VOL 5.19

[The Last Sasanid Kings]

399

Shiruyah was now afflicted by illness and never enjoyed any of

the pleasures of this present world. He died at Daskarat al-Malik.

He was an inauspicious figure for the house of Sasan . 982 When he

killed his brothers, he showed violent grief. It is said that, on the

day after he had killed them, his two sisters Buran and Azar-

mldukht 983 came into his presence and reviled and upbraided him

harshly, saying, "Greed for a royal power which is still not yet

firmly established has driven you to kill your father and all your

brothers, and you have committed acts of dishonor." When he

heard those words, he wept bitterly and tore the crown from off his

head. All his days he was overwhelmed with cares and afflicted by

sickness. It is said that he extirpated every member of his house on

whom he could get his hands, and that plague spread during his

time until most of the Persians perished . 984 His tenure of royal

power lasted eight months 985

982. And called by the Persians, according to al-Mas'udi, Muruj, n, 232 - § 653,

the equivalent of Arabic al-ghashum, "the tyrannical one." On the other hand, the

Anonymus Guidi, tr. 30, states that Sheroy's reign was one of peace and security

for the Christians of the realm.

983. That is, Sheroy's eventual, ephemeral successors on the Persian throne, see

al-Tabari, I, 1063-64, 1064-65, pp. 403-405, 406-407, below.

984. This plague is mentioned in other sources (e.g., Ibn Qutaybah, Ma'arif, 665;

al-Mas'udi, Muruj, n, 232 - § 653; and Ibn al-Athir, Kamil, 1 , 497) as having devastated Iraq, with, according to Ibn Qutaybah and Ibn al-Athir, the king himself dying from the disease. Less probably, the Byzantine historian Theophanes states that Sheroy was poisoned by his hostile stepmother Shinn; see Christensen, Sassanides, 497 n. 1.

985. Kawad II Sheroy reigned for six or eight months in 628. His name appears

on his coins as PYRWCY KWT. See on his coins Paruck, Sasanian Coins, 68, 390- 92, 492, Plate XXD, Table XXX; Gobi, Sasanian Numismatics, 54-55, Table XHI, Plate r4; Selwood, Whitting and Williams, An Introduction to Sasanian Coins, 21, 159-60; Malek, "A Survey of Research on Sasanian Numismatics," 238.

The other Arabic sources on his reign include Ibn Qutaybah, Ma'arif, 665; al-

Ya'qubi, Ta’rikh, 1 , 196; al-Dinawari, al-Akhbar al-jiwal, no,- al-Mas'udi, Muruj,

n, 233-34 *= § 653 ; idem, Tanbih, 102, tr. 146; Hamzah al-Isfahani, Ta’rikh, 54; Ibn al-Athir, Kamil, 1 , 494-97. Of Persian sources, see Tabari-Bal'ami, tr. II, 332-47. Of modem studies, see Christensen, Sassanides, 493-97; Frye, "The Political History of Iran under the Sasanians," 170, 178.

400

[The Last Sasanid Kings]

[ Aidashir III]

After him there succeeded to the royal power Ardashir. [He was]

the son of [Qubadh II] Shlruyah, son of [Khusraw n] Abarwiz, son

of Hurmuz (IV), son of [Khusraw I] Anusharwan, and was only a

small child. It is said that he was only seven years old, since there

was no grown-up person of judgment and experience left of the

royal house; hence the great men of the Persian state made him

king. 986 A man called Mih Adhar Jushnas, who held the office of

high steward of the table ( ri'asat ashab al-ma’idah ), 987 was in

charge of his upbringing. He carried on the administration of the

kingdom in an excellent fashion, and his firm conduct of it

reached a point where no one would have been aware of Ardashir's

youthfulness.

Shahrbaraz was at the frontier with Byzantium with troops

whom Kisra had given him and had named "the fortunate ones"

( al-su'ada ’). 988 Kisra and Shlruyah had continuously written to

him regarding important matters in which they were involved,

and had sought his advice concerning these. But now, since the

great men of state of the Persians had not consulted him about

raising Ardashir to the throne, he took that as a pretext for making

accusations of criminal behavior and demands on them, and went

as far as shedding blood, and made it an occasion for endeavoring

to seize the royal power and to rise by means of that from the

lowly status of serving people to the heights of royal power.

Shahrbaraz treated Ardashir with contempt because of his youth

986. From this point onward, all the remaining Persian kings and queens, with

the exception of the capable, non-Sasanid Shahrbaraz, who seized power for him-

self, were set on the throne as puppets of the nobility and great men of state and church.

987. In Persian, khwan-salar, which Noldeke noted, trans. 386 n. 2, was the

term used by Bal'amI in his rendering of al-Tabari's History.

988. Shahrbaraz made peace with Heraclius in July 629 at Arabissos in eastern

Anatolia (see al-Tabari, I, 1008-1009, pp. 329-30 and n. 776 above), and was thus

free to turn his attention to Mesopotamia and take advantage of the unsettled

conditions there. Quite possibly he claimed to be the avenger of the murdered

Khusraw Abarwez, since al-Dinawari, al-Akhbai al-tiwal, in, says that, when

Shahrbaraz entered al-Mada’in, he put to death all those who had conspired to

depose and kill Khusraw; cf. also Noldeke, trans. 387 n. 1.

[The Last Sasanid Kings]

401

and acted arrogantly toward the great men of state. He decided to

summon together the ruling classes of the people ( al-nas ) for a

consultation over the matter of the royal power. He then advanced

with his troops.

Meanwhile, Mih Adhar Jushnas had embarked on fortifying and

strengthening the walls and gates of the city of Ctesiphon, and he

transfered Ardashir and the remaining members of the royal

house, their womenfolk, the contents of Ardashlr's treasury —

that is, money and his treasure chests — and his horses, into the

city of Ctesiphon. Shahrbaraz's troops, with whom he now ap-

proached, numbered six thousand men from the Persian army on

the Byzantine frontiers . 989 He took up a position near the city of

Ctesiphon, besieged its inhabitants and fought with them, setting

up ballistas against the city, but did not manage to enter it. When

he realized that he was not strong enough to take it by force, he

sought it by means of craft. He kept on inciting a man named Niw

Khusraw, who was the commander of Ardashlr's guard, and Namdar

Jushnas, son of Adhar Jushnas, the Isbabadh of Nimruz, to

treachery, until the two of them opened the gates of the city to

Shahbaraz. Thus he entered it, seized a number of the leading

men, and killed them, appropriating their wealth for himself and

ravishing their womenfolk. At Shahbaraz's behest, a group of men

killed Ardashir, son of Shiruyah, in the second year of his reign, in

the month of Bahman, on the night of the day Aban, in the palace

of Khusraw Shah Qubadh. He had held the royal power for one

year and six months . 990

989. As Ndldeke remarked, trans. 387 n. 2, it was indicative of the chaos and

weakness into which the Persian state had fallen that such a modest force was able

to take over the capital and secure power for Shahrbaraz himself.

