Abstract
Abstract This article maps the mainly lost Sasanian historiographical literature through the Arabic translations of Middle Persian works and the information preserved in early Arabic sources. Although only two texts have been preserved in the original Middle Persian, the Arabic sources reveal a sizeable corpus in translation.
Highlights
Studies of the great Arabic translation movement usually focus on Greek and Syriac texts, which were translated into Arabic from the mid-8th century onward, and rightly so, as these were crucial to the scientific and philosophical development of the early Arab-Islamic culture.[1]
Very little was translated in this field from Greek or Syriac, while several Middle Persian historical texts were translated into Arabic
Before having a look at what there was in Middle Persian and what was translated into Arabic, we have to define what we mean by historical works
Summary
Hämeen-Anttila additions in Balamī show signs of having been translated from Arabic.[24] The title Kitāb Aḫbār al-ʿAǧam implies a larger history, general or dynastic, but all the material that I have as yet been able to locate relates to Bahrām Čūbīn. Hämeen-Anttila probably related the tragic battle between the two, with more or less extensive discussion of its background and the later events.[28] These three books did probably not exhaust Sistanian stories that were available in written Middle Persian form, but we have no further evidence of their Arabic translations. While Arabic and Persian literature provides various dates for Šarwīn, Greek sources help us date the historical model of the main character to the reign of Yazdağird I, and the early reference in Abū Nuwās’ poem puts the origin of the story itself firmly in the time when Middle.
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