al-Ḥadath al-Ḥamrāʾ

16 views
Skip to first unread message

Mehdy Shaddel

unread,
Jun 3, 2026, 12:18:12 PM (6 days ago) Jun 3
to nas...@googlegroups.com
Dear all,

Michael the Syrian gives a list of bishops for al-Ḥadath al-Ḥamrāʾ between the late eighth and mid-eleventh centuries. Does anyone know if this place comes up in any other Syriac (or Christian Arabic, or Byzantine) sources?

Best wishes,
May

Dr Mehdy Shaddel, FRAS, FRNS
Leverhulme Fellow
Research Associate, Emmanuel College

Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
University of Cambridge
Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 9DA


Recent publications:


Maciej C

unread,
Jun 3, 2026, 5:18:14 PM (6 days ago) Jun 3
to nas...@googlegroups.com
Of course. It is a very known Arab fort of the Byzantine border, mentioned in a lot of sources. It was close to a mountain pass. The Byzantines knew it as Adata. Armenians allegedly knew it as Kaytuk. For some times it was also known as Al-Muhammadiyya and Al-Mahdiyya. It is located between Germanikea (Mar'ash), Melitene (Malatya) and Samosata (Samsat). It was known as Red due to the colour of the local soil. It was founded allegedly in circa 778-779. Its name allegedly refers to a heavy Arab defeat during the Umayyads. It was located sonewhere around Inekli lake, probably the same as the Lake of Al-Hadath. I think west, south-west of the lake. Cheynet says it's Seraykoy *with umlauts. I cannot find such village, perhaps it's Sakarkaya koyu. Eger, on another hand, says it's Dozlar village. The coordinates are approximately 37.69-36.70N, 37.50-37.44 E. I can give you bibliographical info if you want.

--
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "North American Society for Christian Arabic Studies" group.
To post to this group, send email to nas...@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
nascas+un...@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/nascas?hl=en
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "North American Society for Christian Arabic Studies" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to nascas+un...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/nascas/CALkTciFTOQSda14mYhVs%3DNjeMWc5PAOEH_Mme7c74ZmCnj9DoA%40mail.gmail.com.

Martino Diez

unread,
Jun 3, 2026, 5:24:35 PM (6 days ago) Jun 3
to nas...@googlegroups.com
Dear May,

I don’t know if this is useful for your research, but al-Hadath is mentioned several times in al-Mutanabbi’s poems in praise of Sayf al-Dawla. This is probably the most famous:

Vasiliev (Byzance et les Arabes) and especially Canard (Histoire de la Dynastie des Hamdanides) have written on it at some length.

All my best,
Martino


Mehdy Shaddel

unread,
Jun 3, 2026, 5:34:05 PM (6 days ago) Jun 3
to nas...@googlegroups.com
Dear Martino,

Thanks very much. Yes, this poem is reproduced ad nauseam in Arabo-Islamic geographical and other literature on al-Ḥadath al-Ḥamrāʾ, but I was wondering if there are any other Syriac/Christian sources mentioning it that I am unaware of.

Very best,
May

Dr Mehdy Shaddel, FRAS, FRNS
Leverhulme Fellow
Research Associate, Emmanuel College

Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
University of Cambridge
Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 9DA


Recent publications:



To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/nascas/BD96E0AE-F1DF-474F-9811-D13587B19236%40fondazioneoasis.org.

Maciej C

unread,
Jun 3, 2026, 6:20:43 PM (6 days ago) Jun 3
to nas...@googlegroups.com
If specifically Christian sources, the chronicle of Al-Antaki mentions it a number of times.
And the Byzantine sources, such as Skylitzes, mention it.


To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/nascas/CALkTciETeV3zD%2BD6eN7zXZvmMz%3DUR2mzG3BJjoaQd3CPRW4OJg%40mail.gmail.com.
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages