Armenian Variations on the Baḥira Legend

The President and Fellows of Harvard College
Armenian Variations on the Baḥira Legend
Author(s): ROBERT W. THOMSON
Source: Harvard Ukrainian Studies, Vol. 3/4, Part 2. Eucharisterion: Essays presented to
Omeljan Pritsak on his Sixtieth Birthday by his Colleagues and Students (1979-1980), pp. 884895
Published by: Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute
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ArmenianVariationson the BafoiraLegend
ROBERT W. THOMSON
Armenianhistoriansdo not hesitateto depicttheunpleasantaspectsof
Muslimrulein theCaucasus. It is onlynaturalthattheyshoulddwellon
the carnageand extortioncaused by theserulers,who were"even more
and thatthey
wickedthanthePersians,"accordingto Thomas Artsruni,1
shouldsee thecause forthisscourgeintheirownsins,as did ^evond.2But
althoughtheydescribein detail the initialexpansionof Islam and the
successesoftheMuslimarmies,theyhavemuchlessto sayabout
military
Islam as a religiousforce.Indeed, not untilthe fourteenth
centurydid
Armenianhistoriansattempta discussionof the Muslim religionthat
ratherthan ridicule.3However,the earlierpoaimed at understanding
lemicalaccountsoftheoriginofIslamthatoccurinArmeniansourcesare
ifnothistorical,interest.
ofsomeliterary,
Theycontainfeaturesthatalso
occurin theotherChristianpolemicaltexts- Greek,Syriacor ArabicArmeniandevelopments.Not theleastcuriousare
as wellas specifically
theArmenianvariationson thelegendof Bahira,thehereticalChristian
1 T'ovmayiVardapetiArtsrunwoy
Patmut'iwnTannArtsruneats'
Arts(hereafter
runi)(Tbilisi,1917),inthetitleto bk.2,chap.4; thereisa Frenchtranslation
byF. M.
vol. 1 (St. Petersburg,
arméniens,
Brosset,Collectiond'historiens
1874).
2 Patmut'iwn
LewondeaymetsiVardapetiHayots'(hereafter
^evond) (St. PetersinParis
burg,1887),chap. 1. A Frenchtranslation
byG. Shahnazarianwaspublished
in 1857.
3 See G. M. De Durand, "Une sommearménienne
au XIVe siècle,"in Etudes
ser.4, Publications
d'histoire
littéraire
etdoctrinale,
de l'Institut
d'étudesmédiévales,
no. 19(Montrealand Paris,1968),pp. 217-77;andidem,"Notessurdeuxouvragesde
de Tathew,"Revuedes étudesarméniennes
5 (1968):175-97.Thearticleby
Grégoire
F. Macler,"L'Islam dans la littérature
arménienne
récentedu
d'aprèsla publication
'LivredesQuestions'de Tathewatsi,"
Revuedesétudesislamiques6 (1932):493-522,is
notwhatthetitlemightsuggest,
butmerely
ofsixteenerrorsofthe
givesa summary
Muslimsas indicatedin theworkof B. Kiulêsêrean,
IslameHay Matenagrut'ean
mëj
(Vienna,1930).
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ARMENIAN VARIATIONS ON THE BATIRA LEGEND
885
monkwhosupposedly
Muhammad
as a future
and
recognized
prophet
himwithmanyofhisdoctrines.4
inspired
Bahiradoesnotfigure
intheearliest
Armenian
accountsofthelifeof
The lateseventh-century
Muhammad.
sourceknownas Sebêosdwelled
on theconquests
oftheMuslimsinSyriaand Armenia.5
at somelength
Theirearlysuccesstheauthorattributed
as muchtotheencouragement
of
oftheByzantine
theJewsas to theweakness
army.ButofMuhammad
himself
he had littleto say:
(chap. 30) Atthattime[lived]a certainmanfromamongthesonsofIsmael,whose
name was Mahmet,a merchant.As if by the commandof God he appearedto
themas a preacher[teaching]theroad oftruth,and he taughtthemto recognize
theGod of Abraham,especiallybecause he was versedand well informed
in the
historyof Moses. Now sincethecommandcamefromabove,at a singleorderthey
all joined together
ina unitedreligion.Abandoningtheirvaincults,theyturnedto
the livingGod who had appearedto theirfatherAbraham.Then Mahmetgave
themlegislation:nottoeat carrion,notto drinkwine,notto speakfalsely,and not
to commitfornication.And he said: "Withan oath God promisedthatland to
Abrahamand to hisseed afterhimforever.And he has fulfilled
[thatpromise]as
he said at thattimewhilehe lovedIsrael.Now youare thesons ofAbraham,and
God will fulfillthepromiseof Abrahamand his seed foryou. But onlylove the
God of Abraham,and go and seize yourland whichGod gave to yourfather
Abraham,and no one will be able to oppose you in war,forGod is withyou."
thedefeatoftheByzantine
Sebëoswentontodescribe
armyinthesands,
the MuslimexpansionintoSyriaand Egypt,and thecollapseof the
Persiankingdom.6
at theend of theeighthcentury,
elaboratedon the
Levond,writing
Jewishallianceand repeatedSebêos'information
abouttheByzantine
defeatin thedesert,buthe said nothing
aboutMuhammad.
