Abibus 1 | Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire |
Sex | M |
Floruit | M VII |
Dates | 654 (taq) / 653 (tpq) |
PmbZ No. | 2533 |
Variant Names | Habib |
Ethnicity | Syrian; Arab |
Locations | Syria (birthplace); Gezirtha (Jazirah); Armenia Quarta (deathplace); Armenia Quarta; Caucasus; Armenia |
Occupation | Commander, arabs |
Titles | Commander of the Arabs (office) |
Textual Sources | Baladhuri, al-, Kitab futuh al-Buldan, tr. P. K. Hitti, The Origins of the Islamic State (London, 1916, reprint Beirut, 1966) (history); Bar Hebraeus, Chronographia, tr. E. A. W. Budge, The Chronography of Abu 'l-Faraj (London, 1932; repr. Amsterdam, 1976) (history); Chronique de Denys de Tell-Mahré, ed. and tr. J.-B. Chabot (Paris, 1895); tr. A. Palmer, The Seventh Century in West-Syrian Chronicles (Liverpool, 1993), pp. 54-65 (chronicle); Elias Barshinaya, Chronicle (Eliae metropolitae Nisibeni, Opus chronologicum, pars prior, ed. and tr. E. W. Brooks, CSCO 62 and CSCO 63 (1910) (chronicle); Theophanes Confessor, Chronographia, ed. C. de Boor, 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1883-85, repr. Hildesheim/NewYork, 1980); tr. and comm. C. Mango and R. Scott, The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor, Oxford 1997 (chronicle) |
Abibus 1 was a general of the Arabs (ὁ τῶν Ἀράβων στρατηγός); in 653/654 he marched against Armenia, pursued the Roman general Maurianos 1 as far as the Caucasus and plundered the country: Theoph. AM 6145. He is to be identified with Habib ibn Maslama. In AH 25 (Oct. 645/Oct. 646) = 957 Sel. (645/646) Habib ibn Maslama (Abibus 1) was sent to attack Armenia by Mu`awiya 1, on instructions from the caliph Othman 1; he returned victorious: Elias, Chron., p. 135, lines 20-28 = p. 65. In AH 31 (Aug. 651/Aug. 652) = 962 Sel. (650/651) Habib ibn Maslama (Abibus 1) conquered Armenia Quarta: Elias, Chron., p. 137, 18-23 = p. 66. In AH 42 (April 662/April 663) = 973 Sel. (661/662) Habib ibn Maslama (Abibus 1) died while he was in Armenia Quarta: Elias, Chron., p. 141, line 25 - 142, line 2 = p. 68. Habib ibn Maslamah al-Fihrî (Abibus 1) conquered Armenia: Baladhuri, tr. Hitti, pp. 287ff., pp. 310ff. In the year 964 Sel. (652/653) Habib (Abibus 1) invaded Gezirtha (i.e. Jazirah), and Prokopios 1 came to make peace with the Arabs: Pseudo-Dion., Chron., p. 152, lines 11ff. = p. 114. A Syrian, described as an evil man, Abibus 1 was sent by Mu`awiya 1 with an army into Armenia in AH 25 (Oct. 645/Oct. 646) = 958 Sel. (646/647) in winter; he destroyed villages and returned with prisoners: Bar Hebr., p. 97, Mich. Syr. II 441.
(Publishable link for this person: http://www.pbe.kcl.ac.uk/person/p36)