Bishop Bar Hebraeus Gregorios Bar Ebraya (1226 – 1286) was a Syrian scholar and an author of a world chronicle divided into eleven dynasties for which he used earlier Greek, Syriac and Arabic historians. His chronicle starts at the very beginning and, continued by his brother, goes all the way to 1296. There are a number of mentions of the Suavs in the chronicle. The main edition is that of Paul Bedjan (1898) which was translated (1932) into English by Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge. The whole chronicle is accessible here. A more manageable version of Budge’s is posted by Robert Bedrosian here. Finally, here is another version of the same Budge translation. I left the annoying CAPS mentions of names as they were in the Wallis version.
The Chronography of Gregory Abû’l Faraj, the son of Aaron aka Bar Hebraeus
Bar Hebraeus’ Chronography
The First Series of generations, which beginneth with the Patriarchs
“…And in the one hundred and fortieth year of PALAGH the earth was divided a second time, between the sons of NOAH. And to the sons of SHEM came the inheritance from the middle of the inhabited world to the limit thereof on the east, [including] PALESTINE, ARABIA, and PHOENICIA, and the country of SYRIA, and all the country between the Two Rivers (MESOPOTAMIA), and HYRCANIA, and ‘ATHOR (ASSYRIA), and the country of SEN’AR (SHINAR), and BABIL, and KARDO, and all PERSIA, and NORTHERN INDIA and BACTRIANA. And to the sons of HAM [came the inheritance], the whole of the south, from east to west, INDIA (Central, Outer, and Southern), KUSH, SHEBHA, EGYPT, LYBIA, THEBAIS, AFRICA, and towards the north CILICIA, PAMPHYLIA, PISIDIA, MYSIA, PHRYGIA, LUKYA (LYCIA), LYDIA, and of the Islands [of the MEDITERRANEAN] CYPRUS, CHIOS, SICILY, and twenty others. And to the sons of JAPHET [came the inheritance], the whole of the north from east to west, the country of the ‘ALANAYE (GERMANS, RB: Alans?), the TURKS, MEDIA, ARMENIA, CAPPADOCIA, GALATIA, ASIA, MYSIA, TARKI (THRACE?), ‘ILADHA (HELLAS), the land of the GREEKS (IONIANS), the RHOMAYE (BYZANTINES), the SARMATIANS, the ‘ASKLABHE (SCLAVS), the BULGARS, the GALLAYE (GAULS?), the SPANIARDS as far as GADIRA…
Here beginneth the Eighth Series, which passeth from the Kings of the pagan Greeks to the Kings of the Rhomaye
[This “series” starts with the Ptolemies and goes through all the Roman and Byzantine Emperors]
Justinianus
…And in the thirty-first year of JUSTINIANUS a severe earthquake took place, and the two walls of CONSTANTINOPLE, both the inner and the outer, were breached. And the city of RIGIN was so completely swallowed up by the earth that the site thereof could not be identified. And also the purple pillar which [stood] before the palace, and had a statue of the Emperor upon the top of it, was first cast up into the air, and then it turned upside down, and became embedded in the ground into which it sunk to a depth of eight feet. The earth swayed and rocked about like a tree before the wind for ten days. And after these things the armies of the HUNS and the ‘ASKLABE (SLAVS) came and encamped about the royal city, and they broke down the outer walls, and plundered and burnt all the colonnades; and they seized everything which they found and departed. And they came again, a second and a third time, and then the RHOMAYE gained the mastery and destroyed them in the war [which followed]. The few of them who escaped never again appeared in the place…
Justinus
…And [KESRU] laid down a law that a king should not go forth to war except against a king. For the RHOMAYE had sent [a message] to him, saying. ‘We are [only] the servants of a king, and it would be a disgrace to us to go in like thieves and set fire [to places]; how very much more it is [a disgrace] to thee [to do this] who art a king?’ After these things, the RHOMAYE relying on their victory unsaddled their horses and they went away to feed. And behold, suddenly, certain SLAVS, that is to say scouts, came and said, ‘Behold the PERSIANS and KESRU are coming’. Now the RHOMAYE had set no sentries at all on guard, and wholly unexpectedly the army of the PERSIANS came upon them. And trembling fell upon the RHOMAYE. And they began to flee on foot, and the PERSIANS who pursued them cut them down (?), and they collected the weapons, and bridles and armour which the RHOMAYE cast away [when they] fled…
Here beginneth the Ninth Series, which [beginneth with] the kings of the RHOMAYE and endeth with the kings of the YAWNAYE (Greeks)
Tiberius
…At this time when the army of the RHOMAYE was marching to PERSIA with MAURICIUS CAESAR, the barbarian peoples of ‘ABHARIS (ABARES) and ‘ASKLABHONE (SCYTHIA) and LONGOBARDY, who were subject to the KHAKAN, laid waste the countries of the RHOMAYE…
Mauricius
…And in the fourth year of his reign there broke forth and went out from the EAST a hateful people from ‘ABARIS whose hair was plaited, and from the WEST also came the SLAVS and the LONGOBARDS. And they came under the subjugation of the KHAKAN, king of the KAZARAYE, and they captured two cities from the RHOMAYE and many of [their] fortresses. And if it had not been for the great ditch which the king had made outside ADRIANOPLE, they would have set their faces towards CONSTANTINOPLE. Then the RHOMAYE killed the people of ‘ANTIO…, and they fell upon ‘ASKLABHUNYA and captured it and looted it. When the ‘ASKLABHONE heard this they made a great war (i.e. raid) in the country of the RHOMAYE and came back.
