The ''Kitāb Hurūshiyūsh'' ( ar, كتاب هروشيوش) is the name conventionally given to a medieval

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

translation of

Orosius Paulus Orosius (; born 375/385 – 420 AD), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Western Roman Empire, Roman priest, historian and theology, theologian, and a student of Augustine of Hippo. It is possible that he was born in ''Bracara Au ...

's early fifth-century ''Historiae adversus paganos''. The translation is not unique as an Andalusian translation of a Christian text into Arabic, but few others survive as they were no longer preserved once Arabic ceased to be widely read in the Iberian peninsula. In the assessment of Ann Christys, the unique manuscript of the Arabic Orosius is now 'their most important representative.'

Origins

Both the content and the presence of Arabic words of Hispanic origin suggest that the translation was produced in al-Andalus, but the date of its origin is uncertain. Medieval historians speculated about its origin, suggesting that it was by

Ḥafṣ ibn Albār Hafs ibn Albar al-Qūṭī (), commonly known as al-Qūṭī or al-Qurṭubî, was a 9th–10th Century Visigothic Christian count, theologian, translator and poet, often memorialised as the 'Last of the Goths'. He was a descendant of Visigothic ...

, noted for his translation into Arabic of the

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived f ...

, and associated with the court of

al-Ḥakam II Al-Hakam II, also known as Abū al-ʿĀṣ al-Mustanṣir bi-Llāh al-Hakam b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān (; January 13, 915 – October 16, 976), was the Caliph of Córdoba. He was the second ''Umayyad'' Caliph of Córdoba in Al-Andalus, and son of Ab ...

, but while this may not be wrong, there is no convincing evidence to support these claims.

Style

According to Ann Christys,

the translators were obviously struggling with their material. Orosius' convoluted style was difficult to understand, and they may have been working with a corrupt version of the ''Histories''. They took great liberties with the text, abbreviating and transposing it and sprinkling their effort with disclaimers, such as 'we have suppressed this, but through a love of conciseness and not wanting to go on at length'. They left out almost the whole of Orosius' prefaces to Books 5, 6 and 7. Some sections may have been omitted because they were incomprehensible. Others were glossed extensively. There are many spelling mistakes, particularly in the names of places and people, although some of these may be the fault of later copyists. There are many instances of muslim influence on the text, which begins with the ''bismillah'', the opening words of the Qurʾan. The clearest example of Arabicizing is the presentation of personal names in their Arabic form X ibn Y. This necessitated the invention of names for the forgotten fathers of the heroes of antiquity. The founder of Rome became Romulus ibn Marcus ... Emperors were almost always made the son of their predecessor. Some of the biblical characters were given the forms of their names as they appear in the Qurʾan. Mount Ararat, where the Ark came to rest, was identified with Mount Judi, according to islamic belief.

A quotation from the verse of

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...

was rendered into Arabic verse. There are many additions to Orosius's material, many of which could have come from the works of Isidore of Seville, particularly his ''Chronicle''.

Manuscript

The text is known from one, paper manuscript, Columbia University library MS X-893 712 H, of 129 pages. The manuscript is thought to be missing a couple of pages from the beginning and its contents list shows that it is missing several pages from the end, which moreover once extended Orosius's history as far as the

Umayyad conquest of Hispania The Umayyad conquest of Hispania, also known as the Umayyad conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom, was the initial expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate over Hispania (in the Iberian Peninsula) from 711 to 718. The conquest resulted in the decline of t ...

in 711. The origin of the manuscript is uncertain: somewhere in Hispania or North Africa (more likely the latter), perhaps from the thirteenth or fourteenth century (again, more likely the latter). Both the translation and the surviving manuscript could have been made for either a Muslim or Christian audience: the manuscript contains both a gloss in Latin, suggesting a Christian reader, and glosses on two folios in Arabic criticising Christian belief.Ann Christys, ''Christians in al-Andalus (711-1000)'' (Abingdon: Routledge, 2002), .

Influence

The translation was influential on Arabic historians, especially

Ibn Khaldūn Ibn Khaldun (; ar, أبو زيد عبد الرحمن بن محمد بن خلدون الحضرمي, ; 27 May 1332 – 17 March 1406, 732-808 AH) was an Arab The Historical Muhammad', Irving M. Zeitlin, (Polity Press, 2007), p. 21; "It is, o ...

, who was the only Muslim historian to quote from it extensively.

Editions and translations

Horizon 2020 The Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development, also called Framework Programmes or abbreviated FP1 to FP9, are funding programmes created by the European Union/European Commission to support and foster research in the Europea ...

-funded project promised an English translation of the ''Kitāb Hurūshiyūsh'' by Marco Di Branco, to be published in 2022.''The So-called "Kitab Hurushysh": English Translation and Commentary'' (Pisa University Press, 2022). * Marco Di Branco (trans.), ''Ibn Ḫaldūn tra Alessandro e Cesare: la Grecia e Roma nel Libro degli esempi. (Kitāb al-ʻIbar, II 149 BĀ - 172 BĀ ed. Chabbouh)'' (Il Poligrafo, 2020),

Origins

Style

Manuscript

Influence

Editions and translations

References

Further reading