Christian Sources in al-Maqrīzī’s Kitāb al-Ḫiṭaṭ and al-Ḫabar ʿan al-bašar

Abstract

Abstract It is widely known that al-Maqrīzī relied extensively on the work by the Coptic author Ibn al-ʿAmīd for the chapter on the Copts included in his Kitāb al-Ḫiṭaṭ. Some scholars have assessed that the text known as Kitāb Hurūšiyūš, which was compiled by a Christian from al-Andalus, was also a major source for large fragments of al-Maqrīzī’s al-Ḫiṭaṭ. More recently, it has been argued that al-Maqrīzī also relied on those two Christian sources for his last major work, al-Ḫabar ʿan al-bašar. In this article, I intend to offer a more comprehensive survey of the use of both sources by al-Maqrīzī. By providing a good many examples, I aim to demonstrate that al-Maqrīzī built on them entire sections or long passages of his books, but also turned to them frequently to add in short reports, variant versions, a date, a nasab, or any information he considered relevant to his work.