Abdullah 4

Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire
SexM
FloruitE VIII
Dates701 (taq) / 701 (tpq)
PmbZ No.14
Variant NamesAbdelas;
`bd'lh
ReligionMuslim
EthnicityArab
LocationsCilicia;
Mopsuestia;
Taranton
Textual SourcesChronicon Anonymi ad annum 1234 pertinens, ed. and tr. J.-B. Chabot, I = CSCO 81-82 (Paris, 1916-20), II = CSCO 109 (Louvain, 1937) (chronicle);
Chronicon Anonymum ad annum 819 pertinens, ed. Aphram Barsaum (CSCO 81, 1920), trans. J.-B. Chabot, CSCO 109, Scriptores Syri 56 (Louvain, 1937) (chronicle);
Chronicon ad annum Domini 846 pertinens, ed. E. W. Brooks, tr. J.-B. Chabot, CSCO 3-4 (Louvain, 1904); also tr. E. W. Brooks, "A Syriac Chronicle of the Year 846", Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländ (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)

Abdullah 4 was son of the caliph Abd al-Malik (Abdulmalik 1): Chron. 1234, §151 (p. 297). In 701 he attacked the Roman empire (Ῥωμανίαν), besieged Taranton (Theoph.) and then withdrew after achieving nothing (he "destroyed and took captives and returned to Cilicia": Chron. 1234), then rebuilt Mopsuestia and stationed guards there before withdrawing: Theoph. AM 6193, Chron. 1234, §151 (p. 297). Taranton was in the Antitauros; see Tabula Imperii Byzantini II, pp. 290-291. Son of Abdulmalik 1: Elias, Chron., pp. 155, line 22-156, line 1 = p. 75, Chron. 819, pp. 13, lines 29-14, line 2 = p. 9 (1015 Sel.), Chron. 846, p. 232, lines 19-21 = p. 176 (Chabot) and p. 581 (Brooks). In AH 83 ( Feb. 702/Jan. 703) = 1013 Sel. (701/702) he or his father Abdulmalik 1 led an invasion of Roman territory: Elias, Chron., pp. 155, lines 22-156, line 1 = p. 75. In AH 84 (Jan. 703/Jan. 704) = 1014 Sel. (702/703) he led an army and many workmen into Cilicia and rebuilt the city of Mopsuestia: Elias, Chron., p. 156, lines 7-14 = p. 75 (both dates), Chron. 819, pp. 13, lines 29-14, line 2 = p. 9 (1015 Sel.), Chron. 846, p. 232, lines 19-21 = p. 176 (Chabot) and p. 581 (Brooks) (1015 Sel.).

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