990. Noldeke noted, trans. 388 n. 4, 432-33, that this date in Bahman, the tenth

day of the eleventh month, corresponds to 27 April 630, and that Ardashlr's reign

had, on the basis of his coins, two years, the first identical with the seven months

making up the last year of his father Kawad Q Sheroy and the second one of

independent rule beginning on 17 June 629. His reign would thus total one year and slightly under six months. Ardashlr's name appears on his coins as ’RTIiSTR. See on his coins Paruck, Sasanian Coins, 68-69, 391-92, 49^92, Plate XXII, Table

XXXI; Gdbl, Sasanian Numismatics, 54—55, Table 13, Plate 14; Sellwood, Whit- ting, and Williams, An Introduction to Sasanian Coins, 21, 161-63,- Malek, "Survey of Research on Sasanian Numismatics," 238; EIt, s.v. ArdaSir m (A. Sh.

Shahbazi).

The other Arabic sources on his reign include Ibn Qutaybah, Ma'arif, 665; al-

Ya'qubi, Ta'rikh, 1 , 196; al-Dinawari, al-Akhbai al-tfwal, no-n (wrongly named

as Shlrzad); al-Mas'udl, Muruj, II, 233 - § 653; idem, Tanbih, 102, tr. 146; Hamzah al-Isfahani, Ta'iikh, 54; Ibn al-Athir, Kamil, I, 498. Of Persian sources, see Tabari- Bal'ami, trans. n, 347-48. Of modem studies, see Christensen, Sassanides, 497- 98; Frye, "The Political History of Iran under the Sasanians," 170-71, 178; Eli, art. cit.

402

[The Last Sasanid Kings]

[Shahrbaraz]

After him, there succeeded to the royal power Shahrbaraz, that

is, Farrukhan, for the month of Isfandar(madh); he was not of the

[1063] royal house of the kingdom. He proclaimed himself king, but

when he sat down on the royal throne, his belly began to gripe, and

this affected him so violently that he had no time to get to a

latrine, hence he [swiftly] called for a bowl (tast), had it set down

before the throne, and relieved himself in it. 991

A man from the people of Istakhr called Fus Farrukh, son of

Ma(h) Khurshidhan, 992 and two of his brothers were roused to

great anger at Shahrbaraz's killing of Ardashir and his seizure of

the royal power. They felt an intense revulsion from that, and

came together and swore mutually that they would kill him. All

three of them belonged to the king's personal guard. It was [at that

time] the custom that, when the king rode out, his personal guard

stood in two lines, with their mailed coats, helmets, shields, and

swords, and with spears in their hands,- then, when the king came

up level with one of them, each of them laid his shield on the

wooden forepart ( qarabus , i.e., pommel) of the king's saddle 993

and placed his forehead on it, as if he were prostrating himself on

991. This story is meant to heighten the enormity of Shahrbaraz's temerity and

his sacrilege by sitting down on the royal throne when he was not from the royal

houses of the Arsacids or the Sasanids. The ensuing account of the ignominious

treatment of his corpse after he had been assassinated likewise highlights this

apparent strong sense of legitimacy among the Persian ruling classes. However, as

Noldeke, trans. 388 n. 7, noted, the corollary of this feeling that the direction of the state should never pass into the hands of those outside the ancient ruling dynasties meant that, in an age of epigoni, hopes of an infusion of fresh vigor and military initiative could never be realized, and the Persian realm sank into total collapse, together with the feeble remnants of the Sasanid royal house.

992. The first component of the name Fus Farrukh must be the MP pus, "son,"

the whole name meaning "fortunate son," see Justi, Namenbuch, 256, while MahKhwarshed-an would presumably be the patronym "son of Mah-Khwarshed," see ibid., 187.

993. The qaiabus was actually made up of two curved pieces of wood, the front

one forming the forepart or pommel of the saddle and the rear one forming the

troussequin. See Lane, Lexicon, 2509b.

[The Last Sasanid Kings]

403

the ground. Shahrbaraz rode forth a few days after he had become

king. Fus Farrukh and his two brothers stood close to each other,

and when Shahrbaraz drew level with them, Fus Farrukh struck

him with his spear, followed by his two brothers, This took place

in the month of Isfandarmadh on the day of Daybadln. 994 He fell

down dead from his horse. They tied a rope round his leg and

dragged him to and fro. A man from among the great men of state

called Zadhan Farrukh, son of Shahrdaran, a man called Mahyay

(?), who was the instructor of the cavalrymen (mu’addib al-

asawuah), and a large number of the great men of state and members

of leading families assisted Fus Farrukh and his brothers in

killing Shahrbaraz. They also aided them in killing the various

men who had assassinated Ardashlr, son of Shlruyah, and they

killed various members from the class of the great men of state.

They then raised to the throne Buran, daughter of Kisra.

Shahrbaraz had held the royal power for forty days. 995

[Buran]

Then there succeeded to the royal power Buran, daughter of

Kisra (n) Abarwiz, son of Hurmuz (IV), son of Kisra -

994. The twenty-third day of the twelfth month, i.e., 9 June 630, according to

Ndldeke, trans. 389 n. 2.

99S- Ndldeke, trans. 390 m 1,432-33, pointed out that we actually have a period

of forty-two days from Ardashlr IE's death on 27 April 630, but that Shahrbaraz's

proclamation of himself as ruler days later, hence making a reign of forty days,

with Shahrbaraz killed on 9 June. Shahrbaraz did not apparently have time enough as king to mint his own coins. The other Arabic sources on his reign include al- Ya'qubi, Ta’rikh, I, 196-97; al-Dinawari, al-Akhbar al-fiwal, rii; al-Mas’udi, Muruj, n, 233 - § 654; idem, Tanbih, 102, tr. 146; Ibn al-Athir, Kamil, I, 499. Of Persian sources, see Tabari-Bal'ami, tr. n, 348. Of modem studies, see Christensen, Sassanides, 497-98; Frye, "The Political History of Iran under the Sasanians," 170-71, 178.

Some sources add at this point in their list of Sasanid rulers, between Shahrbaraz

and Buran, Khusraw (HI), son of Kawad (II) Sherdy, son of Khusraw (II) Abarwez (or according to others — and this seems genealogically more likely — son of Khusraw Abarwez, and not his grandson). See Ibn Qutaybah, Ma'arif, 666; al-Mas'udi, Muruj, loc. cit.; idem, Tanbih, loc. cit.; al-Khwarazmi, Mafatify al-ulum, 104, who attributes to him the nickname of Kutah/al-Qa?ir "the short one." These sources state that he had grown up in "the land of the Turks," had heard of the dissensions within Persia and had decided to try his own luck there; but after a "reign" of only three months, apparently in some part of KhurSsan, he was killed by the governor there. See Ndldeke, trans. 433; Christensen, op. cit. 498; Frye, op. cit., 17 1.

404

[The Last Sasanid Kings]

(I) Anusharwan . 996 It has been mentioned that she proclaimed on the day

when she was hailed as queen, "I will pursue righteousness and

ordain justice," and she entrusted Shahrbaraz's office to Fus Farrukh

and invested him with the office of her chief minister. She

behaved kindly toward her subjects and spread justice among

them. She gave orders for silver coins to be minted, and she repaired

masonry bridges (al-qanafir) and bridges of boats [al-

/usur ). 997 She remitted for the people the arrears of land tax [baqaya ]

due, and she wrote to them in general open letters concerning

the policies of benevolence toward them that she intended to

follow, and she mentioned the topic of the members of the royal

house [of the Sasanids] who had perished. At the same time, she

expressed the hope that God would show them, through solicitude

for their welfare and firm policies deriving from her elevated

position, what would let them realize that lands were not subdued

through the strength and energy of men, that military camps were

not laid open to plunder through their martial valor, and that

victory was not gained through men's stratagems and hatreds extinguished,

but all that comes from God, He is exalted and magnified.

She further exhorted them to be obedient and urged them to

be faithful. Her letters brought together everything that was necessary

(i.e., for the subjects' guidance and welfare). She restored

the wood of the [True] Cross to the ruler of Byzantium through the

996. Also named as Biiran-dukht and, according to Hamzah al-l§fahanl, Ta’rikh,

54, a sister of Sheroy and the daughter of Khusraw Abarwez's Byzantine princess

wife, Maryam, daughter of Heraclius. Her descent on both sides would thus make

her a very acceptable queen. The Anonymus Guidi, tr. 32-33, describes Buran as

not only Sheroy's sister but also his wife, this being quite possible in Noldeke's

view, ibid. 32 n. 5. For the name Buran/Boran, see Justi, Namenbuch, 70, Gignoux, Noms propres sassanides en Moyen-Perse epigraphique, no. 209, cf. no. 208, considered by him as a hypocoristic from * bauiaspa -, "having bay horses."

Al-DInawari, al-Akhbar al-tiwal, in, mentions as ruling before Buran the child

Juwanshlr, son of Khusraw and Kurdiyah, the sister and wife of Bahram Chubin

(see al-Tabari, I, 998, 1001, pp. 309, 316-17 above), whom Abarwez had married

after Bahrain's death; if this piece of information were true, presumably Juwanshir

would have escaped Sheroy's massacre of his brothers, but in any case, must have

died after a year. There is no trace of him in Sasanid coinage.

997. Noldeke noted, trans. 39 1 n. 3, that Buran also built a fire temple at Istiniya

(a village near the later al-Ktifah, according to Yaqut, Buldan, 1 , 176, pace Noldeke that it was near Baghdad), according to al-Mas'udi, Muruj, IV, 86 = § 1412, cf. Morony, Iraq after the Muslim Conquest, 283.

[The Last Sasanid Kings]

405

intermediacy of the Catholicos called Ishu'hab . 998 Her tenure of

royal power lasted one year and four months 999

[Jushnas Dih]

Then there succeeded to the royal power after her a man called

Jushnas Dih , 1000 from the remote offspring of Abarwiz's paternal

uncle. His tenure of royal power was less than a month.

998. Restoration of the True Cross had been a prominent point in the peace

negotiations begun by Heraclius with Shfcrdy and dragging on into the times of

Shahrbaraz or Burin, but the Cross was actually restored by Sheroy and was back in Jerusalem in late summer 629 or spring 630; see on the problem of exact dating

here, n. 95 1 above. The Catholicos in question was Isho'yahb II of Gadala, formerly bishop of Balad in northern Mesopotamia and in office 628-46; hence he was head of the Nestorian Church when the Arabs arrived in Iraq. See Morony, Iraq after the Muslim Conquest, 341, 343-44. Isho'yahb and several other Nestorian bishops of the Persian empire went on a mission to Heraclius in northern Syria as part of the peace negotiations. See Ndldeke, trans. 392 n. i } Labourt, Le Christianisme dans 1 ' empire perse, 243-45.

999. In Noldeke's surmise, trans. 433, there was a short interregnum of in-

trigues and anarchy in the capital Ctesiphon after Shahrbaraz's assassination on 9

June 630. Buran's coins, extending over three regnal years, began with the regnal

year 1, which would have ended on 16 June 630. Her reign must have extended over a year and four or six months, hence into autumn 631. The Anonymus Guidi, tr. 33, and the Nestorian Chronicle of Se'ert state that she was strangled, according to the latter source, by the general Firuz. Buran's name appears on her coins as BWL’N. See on her coins Paruck, Sasanian Coins, 69, 392-93, Plate XXII; G6bl, Sasanian Numismatics, 54-55, Table XIII, Plate 15,- Sellwood, Whitting, and Williams, An Introduction to Sasanian Coins, 21, 166-68; Malek, "A Survey of Research on Sasanian Numismatics," 238; Jenny Rose, "Three Queens, Two Wives, and a Goddess. The Roles and Images of Women in Sasanian Iran," 43-45.

The other Arabic sources for her reign include Ibn Qutaybah, Ma'arif, 666; al-

Ya'qubi, Ta’rikh, I, 197; al-DInawari, al-Akhbar al-tfwal, ni; al-Mas'udi, Muruj,

H, 233 - § 654; idem, Tanbih, 102, tr. 147; Hamzah al-l$fahdnl, Ta’rikh, 54; Ibn al- Athir, Kamil, I, 499. Of Persian sources, see Jabari-Bal'ami, tr. II, 349-50. Of

modem studies, see Christensen, Sassanides, 498; Frye, "The Political History of

Iran under the Sasanians," 171, 178; Eh, s.v. Boran (Marie Louise Chaumont).

