ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2901 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2901 ************************************ 8 Mar 2005 From: Josh Mittleman Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for an early Mamluk in Egypt or Syria. Here is what we have found. We apologize for the time it has taken to answer your question. Our research raised issues we haven't addressed before, and we wanted to be sure we got the explanations right. In this letter, we will use a modern scholarly system for representing Arabic with Roman script that reflects the original Arabic as closely as possible. That involves some special notation: A dot after a letter, like , is the closest we can come to a dot under the letter, which indicates that the consonant is pronounced far back in the throat. An apostrophe <'> represents the Arabic letter 'alif, while a back-quote <`> represents the letter `ayn. A double vowel like indicates a pronunciation of longer duration. In some other transcription systems, this is indicated by a macron (a dash over the letter); when quoting from sources that use that convention, we have replaced their macrons with double vowels. The original Mamluks were slaves, often captives from Circassia or from other Turkish tribes, who were raised by their Turkish masters as Muslims and trained as soldiers and bureaucrats. Regardless of their ethnic origin, Mamluks often used Turkish names, while their free sons ordinarily used typical Arabic names. This served to distinguish the Mamluk elite from the general population. Mamluk names in period documents generally consist of some subset of the following elements, in this order [1]: * the title of rank "commander", if appropriate; * an honorific byname (kunya) consisting of a noun plus "of the faith", for very high-ranking officers [12]; * a given name (ism); * a patronymic byname (nasab); since most Mamluks' fathers were not Muslims, the nasab was usually the fictional "son of the servant of Allah" [2]; * One or more nisba (byname) indicating affiliation to one or more patrons [3]; * other titles of rank and/or office is one of several anglicized spellings of a Turkish masculine given name that we agree fits your persona well. We believe it is the same name that we have found represented elsewhere, more precisely, as . The name may derive from a Turkish word "white colt" [4]. There was a 13th century Mamluk known as [1]. Another historical example is the 13th century government official , a close advisor to the sultan Al-Zahir Baybars. His name appears in other sources as and [5, 6, 7]. As you believe, (as it is represented in our spelling system) is a descriptive nickname (or "laqab") meaning "the shrewd" [8, 9]. We do not know whether this particular laqab is appropriate for a Mamluk, but it is consistent with the broader pattern of Arabic names. As noted above, is a very typical part of a Mamluk name. The spelling we've used here is a better representation of the Arabic name than the more anglicized . Your nisba, , is correct, but we don't think it is appropriate for your persona. The word apparently means both "river" and "sea" [10, 13], and means "Nile boatman". We've found used as a nisba in Cairo around 1100 [15]. The literal meaning of the word clearly isn't appropriate for a Mamluk. In 1250, there was a coup by a group of Mamluks who were owned by Sultan al-Salih Najn al-Din Ayyub and stationed near the river/sea. They took control of the government; the period of their rule, which last until 1382, is known as the "Bah.rii period" or "Bahriyya Sultanate" [11, 14]. One source referred to these Mamluks collectively as , which means roughly "al-Salih's [men] from the sea/river" [10]. However, we have no example of used in a personal name to indicate membership in this group. Typically, a Mamluk's nisba identified his patron by title or given name. For example, the Mamluk took his nisba from his patron's title ; and took his nisba from the title of his patron, . Two Mamluks who took their nisbas from their patrons' given names were and [3]. We can't fit your choice into either of these patterns, so we recommend you choose a different nisba. If you want to associate yourself with the Bah.riyya Mamluks, you might use the nisba based on the title of their patron Sultan al-Salih Najn al-Din Ayyub. With this change and using a transcription that best reflects the actual Arabic name, is a very plausible name for a 13th century Mamluk in Egypt. The simpler spelling is less accurate