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12 - Syriac Sources

from Volume II Part 1 - Literary Sources

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

By
Pier Giorgio Borbone
Edited by
Michal Biran  and
Hodong Kim
Michal Biran
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hodong Kim
Affiliation:
Seoul National University
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Summary

Information about the Mongols in Syriac is found in chronicles, exegetical works, poems, colophons, and marginal notes on manuscripts and inscriptions, from southeastern Anatolia, Syria, Mesopotamia, Iran, the territories of the Ilkhans, the lands of both the Syrian Orthodox (or West Syrian) Church and the Church of the East (East Syrian). The Mongols are first mentioned in a chronicle referring to 1218/1219 as “Huns” and “Tatars,” as the destroyers of Persia. The chapters on the history of the Mongols in the chronicles of Bar Hebraeus (d. 1286) depend directly on Juwaynī’s work; more original insights are found in poetry, colophons, and inscriptions. In general, the Syriac sources inform us about the feelings and attitudes of Syriac people towards the Mongols, and their policy towards religions. In this respect and from the perspective of social and economic history, the History of Mar Yahballaha and Rabban Sauma offers most valuable original data.

Keywords

Bar HebraeusChristianityChurch of the EastIlkhansMar YahballahareligionsSyriacSyrian Orthodox ChurchTurco-Syriac epigraphy
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge History of the Mongol Empire , pp. 1200 - 1216
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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