XXX Международный конгресс ИИСАА. 19–21 июня 2019 г. Т. 2

Секция африканистов: «Чтения памяти Д. А. Ольдерогге» к 150-летию академика В. В. Бартольда (1869–1930). Ч. 2 253 The modern proposals for the Arabic-script writing in Fur seem to overlook any earlier written tradition in Darfur. Meanwhile, the Fur Ajami is not a new phenomenon.As early as 1886, RobertW. Felkin wrote: “The only writing in Darfur is in theArabic character. Few people use it, but it must have been introduced centuries ago, as all the books of For law, and those giving instruction in the preparation of drugs and charms, are written in the For language inArabic characters. I was unable to obtain any specimen of it, much as I tried to do so” 1 . Felkin’s remarks on the written Fur usage contradict the descriptions found in most works on Darfur, e. g.: “Whatever the spoken language of daily life and administration, be it Fur or one of the other languages current in Dār Fūr, all official correspondence was in Arabic and, unlike West Africa, seemingly no attempt was made to reduce any of the local languages to writing” 2 . The Fur Ajami has remained invisible in postcolonial Sudan. In 1968, Björn Jernudd wrote: “I noticed the use of written For (Arabic script) among some young men. From them I learned that it is common among school students to write letters and secret messages, and sometimes take personal notes in For” 3 . In 2000, in a publication on the Darfur history, an appendix was devoted to the writing of Fur inArabic script. Unfortunately, this work has not been accessible to me 4 . Taking into account the history of Arabic written tradition and the Borno influence in Darfur, it is possible that the Fur language was (and maybe still is) used in multilingual manuscripts in this part of Sudan. Elagina Daria (University of Hamburg, Germany) The Dossier of the textual witnesses to the Chronicle of John of Nikiu The Chronicle of John of Nikiu is a significant source for the history of the Late Antiquity and especially for the history of the conquest of Egypt by Arabs. It has survived, according to the current state of knowledge, only in Ethiopic, with a later translation into Amharic. The first edition of the Chronicle was published in 1883 by Hermann Zotenberg from two manuscripts accessible for him at that moment: A = Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Éthiopien 123, ff. 62r-138v; and 1 Felkin R. W. Notes on the For tribe of Central Africa // Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh . 1886. № 13. P. 264. 2 O'Fahey R. S., Abu SalimM. I. 1983. Land in Dār Fūr. Charters and related documents from the Dār Fūr Sultanate. Cambridge, 1983. P. 22. 3 Jernudd B. Linguistic Integration and National Development: ACase Study of the Jebel MarraArea, Sudan // Fishman J. A., Ferguson C. A., Das Gupta J. (eds.). Language Problems of Developing Nations. New York, 1968. P. 180. 4 Al-Amīn Maḥmud MuḥammadʻUthman. Salṭanat al-Fur al-Islamiyya 1400 M., 1916. M: dirasah taḥlīliyya. [Khartoum], 2000.