The ''Khuzistan Chronicle'' is an anonymous 7th-century

Nestorian Christian Nestorianism is a term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings. The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian ...

chronicle. Written in Syriac in East Syrian circles, it covers the period from ca. 590–660, from the end of reign of the

Sasanian The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...

ruler

Hormizd IV Hormizd IV (also spelled Hormozd IV or Ohrmazd IV; ) was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 579 to 590. He was the son and successor of Khosrow I () and his mother was a Khazar princess. During his reign, Hormizd IV had the high aristoc ...

() to the aftermath of the

fall of the Sasanian Empire As part of the early Muslim conquests, which were initiated by Muhammad in 622, the Rashidun Caliphate conquered the Sasanian Empire between 632 and 654. This event led to the decline of Zoroastrianism, which had been the official religion of ...

(652). The work was a work of contemporary accounts and combines material from written sources and oral accounts. The chronicle was discovered by the Italian orientalist

Ignazio Guidi Ignazio Guidi (1844 – 18 April 1935) was an Italian orientalist. He became professor at the University of Rome. He is known as a Hebraist and for many translations. He learned semitic languages from Pius Zingerle and Father Vincenti, and ...

(1844–1935), and is also known as ''Guidi's Chronicle'' or the ''Guidi Anonymous''. It is an important source on the

Arab conquests The early Muslim conquests or early Islamic conquests (), also known as the Arab conquests, were initiated in the 7th century by Muhammad, the founder of Islam. He established the first Islamic state in Medina, Arabia that expanded rapidly u ...

. The ''Chronicle'' describes itself as "some episodes from the ''Ecclesiastica'', that is, church histories, and from the ''Cosmotica'', that is, secular histories, from the death of Hormizd son of Khusrau to the end of the Persian kingdom." The first part is a chronological outline of Sasanian and Nestorian history by the reigns of the Sasanian rulers from Hormizd IV to Yazdgerd III () and the Nestorian patriarchs down to

Maremmeh Maremmeh was patriarch in the Church of the East from 646 to 649. Sources Brief accounts of Maremmeh's patriarchate are given in the ''Chronicle of Seert'' (an anonymous ninth-century Nestorian ecclesiastical history), the ''Ecclesiastical Chro ...

(). The second part of the work is an account of the conversion of some

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic of Turkey * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic lang ...

by Elias of Merv, the third a list of towns founded by

Seleucus I Seleucus I Nicator (; Greek: Σέλευκος Νικάτωρ, ''Séleukos Nikátōr'', "Seleucus the Victorious"; ) was a Macedonian Greek general, officer and successor of Alexander the Great who went on to found the eponymous Seleucid Empire, ...

and the legendary rulers

Semiramis Semiramis (; ''Šammīrām'', ''Šamiram'', , ''Samīrāmīs'') was the legendary Lydian- Babylonian wife of Onnes and of Ninus, who succeeded the latter on the throne of Assyria, according to Movses Khorenatsi. Legends narrated by Diodorus ...

and

Ninus Ninus (), according to Greek historians writing in the Hellenistic period and later, was the founder of Nineveh (also called Νίνου πόλις "city of Ninus" in Greek), ancient capital of Assyria. The figure or figures with which he correspon ...

and the fourth a brief outline of the

geography of Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

. Between the third and fourth parts there is a brief continuation of the first part detailing the fall of

Susa Susa ( ) was an ancient city in the lower Zagros Mountains about east of the Tigris, between the Karkheh River, Karkheh and Dez River, Dez Rivers in Iran. One of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East, Susa served as the capital o ...

and

Shushtar Shushtar () is a city in the Central District of Shushtar County, Khuzestan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Shushtar is an ancient fortress city, approximately from Ahvaz, the centre of the province ...

to the

Arabs Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...

. Some geographical details suggest that the chronicle was written in

Khuzistan Khuzestan province () is one of the 31 Provinces of Iran. Located in the southwest of the country, the province borders Iraq and the Persian Gulf, covering an area of . Its capital is the city of Ahvaz. Since 2014, it has been part of Iran's ...

, hence its conventional name. The latest datable event mentioned took place in 652, and the ''Chronicle'' must have been composed no later than the 660s. It is incomplete as it stands, having lost its beginning. Despite the reference to written sources, it is clear that the chronicler relied heavily on oral reports. He frequently employs phrases like "it is said that" and similar. Guidi presented the ''Chronicle'' at the 8th

International Congress of Orientalists The International Congress of Orientalists, initiated in Paris in 1873, was an international conference of Orientalists (initially mostly scholars from Europe and the USA). The first thirteen meetings were held in Europe; the fourteenth congress w ...

in 1889, and it was published with a Latin translation in 1903.

Pierre Nautin Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

has been tentatively suggested

Elias of Merv Elias (or Elijah, , ''Eliya''; died after 659) was the metropolitan bishop of Merv in the Church of the East. The ''Chronicle of Khuzestan'' records how Elias converted some Turks and their "kinglet" (MLKWNʾ) through preaching and miracles. He is ...

as the volume's author, though this "remains far from certain".

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * * * Texts in Syriac Sasanian Empire Nestorian texts

Khuzestan Khuzestan province () is one of the 31 Provinces of Iran. Located in the southwest of the country, the province borders Iraq and the Persian Gulf, covering an area of . Its capital is the city of Ahvaz. Since 2014, it has been part of Iran's ...

Middle Eastern chronicles History of Khuzestan province {{Sasanian-stub