At this time there went forth from Inner SCYTHIA three brothers with thirty thousand SCYTHIANS. And they came a journey of two months in the time of winter, for the discovery of water, that is to say [water ] from the fords of MOUNT AMON; and they arrived at the river TANIS (DONA?), which goeth out from the lake of MIANTIS and mingleth in the SEA OF PONTOS. And when they arrived at the frontier of the RHOMAYE, one of them whose name was BULGARIS took ten ships and crossed the river TANIS and pitched his camp between the rivers TANIS and DUNBIR (DON and DNIEPER?), which also mingles (i.e. flows into) the SEA OF PONTOS. And he sent to MAURICIUS [asking] him to give him land to dwell in, and [said that] he would become an ally of the RHOMAYE. And MAURICIUS gave him Upper and Lower MYSIA, and they dwelt there, and they became a guard (i.e. a buffer garrison) for the RHOMAYE. Now, though they were SCYTHIANS the RHOMAYE call them ‘BULGARIANS‘. Then these two other brothers came to the country of ‘AL AN, which is BAR SALIA, that is to say to the towns of the CASPIAN, which the BULGARIANS and the PANGURIANS call the ‘Gate of the Turks’; they were once Christians and are now called ‘KAZARAYE’ after the name of the eldest brother…
…And in the eighth year of MAURICIUS the PERSIANS rebelled against HORMIZD, their king, and they seized him by treachery and blinded his eyes, and he died. And ten months later those who had killed him because of the multitude of his evil deeds, inclined towards his son KESRU; and they made him their king [and he reigned] thirty-eight years. Now BAHRAM, the captain of the Persian host, did not favor KESRU, and he and many people rebelled against him vigorously. Then KESRU took refuge with the RHOMAYE, and he sent a message secretly to MAURICIUS saying that he was ready to go to him if it pleased him to grant him permission. When MAURICIUS heard this he rejoiced. And he wrote [to him saying] that he would help him in everything. And KESRU rose up promptly and came to EDESSA. And IWANNIS (JOANNES), a native of RUSAFAYA, received him into his house, and honoured him greatly. And he wrote to MAURICIUS, [saying], ‘Like a slave he should be to him’, but MAURICIUS replied that he should honour him as a father honoureth his son. And MAURICIUS sent to JOANNES, the captain of the host of the TARKAYE, with twenty thousand soldiers, and ANASTASIUS who took with him ‘ARMANAYO (ARMENIANS) and BULGARIANS– twenty thousand. And he sent forty talents of gold for his expenses. And when KESRU received these he marched to his own country. And HORMIZAN the PERSIAN came to him with ten thousand men. Now, when the rebels heard [this] they made ready to fight, and they were defeated and turned their backs in flight, and the captains who were among them were captured and killed, and the rest returned to KESRU. Then KESRU gave many gifts to the RHOMAYE, and he sent great gifts to MAURICIUS and precious stones, and he gave back DARA and RAS’AYN to the RHOMAYE. And KESRU asked MAURICIUS and he gave him MARIA, his daughter, to wife. And bishops went down with her, and the daughter of THEODOSIUS also made a splendid feast, and the Patriarch bound on the wedding crown. And KESRU built three great temples to the God-bearer, to the Apostles, and to SERGIUS the martyr, and the Patriarch of ANTIOCH consecrated them. And Christianity spread throughout PERSIA…
Phocas
…And there was a severe winter, and the EUPHRATES was frozen over. And after two years the PERSIANS crossed the EUPHRATES, and seized MABBOGH, and KENNESHRIN, and BEROEA and ANTIOCH. And it is said that when KESRU was master of EDESSA he took as a captive the wife of JOANNES of RUSAFA, whom he had honoured with such great honour when he received him into his house, and he took her down to PERSIA, and put her to death by tortures. The reason of this was that one day when he was resting in the house of JOANNES he said unto her, ‘It is the custom among the PERSIANS that when the king condescends to go into the house of one of his governors, for the mistress of that house to come forth and to pay him honour, and to mix wine for him, even if it be only one cup[ful]’. Now though JOANNES was ashamed and was unwilling to act contrary to the wish of his wife, he inclined towards the matter (i.e. he thought that she might do what the king wanted done). But she did not wish to do so, and she replied, ‘In truth we are bound to pay honour to our chief, for he is a great king. But with us SYRIANS it is not the custom for the women to go out to men when they are drinking together. Therefore let not him (the king) blame me because I was too bashful to go out [to pay homage to him]. Then the Calumniator (i.e. the Devil) inflamed the wrath of KESRU, and he said to JOANNES, ‘That she did not go forth hath brought contempt upon thee, and what she hath said hath done so also’. This was his opinion; and because of this act he was driven away from his high position, and for this reason he kept his anger against her…
