Medieval Syriac Historians' Perceptions of the Turks

Цитата:

Mark Dickens

Dr. Mark Dickens is a Research Assistant in the Department of the Study of Religions, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. His research concerns the interaction between Syriac Christianity and the Turkic peoples of Central Asia, between the 6th and 14th centuries. Of particular interest is the contrast between the multi-religious culture of the Turkic peoples, rooted in animism and shamanism, and the predominantly Christian and Semitic culture of Syriac speakers and writers. His current position involves the cataloguing, deciphering and translating of approximately 300 Syriac manuscripts discovered in Turfan, NW China in the early 20th century and now preserved in the Turfan Collection in Berlin. This is part of a larger project to catalogue some 900 manuscripts in Syriac, Christian Sogdian and Christian Old Turkic from Turfan

His PhD dissertation (Cambridge, 2008), “Turkaye: Turkic Peoples in Syriac Literature Prior to the Seljüks,” explored how the Turkic peoples of Central Asia prior to the Seljük invasion of the Middle East in 1055 are presented and perceived in published Syriac literature. He has also written and spoken on such topics as Syriac Gravestones discovered in Central Asia, the use of the Syriac Bible in Central Asia, and Syriac Christianity along the Silk Road.

The interaction between Syriac and Turkic culture can be examined from several angles. On the one hand, Syriac literature provides important insights on Eurasian steppe nomads, including the Turks, which can supplement references found in other literary traditions. On the other hand, Syriac texts and inscriptions from both the Middle East and Central Asia often give unique information on the spread of Christianity into the Turkic world and other parts of Asia.

Important research questions to be considered include:

1) How did Syriac writers view nomadic steppe peoples, including Turkic groups, and how did those perceptions change over time and in different sociopolitical contexts?

2) What role did Syriac Christianity play in opening up corridors of interaction between the West and the East, including the propagation of Christianity amongst various Turkic tribes in Central Asia?

3) To what extent was the Christian message accommodated to Turkic culture and to what extent did it remain a decidedly foreign influence?

4) What do Syriac and Syro-Turkic manuscripts and inscriptions from Central Asia reveal about the faith and practice of Turkic peoples who converted to Christianity?

Table of Contents

Abbreviations and Conventions.......................................................................................................................1
Introduction .....................................................................................................................................................2
Medieval Syriac Chroniclers .......................................................................................................................2
Steppe Invaders............................................................................................................................................3
Structure of the Thesis.................................................................................................................................4
Chapter 1: Syriac Historiography ....................................................................................................................6
Syriac Chronicles.........................................................................................................................................6
Changing Dynamics in Syriac Historiography ............................................................................................7
Chapter 2: Medieval Syriac Chronicles ...........................................................................................................9
Michael the Great ........................................................................................................................................9
Michael’s Chronicle ....................................................................................................................................9
Manuscript History and Sources................................................................................................................11
The Anonymous Chronicler ......................................................................................................................12
The Anonymous Chronicle ........................................................................................................................13
Bar ‘Ebroyo ...............................................................................................................................................14
Bar ‘Ebroyo’s Chronicles..........................................................................................................................16
Manuscript History and Sources................................................................................................................17
Chapter 3: The Turks in Medieval Syriac Chronicles....................................................................................19
General Overview......................................................................................................................................19
The Turks in Michael’s Chronicle.............................................................................................................21
The Turks in the Anonymous Chronicle to 1234 .......................................................................................23
The Turks in the Chronicon Syriacum.......................................................................................................25
Chapter 4: Establishing the Biblical Credentials of the Turks (Book XIV, Chapter 1).................................28
The Place of Book XIV in Michael’s Chronicle........................................................................................28
The Turks in Genesis 10 ............................................................................................................................29
The Turks in Ezekiel 38-39 .......................................................................................................................32
Michael’s Interpretation of Ezekiel 38-39 .................................................................................................35
The Turks in the Book of Judith ................................................................................................................39
The Turks in Historical Sources ................................................................................................................40
Chapter 5: Establishing the Ethnography of the Turks (Book XIV, Chapter 2) ............................................43
The Homeland of the Turks and the Gates ................................................................................................43
Encounters with the Barbarians .................................................................................................................46
Culture, Technology, and Religion............................................................................................................50
Chapter 6: The Emigrations and Invasions of the Turks (Book XIV, Chapters 3-4).....................................54
Leaving the Homeland...............................................................................................................................54
Miraculous Guidance by the Grey Wolf....................................................................................................55
The Final Invasion of the Turks.................................................................................................................57
Divine Direction by a Turkic Totem..........................................................................................................60
Casting Lots for Territory..........................................................................................................................61
Praise for the Divine Will ..........................................................................................................................65
Chapter 7: The Conversion of the Turks to Islam (Book XIV, Chapter 5)....................................................67
Three Reasons for Converting ...................................................................................................................67
Casting Lots for a Leader ..........................................................................................................................70
The Providence of God..............................................................................................................................71
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................................73
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................................75

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