Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
TeresaWolińska
20Arabs,(H)agarenes,Ishmaelites,Saracens
-aFewRemarksaboutNaming
TereisnoagreementamongancientauthorsonwhotheArabsare-wroteBert
deVries
1.Geographically,theywerethepeopleofArabia,theterritoryextending
northofSyria,downtoYemen.Politically,theRomanprovinceofArabiawascre-
atedin106
2.Initiallyitincludedtheareaoftoday’sJordan,fromBostrainsouth-
ernSyriatotheBayofAqaba.Lateronitwaslimitedtoitsnorthernpart,while
thesouthernterritoriesbecameaseparateprovinceofPalaestinaTertia
3.
MauriceSartrehaspointedoutthreecontextsinwhichthetermArabiaap-
pears:geographic(theArabianPeninsula),administrative(provinceofArabia)
andethnic(theareainhabitedbyArabs)
4.Tescholarhasalsoconcludedthat
whatdefinedArabswasneithersettlement,norlanguage,buttheirlifestyle.Ar-
abswereeithernomadicshepherdsorrobbers
5.Still,wemustkeepinmindthat
talkingofArabswethinknotonlyofthetribesfromtheborderoftheempire
but,alsoofthepopulationofArabicorigin,inhabitantsoftheterritorieswhich
usedtobelongtoRome(andthentoByzantium)foraverylongtime
6.
CharacteristicoftheGreek,SyriacandCopticsourcesisthefactthatpar-
ticularwritersusedavarietyoftermstonametheinhabitantsofthePeninsula.
1B.deVries,OntheWaytoBosra:ArabSettlementinSouthSyriaBeforeIslam-theEv-
idencefomWrittenSources,[in:]HereuxquicommeUlissesafaitunbeauvoyage:Movementsof
PeopleinTimeandSpace,eds.N.Naguib,B.deVries,Bergen2010,p.84.
2TechapterontheRomanadministrationinthisvolumehasbeenwrittenbyPaweł
Filipczak.
3B.deVries,OntheWaytoBosra…,p.78.
4M.Sartre,Arabie,Arabies,DArch309,2005/2006,pp.2-7;B.deVries,OntheWay
toBosra…,pp.79-80.
5M.Sartre,Arabie,Arabies…,p.6.
6M.C.A.Macdonald,OnSaracens.TeRawwdhInscriptionandtheRomanArmy,
[in:]idem,LiteracyandIdentityinPre-IslamicArabia,Ashgate2009,art.VIII,p.4.