Here beginneth the Tenth Series, which passeth on from the GREEK (IONIAN) kings to the ARAB kings
…Then JUSTINIANUS waxing proud, transgressed [his] oaths, and he broke the peace before it was fulfilled, and he sent and made captives the ARABS who were in CYPRUS. Because of this MAHAMMAD, the Amir of the island of KARDU, went to CAPPADOCIA, and the RHOMAYE and the ‘ASKLABE (SLAVS) attacked him in battle, and the RHOMAYE were defeated near CESARAEA. And the ‘ASKLABE (SLAVS) made friends with the ARABS, and about seven thousand of them went out with them to SYRIA. And they settled them in ANTIOCH and in KUROS, and gave them women and provisions (rations?)…
,,,In the year one thousand and ten of the GREEKS (A.D. 699), the captain of the host of CILICIA, whose name was ‘APSIMAROS, who is called ‘TIBERIUS’, came and swept away LEONTIUS from the kingdom, and reigned in his stead, but he did not kill LEONTIUS. This TIBERIUS subjugated again the SLAVS who had rebelled against the RHOMAYE. And he went out to the country of SAMOSATA and slew five thousand ARABS, and he took captives and looted and came back. Then ‘ABD AL-MALIK appointed two captains of the host, viz. MAHAMMAD over BETH NAHRIN, and ASSYRIA, and ARMENIA, and ADHORBIJAN, and his servant HAJAJ over all PERSIA and ARABIA. And when HAJAJ plundered the chiefs of the ARABS mercilessly, MAHAMMAD sent and brought MU’ED, the chief of the Thaglabite ARABS who were Christians, and urged him to become a Muslim. And when he refused to do so he cast him into a miry pit. And then he brought him out again, and flattered him, and when he would not be persuaded by any means whatsoever, he killed MU’ED. And he also collected the chiefs of the ARMENIANS and shut them up in one of the churches of ARMENIA, and then he set the church on fire and burnt them all. And he slew ANASTUS, the son of ANDREA, governor of EDESSA…
…And in the year twelve hundred and seven of the GREEKS (A.D. 896), LEO, king of the RHOMAYE., fell sick of a disease of the bowels and died, and his son ALEXANDER reigned after him one year. And because he had turned aside his heart from the fear of God, and had given himself over to sorcerers and magicians, he was smitten by the rod of righteousness and died. And after him his brother CONSTANTlNUS reigned four years. And at the beginning of his kingdom SIMIAN, the chief of the BULGARIANS and SCLAVS, came against CONSTANTINOPLE, and he destroyed many villages. And he afflicted the city also, and he made against it a great ditch [which reached] from BELAKERNE to the gate which is called ‘Golden’. And the king of the RHOMAYE sent [a dispatch] to him, saying, ‘Since we are all Christians, and the children of one baptism, why do such dissentions as these exist between us?’ And as SIMION refused to be propitiated (or, reconciled), king CONSTANTINUS collected the Arab prisoners who were in CONSTANTINOPLE, and he promised them that if they would help the RHOMAYE to victory [over] the BULGARIANS he would set them free. And having sworn to the king oaths [that they would do so], weapons of war were given to them. And the RHOMAYE went forth with the ARABS with one purpose, and they defeated the SCLAVS, and killed many of them, and the rest fled. The king (CONSTANTINUS), however, went back on his promise, and he took away from the ARABS their weapons, and threw iron fetters on them again, and scattered them throughout his provinces, for he was afraid lest they should set up a chief for themselves. The history of the blessed MAR MICHAEL, which dealeth with the war of the RHOMAYE with the ARABS, [testifieth] to this, and he introduceth it in the Arabic manuscripts [which describe] the war with the SCLAVS, and it is correct. For during the war with the ARABS the RHOMAYE would never have believed it [safe] to release the Arab prisoners from their bonds, and to put weapons of war into their hands…
