Tiberias Landslide Quake

Ibn al-Jawzi was a 20th generation descendant of caliph Abu Bakr, the father-in-law of the prophet Muhammad (de Somogyi, 1932:51). He was born in Baghdad around 1115 CE and died there in 1200 CE (de Somogyi, 1932:52). A true bibliophile, he is reported to have spent most of a considerable inherited fortune in purchasing books (de Somogyi, 1932:52). He was a preacher and a prolific author whose output numbers at least in the hundreds of volumes and may have reached, as he claimed, a thousand (de Somogyi, 1932:54). His most famed and important work is The Book on Rightly ordered Things and the Collection of Necessary Things dealing with the History of the Kings and the Nation (Kitab al muntazam wa multaqat al-multazam fi akhbar wal-umam) which is usually referred to as Kitab al-muntazam. This text is arranged in chronological order starting from "Creation" until A.H. 574 (1178/1179 CE) and appears to have been completed shortly before his death in 1200 CE (de Somogyi, 1932:55). de Somogyi (1932:55) states that the work originally consisted of sixteen volumes, but the copyists of later times divided it into parts.

Ambraseys (2009) found a reference to this earthquake in Ibn al-Jauzi, Sedhut. I85a who, he says repeats the same information as as-Suyuti and Ibn al'Imad. Ambraseys (2009) did not provide an excerpt.

from de Somogyi (1932:64-68)

V. The Authorities of the "Kitab al-muntazam"

The Kitab al-muntazam gives evidence of the many-sided erudition of Ibn al-Jauzi. In writing such an extensive work, he had to consult many authorities. But, unlike at-Tabari and Ibn al-Athir, Ibn al-Jauzi is not satisfied with giving the name of his authority ; in addition, he gives the complete isnad of the traditionists through whom his direct authority received his information. His elaborate and long isnads - being in the majority of the cases longer than the matn - are a peculiarity of Ibn al-Jauzi, the more so as at his time quoting of isndds in their whole length, as was customary at the time of at-Tabari, had been abandoned.¹

Only Ibn al-Jauzi's main work of reference is an exception to this rule, that is ay-Tabari's work. Except in a few cases,² he does not refer to the Ta'rikh ar-rusul wal-mulukt since its general use by all the later Arab historians was a well-known fact. But as soon as his narrative differs from that of av-TakarI, he never neglects to name the authority from whom he received an additional or a new tradition.

It may be seen from the Kitab al-muntazam that Ibn al Jauzi knew many prominent scholars of his city and read their works as well. The most remarkable of these Baghdad scholars was no doubt Abu Mansur 'Abdarrahman ibn Muhammad al-Qazzaz whom he may have well known personally and have read his books, none of which has been left to us. Excluding at-Tabari, it is he from whom Ibn al-Jauzi received most of his information on events of both general, political, and local character, and more especially for his biographical notices. There is hardly any page in the Kitab al-muntazam on which his name - quoted as either 'Abdarrahman ibn Muhammad or Abu Mansur al-Qazzaz - is not mentioned. The only reference to this scholar is to be found in the abstract entitled " Muntaqi al-'Ibar " of adh Dhahabi's chronicle made by Abu Bakr ibn Ahmad ibn Qadi Shuhba (died in a.h. 851),³ where he is said to have died in the year 535/1140-1, and to have been a disciple of al-Khatib al-Baghdadi and an eminent traditionist.

Next to al-Qazzaz, the authority most frequently quoted by Ibn al-Jauzi is Abul-Fadl Muhammad ibn Nasir al-Hafiz as-Sallami, often called Muhaddith al-'Iraq, who according to adh-Dhahabl,⁴ died in 550/1155. His contemporary and Ibn al-Jauzi's third important authority was Abul-Qasim Isma'il ibn Ahmad ibn as-Samarqandi, who according to adh Dhahabi⁵ died in 536/1141-2, and is said to have been, together with al-Qazzaz, a disciple of al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, and equally an eminent traditionist.⁶

The master of these scholars, Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn 'Ali ibn Thabit, commonly called al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (died in 403/1071) is also referred to in several passages of the Kitab al-muntazam. We may assume that Ibn al-Jauzi, in writing his obituary notices, made wide use of his Tarikh Baghdad, a voluminous history of learned men,⁷ the more so as he readily accepted the ideas of al-Khatib al-Baghdadi in ruthlessly purifying the hadiths.⁸

The other authorities quoted by Ibn al-Jauzi are as follows (the years in the narratives of which they are mentioned are put in brackets)⁹ : -

