The ''Chronicle of Khuzestan'' (also spelled ''Khuzistan'') is an anonymous 7th-century Nestorian Christian chronicle. Written in

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

, it covers the period from the reign of the

Sasanian The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

ruler

Hormizd IV Hormizd IV (also spelled Hormozd IV or Ohrmazd IV; pal, 𐭠𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭬𐭦𐭣) was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 579 to 590. He was the son and successor of Khosrow I () and his mother was a Khazar princess. During his reign, Ho ...

() to the

fall of the Sasanian Empire The Muslim conquest of Persia, also known as the Arab conquest of Iran, was carried out by the Rashidun Caliphate from 633 to 654 AD and led to the fall of the Sasanian Empire as well as the eventual decline of the Zoroastrian religion. The r ...

(652). The chronicle was discovered by the Italian orientalist

Ignazio Guidi Ignazio Guidi (1844 – 18 April 1935) was an Italian orientalist. He became professor at the University of Rome. He is known as a Hebraist and for many translations. He learned semitic languages from Pius Zingerle and Father Vincenti, and ...

(1844–1935), hence it is also known as ''Guidi's Chronicle'' or the ''Guidi Anonymous''. It is thought by some to be a portion of a lost history written by Elias of Merv. It is an important source for the

early Muslim conquests The early Muslim conquests or early Islamic conquests ( ar, الْفُتُوحَاتُ الإسْلَامِيَّة, ), also referred to as the Arab conquests, were initiated in the 7th century by Muhammad, the main Islamic prophet. He estab ...

. The ''Chronicle'' describes itself as "some episodes from the ''Ecclesiastica'', that is, church histories, and from the ''Cosmotica'', that is, secular histories, from the death of Hormizd son of Khusrau to the end of the Persian kingdom." The first part is a chronological outline of Sasanian and Nestorian history by the reigns of the Sasanian rulers from Hormizd IV to

Yazdgerd III Yazdegerd III (also spelled Yazdgerd III and Yazdgird III; pal, 𐭩𐭦𐭣𐭪𐭥𐭲𐭩) was the last Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 632 to 651. His father was Shahriyar and his grandfather was Khosrow II. Ascending the throne at the ...

() and the Nestorian patriarchs down to

Maremmeh Maremmeh was patriarch in the Church of the East from 646 to 649. Sources Brief accounts of Maremmeh's patriarchate are given in the ''Chronicle of Seert'' (an anonymous ninth-century Nestorian ecclesiastical history), the ''Ecclesiastical Chro ...

(). The second part of the work is an account of the conversion of some

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...

by Elias of Merv, the third a list of towns founded by

Seleucus I Seleucus I Nicator (; ; grc-gre, Σέλευκος Νικάτωρ , ) was a Macedonian Greek general who was an officer and successor ( ''diadochus'') of Alexander the Great. Seleucus was the founder of the eponymous Seleucid Empire. In the pow ...

and the legendary rulers

Semiramis ''Samīrāmīs'', hy, Շամիրամ ''Šamiram'') was the semi-legendary Lydian- Babylonian wife of Onnes and Ninus, who succeeded the latter to the throne of Assyria, according to Movses Khorenatsi. Legends narrated by Diodorus Siculus, who dre ...

and

Ninus Ninus ( el, Νίνος) was a mythology character who according to Greek historians writing in the Hellenistic period and later, was the founder of Nineveh (also called Νίνου πόλις "city of Ninus" in Greek), ancient capital of Assyria. In ...

and the fourth a brief outline of the geography of Arabia. Between the third and fourth parts there is a brief continuation of the first part detailing the fall of

Susa Susa ( ; Middle elx, 𒀸𒋗𒊺𒂗, translit=Šušen; Middle and Neo- elx, 𒋢𒋢𒌦, translit=Šušun; Neo-Elamite and Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼𒀭, translit=Šušán; Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼, translit=Šušá; fa, شوش ...

and

Shushtar Shushtar ( fa, شوشتر; also Romanized as Shūshtar and Shūstar and Shooshtar) is a city and capital of Shushtar County, Khuzestan Province, Iran. Shushtar is an ancient fortress city, approximately from Ahvaz, the centre of the province ...

to the

Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...

. Some geographical details suggest that the chronicle was written in Khuzestan, hence its conventional name. The latest datable event mentioned took place in 652, and the ''Chronicle'' must have been composed no later than the 660s. It is incomplete as it stands, having lost its beginning. Despite the reference to written sources, it is clear that the chronicler relied heavily on oral reports. He frequently employs phrases like "it is said that" and similar.

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * Texts in Syriac Sasanian Empire Nestorian texts Khuzestan Middle Eastern chronicles History of Khuzestan Province {{Sasanian-stub