…[A.D. 944] After MUTHAKI, MUSTAKFI, the son of MUKTAFI, [ruled] one year and four months. And during the year in which he reigned, various peoples, the ‘ALANAYE, and the ‘ASLABHAYE (SCLAVS), and the LAGZAYE, went forth and came to ‘ADHORBIJAN, and they captured the city, the name of which was BARDA’AH, and they killed therein about twenty thousand men and departed. And again the nobles conceived treachery concerning king MUSTAKFI. And one day when he was sitting on his throne the nobles went in according to custom, and they kissed the ground, and they kissed his hand and stood up. And when their number was complete, one of them, he who had come in last, kissed the ground, and drew nigh to the king. And the king, thinking that he had come near him in order to kiss his hand, stretched out his hand to him. And the noble took it and dragged him towards himself, and pulled him from his throne on to his face. And all the nobles gathered together about him, and they made him to go forth from the palace on foot, and they took him along and shut him up in the mansion of MU’IZZ AD-DAWLAH, the captain of the host. And they brought FADHIL, the son of MUK’TADER, and made him king, and named him MUTI’…
…And in the year thirteen hundred and forty-one of the GREEKS (A.D. 1030)… when ROMANUS the king heard that the RHOMAYE were broken at ALEPPO, he collected a mighty army, more than one hundred thousand men, and came to ANTIOCH; and from there he set out to come to ALEPPO. And since two nobles of the ‘ASKLABE (SCLAVS) and the army that was with them were [marching] a little in advance of the army of the RHOMAYE, they encountered about one hundred MA’DAYE horsemen and a thousand foot soldiers, and the SCLAVS were broken, and turned their faces [in flight]. And they made a report to the RHOMAYE, saying, ‘Behold, innumerable soldiers, EGYPTIANS and MA’DAYE, are coming’. And fear fell upon the RHOMAYE, and with the greatest difficulty ROMANUS the king and his troops, one by one, each on his horse, fled to ANTIOCH without fighting and without [striking] a blow. And the ARABS overtook them, and they captured from the RHOMAYE seventy camels with their loads of zuze and dinars, and vessels of gold and silver, and bales of rich stuffs, and such a large number of mules that a Tarka mule was sold in ALEPPO for two dinars. It is said that ROMANUS himself was not able to save one tent or a cup from which he could drink water…
…And in the year which was the year thirteen hundred and fifty-five of the GREEKS (A.D. 1044)… a great army of SCLAVS, that is to say RUSSIANS, came against the royal city by sea and by land. And God helped the RHOMAYE, and they set fire to their ships and burned them on the sea, and the greater number of them were burned and sunk. And similarly they made prisoners of many of those who had come by land, and they cut off their right hands; and the RHOMAYE obtained a great victory. And at the time when there were many aliens, ARMENIANS, and ARABS, and JEWS, in the royal city, a great tumult broke out against CONSTANTlNE the king. And the peoples gathered together at the gate of the palace and cried out, ‘This CONSTANTINE hath killed two of our kings’, and they were seeking for an excuse (or, reason) for looting the palace and the mansions of the nobles. Then king CONSTANTINE gathered together the nobles, and he brought out THEODORA and ZAI (ZOAI) arrayed in gorgeous royal apparel. And when the agitators saw them they became quiet. And the king having inquired into the cause of the tumult, he was told that the aliens had made the tumult so that they might loot the city. Then the king commanded that there should not remain in it anyone who had entered it during the last thirty years, and that the man who stayed should have his eyes gouged out. Then there went out about one hundred thousand souls…
…And at this time TUSHI, the eldest son of CHINGIZ KHAN, died. And he left seven grown-up sons who were: TAMSHAL, HARDU, BATU, SIBARAN, TANGUTH, BARAKAH, and BARKAJAR. And from among these the Khan selected BATU, and to him he handed over the northern countries of the SLAVS, and the GERMANS, and the RUSSIANS, and the BULGARIANS. And his seat was on the great river which is called ‘ITIL (i.e. the VOLGA). And BATU, whilst going on the northern road from the country of the IBERIANS to the countries of the BULGARIANS and SCYTHIANS, destroyed their populations by the edge of the sword, and blotted out their kingdoms. And because the command of the Khan had gone forth in this wise: ‘[The troops] shall cut off the right ear of every BULGARIAN and RUSSIAN who is killed, when they counted the ears, two hundred and seventy thousand ears were found with the TATARS…”
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