but not incorrect. If you choose to include the laqab , it would go after your given name. Before we can give you the pronunciation of this name, we need to explain some aspects of the Arabic language. In formal Arabic, the words of a phrase are run together when they are pronounced. Each word therefore has one form when it appears on its own or before the pause at the end of a phrase (called the "pausal" form) and another when it appears in the midst of a phrase (the "contextual" form). The contextual form of a word varies depending on context; it may add a final vowel to allow the word to join smoothly to the next one. It can also drop an initial vowel so that two words are only joined by a single vowel. And in some cases, such as the word "the" in some contexts, a final consonant can change pronunciation to match the initial consonant of the next word. We have written your name above using the pausal form of each word; when put together into a phrase, the name becomes . With your laqab, it is . In modern Arabic, the contextual form of a phrase (with those extra vowels) is used in more formal speech; while the pausal form (as if each word stood on its own) is used in informal, colloquial speech. An intermediate semi-formal form is also used. Something similar was probably true of medieval Arabic, too, but we aren't sure just how informal spoken Arabic was in your period. Therefore, we're going to give you two pronunciations of your name: the most formal, contextual form, which would certainly have been understood in your period but might have sounded a bit stuffy; and the informal, pausal form, which would be used today in relaxed conversation but might not have been used in your period. Explaining the actual pronunciations is still a bit complicated because they contain several sounds that are foreign to English. A very rough approximation to the pausal form of your name is \ahk-TIE ahl-fee-RAAHS ib-nahb-dahl-LAAH ahn-nahdj-NEE\ [16]. The contextual form is roughly \ahq-TAW-yool-fee-RAAH-seeb-noo-hawb-dil-LAAH-hin- -nahdj-NEE\ [17]. See the footnotes for more details. We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Talan Gwynek, Maridonna Benvenuti, Ursula Georges, Gunnvor Silfraharr, Juliana de Luna, Adelaide de Beaumont, Kolozsvari Arpadne Julia, Sion Andreas, and Barak Raz. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 8 Mar 2005 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Ayalon David, "Names, Titles, and 'nisbas' of the Mamluuks," in _The Mamluuk Military Society_ (London: Variorum Reprints, 1979). Ayalon notes in a footnote that he did not include "nicknames" in his discussion; we assume that refers to laqabs. [2] Ayalon [1] writes: "In a comparatively small number of cases the name of the Mamluuk's _real_ father is known (that is to say, mentioned in the sources). To the overwhelming majority of the Mamluuks a fictitious father was attributed, who was always the same: `Abdallaah. Thus each of these Mamluuks was Ibn `Abdallaah." [3] "Patron" translates the Arabic words and . Ayalon [1] also gives some examples of more complicated formations for nisba, groups of people with the same nisba derived from the merchant who brought them to Egypt, nisbas related to places which don't actually indicate place of origin (i.e. was called "because of his talkativeness and 'dryness'"), and the use of the particle to denote relationship to a patron other than the final one. It may be possible to follow this pattern to construct a nisba from that is appropriate for your persona, but we don't have enough evidence to allow us to do that with any confidence. [4] J. Sauvaget, "Noms et Surnoms de Mamlouks," Journal Asiatique, No. 238, pp. 31-58, 1950. [5] Amina Elbendary, "Metamorphoses of a mosque" (WWW: Al-Ahram Weekly Online, 21-27 2000), issue no. 500. http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2000/500/feat1.htm [6] "Sultan Zahir Baybars Mosque" (WWW: ArchNet Digital Library, accessed Nov 2004). http://archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.tcl?site_id=2109 [7] Jehans de Joinville, "Livre des saintes paroles et des bons faiz nostre roy saint Looys", ch. LXIX (WWW: Antoine Mechelynck, accessed Nov 2004). http://users.skynet.be/antoine.mechelynck/chroniq/joinv/JV000.htm In this 13th century Old French chronicle, the name of the official appears as and . The editors gloss it . A modern French translation of the same chronicle translates the name . De Joinville, Jean, _Histoire de Saint Louis_, M. Natalis de Wailly, ed. (Paris, 