Thread by @PlakoudasSpyros

Byzantine-Arab Heroes in Byzantine Anatolia 🧵

The centuries-old Arab-Byzantine conflict gave birth, among others, in two epics - the Digenis Akritas (Greek) and Sirat al-Amīra Dhāt al-Himma (Arabic) - that narrate the exploits of cross-faith and cross-race warriors.

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The most well-known figure of these cross-faith and -race heroes amongst Byzantinists is (Vasileios) Digenis Akritas.

As his two names indicate, he is a mixed-race (Διγενής) frontier warrior (Ακριτας) in the service of the Byzantine (Christian) Emperor.

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His father is an Arab, an emir of Syria (Mousour), and his mother a Greek, a daughter of a theme strategos (Andronikos Doukas).

During one of the annual raids (razzia) in Anatolia, the emir kidnaps the lady.

Then the lady's five brothers campaign in Syria to rescue her.

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The youngest brother defeats the emir in a duel and the latter decides to convert to Christianity and emigrate to Anatolia out of love for the lady.

Digenis Akritas is the offspring of this marriage.

Though half-Arab himself, he valiantly fights against the Saracens -

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or the Muslim Arabs - in Syria and Mesopotomia.

On the other hand, Sīrat al-amīra Dhāt al-Himma is an epic about the other side of the story - Muslim Arabs who fight heroically under the Umayyad and early Abbasid Caliphs against Byzantium along the frontier zones.

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This epic revolves around the Dhat al-Himma of the Banu Kilab Tribe and includes historical figures such as the Caliphs Harun al-Rashid and al-Ma'mun in the narrative.

Abd al-Wahāb, the son of Dhāt al-Himma and al-Ḥārith, features prominently as a warrior of the faith.

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In a motif similar to that of Digenis Akritas, Abd al-Wahāb captures the daughter of a Byzantine aristocrat (Maymūnah) and marries her by force.

His son, Sayf al-Naṣrānīyah (Sword of Christianity) is converted to Islam and named Sayf al-Ḥanīfīyah (Sword of Islam).

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In one of the raids deep into Byzantine Anatolia, Abd al-Wahab seizes the - Christian too - wives of his father and grandfather.

Each had given birth to a boy with Christian Arab names: ‘Abd al-Masīḥ (slave of Messiah) and ‘Abd al-Sayyīd (slave of the Lord).

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One day, Maymūnah and Sayf al-Ḥanīfīyah escape to Byzantium and the Byzantine Emperor offers to re-admit them into the Christian fold through a new baptism and a declaration.

And from then onwards Sayf al-Ḥanīfīyah fights for the Byzantine Emperor against his kinsmen.

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These two half-Arab and half-Greek heroes, Digenis Akritas and Sayf al-Ḥanīfīyah, illustrate the fluid nature of the Arab-Byzantine Wars - a theme that deserves an in-depth study.

Sources:

Abdelaziz Ramaḍān: "Arab Apostates in Byzantium: Evidence from Arabic Sources"

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Claudia Ott: Shared Spaces: 2 Cross-border Warriors in the Arabian Folk Epic"

The song "Digenis Akritas" by Farya Faraji suits ideally this story for today.

Enjoy!


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