The only
comment
to ourthemein ^evondoccursinthecorrespondence
relevant
between
theemperor
Leo andthecaliph'Umar,whereitissuggested
that
Muhammadwas influenced
ideas.Butthecorresponby "Nestorian"
denceas ithassurvived
is notauthentic;
theArmenian
versionofLeo's
4 For a generalaccountoftheIslamictraditions
Bahira,see L. Caetani,
concerning
Annalidell' Islam,vol. 1 (Milan, 1905),pp. 160-61;fora morerecentbibliography,
see s.v."Bahïra,"byA. Abel,in theEncyclopaedia
of Islam,newed., vol. 1 (Leiden,
1960),pp. 922-23.
5 Patmut'iwnSebëosi Episkoposii Herakln
(hereafter
Sebëos) (Tbilisi,1913); a
Frenchtranslation
by F. Maclerwas publishedin Parisin 1906.On thequestionof
whether
the"Historyof Heraclius"as itis nowknownwas written
by"Sebëos" or a
different
author,see G. V. Abgaryan,Sebeosi Patmuî'yunë
ev Ananunia'reltsvatsë
(Erevan,1965).
6 For thereactionof Sebeos and other
writers
to theMusliminvaearlyChristian
Reactionsto theArabConquest,"Church
sions,see W. E. Kaegi,"InitialByzantine
History38 (1969):139^9.
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886
ROBERT W. THOMSON
letterin Levond is theproductof an Armenianpen.7Curiouslyenough,
onlyone otherArmeniansourcepickedup the"Nestorian"theme- the
account in Ps.-Shapuh Bagratuni(translatedbelow) - althoughthe
themewas knowninGreekas earlyas GeorgeHamartolus(ninthcentury)
and appeared in Arabic in the Apology of al-Kindiat the courtof the
caliph al-Ma'mün (813-833).8
The firstArmenianauthorto givea detailedaccountof Muhammad's
ofthetenthcentury.
whowroteat thebeginning
lifewas ThomasArtsruni,
He beganwiththestoryof theJewsinvitingtheIsmaélitesto sharetheir
inheritance,as did Sebëos, but then continuedwith a circumstantial
descriptionof Muhammad'scareerand teachings:
in theregionsofArabia
(II 4) At thattimethereweresomedespoticbrothers
Patraeain the place [called]P'aran,whichis now calledMak'a - warlike
of theimagecalled
of thetempleof theAmmonites
chieftains,
worshippers
calledAbdla,diedleaving
a
thatoneofthem,
SamamandK'abar.9It happened
took
him
until
he
uncle
and
raised
His
Mahmet.
called
sonoftender
Aputalp10
age
man
a sufficient
On attaining
reachedpuberty.
wealthy
agehedweltwitha certain
7 Levond,pp. 42-98; an Englishtranslation
is in A. Jeffery,
ofthecorrespondence
between'Umar II and Leo III," Harvard
"Ghevond'sText of theCorrespondence
was thefirstArmenian
TheologicalReview 37 (1944)¡269-332. Thomas Artsruni
betweenthecaliph'Umarand theemperorLeo
writerto referto correspondence
bk. 2, chap.4) . He did notsaythatthiswas includedin ^evond'shistory,
(Artsruni,
and indeedtheArmeniantextof thelettersshowsevidenceof beingcomposedat a
ofV mar's
Thomas'sdescription
muchlatertimethanthatofLevond.Furthermore,
letteras a "fuit*havatots'"(letterof faith)is hardlycompatiblewiththecursory
rehearsalofquestionsthathad beenprefacedto Leo's longresponse.Gero'sdemonis
formis theworkofan Armenian
strationthattheletterof "Leo" in itsArmenian
convincing:S. Gero, ByzantineIconoclasmduringthe Reignof Leo III, CSCO,
oftheLeo-'UmarCorressubsidia41 (Louvain,1973),Appendix2: "TheAuthenticity
pondence."
8 Hamartolus
in PatrologiaGraeca(hereafter
PG), vol. 110,col. 868;W. Muir,The
Apologyof Al-Kindi(London, 1882),p. 23.
9 Thereareparallelsbetween
and someByzantine
ThomasArtsruni
writers,
notably
intoArmenian.
John,
Johnof Damascus(675-749?),whoseworksweretranslated
like Thomas,began his accountof the originof Islam withtheassertionthatthe
oftheidolofVenuscalledKhabar;De HaeresiSaracenswereidolators,
worshippers
connection
adduced
vol. 101(PG, vol.94,col.764). TheAmmonite
bus Compendium,
inTheophanes(PG, vol. 108,col.685)andGeorgeHamartobyThomasis mentioned
lus (PG, vol. 110,col. 865).