1000. The form of this ephemeral ruler's name is uncertain, especially in regard

to the second element after Jushnas/Gushnasp. variably writen in those sources

that mention him, i.e., Ibn Qutaybah, Ma'arif, 666, "one of Kisra's paternal uncle's

progeny"; al-Mas'udi, Muruj, II, 233-34 - § 654, Firuz f.sh.n.dah, a descendant of

Shabur, son of Yazdajird (I] the Sinner"; idem, Tanbih, tr. 147, Firuz f.sh.n.t.dah;

Ibn al-Athir, Kamil, I, 499-500 (al-DInawari's section on the Persian rulers ends

essentially with Buran, and merges into his account of the Arab conquests in Iraq

and Persia). The resemblance of the names given by al-Mas'udi and Ibn al-Athir to that of the Fayruz, son of Mihran Jushnas who is listed by al-Tabari, 1 , 1066, p. 408 below, leads one to think that the two persons are really one and the same.

40 6

[The Last Sasanid Kings]

[AzarmldukhtJ

Then there succeeded to the royal power Azarmidukht,

daughter of Kisra (II) Abarwiz, son of Hurmuz (IV), son of Kisra (I)

[1065] Anusharwan. It is said that she was one of the most beautiful of

the women of the Persians and that she proclaimed, when she

assumed the royal power, "Our way of conduct will be that of our

father Kisra, the victorious one, and if anyone rebels against

us, we will shed his blood." It is said that the outstanding great

man of Persia was at that time Farrukh Hurmuz, Isbahbadh of

Khurasan. He sent a message to her asking her to give herself in

marriage to him. She wrote back, "Marriage to a queen is not

permissible. I realize full well that your intention in what you are

proposing is to satisfy your own [sexual] needs and lust with me;

so come to me on such-and-such night." Azarmidukht ordered the

commander of her guard to lie in wait for him on the night they

had agreed to meet together and then kill him. The commander of

her guard carried out her orders regarding Farrukh Hurmuz; and at

her command, the latter's corpse was dragged out by the feet and

thrown down in the open space before the palace of government.

Next morning, they found Farrukh Hurmuz slain, and she gave

orders for his corpse to be taken away and concealed from sight. It

was generally recognized that he could only have been killed for

some momentous deed. Rustam, son of Farrukh Hurmuz, the man

whom Yazdajird (El) was later to send to combat the Arabs,

was acting as his father's deputy in Khurasan. When he received

the news (i.e., of his father's murder), he came with a mighty

1001 . This is the Arabic form, virtually identical with that of the Syriac sources,

Azarmidukht, of the MP name Azarmigdukht. Noldeke, trans. 393 n. 2, saw its

etymology as being most probably "modest ( azarmlg ] noble maiden"; Justi,

Namenbuch, 54, gave no opinon. However., Gignoux, in his Noms piopres

sassanides en Moyen-Perse ipigiaphique, no. 167, cf. no. 166, and in Eli, s.v.

Azarmlgduxt, renders it as "daughter of the honored, respected one," i.e., of her

father Khusraw Abarwez; both "honored maiden" and "daughter of the honored

one" are possible translations.

1002. Arabic al-mansur = MP abarwez. According to Hamzah al-Isfahanl, Ta'~rikh, 5s, Azarmigdukht was jalidah qasimah, "vigorous and beautiful," and he

records that she built a fire temple at a village called al-Q.r4.man (?) in the region of Abkhaz (i.e., in western Transcaucasia).

1003. That is, the Persian general vanquished some five years later at al-

Qadisiyyah by the Arabs. See El 2 , s.v. Rustam b. Farrukh Hurmuzd (ed.).

[The Last Sasanid Kings]

407

army, encamped at al-Mada’in, blinded Azarmldukht, and then

killed her. According to other authorities, however, she was poisoned.

 Her tenure of royal power was six months. 1004

[Kisra III]

There was then brought forward a man from the stock of Ar-

dashlr (I), son of Babak, who was living in al-Ahwaz, called Kisra.

[He was] the son of Mihr Jushnas. The great men of state raised

him to the throne. He assumed the crown and sat down upon the

royal throne, but was killed a few days after his accession.

[Khurrazadh Khusraw]

It is also said that the one who reigned after Azarmldukht was

Khurrazadh Khusraw, from the progeny of [Khusraw n] Abar-

wlz. 1006 It is said that he was found in a fortress near Nisibin

called al-Hijarah [the "Stone Fortress"). 1007 When he reached al-

Mada’in, he remained there a few days only before [the people

there] rebelled and rose against him in opposition.

1004. Hence Azarmigdukht's reign was even shorter than that of her sister

Buran, and would fall at the end of 63 1 and opening of 632; see NOldeke, trans. 434. Coins issued by her, one from the mint of Shiraz, with the effigy of her father Khusraw Abarwez and with the legend of her own name, have been discovered and identified by M. I. Mochiri. See Selwood, Whitting and Williams, An Introduction to Sasanian Coins, 21, 1 69-70, Malek, "A Survey of Research on Sasanian Numismatics," 238-39.

The other Arabic sources on her reign include Ibn Qutaybah, Ma'arif, 666; al-

Ya'qubi, Ta’rikh, 1 , 197-98; al-Mas'udi, Muruj, II, 233 - § 654; idem, Tanbih, 102- 103, tr. 147; Hamzah al-Isfahani, Ta’zikh, 54-53; Ibn al-Athir, Kamil, I, 500. Of Persian sources, see Tabari-Bal'ami, tr. n, 350-52. Of modem studies, see

Christensen, Sassanides, 499; Eli, s.v. Azarmigduxt |Ph. Gignoux).

1005. The only other Arabic sources clearly mentioning him are al-Ya'qubi,

Ta'rikh, I, 198, and Ibn al-Athir, Kamil, I, 500.

1006. There seems to be a confusion here of Khurrahzadh and the Farrukhzadh

mentioned below as coming after Firuz {II}. Al-Ya'qubi, Ta’rikh, I, 198, does not

mention Khurrazadh (nor do any other sources) but places Farrukhzadh after Firuz.

