesbaden, 1958), pp. 91, 162.Google Scholar

page 74 note 4 al-Auhad, al-A'azz, al-Akhass. These are discussed in Subh, vol. vi, pp. 7, 9-11, as being titles of the Muslims. Al-akhass is a title applied to the military, and should be kept for the Sultan's closest guards and attendants (al-alzâm al-muqarrabûn). Al-a'azz is used by the kings of the Maghrib; it is frequently coupled with the first title where the title-holder's rank does not warrant the use of epithets with the nisba enDîing in -iyy (it is explained in Subh, vol. vi, pp. 97 ff. that enDîings in -iyy are higher in meaning than those without; hence as-sâmiyyGoogle Scholar is higher than as-sâmî . Similarly, al-auhad, though it may be a royal title, is used also by members of the secretarial classes not entitled to epithets in -iyy; in practice, the title has been cheapened by indiscriminate use.

page 74 note 5 ar-Ra'îs, see above, p. 73.Google Scholar