10 The nameot Muhammads uncleis nottoundin ureektextsuntiltneeieventnof Edessa;in Syriactextsit
to Bartholomew
in thetextsattributed
twelfth
centuries,
Michael.Muhammad's
historian
did notoccuruntiltheworksofthetwelfth-century
fatherAbdullahwas mentioned
bynameintheGreekabjuration;see E. Montet,"Un
ritueld'abjurationdes Musulmansdans l'églisegrecque,"Revue de l'histoiredes
religions53 (1906): 145-63.This has been datedto thelate seventhcenturyby F.
Cumont,"L'originede la formulegrecqued'abjuration,"Revue de l'histoiredes
religions64 (1911):143-50.A laterdate is regardedas moreprobableby several
scholars;see D. J. Sahas, Johnof Damascuson Islam (Leiden,1972),pp. 125-26.
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ARMENIAN VARIATIONS ON THE BAIJIRA LEGEND
887
fromamong theirkin. He servedhimfaithfully,
pasturedcamels,and was the
stewardof his house. Whensome timehad passed,themasterofthehousedied.
man and veryjudiciousin all worldlyaffairs,
SeeingthatMahmetwas a faithful
the wife[widow]marriedhimand turnedoverto himall thesupervisionof the
house and property.So he becamea merchantbytradeand skilledin commerce.
He undertookdistantjourneyson mercantile
business,to Egyptand theregionsof
And whilehe was engagedin thisbusinesshe happenedto meetinthe
Palestine.11
regionsofEgypta monkcalledSargisBhira,whohad beena discipleofthemania
of the Arians.12Becomingacquainted withhim and in the course of timebehe taught[Mahmet]manythings,especiallyconcerningtheold
comingfriendly,
and thatGod has bynatureno Son. He triedto persuadehimto follow
testaments
the formerfaithof the Israelites:"For ifyou accept this,I predictthatyou will
becomea greatgeneraland theleaderofall yourrace."He remindedhimofGod's
and sacrificeand all theother
promiseto Abrahamand oftheritesofcircumcision
thingswhichit is not necessaryto mentionherein detail.
Artsruniwent on to describeMuhammad's eventualsuccess, with
Jewishsupport,in becomingleader of the Arabs,and thedefeatof the
Byzantineforcesin Syria. Then he mentionedthe death of Bahira:
Now theArianmonkwhomwe mentionedabove, Mahmet'steacher,on seeinghis
success rose up and wentto Mahmet[to ask for]his kindfavour,as if he had
attainedsuchthingson beinginstructed
by his teacher.Butsince[Mahmet]said
he had a messagefroman angeland notfroma man,he was veryvexedat thisand
killedhimsecretly.
The only otherArmenianauthor to mentionthe murderof Bahira,
Moses Daskhurants'i,implieda similarmotiveas thatmade explicitby
Artsruni:
[When Muhammadbegan to preachthedoctrineshe had learnedfromBahira,]
race,amazed at suchfinetalk,asked
(III 1) The foolish,heathen,self-indulgent
Mahmet: "Wheredid you learnthis?"Deceivinghis ignorantpeople, Mahmet
replied:"An angelspoketo meas to one ofthefirstprophetswhospokeofGod."
They secretlycommissionedspies to discoverwho had reallytold him these
things,however,and how he knew so much, but Mahmet learned of these
deceiversand secretlykilledhiswickedteacherand buriedhiminthesand;sitting
on thisveryplace,he toldthespies:"It was herethattheangelappearedto meand
told me of thesegreatwonders."13
11 Muhammad'smercantile
journeysto Palestineand Egyptwereknownto Theophanesand GeorgeHamartolus,as was his marriageto his master'swidow.
12 As earlyas fromJohnoí Damascus,welearnthatMuhammadbecameacquainted
withan Arianmonk,but the nameSargisBhira,whichbecomesstandard,is not
Bartholomaeus
Edessenus(anno incerto!),
knownin Greekbefore"Bartholomew":
"Confutatio
Agareni,"PG, vol. 104,col. 1396,etc.An elaborateversionofthestory
appearsinArabicinIbn Ishãq (d. 753A.D.):A. Guillaume,TheLifeofMuhammad:A
Translationof Ishaq's SïratRasül Allah (Oxford,1955),pp. 79-81.
13 TheHistoryof theCaucasianAlbaniansbyMovsesDasxurançi,trans,byC.J.F.
Dowsett,LondonOrientalSeries,no. 8 (Oxford,1961).The lasthandinthecompilaof thetwelfth
tionof thisworkdatesto thebeginning
century.