1007. A town of what is now southeastern Anatolia, in the medieval Islamic

province of Diyar Bakr, situated on the upper course of the Tigris about halfway

between Amid/Diyarbekir and Jazirat Ibn 'Umar, the mediaeval Islamic Hi?n Kayfa. The second part of the name would appear to reflect Syriac kipa, "rock," hence "rock or stone fortress." See Yaqut, Buldan, n, 265; Le Strange, Lands, 113; Canard, Hamdanides, 84; El 2 , s.v. Hi$n Kayfa (S. Ory).

408

[The Last Sasanid Kings]

[Fayruz II]

Those authorities who say that Kisra (HI), son of Mihr Jushnas,

succeeded to the royal power after Azarmidukht [further relate

that,] when Kisra, son of Mihr Jushnas, was killed, the great men

of state in Persia sought for someone from the royal house whom

they could raise to the throne. They looked for someone who had

in his veins an element of [the blood of] the members of that

house, even though it was through maternal relationship. They

brought forward a man who was resident in Maysan, called

Fayruz, son of Mihran Jushnas, who was also called JushnasDih . 1008

He was the son of Saharbukht , 1009 daughter of Yazdandadh (text, "Yazdandar"), son of Kisra (I) Anusharwan. They raised

him to the throne against his own will. He was a man with a large

head, and when he was crowned he exclaimed, "How tight this

crown is!" The great men of state drew a bad omen from his

beginning his reign by speaking of tightness and narrowness,

hence killed him after he had reigned for [only] a few days. Some

people assert that he was killed the moment he uttered those

words . 1010

[Farrukhzadh Khusiaw]

The authorities who say this last go on to say that a man from

among the great men of state, called Zadhi , 1011 who had the funcion.

1008. As noted in n. 1000 above, this Fayruz may well be identical with the

Jushnas Dih mentioned in al-Tabari, I, 1064, p. 405 above; at least, there is some

confusion in the sources which seem to mention Fayruz, i.e., al-Ya'qubi, Ta'iikh, I, 198; al-Mas'udi, Muruj, n, 233-34 - § 654 (?); Ibn al-Athir, Kamil, I, 500.

1009. Written thus here and in Ibn al-Athir, loc. cit., but reflecting the common

rendering in Arabic of Persian ch by s, cf. Siddiqi, Studien iiber die persischen

Fremdworter, 72, hence probably the name Chahar Bukht, "saved by the four," i.e., the four spirits of water, earth, plants, and beasts, or the four elements, cf. the

common Sasanid name Si Bukht, "saved by the three." See Noldeke, trans. 396 n.

i; Justi, Namenbuch, 151; Gignoux, Noms piopies sassanides, no. 833. Fayruz's

relationship to the main stem of the Sasanid royal house was clearly tenuous.

1010. In addition to the exiguous Arabic sources on Fayruz mentioned in n. 1008

above, see the Persian one of Tabari-Bal'aml, tr. II, 352-53. See also Noldeke, trans. 396 n. 1. No coins of his seem to be extant. Khurasan was called Zadhuyah (al-Baladhuri, Futufy, 405 ) and that Zadhuyah is a possible reading for the rather cryptic name Wan in al-Tabari, 1, 893 and n. a, p. 147 above.

Thus written in the text, but taken by Noldeke, trans. 396 and n. 2, as

Zadhuyah, which seems likely. Noldeke also noted that the Marzban of Sarakhs

who made peace with 'Abdallah b. 'Amir in 31/6 51-52 when the Arabs arrived in

[The Last Sasanid Kings] 409

tion of "Chief of the Servants" ( ra'is al-khawal ), 1012 proceeded to

a place in the western section [of the Persian kingdom], near to

Nisibin, called Hi§n al-Hijarah ["the Stone Fortress"). He brought

back a son of Kisra (II)'s who had escaped to that fortress when

Shiruyah killed all the sons of Kisra, and who was called Farrukhzadh

Khusraw, to the city of Ctesiphon. The people gave him

obedience for a short time, but then rebelled and rose in opposition

against him. Some sources state that they killed him. His

period of royal power was six months. 1013

[Yazdajird III]

Some authorities say that the people of Istakhr got hold of

Yazdajird, son of Shahriyar, son of Kisra (n), at Istakhr, whither

people had fled with him when Shiruyah killed his brothers. 1014

1012. Presumably an office at the Sasanid court, something like a major-domo

or steward, what would in Islamic times be called a qahramdn, cf. the use of the

word by al-Tabari, I, 1020, p. 346 above.

1013. On the possible confusion of this Farrukhzadh with Khurrahzadh

Khusraw, see n. 1006 above. The other Arabic sources on him include Ibn

Qutaybah, Ma'arif, 666-67; al-Ya'qubi, Ta’rikh, 1, 198; al-Mas'udi, Muruj, n, 234 -

§ 655; idem, Tanblh, 103, tr.147; Hamzah al-l$fahanl, Ta’rikh, 5s; Ibn al-Athir,

Kamil, I, 501. Of Persian sources, see Tabari-Bal'amI, trans. n, 353. He is briefly

mentioned by Christensen, Sassanides, 499. No coins of his are extant.

Also mentioned as fleetingly holding power between the years 630 and 632, but

probably with recognition in certain parts of the realm only, are Hormizd (V), who nevertheless minted some coins as WHRMZDY (see concerning him, n. 1016 below), and Khusraw (IV) (assuming that this person is not the same as Far-

rukhzadh Khusraw), who minted some coins as HWSRWB. See Christensen,

Sassanides, 499, and for their coins, Paruck, Sasanian Coins, 69-70, 393-94, 493-

94, Plates XXn-XXm, Table XXXI; G6bl, Sasanian Numismatics, S4-SS- Table

Xm, Plate i$; Sellwood, Whitting, and Williams, An Introduction to Sasanian

Coins, 21, 171-74; Malek, "A Survey of Research on Sasanian Numismatics," 239.

1014. The eight-year-old boy Yazdagird (this age being more probable than the

fifteen or sixteen years of certain Christian and later Islamic sources, since

Yazdagird's coins show him as beardless until the tenth year of his reign and he is

described by al-Tabari, 1, 1067, p. 410 below, as being twenty-eight years old when he was killed at Marw in 65 1 ( was thus raised to power in Fars and crowned in the temple of Anahid at Iftakhr by a faction opposed to the one in Ctesiphon that had made Farrukhzadh king there. Hostility toward the new king is reflected in the statement of al-Ya’qubi, Ta’rikh, 1, 198, that Yazdagird was regarded as ill-omened from the start because his mother had been a mere cupper [fra j jamah) in Khusraw Abarwez's service, but was brought out from obscurity from sheer necessity,- cf. al- Tabari's information, 1 , 1044, p. 380 above, on Yazdagird's mother). Noldeke, trans.

