Late Antique Historiography

Chronicle

Title(s):
  • Chronicle
  • ጽሒፈ አዝማናት
    (ṣǝḥifa ’azmānāt, Chronicle)
  • ዮሐንስ፡ መደብር፡
    (Yoḥannəs madabbər, History of John)
  • ዮሐንስ፡ መደበር፡
    (Yoḥannəs madabbar madabbar, History of John)
Author:
Period covered:
Creation-643/644 (or 646/647)
Language:
Coptic
State of Preservation:
Partial
Genre:
  • Chronicle (narrative chronicle)
Remarks:
The chronicle - which does not bear a title in the manuscripts, but calls itself so (sǝḥifa ’azmānāt) at one point: Zotenberg (1883: 11) - exists in a seventeenth-century Ethiopic translation of a (probably lost) Arabic abbreviation of a Coptic original. Much has therefore been corrupted in transmission, and there are indications that the final chapters of the current text (116-121) were updated, perhaps by John of Nikiu himself, in order to take account of a new source. The edition of Zotenberg was based on only two of the four known manuscripts. A new critical edition is being prepared by Marcin Krawczuk at Warsaw.
Edition - Translation:
  • H. Zotenberg (1883) (ed.-tr.) Chronique de Jean, évêque de Nikiou. Paris.
  • R. Charles (1916) (tr.) The Chronicle of John, bishop of Nikiu. London.
Fragments:
Users:
Sources:
Bibliography:
  • F. Altheim, R. Stiehl (1971) 'Die arabische Eroberung Ägyptens nach Iohannes von Nikiu', in Christentum am roten Meer I. Berlin: 356–389,
  • P. Booth (2011) 'Shades of blues and greens in the Chronicle of John of Nikiou'. Byzantinische Zeitschrift 104: 555-601.
  • P. Booth (2013) 'The Muslim conquest of Egypt reconsidered'. In: Constructing the seventh century, ed. C. Zuckerman (Travaux et mémoires, 17). Paris: 639-670.
  • J.R. Brown, D. Elagina (2018) 'A New Witness to the Chronicle of John of Nikiu: EMML 7919'. Aethiopica 21, 120–136.
  • A. Carile (1983) 'Giovanni di Nikious, Cronista Bizantino-Copto del VII secolo'. Felix Ravenna 121: 103-155.
  • J.-M. Carrié (2003) 'Jean de Nikiou et sa Chronique: Une écriture "égyptienne" de l'histoire?'. In: Événement, récit, histoire officielle: L'écriture de l'histoire dans les monarchies antiques, ed. N. Grimal - M. Baud. Paris: 155-72.
  • D. Elagina (2018) The Textual Tradition of the Chronicle of John of Nikiu: Towards the Critical Edition of the Ethiopic Version. Diss. Hamburg.
  • S. Y. Felege-Selam (2020) The Chronicle of John of Nikiu: Historical Writing in Post-Roman Egypt. Diss. Ohio University.
  • G. Fiaccadori (2009) 'John of Nikiou' in: Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History I. ed. by D. Thomas and B. Roggema. Leiden: 211-218.
  • S.A. Francuzov (2010) 'Хроника Иоанна Никиуского: некоторые особенности языка и содержания'. Вестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета. Серия III: Филология 4 [22]: 77-86.
  • K. Mingazov (2012) Kubrat ¬ pravitel’ Velikoy Bolgarii i Ketrades personaž Ioanna Nikiusskogo (Ku-brat, the ruler of Great Bulgaria, and Qetrades, a character from the Chronicle of John of Nikiu). Kazan’.
  • F. Altheim, R. Stiehl (1971) 'Die arabische Eroberung Ägyptens nach Iohannes von Nikiu', in Christentum am roten Meer I. Berlin: 356–389,
  • H. Zotenberg (1877) 'Mémoire sur la chronique byzantine de Jean, évêque de Nikiou', Journal Asiatique, Septième série 10: 451–517.
  • H. Zotenberg (1878) 'Mémoire sur la chronique byzantine de Jean, évêque de Nikiou', Journal Asiatique, Septième série 12: 245–347.
  • H. Zotenberg (1879) 'Mémoire sur la chronique byzantine de Jean, évêque de Nikiou', Journal Asiatique, Septième série 13: 291–386.