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888
ROBERT W. THOMSON
ofBahira'sdeathisfoundinthelateGreek
version
Butquitea different
andinSyriac(andArabic?)sources,
echoed
sourceEuthymius
Zigabenus
of
These
writers
William
claimed
that
the
West's
Muhammad
Tripoli.
by
ofdrink- henceMuhammad's
banon
killedBahiraundertheinfluence
wine.14
to Muhammad's
mercantile
reference
reThomasArtsruni's
journeys
commonto earlierGreeksources.A curioustwistwas
flectsknowledge
SamuelofAni,whowroteatthe
bythechronicler
givento thetradition
to him,Muhammad
was"thechief
endofthetwelfth
according
century:
Butthismaybe nothing
morethana
an Egyptian."15
of thetraders,
in thetext,for.Samuel'schronicle
was revisedand re-edited
confusion
Thesuggestion
thatMuhammad
wasan
severaltimesinlatercenturies.
is neverrepeated
inArmenian
tradition,
thoughthelastdocuEgyptian
inmaking
inthisarticleiscategorical
hima Persian.
menttobediscussed
inthe
metBahiraisvariously
described
ThewayinwhichMuhammad
sawthemeeting
as theworkof
sources.MosesDaskhurants'i
Armenian
Satan:
(III 1): With the decline of the Sassanian kingdomof Persia thereappeared
among the false prophetsof whom we heard fromthe Saviour a man called
Mahmet,a diabolical and ferociousarcherwho dweltin the desert.One day,
Satan, assumingthe shape of a wild deer,led himto meeta certainfalseArian
hermitby the name of Bahira and thenvanished.When the well-bentbow of
Mahmetwas aimed straightat him,theman criedout loudly,and said: "Do not
"
sin,myson,forI am a man likeyourself! And Mahmetsaid to him:"Ifyouare a
"
man,whyare you in thatcave? And callinghimto him,Bahira began to teach
himfromtheOld and New Testamentsafterthemannerof Ariuswho heldthat
the Son of God was a createdthingand commandedhimto tellthebarbarous
Taciks whathe had learnedfromhim,hisfoulteacher,insistingthatnoneshould
know his whereabouts.16
According to Ps.-Shapuh Bagratuni, Muhammad was taken to Bahira
17
(there called Sargis) by his fatherto be cured of demonic possession. But
in general the Armenian sources merely say that Muhammad "studied
with" Bahira, or "was instructed"by him. Somewhat more elaborate are
the accounts in Mkhitar of Ani (at the turn of the twelfthand thirteenth
centuries) and Vardan (early thirteenthcentury). Mkhitar repeated verbatim the informationin the Armenian translation of an undated docu14 Euthymius,
in
PG, vol. 131,col. 36; William,"Tractatusde statuSaracenorum,"
H. Prutz,Kulturgeschichte
der Kreuzzüge(Berlin,1883),p. 577.
15 SamuelAnets'i,Hawak'munk'(hereafter
SamuelofAni) (Valarshapat,1893),s.
anno 647. Thereis a Frenchtranslation
by F. M. Brosset,Collectiond'historiens
vol. 2 (St. Petersburg,
arméniens,
1876).
16 Trans,by C.J.F. Dowsett;see fn. 13 above.
17 See below,p. 892.
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ARMENIAN VARIATIONS ON THE BAIJIRALEGEND
889
mentinKarshuni,18
whileVardanaddedsomedetailsthatarefoundinthe
earlierSamuel.
Mkhitar,
chap.25:19
Therewas at thattimea man called Mahmetfromthetribecalled Kuresh,from
the sons of Kedar [Ketura] of the twelvetribesof Ismael. Comingto the holy
mountainof Sinai, he studied witha certainhermitwho knew the Ismaelite
tongueand also Persian;20he was called Bkhira.Receivinghim,he wishedto
informhimabout everything.
Beginningfromcreation,he readto himinprogressiveorderthebook ofGenesisand all theothers,thenewtestament
and thebook
which they call The Childhood of Jesus.,21
Whilehe onlyheardthedivinelyinspiredscriptures
and did notcomprehend
he had reasonto go to theinnermost
themcorrectly,
never
desert,and thereafter
to histeacher.His minddid notlove Christianity,
returned
buthisthoughtswere
seekingto know what Judaismwas. Meetinga certainJewishmerchant,he
learnedfromhimtheirritesand faith.He despisedthatalso. And he beganofhis
own inventionto proclaima new faith,opposed to the truthand false.
Vardan, chap. 34: 22
At thattimetherewas a man fromamongthesons of Ismaelwhosenamewas
Mahmet,a merchant.He was born in the cityof Madina, a two days' journey
away fromMak'a, fromthe tribecalled Korësh,the son of Abdla, who died
and made progressin his
leavinghiman orphan.He joined a certainmerchant,
house.Whenthemerchant
died,hegainedcontrolofhismaster'shouse,marrying
hiswife[widow]. He usedtogo withcamelsto Egypt.Andtheremethima certain
hermitnamedSargis,ofthesectofAriusand Cerinthus,who taughthim(about)
God fromthe old books and [taughthim] the book of The Childhoodof our
Lord. On his returnhome he preachedwhat he had heard. But his familypersecutedhim. So he wentto the desertof P'aran. And whenthe 12,000Jews23
arrived,usingthemas a pretext,he preachedtheGod ofAbrahamto thesons of
18 Publishedby Kiuleserean;see fn.3 above. The Armenian
textis firstfoundin a
datedto 1273A.D.(Jerusalem,
1288).Aneighteenth-century
manuscript
copy(JerusascholarsVanakanand Vardan.But
lem,888) associatesitwiththethirteenth-century
thisis becauseJer.1288beginswiththeologicalworksbyVanakan,and becausethe
historian
Vardanrepeatedsomeof thematerialfoundin Mkhitar.
