Bousour 1 | Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire |
| Sex | M |
| Floruit | M VII |
| Dates | 622 (taq) / 685 (tpq) |
| PmbZ No. | 1051 |
| Variant Names | Busr |
| Religion | Muslim |
| Ethnicity | Arab |
| Locations | Constantinople; Isauria; Hexapolis (Phrygia) |
| Titles | Commander of the Arabs (office) |
| Textual Sources | Anastasius Bibliothecarius, Chronographia Tripartita (Latin translation of the Chronographia of Theophanes), ed. C. de Boor, Theophanes, Chronographia II (Leipzig, 1885), pp. 31-346 (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) |
Bousour 1 is called Bousour (Βουσοὺρ) in Theophanes, he is to be identified with the Arab general whose name in the Arabic sources is Busr b. Abi Artat al-` Amiri (cf. e.g. Tabari XVIII 26), a member of the Banu `Amir clan of the Quraysh (see Encyclopaedia of Islam, below). A general (στρατοπεδάρχης), he led an Arab raid on Isauria in 650/651 (σὺν τοῖς Ἄραψιν ἐπεστράτευσε κατὰ Ἰσαυρίας), killing many and carrying off five thousand captives: Theoph. AM 6142 (the name, omitted from all Greek MSS, is known from the translation of Theophanes by Anastasius Bibliothecarius).
In 666/667 Bousour 1 invaded the Roman empire (ἐπεστράτευσε Βουσοὺρ κατὰ Ρωμανίας): Theoph. AM 6157. In 667/668 he again invaded the Roman empire (ἐπεστράτευσε πάλιν Βουσοὺρ τὴν Ρωμανίαν) and laid waste the districts of Hexapolis: Theoph. AM 6158. On the identification of Hexapolis with Phrygia Paroreios, see Ramsay, Historical Geography, p. 142. In 670/671 (?671/672) Bousour 1 invaded the Roman empire and took many prisoners before withdrawing (ἐπεστράτευσε Βουσοὺρ καὶ ἠχμαλώτευσε πολλοὺς καὶ ὑπέστρεψε): Theoph. AM 6163.
Tabari records five occasions when Bousour 1 invaded Roman territory. According to one of his sources (al-Waqidi), Busr b. Abi Artat campaigned against the Byzantines in AH 43 (April 663-April 664) and spent the winter on their territory until he reached Constantinople, but other sources of Tabari ("experts in historical matters", not named by Tabari) denied that he remained there for the winter: Tabari XVIII 32. In AH 44 (April 664-March 665) Busr b. Abi Artat led a raid on Byzantine territory by sea: Tabari XVIII, p. 71. In AH 50 (Jan. 670-Jan. 671) Busr b. Abi Artat and Sufyan b.Awf al-Asdi led a raid into Byzantine territory: Tabari XVIII, p. 96. In AH 51 (Jan. 671-Jan. 672) he led a summer raid against Byzantine territory: Tabari XVIII, p. 122. Some of Tabari's sources (contradicting al-Waqidi) claimed that Busr b. Abi Artat led the winter campaign into Byzantine territory together with Sufyan b. Awf (Sufyan 1) in AH 52 (Jan.-Dec. 672): Tabari XVIII, p. 165. It is not easy to reconcile the chronology of Theophanes with that of Tabari, but there seems no doubt that the references in the two sources are to one and the same individual; cf. also Fadalas 1. Busr is also mentioned in Tabari XVIII 14-16, 26, 222-223 as a supporter of Mu`awiya 1 and opponent of Ali. See further Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.v. Busr b. Abi Artat. He was born shortly before the Hegira and lived on, apparently, into the caliphate of Abdulmalik, which began in 685.
The same individual is also recorded in the Chronicle of Elias of Nisibis. In AH 43 (April 663/April 664) = 974 Sel. (662/663) Bishr ibn Arta passed the winter in Roman territory: Elias, Chron., p. 142, 6-9 = p. 68. In AH 51 (Jan. 671/Jan. 672) = 982 Sel. (671/672) Bishr ibn Arta passed the winter in Roman territory: Elias, Chron., p.144, 14-17 = p.70.
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