397 n. 3, 434, that Yazdagird's accession must have fallen within the Persian year

16 June 632-16 June 633, since the Zoroastrians begin their era in this year of

Yazdagird Hi's accession.

4io

[The Last Sasanid Kings]

When the great men of state among the people of Istakhr received

the news that the people of al-Mada’in had rebelled against Farrukhzadh,

they brought Yazdajird to a fire temple called "Ardashir's

fire temple /' 1015 crowned him there and hailed him as

king. He was, however, only a young boy. Then they brought him

to al-Mada’in and killed Farrukhzadh Khusraw by means of

treachery after he had reigned for one year. In this fashion, the way

was open for Yazdajird to assume the royal power, except that,

compared with the power of his forefathers, his power was like a

phantom of the imagination and a vision in a dream [al-khayal

wa-al-hulm ). 1016 The great men of state and the ministers exercised

his royal authority because of his youth. The most il-

lustrious and the shrewdest of his ministers was the Chief of the

Servants. The power of the Persian kingdom grew weak, and its

enemies attacked it boldly from all sides, made incursions into

Yazdajird's lands, and devastated parts of them. The Arabs attacked

his lands when two years had elapsed of his reign or, it is

said alternatively, after four years. His whole life span, until he

was killed, was twenty-eight years . 1017

1015. That is, the fire temple at Jur/Firuzabad whose building by Ardashir I is

recorded in al-Tabari, I, 817, p. xi above.

1016. N&ldeke, trans. 397 n. 5, noted that Yazdagird had considerable trouble in

establishing his authority throughout all the Persian lands, with important prov-

inces like Azerbaijan, Mesopotamia, and Khurasan at first reluctant to acknowl-

edge him. Al-DInawari, al-Akhbai al-tiwal, 119, speaks of his struggles when

raised to the throne (but anachronistically, it would appear, with Azarmigdukht).

It seems that Rustam threw his weight behind the new king in the short period

before he became embroiled with the invading Arabs. Numismatic evidence (see n. 1013 above) shows the existence of a rival for the throne, Hormizd (V), who challenged Yazdagird's position and whose center of power Armenian sources place in Ni§Ibin in Upper Mesopotamia.

1017. Yazdagird HI ruled from the end of 632 or the beginning of 633 till his

death at Marw in 3 1/65 1 (al-Tabari, 1 , 2872-84, tr. R. S. Humphreys, The History of al-Tabari, an Annotated Translation, XV, The Crisis of the Caliphate. The Reign of 'Uthman, 78-90). The Arabs began their probes into Iraq by the end of the second year of his reign, i.e., in 634 or 635, with the major battle for the province coming a year or two later. Yazdagird's name appears on coins as YZDKRTY. See on his coins, Paruck, Sasanian Coins, 70, 394-96, 494-95, Plate XXm, Table

XXXI; Gobi, Sasanian Numismatics, 54-55, Table XIII, Plate 15; Sellwood, Whitting, and Williams, An Introduction to Sasanian Coins, 21, 175-78; Malek, "A Survey of Research on Sasanian Numismatics," 240.

The other Arabic sources on Yazdagird's accession and first few years include Ibn

Qutaybah, Ma'drif, 666-67; al-Ya'qubi, Ta'rikh, 1 , 198; al-Dinawari, al-Akhbdr al- {iwal, ii9; al-Mas'udl, Muruj, n, 234 - § 655; idem, Tanbib, 103, trans. 147;

Hamzah al-I?fah£ni, Ta'rikh, 53; Ibn al-Athlr, Kamil, I, 501. Of Persian sources, see Tabari-Bal'ami, trans. n, 353, who merely quotes the fact of Yazdagird's accession and that he reigned for four years, i.e., this source regards his reign as closing with the Arabs' capture of the capital al-Mada’in in March 637 and Yazdagird's subsequent gradual retreat eastward across Persia from Hulwan and Isfahan to I$takhr (thus according to such Arabic sources as al-Baladhuri, Futub, 315; al-Tabari, I, a439-4o, tr. The History of al-Tabari, an Annotated Translation. XIII. The Conquest of Iraq, Southwestern Persia and Egypt. The Middle Years of 'Umar’s Caliphate, 20; the Anonymus Guidi, tr. 33, has Yazdagird flee via Khuzistan) to Kirman and then his being killed in Khurasan. Of modem studies, see Ndldeke, trans. 397 nn. 3-5, 43 1; Frye, The Golden Age of Persia. The Arabs in the East, London 1975, 57-67; 'Abd al-Husain Zarrinkub, "The Arab Conquest of Iran and Its Aftermath," 4, 12-25.

[The Last Sasanid Kings]

411

There are various further historical reports about this ruler

Yazdajird and his sons, which I will mention later, if God wills, in

their appropriate place, including the conquests by the Muslims of

the land of the Persians, and what was the ultimate fate of Yazdajird

and his sons . 1018

1018. One of Yazdagird's sons, Firuz (HI), spent the rest of his life after his father's death on the far northeastern fringes of the Islamic lands. He seems to have received aid from the Hephthalite or Turkish local ruler of Bactria/Tukharistin, and may, in the surmise of J. Harmatta, have held power in Sistan for a short period ca. 660. He became a Chinese vassal and hoped to make a comeback with Chinese help; but he was driven out of the upper Oxus region by the Arabs, subsequently made his way to the imperial capital Ch’ang-an and died in China. Firuz's son, whose name is known only from Chinese sources as Ninieh-shih (presumably Narseh) continued to hover round the regions of Sogdia and Tukharistan, stirring up trouble against the Arabs, but China was too distant to give these Sasanid claimants any effective military support; he had to fall back into China and died there soon after 707. The presence of Sasanid descendants in the Chinese capital Ch’ang-an seems nevertheless to be attested, according to Chinese sources, into the ninth century. See Marquart, EranSahr, 68, 133-34; J- Harmatta, "The Middle Persian-Chinese Bilingual Inscription from Hsian and the Chinese-Sasanian Relations," 373-76; Frye, "The Political History," 176; W. Watson, "Iran and China," 547.