19 MkhitarAnets'i,Patmut'iwn(hereafter
Mkhitar)(St. Petersburg,
1879).
20 The Karshuni
textreads"Arabic for"IsmaeliteandPersian." As earlyas Thomas
theArmenian
tradition
knewofSalman,thehermit
fromPersiawhowrote
Artsruni,
downtheQuranforMuhammad.Cf.G. LeviDella Vida'sarticle"Salmanal-Farisi,"
in the Encyclopaediaof Islam,vol. 4 (Leiden,1924),pp. 116-17.For Muhammad
himself
as a Persian,see below,p. 892.
21 For the Armenianversionsof the InfancyGospel,see AnkanonGirk',vol. 2
ofthelongrecension
in P. Peeters,
(Venice,1898),pp. 1-312.Thereis a translation
vol. 2: L'évangilede l'enfance,
rédactions
arabeet
Evangilesapocryphes,
syriaques,
arméniennes:
Texteset documents
pour l'étudedu christianisme
(Paris, 1914).
22 VardanVardapet,Hawakumn Patmutean(hereafter
Vardan)(Venice,1862);
thereis a morecriticaltextof thissectionand a translation
in J. Muyldermans,
La
domination
arabeen Arménie(Louvain,1927).
23 See Sebêos,chap. 30.
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890
ROBERT W. THOMSON
Ismael; and he assuredthemthatiftheyworshippedhimtheywould inheritthe
land thatGod had givento Abraham.
The most interestingfeature here is the referenceto Cerinthus. He first
appeared in Armenian in the Chronicle of Samuel of Ani:
A.D. 615. In thosedays appeared thefalseprophetof theSaracens,a sectaryof
Cerinthusand theArians,called Mahmet,fromtherace of Ismael,son ofHagar.
He was instructedby a solitarycalled Bkhira,of the sect of Arius,in theSinai
desert,wherethey[theIsmaélites]had settledand multipliedwhenSarah expelled
the hand-maidenfromher sight.
As Cerinthus was a Jewishgnostic,the introductionof his name may be
a curious interpretationof the common statement in Byzantine sources
that Muhammad met both Christians and Jews on his journeys to Palestine. But since Cerinthus was known to Armenian heresiologists not for
Jewish ideas but for his distinction between the heavenly Christ and
earthly Jesus,24it is more likely that he was introduced to explain the
Muslim account of Jesus' crucifixion. For the Muslims' claim that someone other than Christ was crucified was known to the eleventh-century
writer Gregory Magistros.25 Mkhitar of Ani elaborated on the same
theme, though admittedly following his Karshuni source:
(chap. 26) And he said thattheJewsdid not crucifyhim,but he counterfeited
theWordofGod or
[himself]to them.And he did notreckonthemable to crucify
[forhim]to be crucifiedbythem.And he was not subjectto death,but remains
aliveand willcometo theworldin thelattertimes.And he praisedChristiansand
acceptedthegospeland theprophets.And he anathematizedtheJews,sincethey
denied Christand abjured him,and killedthe prophets.
The influence of Cerinthus was also claimed by the thirteenth-century
historian Kirakos Gandzakets'i and by the translator of Juanshêr. Kirakos26 merely repeated Samuel. But the reference by the Armenian
Juanshêr is more interesting because it is not found in the Georgian
original.27(Just as the Armenian version of the Chronicle of Michael the
24 Cf. R. W. Thomson,"An ArmenianList of Heresies,"Journal
of Theological
Studies,n.s. 16 (1965):358-67,especially362, 363,366.
25 Letterno. 70,in theeditionbyK' Kostaneants',T/t'erë
1910).
(Aleksandropol,
For a summary
oftheircontents,
see V. Langlois,"Mémoiresurla vieetlesécritsdu
JournalAsiatique,ser.6, 13 (1869):5-64. See also H.
princeGrégoireMagistros,1*
etsesrapports
avecdeuxémirsmusulmans,
Manoutché
Thorossian,
"GrigorMagistros
et Ibrahim,"Revuedes étudesislamiques15 (1941-46):63-66,whichcontainsa brief
of Letters70 and 71.
summary
26 KirakosGandakets'i,Patmut'iwn
Hayots'(hereafter
Kirakos)(Erevan,1961),p.
in 1870.
