Abibus 1

Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire
SexM
FloruitM VII
Dates654 (taq) / 653 (tpq)
PmbZ No.2533
Variant NamesHabib
EthnicitySyrian;
Arab
LocationsSyria (birthplace);
Gezirtha (Jazirah);
Armenia Quarta (deathplace);
Armenia Quarta;
Caucasus;
Armenia
OccupationCommander, arabs
TitlesCommander of the Arabs (office)
Textual SourcesBaladhuri, 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.

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