6

[The Chronology of the World]

9

The whole of the period of years that elapsed from Adam's being

sent down to earth (i.e., his expulsion from the Garden of Eden) up

to the time of the Prophet's Hijrah, according to what the Jews

among the People of the Book say and according to what they

allege is in the all-embracing text of the Torah ( al-Tawidt al-

surah ) setting forth the lives of the prophets and kings, is 4,642

years and a few months. 1019

According to what the Christians say and assert in their Torah

in the Greek language (i.e., the Septuagint), that extent of time

was 5,992 years and a few months.

With regard to the whole of that, according to what the Persian

Zoroastrians say, it was 4,182 years, ten months, and nineteen

days, with the proviso that included in that span is the period of

time between the Hijrah and the killing of Yazdajird — that is,

thirty years, two months and fifteen days — and the further

proviso that this system of reckoning of theirs and the beginning

of their era ( ta’rlkh ) runs from the time of Jayumart, Jayumart

being Adam (Adam), the progenitor of all mankind, to whom every

human being can be traced back, as I have clearly set forth in this

book.

Concerning the learned scholars of Islam, I have mentioned

previously what certain of them have said regarding it, and I shall

now mention some of those whose fame has not come down to the

present day. These persons say that from the time of Adam to that

1019. In n. a to his text, Noldeke cited the origin of this phrase as Syriac $urat

kdtab "the complete text of the sacred books."

[The Chronology of the World]

4i3

of Nub (Noah) was ten centuries (a century, qarn, being a hundred

years), between Nuh and Ibrahim (Abraham), ten centuries (a century

being a hundred years again) and between Ibrahim and Musa,

son of 'Imran (Moses, son of Amram), ten centuries (a century

being a hundred years yet again).

Mention of Those Who Say That

There related to us Ibn Bashshar — Abu Dawud — Hammam b.

Qatadah — 'Ikrimah — Ibn 'Abbas, who said: Between Adam and

Nuh there were ten centuries, and all of them (i.e., the people of

this period) followed a path of divine truth ( shaiTah min al-haqq).

There related to us al-Harith b. Muhammad — Muhammad b.

Sa'd — Muhammad b. 'Umar b. Waqid al-Aslami, 1020 from several

of the learned scholars, who all said: Between Adam and Nuh were

ten centuries (a century being a hundred years), between Nuh and

Ibrahim, ten centuries (a century being a hundred years again), and

between Ibrahim and Musa, son of 'Imran, ten centuries (a century

being a hundred years yet again).

It was transmitted from 'Abd al-Rahman b. Mahdi— Abu

'Awanah — 'Asim al-Ahwal — Abu 'Uthman — Salman, who said:

The interval ( al-fatrah ) between Muhammad and 'Isa (Jesus),

peace be upon them both, was six hundred years. 1021

It was transmitted from Fudayl b. 'Abd al-Wahhab — Ja'far b.

Sulayman — 'Awf, who said: Between 'Isa and Musa was 600 years.

1020. That is, the historian al-Waqidi (130-207/747-823), who derived this

nisbah from his grandfather's name and that of al-Aslami from being a mawla of a

member of the Medinan clan of Aslam. Of his many works on the pre-Islamic

history of Mecca and Medina and on early Islamic history, only the Kitab al-

maghazi and possibly a Kitab al-tiddah survive, but his work was much used by

slightly later authors such as Ibn Sa'd. See Sezgin, GAS, I, 294-07; EP. s.v. al-

Wakidi (S. Leder).

1021. The literal meaning of fattab is "relaxation, weakening," thence "elapsing, period of time," and the term is especially applied in early Islamic usage to the

interval between any two of the numerous prophetic messengers ( rusul ) who preceded the advent of Muhammad. Al-Jahi? explained that these intervals were

called fatrahs because there was a "slackening" of observance, with a reinvigoration of religion when a new iasul came along. It became particularly used, as here, for the lengthy period without any prophets between Jesus and Muhammad. See EP, s.v. Fatra (Ch. Pellat), and n. 1025 below.

414 [The Chronology of the World]

There related to me Ya'qub b. Ibrahim — Ibn 'Ulayyah — Sa'id b.

Abi Sadaqah — Muhammad b. Sirin, who said: I was informed that

Ka'b said that God's words, "O sister of Harun (Aaron)" do not

refer to Harun the brother of Musa. 1022 He related: 'A’ishah said to

him, "You are wrong!" He replied, "O Mother of the Faithful! If

the Prophet said it, then he is the most knowledgeable and the

best one, 1023 but if not, I find a space of six hundred years between

them." He related: She was thereupon silent.

There related to me al-Harith — Muhammad b. Sa'd — Hisham —

his father — Abu Salih — Ibn 'Abbas, who said: Between Musa, son

of 'Imran, and 'Isa, son of Maryam (Mary), was nineteen hundred

years, but there was no interval ( fatrah ) between them, because

during this period, God sent a thousand prophets from the Banu

Isra’Il (Children of Israel), apart from those whom He sent to other

[1070] nations. Between the birth of 'Isa and the Prophet was 569 years,

in the first part of which He sent three prophets, as in His words,

"When We sent to them two persons, and they branded them as

liars, We strengthened them with a third person"; 1024 the person

whom He sent as a strengthener was Sham'un (Simon), one of the

Apostles. The interval during which God did not send any

prophets was 434 years. 1025 When Jesus was raised up (i.e., in his

1022. Qur’an, XIX, 29/28, there being an apparent confusion here of Maryam,

the Virgin Mary, with Maryam, the sister of Moses and Aaron. However, J. M.

RodweU in his The Koran Translated from the Arabic, 385 n, 2, admitted that

M uhamm ad seems here to be guilty of an anachronism, but further pointed out

that the anachronism might be only apparent, since even if Aaron, the brother of

Moses, is meant, Maryam, the Virgin Mary, could be called his sister because she

was of Levitical stock. Ka'b (i.e., Ka'b al- Ahbar, on whom see n. 37 1 above) is in this tradition implying that the Harun/Aaron here is another person. See the extensive discussion in R. Paret, Der Koran. Kommentar und Konkordanz, 65.

1023. For the Leiden text's khayr, the Cairo text, II, 236, has, following al-

Tabari's Tafsir, the reading akhbar "giving more faithful reports."

1024. Qur’an, XXXVI, 13/14. The words occur at the opening of the parable, or

rather, story, of the unbelieving town, Antioch being the city commonly identified

with this. K. Ahrens referred to a story of St. Peter at Antioch given in Ps.-Clement of Alexandria, see Bell, A Commentary on the Qur’an, n, 138-39. Muslim tradition came to connect the story of the unbelieving town with the legendary character Habib the Carpenter who urged the town's inhabitants not to reject the three messengers who had been sent to them by God. See EP-, s.v. Habib al-Na djdj ar (G.