56; a Frenchtranslation
by F. M. Brossetwas publishedin St. Petersburg
27 Georgiantextin K'art'lisTskhovreba,
vol. 1, ed. byS. Qaukhchishvili
(Tbilisi,
sectioninM. Brosset,Histoirede la Géorgie,
vol.1
1955),pp. 139-244;corresponding
textinJuanshêr,
HamarõtPatmut'iwn
(St. Petersburg,
1849),pp. 144-251;Armenian
Vrats'(Venice,1884).
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ARMENIAN VARIATIONS ON THE BAIJIRALEGEND
891
oftheSyriacbutwithnew
is in generalan abbreviatedrendering
Syrian28
Armenianmaterial,so theArmenianversionofJuanshêroffersa greatly
abbreviatedtext of the Georgian chroniclebut with new Armenian
material.)The passage in Juanshêrseems to be based on Samuel; it
combinesthestoryof Bahira (s. anno 615) withthatof K'alart' (s. anno
647).
ArmenianJuanshêr,chap. 16:
thattheChristians
fromthe
theafflictions
suffered
Butno onecan describe
Saracens,whofora whilewerealsocalledK'alart'ians
(K'alrt'akank').Asdivine
says:"ThetonguesofK'alart'shalldrinkthebloodoftheinnocent."29
scripture
NowtheoriginofthepoweroftheraceofK'alart'was[as follows].He wasthe
In hisdaysa certainchiefofMesopotamia
chiefof somenomadicIsmaélites.
oftheirgoods.K'alrt'earnestly
traders
calledSargisusedto robtheIsmaelite
whathehadtakenandaskedthathedo itnomore,buthe
beggedhim[torestore]
a greatcrowdofhisownpeople,
hegathered
didnotheedhim.Becoming
angry,
the
andbecameverypowerwentandseizedtheirownandtheirs'
[i.e., traders'],
ful.AtthatsametimetheyfoundMahmetpersecuted
byhisownpeople.He had
heavowedthe
ArianmonkandofthesectofCerinthus;
beena pupilofa certain
heattached
tobeoneofpassion,corporalandofbodilydesire.After
resurrection
himto his ownpeopleand madehimgeneral,
theyfought
againstthewhole
- oftheGreeks
fullmeasure
hadreached
ForthesinsoftheChristians
world.30
andGeorgians.
andArmenians,
Albanians,
Thereby
gaining
ascendancy,
Syrians,
so subjecting
ofthePersians,
allnations.
thescepter
theyalsotookforthemselves
Muhammadand
The mostpeculiarofall Armenianstoriesconcerning
work
to
Bahirais thatin thepreface an anonymous
commonlyknownas
form.
Pseudo-Shapuh Bagratuni,firstpublishedin 1921in fragmentary
which
dealt
with
historical
work
from
a
by
Bagratuni
Shapuh
Quotations
theseventhand eighthcenturiesare foundin laterArmenianhistorians.
But Shapuh's own work has been lost; what was publishedunderhis
name is more of an epic tale dealing withthe period of the emperors
variousprincesof
Mauriceand Heraclius,followedbystoriesconcerning
is
in numerous
The
text
found
to
the
tenth
down
century.
Vaspurakan
the
which
the
oldest
of
Matenadaran,Erevan,3777)was
(in
manuscripts,
contain
in theyears1185-1188. But onlysome ofthemanuscripts
written
section dealing with Muhammad, and the
the separate introductory
The
earliestwitnessto thatsectiondatesonlyfromthesixteenthcentury.
fulltextwas publishedin 1971;31the relevantpassage readsas follows:
28 Zhamanakagrut'iwn Team Mikhayêli (Jerusalem,1871); FrenchtranslationbyV.
Langlois, Chronique de Michel le grand (Venice, 1868).
29 Cf. Sirach, 12: 16. K'alart' here seems to be a pun on k'a/ts'r("sweet").
30 For Muhammad and the Arab chief K'alart' (in Armenian also spelled K 'alert',
K'alrt'), cf. Mkhitar of Ani, chap. 27ff.; Vardan, chap. 34; Kirakos, p. 58.
31 Patmutiwn Ananun Zruytsagn, ed. by M. H. Darbinyan-Melikyan (brevan,
1971).
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892
ROBERT W. THOMSON
Historyof the Birthand Upbringingof the Servantof
Anti-ChristMahamat and His Reign
[The chapterbeginswitha briefdescriptionof the abolitionof the Armenian
monarchyat the beginningof the fifthcenturya.D.]
. . . For theylivedabominable,fouland execrablelives,likeheathens;and they
wentastrayfromthepathsofGod. ThereforeGod's angercame upon thelandof
Armeniaand our kingdomwas abolishedand overturned
fora long time.Then
theharbingerofAnti-Christ
leaderoftheTachiks.33
appeared,whois Mëhëmêt,32
Therewas a certainmanfromtheland ofthePersianscalledAbd-Rahman,son
of Abdala, son of Belmikin,fromthe cityof Rueran near the cityof Reyy,
oppositethecastleof Isfahan.He begata son and namedhimMëhëmët,thenhe
begata daughteralso and called her name Fátima - a verybeautifulwoman.
