Доклады Международного конгресса ИИСАА. Т. 1

II. Middle East, Caucasus and Central Asia / Ближний Восток, Кавказ и Центральная Азия Доклады Международного конгресса по источниковедению и историографии стран Азии и Африки. Т. 1. 2020 115 In this narration of the transportation of the relics of the three saints, there is a description of the conquest and annexation of an island to the emirate of Crete, dated to the time of the reign of the Byzantine emperors Leo VI (886–912) and Alexander (912–913). 1 The Greek name of the island which is reported vaguely in theArabic translation as “ A sḥ āb al-Baqar ” (the island of “the Owners of the Cows”) is not mentioned. 2 From the various possible topographical locations of this island, the appellation “ As ḥ āb al-Baqar ” seems most possible and could be a convenient translation of the Greek word Voiai (loosely connected with the word “βοῦς”, or cow), the name of the coastal area belowMonemvasia and across from the tiny island Elaphonesos (now also called “Voiai” or “Vatica”).The term “Voiai” includes both the island Elaphonesos and the mainland across from it. 3 The additional remark reported in the narration that the island was devastated and all of its inhabitants “till the last” were killed seems to be an exaggeration, typical in the hagiographical sources. Most probably, because of its significant strategic position, below the famous port of Monemvasia, the island was transformed into a naval Arab base and part of its population was forced to move out. Nevertheless, a number of the local farmers and shepherds remained to serve the conquerors, working and grazing the land of the “cow owners”. The theory that the Arabs of Crete used to either exterminate all their captured Byzantines or sell them (the slave trade being their primary means of enrichment) is unacceptable. It is worth mentioning that in Cameniates’ narration of Leo of Tripoli’s sack of Thessaloniki in 904, it is reported that the inhabitants of Naxos at this period enjoyed friendly relations with the Arabs of Crete with whom they had a special tax arrangement. 4 We do not know how long these friendly relations between Naxos and the Emirate of Crete lasted. We can only vaguely place them Jasper N., Kolditz S. (eds.). Proceedings of the International Congress “Endangered Connec- tivity: Piracy in the Mediterranean in Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Modern Period”, May 5–7, 2011, Ruhr-Universität Bochum. Seeraub im Mittelmeerraum. Paderborn, 2013. P. 199–208 . 1 Christides V. The Conquest of Crete by the Arabs (ca. 824). Arab. text p. 216, trans. p. 217. 2 Paradoxically, KyrouA. K. Περιπλανήσεις αγίων λειψάνων και μία άγνωστη καστροπο- λιτεία στον Αργολικό // Πελοποννησιακά . [Wanderings of the Holy Relics and an Unknown Castle-town in the Argolic Gulf // Peloponnesian Acts ]. 1995. 21. P. 97–118, does not accept the translation of the Arabic word baqar as “cow”, ignoring the commonly known ṣ ūra (chapter) of the Qur’an called Baqar which is universally translated as “cow”. 3 Kordosis M. Ένα λακωνικό κάστρο του όγδοου αιώνα (Ελαφόνησος) // Λακωνικαί Σπουδαί . [A Laconic Castle of the Eighth Century (Elaphonesos) // Laconic Studies ]. 1982. 6. P. 259–267, but his translation of “ baqar ” is wrong. 4 For Cameniates, see Tsolakes E. (Ed., text and modern Greek trans.) Ιωάννης Καμι- νιάτης, Εις την άλωσιν της Θεσσαλονίκης. [Ioannes Cameniates. The siege of Thessaloniki]. Αthens, 2000. P. 174, §70, 1–2.