1874), ch. LXIX, section 353 on pp.192-3. [8] (in its most precise transcription) was a given name [8a] and also appears in the kunya , used by several people in the 8th to 10th centuries [8b, 8c, 8d]. [8a] is named as someone who knew Muhammad. Another source glosses his name as "son of Firas". http://answering-islam.org.uk/Shamoun/antagonizing.htm http://www.islamic-paths.org/Home/English/Muhammad/Book/Millennium_Biography/Chapter_043.htm [8b] "Egypt and Syria", The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition, ed. Peter N. Stearns, (2001, Houghton Mifflin Company), AD 945-967 (WWW: bartleby.com, accessed Nov 2004). http://www.bartleby.com/67/317.html#c3p00445 [8c] "Dai Abu Firas is one of the most eminent figures in Syria. His name was Abu Firas Shihabuddin bin al-Qadi Nasr bin al-Jawshan bin al-Hussain al-Daylami al-Maynaqi. His father was a native of Daylam, who migrated to Syria in 859/1455, and settled down in the fortress of Maynaqa. Dai Abu Firas was born at Maynaqa in 872/1468. He acquired his education in Aleppo and served the Syrian community to great extent. He became a chief dai of Syria, and died in 947/1540 at Maynaqa. He was a prolific writer, and his "Qasidat al-Nasab" deals with the lineage of the Imams. He had a son, called Ibrahim Abu Firas, who died during his lifetime." http://www.ismaili.net/histoire/history07/history730.html [8d] Tammaam Ibn Ghaalib Abuu Firaas - an Arab poet who died in either 728 or 730. Encyclopedia Britannica Online, s.n. Farazdaq, al- http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=9033727 [9] Hamid, Azieza, _The Book of Muslim Names_ (London: MELS, 1985), s.n. Firas. [10] Anahita bint `abd al-Karim, "The Bahri (Turkish) Period - 1250-1390" in "Mamluk Textiles" (WWW: Medieval Middle Eastern Textiles, accessed Dec 2004) http://home.earthlink.net/~lilinah/Textiles/mamluk.html [11] David Ayalon, "Notes on the Furuusiyya exercises and games in the Mamluk sultanate" in _The Mamluuk Military Society_ (London: Variorum Reprints, 1979). [12] Laqabs consisting of a noun plus were used only by the highest ranks and so are not appropriate for use in the Society. They will not be registered by the SCA College of Arms. See Laurel Letter of Acceptances and Returns, Feb. 1996, Returns, Caid, Jaida Badr al-Din. http://www.sca.org/heraldry/loar/1996/02/lar.html [13] "Egyptian History in the Bahri Mameluke Period". (WWW: Tour Egypt). http://www.touregypt.net/hbahrima.htm [14] "Egypt and Syria: 1174-93". The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. ed. Peter N. Stearns. Houghton Mifflin Company. (WWW: The Encyclopedia of World History, 2001). http://www.bartleby.com/67/319.html [15] Goitien, Solomon D, _A Mediterranean Society: The Jewish Communities of the Arab World as Portrayed in the Documents of the Cairo Geniza", 3 volumes (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978), vol. 2, p. 506. [16] To give a more precise explanation of this pronunciation, we need to explain some sounds used in Arabic. Arabic pronounces some consonants very far back in the throat; we use \q\ to represent a \k\ pronounced this way. Specifically, \q\ is a voiceless uvular stop. We use \t.\ to represent what Arabic scholars call the emphatic \t\, pronounced in the back of the throat with the tongue raised toward the soft palate. The vowel following an emphatic consonant will also be pronounced further back in the mouth than otherwise. Finally, we will use \#\ to represent a voiced pharyngeal fricative; a description of that sound plus a link to an audio file that demonstrates it can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiced_pharyngeal_fricative The audio file is: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7a/Con-44b.wav With this notation, the pronunciation of the pausal form can be given more accurately as \ahq-T.IE ahl-fee-RAAHS ib-nu-#awb-dahl-LAAH ahn-nahdj-NEE\ where the \u\ is pronounced as in and \aw\ as in . [17] See note [16] for notation used here. A more precise pronunciation of the contextual form of your name, , is \ahq-T.AW-yoob-noo-#awb-dil-LAAH-hin-nahdj-NEE\. The vowel \oo\ is always pronounced as in . More precisely still, the pronunciation can be represented in Kirshenbaum IPA notation as [aqt~A:jubnuHAbdIl:a:hIn:adZni:]. For an explanation of this notation, please see http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Evan_Kirshenbaum/IPA/faq.html Including your laqab, the pronunciation of , is \ahq-T.AW-yool-fee-RAAH-seeb-noo-#awb-dil-LAAH-hin-nahdj-NEE\.