Ian D. Morris
Tidbits of wisdom on the origins of Islam
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Syriac

Mecca before Islam: 4) Narsai’s homily

November 20, 2018 2 Comments

The fourth in a series on pre-Islamic sources adduced for Mecca. Previous: 3) Dabanegoris regio Next: 5) The Samaritan Asatir. “l-mā Qdešāyē aḥyānē ’nūn da-bnay Hāgār” “Are the Qadeshis brothers with the sons of Hagar?” —Narsai of Nisibis   In a recent… Continue Reading →

Mecca, Syriac

‘Allahu akbar!’ reflected in early Christian sources

May 29, 2016 7 Comments

The earliest surviving reference to the Arabic term ‘God is great’ (Allāhu akbar) is in a Syriac text known as the Maronite Chronicle, composed in the second half of the 7th century, perhaps as early as the 660s.[1] The anonymous… Continue Reading →

Armenian, Byzantium, Sebeos, Sources, Syriac, Umayyads, Uthman, Zoroastrianism

Misspelling Muhammad 2: Revenge of the Teth

December 23, 2014 3 Comments

In a previous post I gave some general examples of how spelling and pronunciation can drift between languages: the d in Muhammad is spelt in some early sources with an emphatic t (teth) or regular t (taw), so I wanted to show that… Continue Reading →

Coins, Pahlavi, Syriac, Thomas Presbyter

Misspelling Muhammad: Why Robert Spencer is wrong about Thomas Presbyter

November 20, 2014 19 Comments

In the British Library collections is an eighth-century manuscript of a seventh-century text in Syriac, attributed to Thomas Presbyter. It’s a funny little jumble of geography, genealogy, chronicle and king-list. Why it survived I don’t know. But we’re very lucky it… Continue Reading →

Coins, Muhammad, Syriac

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Meanwhile, on Twitter...

  • @byron_queen March 4, 2021

    david byron queen 1 star review of plato’s republic https://t.co/lw1W4DbDAg

  • @iandavidmorris March 4, 2021

    Ian D. Morris I still don’t know what “WandaVision” is. I just assume it’s like SeinfeldVision but for Wanda Sykes.

  • @MerkelHilf March 4, 2021

    Nicole Merkel-Hilf Newly published ❗️Another #CrossAsiaeBooks publication appeared today - Translating Islam, Translating Religion: Co… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

  • @DannyBate4 March 4, 2021

    Danny Bate It probably won't astound anyone that the Greek word kólla, meaning 'glue', is the origin of English 'collage'. Th… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

  • @Sonja_Drimmer March 4, 2021

    𝕊onja Drimmer Trying as hard as I can to hold my 14th-century students' attention while teaching remotely. https://t.co/H1D2RfCjHI

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