Now theson of Abd-ar-Rahman,Mahamat,was possessedbya demonand was
he bursthisiron
derangedbythedemonday afterday. Incensedbythedemon,34
chains and bonds, and was drivenby the demon into deserts,mountains,and
caves. His fatherspent much moneyon doctors,but he was not helped and
remainedin continualanguish.There came a man to himand told him:"Take
yoursonto thelandofSyriato a mancalledSargis.In accordancewithhisfaithhe
is dressedin black and wears a cassock, and he will heal your son."35AbdRahmanarose,took Mahmethisson,wentto theland of Syria,and meta Syrian
monk. When theyreachedthe mountainof the monastery,the demon seized
(Muhammad)and struckhimto theground;he ravedand foamedgreatly.Sargis
came up, took hold of Mahmet and raised him. Abd-Rahman said: "If it is
possible and you can cure myson, I shall give you manytreasures,honorable
garmentsand noblehorses."He undertookto curehim.So Abd-Rahmanlefthis
son Mahmetwithhimand wentaway. The man was Nestorianbyfaith,devilish
and a loverofsorcery,
and sorcery;
veryskilledinthedemonicartsofincantations
whereasMahmetwas an idolatorbyreligionand a magus.Sargissaid to Mahmet:
"If you believein God and turnfromidolatry,I shall cureyou." He agreed,and
was baptizedbyhim.He baptizedhimaccordingto theNestorianfaith.36
Mahmet
livedwithhimfortwenty-three
unitedwithSatan inhisbodyand hissoul;
years,37
he studiedtheartofsorceryand learnedall themagicaldoctrinesand heresiesof
Nestorius.
32 The spellingof thenamein thistextis quiteinconsistent;
Mahmetis theusual
Armenian
form.
33 In thepre-Islamic
ArmeniantextsTachikrefers
to theArabsof Mesopotamia,
whoselandis calledTachkastan.
In latertimesthetermwasusedlessexplicitly
torefer
to Muslimsin general,and was appliedto Arabs,Persians,or Turks.
34 The demonicpossessionis mentioned
in theGreeksourcesbeginning
frequently
withtheabjuration,
forwhichsee fn.10 above.
35 Thereare parallelsto theroleofthemonkas healerin Greeksources(see A.-Th.
Khoury,Polémiquebyzantinecontrel'Islam [Leiden,1972],pp. 82-83), butthey
claimthatMuhammadwas an imposter
fromthebeginning.
36 Thisis theonlyArmenian
textto claimthatMuhammadwasbaptizedbyBahira.
For Greekevidence,cf. Bartholomaeus
Edessenus,"ConfutatioAgareni,"PG, vol.
104,col. 1429.
37 Onlysevenyearsin Bartholomew;
see PG, vol. 104,col. 1432.
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ARMENIAN VARIATIONS ON THE BAIJIRALEGEND
893
Afterthis the news reachedMahmet:"Your fatherAbd-Rahmanhas died."
WhenMahmetheardit,he wept.Sargissaid:"Do notweepifyourfatherhas died,
forI shall make you greaterthanyourfatherand all yourfamily.Now, riseup,
visitthehouse of yourfather,and returnto me." So Mahmetarose,took two of
and wentto hiscountry.He reachedSamarraand
themonksfromthemonastery
foundhisdead fatherand hissister,thewifeofAli hisnephew.He said: "Ali,why
did you raidthehouse ofmyfatherand takeall myfather'streasuresand clothes
and all my possessions?"Mahmet made a greatoutcry,took a partfromAli,
to themonkSarreturnedto theland of Syriato themonasteryof Demetrius38
gis,and told himwhat had happened.Sargis said: "Do not fear,Mahmet,as I
have a meansto make you great.Now ariseand go again to yourfather'shouse,
and thereinducesome mento go as merchantsto theland of Egypt.Whenyou
arriveoppositemymonastery,pitchcamp. But you are notto say: 4I knowthis
or thisplace orthisregion,' orthatitmarksthesiteofyourcamp.And
monastery,
I, takingmydeacons,withtorchesand candleswillcome to you,and raisingour
the Persianswho willhave followedyou,and I
voices to heavenI shall frighten
shall say to them:'I saw a heavenlyvisionconcerningthisyoungman;forhe is a
prophetand one mustbelievehim,and whateverhesayswillsurelycomeabout.'"
that the sorcererSargis had instructedhim to do.
Mahmet did everything
Mahmetwentto thelandofPersia,to thecityofSamarra,and inducedmerchants
to go to the land of Egyptto the cityof Alexandria.Rich and honorablemen
assembledand journeyedas faras the land of Syria.On theway Mahmetsaid:
"Oh Persianmagnates,we are not in the[right]faithand piety,forour idolsare
vain.Now I haveheardfromsomepeoplethatthereexistsa God inheaven,above
thesunwhichis visibleto us." Theysaid: "Whatis thematterwithyou,Mahmet?