Vajda).

1025. We thus have an attempt to fill up part at least of the fatrah between Isa

and Muhammad; other Muslim scholars endeavored to find also within it persons

who had at least rejected the worship of idols and had followed an ascetic way of

life, such as the fyanifs in pre-Islamic Mecca and the poet-ascetic of al-Ja’if, Um-

ayyah b. Abi al-§alt (on whom see n. 603 above), called collectively the ahl al-

fatiah. See EP-, s.v. Fatra (Ch. Pellat).

[The Chronology of the World]

4i5

Ascension to Heaven), he was thirty-two years and six months

old, and his period of prophethood was thirty months. God raised

him [to Heaven] corporeally, and he is still alive at this moment.

There related to me Muhammad b. Sahl b. ‘Askar — Isma'il b.

'Abd al-Karim — ‘Abd al-$amad b. Ma'qil, who heard Wahb [b.

Munabbih] say that fifty-six hundred years have elapsed of this

present world.

There related to me Ibrahim b. Sa'id al-Jawhari — Yahya b.

§alih — al-Hasan b. Ayyub al-Hadrami — 'Abd Allah b. Busr, who

said: The Messenger of God said to me: "You will certainly live for

a century { qain)\ " And he did [in fact] live for a hundred years.

This is what was transmitted from the learned scholars of Islam

concerning this, and in what they say there is a very wide variation.

 This is seen in the fact that al-Waqidi told the story, on the

authority of a group of learned scholars, that they said what I have

mentioned as his transmission from them. On the basis of what he

said, one must take the whole span of years of this present world

up to the birth of our Prophet as being forty-six years, but on the

basis of what Ibn 'Abbas said, as transmitted by Hisham b.

Muhammad — his father — Abu Salih — Ibn 'Abbas, one must take

the figure up to the birth of the Prophet as fifty-five hundred years.

As for Wahb b. Munabbih, he mentioned what he had to say in one

bloc, without breaking it down into details, that is, up to his own

time [is a span of] fifty-six hundred years. The entire extent in

time of this present world is, according to Wahb, six thousand

years, of which there had elapsed up to his own time, in his view,

fifty-six hundred years. Wahb b. Munabbih died in the year 1 14 of

the Hijrah [/a.d. 732]. 1026 Thus the remainder of the extent of this

present world, from the time we are actually in now, is, according

1026. This is one of the two dates given in the sources for Wahb's death, the

other being 1 10/728-29. See Sezgin, GAS, 1 , 305; EP, s.v. Wahb b. Munabbih (R. G. Khoury).

416 [The Chronology of the World]

to Wahb's words, 215 years. 1027 This is what Wahb b. Munabbih

says, conformable to what Abu Salih transmited from Ibn 'Abbas.

Some authorities state that from the time of the descent [to

earth] of Adam to the mission of our Prophet is 6,113 years, [this

span comprising,] in their view, from Adam's descent to the earth

up to the Flood, 2,25 6 years; from the Flood to the birth of Ibrahim,

the Friend of the Merciful One, 1028 1,079 years; from the birth of

Ibrahim to Musa's exodus with the Banu Isra’il from Egypt, 565

years; from Musa's exodus with the Banu Isra’il from Egypt to the

building of the Sacred Temple ( al-Bayt al-Maqdis ) — this being

four years after the accession to royal power of Sulayman, son of

Dawud (Solomon, son of David)— 636 years; from the building of

the Temple to al-Iskandar's (Alexander the Great's) accession to

royal power, 717 years; from al-Iskandar's accession to the birth of

 'Isa, son of Maryam, 369 years; from the birth of 'Isa to Muhammad's

mission, 551 years; and from Muhammad's mission to his

Hijrah from Mecca to Medina, thirteen years.

Some authorities have related from Hisham b. Muhammad al-

Kalbi— his father— Abu Salih— Ibn 'Abbas, who said that from

Adam to Nuh was twenty-two hundred years,- from Nuh to

Ibrahim, 1,143 years; from Ibrahim to Musa, 575 years,- from Musa

to Dawud, 179 years,- from Dawud to 'Isa, 1,053 years; and from

'Isa to Muhammad, 600 years.

Al-Haytham b. 'Adi 1029 has related from certain members of the

People of the Book, saying that from Adam to the Flood was 2,256

years; from the Flood to the death of Ibrahim, 1,020 years; from

Ibrahim's death to the Banu Israel's entry into Egypt, seventy-five

years; from Ya'qub's (Jacob's) entry into Egypt to Moses' exodus

from it, 430 years,- from the building of the Sacred Temple to the

accession to royal power of Bukht-Nassar (Nebuchadnezzar) and

1027. That is, the period of time between Wahb's death and the date when al-

Tabari was writing his History, which would bring the latter date up to 3 19 1/93 1].

1028. Ibrahim/Abraham being called in Muslim lore Khalil Allah, the "Friend of

God," this being based on Qur’an, IV, 124/125 "and God took Abraham as a

friend," echoing Isa. xli. 8.

1029. That is, the Kufan akhbari or historian (d. 204, 207 or 209/819-24), a

source for al-Ya'qiibi, al-Tabari, al-Mas'udi, and other historians. See Sezgin, GAS, I, 272; EP-, s.v. al-Haytham b. 'Adi (Ch. Pellat).

[The Chronology of the World]

4i7

the destruction of the Sacred Temple, 1030 446 years; from the

accession of Bukht-Na§sar to the accession to royal power of al-

Iskandar, 1031 436 years; and from al-Iskandar's accession to the

year 206 of the Hijrah [/a.d. 821-822], 1,245 years.

1030. The Old Testament Nebuchadnezzar ( nbwkdn’si , a scribal error in the

masoretic text for nbwkdi'$i), Babylonian Nabtl-kudurri-u^ur, "the god Nabu has

guarded the estate [succession]," came to power in 60$ b.c.j various dates, including 588, 587, and $ 86 b.c. are given for his sack of Jerusalem and destruction of the Temple there. The extents of time between the events delineated here, going up to Alexander's accession (see below) are, of course, fanciful.

1031. That is, Alexander the Great (365-323 b.c.), whose accession to the

throne of Macedon took place in 336 b.c. on his father Philip IPs assassination. Al- Tabari's computation of 1,245 years is thus an exaggeration, even if hijri lunar

years and not solar ones are used.

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