History of Kitab al-Majdal

[Syriac Student]

Dear all,

I will appreciate any help in providing information regarding Kitab al-
Majdal. I know it was written by 'Amro bin Matta. However:

- What is the original language? Syriac? Does any Syriac copy exist?
- I am reading an Arabic copy of (Amri et Slibae). When was this
Arabic copy written?
- The copy I have is printed in Rome (ed Henricus Gismondi, 1899) is
this the only copy?
- The section I am dealing with is about Nestorian Patriarchs (chapter
5), is this the only section present?

In summary, I am aware of the book, but not fully informed about it.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Ashoor

[Sasha Treiger]

Dear Ashoor,

 

I'm now looking at Mark Swanson's entry on the Kitab al-Majdal in the Christian-Muslim Relations: A Bibliographical History (vol. 2, pp. 627-632). According to this entry, the Kitab al-Majdal is only fragmentarily edited (the edition you are referring to gives section 5 of chapter 5), while most of it is still in manuscript (more than 1000 manuscript pages!). It was written in Arabic, though the author would -- I presume -- certainly have used Syriac sources. The likely date of composition is early 11th century (Swanson's entry, p. 627). There are two other small sections published by Kurkis Ishaq Butrus in the periodical Bayn al-Nahrayn in 1984-85.

 

I'm sure others on the list can say more.

 

Yours

Sasha

 

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[Samir Khalil Samir]

Dear Sasha,
 
Some 15 years ago, I made the project of publishing, in an Arabic Edition without translation, the whole Encyclopedia. So we distributed the work with Youssef Habbi, Bo Holmberg and myself. Fr. Habbi died suddenly in 2000 without leaving something on Al-Majdal. Bo prepared some chapters from the beginning. I was supposed to do ch. 30 to the end of the book; in fact, I prepared ch. 30-34, 41-47 and 51, and was intending to do the rest of the second half in the next academic year, in sha' Allah!

Samir
 
 

P. Samir Khalil SAMIR, SJ

Pontificio Istituto Orientale

P.za S. Maria Maggiore 7

00185 ROMA (Italia)

 

Email : sami...@hotmail.com

 

---

From: sashat...@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 16 Apr 2011 17:03:06 -0300
Subject: Re: [nascas] History of Kitab al-Majdal
To: nas...@googlegroups.com

[Lev E Weitz (lweitz@Princeton.EDU)]

Hello all,

See also this article for some helpful background on the Kitab al-Majdal's chronicle section (which the Gismondi edition comprises):

Holmberg, Bo. “A Reconsideration of the Kitāb al-Maǧdal.” Parole de l’Orient 18 (1993): 255-73

Best,

Lev

----- Original Message -----
From: Sasha Treiger <sashat...@gmail.com>
Date: Saturday, April 16, 2011 10:03 pm
Subject: Re: [nascas] History of Kitab al-Majdal
To: nas...@googlegroups.com

> Dear Ashoor,
>
> I'm now looking at Mark Swanson's entry on the *Kitab al-Majdal* in
> the *Christian-Muslim
> Relations: A Bibliographical History* (vol. 2, pp. 627-632).
> According to
> this entry, the *Kitab al-Majdal* is only fragmentarily edited (the
> editionyou are referring to gives section 5 of chapter 5), while

> most of it is
> still in manuscript (more than 1000 manuscript pages!). It was
> written in
> Arabic, though the author would -- I presume -- certainly have used

> Syriacsources. The likely date of composition is early 11th century
> (Swanson'sentry, p. 627). There are two other small sections

[Ashoor Yousif]

Thank you all,

Ashoor Yousif