Be quiet and do not speak about that." But he began to expound to themthe
earliestdays,fromAbrahamand Noah and evenfromAdam. Theywereastonishedat his wisdomand said: "Oh Mahmet,whatis yoursourceforsuchsayings
and all thisknowledge?"He replied:"Wisdom,knowledge,and prophecyhave
been givenme fromabove." And whentheyhad drawnnearto themonastery,
theycamped thereoppositethe monasteryin accordancewithhis advice.
That nightthemonkSargiscameoutwithtorchesand candles,accompaniedby
deacons and monksfromthemonastery.Theycame to thespot whereMahmet
himtheyraiseda greatshout.The merchants,
was,and surrounding
wakingwitha
were
terrified.
start,
Risingup, theywentto himand said to themonk:"Whatis
thiswe hear,NestorSargis,about thisman?" And he replied:"I saw a heavenly
visionconcerninghim,and a greatlightand angelswho said thathe is a great
prophet,and thatwhateverhe says,his wordsare true."
Then themerchantsrealized:"The wordshe told us whenwe werejourneying
weretrue."Risingup, theywenton theirway. Whentheyhad returnedto their
own land and had gone each to his own house,theygave out thatMahmetwas a
prophet.
38 Thenameofthemonastery
inArmenian;
thetraditional
doesnotappearelsewhere
site is Bosra; see Abel's articlequotedin fn.4 above,and R. Krissand H. Krissim Bereichdes Islam,vol. 1 (Wiesbaden,I960), p. 208. For
Heinrich,Volksglaube
see Euthymius
Bahiraas an astronomer,
Zigabenus,"Disputadode Fide," PG, vol.
131,col. 33.
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894
ROBERTW.THOMSON
tokillMahmet,
saying:
ChapaspK'asre,kingofPersia,heardofthisandsought
"He has learnedSyrianheresyand wishesto destroythecultof our idols."
theirowncountry,
fromPersia,
Mahmetand Aliarose,tookFátima,wentfrom
Anditwasthebeginning
ofthe
andcametodwellinthelandoftheBabylonians.
Armenian
year36 [587A.D.].
Mahmetbeganto buildthegreatcityof Baghdadon thebankoftheriver
AliandMahmet.Aliheldoneside
between
Andtherewasdissension
Euphrates.
of theriver,and Mahmettheother. . .39warbetweenAli and Mahmet.For
whichAli had. The latter
[Mahmet]did not permitthepracticeof prophecy
plannedto killMahmet,butwas unableto do so becausehissisterFátimawas
wifeto Ali and shewouldnotallowhimto killMahmet.
The immediatesourceof thisstrangetale has not yetcome to light.A
fewexpressionsin thetextpointto Arabic.The last Sassanian king,for
theArabicformof Khosrov,not
example,is called K'asrê,whichreflects
theArmenian.The expressionsmlk'ers,for"mypossessions,"is derived
fromtheArabicmulk witha medievalArmenianpluralending;but the
so thisis notnecessarily
evidence
termwas used in medievalArmenian,40
forthe whole textbeinga translation.
Thereare twomainthemesin thetext:Bahira'sfraud,and theidea that
Muhammadwas a Persian.The fraudof Bahira,in thatitis claimedthat
Muhammadwas "cured"byhim,does have a parallelin Greeksources,41
thoughtheynowheresuggestthat Bahira's "discovery"of Muhammad
to explain,however,is the idea
was a prearrangedplot. More difficult
thatMuhammadwas a Persian,an idolator,and thebuilderofBaghdad.
Can thisbe merelysome fancyof Armenianpopulartradition?For the
readeris immediatelyremindedof the openingof the epic commonly
knownas "David of Sasun," thefirstcycleofwhichdescribesthestruggle
against the idolatrous (krapasht) caliph of Baghdad. It was not the
in Armenia,butthose
caliphsof thefirstcenturywho wereremembered
oftheAbbasid linewhosedepredationscausedso muchdamage.Thomas
Artsruni,forexample,passed in fourpages fromthedeath of Muhammad to the reignof Jap'r (i.e., al-Mutawakkil,847-86 1).42So it was,
perhaps,not too greatan effortof the popular imaginationto see the
founderof Islamas themanoriginally
responsibleforthelatertroublesof
39 The editors of the 1921 and 1971 editions do not specifyhow many lettersare
missing.
. _. . _
40 See H. Acharean, Hayerën Armatakan Ba'raran, 7 vols. (Erevan, 1926-35), s.v.
mulk,4:1139 (rev. ed., Erevan, 1971- ).
4i Cf. fn. 35 above.
42 Artsruni,pp. 177-81.
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ARMENIANVARIATIONSON THE BAIJIRALEGEND
895
Armenia.Justas thetributedemandedbytheAbbasidswas said to have
been set by Muhammadhimself,43
so, too, was Muhammadtheidolator
who builtBaghdad,the residenceof Armenia'sarch-enemies.
Harvard University
43 See Samuelof Ani,s. anno 647;
Kirakos,p. 60.
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