• Ibrahim ibn Dinar al-Faqih (a.h. 381).
• Ibrahim an-Nakha'i (a.h. 75). See Fihrist, vol. i, p. 183.
• 'Abdalmalik ibn Qurayb al-Asma'i died in 216/831 (a.h. 131).
• al-Arabi (a.h. 280).
• Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Babat (a.h. 75).
• Muhammad ibn abi Tahir al-Bazzar (a.h. 99,151, 262, 279).
• Abu Mansur al-Bazzaz (a.h. 158
• Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Yahya as-Suli, died in 335/946 (a.h. 132, 158, 256, 269, 286).
• Abu 'Ali Muhassin ibn 'Ali at-Tanukhi, died in 384/994 (a.h. 391).
• 'Amr ibn Bahr al-Laythi al-Jahiz, died in 255/869 (a.h. 158).
• Jabala ibn Muhammad (a.h. 132).
• Ibn Hajib (a.h. 370). He is probably Abul-Husayn 'Abdal 'aziz ibn Ibrahim ibn Hajib an-Nu'man, scribe at the time of Mu'izz addaula.
• al-Hakim ibn 'Abdallah ibn Muhammad, died in 405/1014 : " Ta'rikh Nisabur " (a.h. 230).
• Abul-Hasan al-Jarrahi (a.h. 260).
• al-Hasan ibn Ja'far 'Ali (a.h. 132).
• Abul-Hasan ibn 'Ali al-Kaukabi (a.h. 382).
• Abul-Hasan ibn 'Ali ibn al-Ma'ali (a.h. 367, 422).
• Abul-Hasan ibn 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn 'Abdalwahid al Hashimi (a.h. 132, 279).
• Abul-Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn 'Abdalwahhab ad-Dabbas (a.h. 93). See Fihrist, vol. i, p. 208.
• Ibn Halaf (a.h. 151).
• Muhammad ibn 'Abdalmalik al-Hamdanl, died in 521/1127 (a.h. 279, 381).
• Khalid ibn 'Aylan (a.h. 132).
• 'Ali ibn 'Umar ad-Daraqutni, died in 385/995 (a.h. 376).
• Abu Bakr ibn abi Dunya, died in 281/894 (a.h. 105).
• Zahir ibn Tahir ibn Muhammad, died in 533/1138 (a.h. 99, 230).
• as-Sahhaq (a.h. 158).
• Sa'id ibn 'Ali abu 'Abdallah Muhammad ibn Asad al-Katib al-Qari al-Bazzaz al-Baghdadi, died in 410/1019 (a.h. 408).
• Abu Sa'id al-Himyari (a.h. 132).
• Shahak (a.h. 86). See Fihrist, vol. ii, p. 168 ; Ibn Shahak as-Sindi.
• 'Abdallah ibn Hasan (a.h. 132).
• 'Abdalwahhab ibn al-Mubarak (a.h. 96, 99).
• 'Abdalwahhab ibn Muhammad (a.h. 158)
• 'Ali ibn 'Ubaydallah (a.h. 132). He is perhaps identical with 'All ibn 'Ubaydallah ibn Babawaih, author of a " Fihrist", see Br. Mus. Suppl., Nr. 635.
• 'Umar ibn al-Hafiz (a.h. 101).
• Abu 'Amr ibn al-'Ala (a.h. 158), the philologist of Basra, died probably in 159/776.¹⁰
• Ibn abil-Fawaris (a.h. 376).
• Abul-Hasan ibn 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Habibal-Mawardi, died in 450/1058 (a.h. 238, 240, 242).
• al-Mubarak ibn 'Ali as-Sayrafi (a.h. 100).
• Mahfuz ibn Ahmad (a.h. 86).
• Muhammad ibn 'Abdalbaqi abu Bakr al-Ansari, died in 535/1140 (a.h. 256, 271, 279, 322, 329, 334, 335). See Br. Mus. Suppl., No. 622 ; he is mentioned by Ibn Nuqta as having received traditions from al-Hasan ibn 'Ali al-Jauhari.
• Muhammad ibn 'Abdalhaytham (a.h. 75).
• al-Mada'ini Abul-Hasan 'All ibn Muhammad, died about 840/225 (a.h. 91).
• Ibn al-Mu'tazz (a.h. 286, 289).
• Hibatalldh ibn al-Hasan al-Lalaqa'I, died in 418/1027 (a.h. 125).
• Hibatallah ibn 'Abdassalam al-Katib (a.h. 422).
• Hilal ibn al-Muhassin as-Sabi, died in 448/1056 (a.h. 353, 413).

Footnotes

1 See Brockelmann, Das Verhaltnis, etc., p. 0.

2 See Br. M. Suppl., No. 460, fol. 986, I. 14 ; fol. 177, 1. 4.

3 Br. M. Or., No. 3006, fol. 276, margin.

4 Do., MS., fol. 287a; see also as-Sam'ani: Kitab ansab, ed. D. S. Margoliouth, London-Leyden, 1912, fol. 320a.

5 Do., MS., fol. 277a.

6 adh-Dhahabi in his Ta'rikh al-islam also mentions these three men as masters of Ibn al-Jauzi, see Br. M. Or., Nr. 52, fol. 119.

7 See Br. M. Or., Nr. 303, fol. 1166, 1. 24.

8 Especially in his Al-kifdya fi ma'rifat usul 'ilm ar-riwaya, see Goldziher, Muh. St., vol. ii, p. 183.

9 As I have not yet been able to inspect the MSS. of the Constantinople libraries, the above data refer only to the narratives contained in the MSS. of the European libraries (British Museum, Oxford, Gotha, Berlin). As reference-works, I have made use of Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur, the Fihriat and Haji Khalfa, ed. Flugel.

10 This date of his death seems more probable than 154/770, which is generally accepted. See Ibn Khallikan, ed. de Slane, vol. ii, p. 402.

Ibn al-Jawzi, Kitab al-muntazam, Haydarabad, 1359/1940.

de Somogyi, J. (1932). "The “Kitāb al-muntazam” of Ibn al-Jauzī." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland 64(1): 49-76.

Ibn al-Jawzi lived in Baghdad and completed Kitab al-muntazam shortly before his death in 1200 CE. The work is arranged chronologically from "Creation" until A.H. 574 - 1178/1179 CE (de Somogyi, 1932:55).

Sibt ibn al-Jawzi (ca. 1185 - 1256 CE) was the grandson of Ibn al-Jawzi and was raised by Ibn al-Jawzi in Baghdad (Keany, 2013:83). Sibt in Arabic means grandson through one of the grandfather's daughters. After his grandfather's death, Sibt ibn al-Jawzi moved to Damascus where he was a Preacher as well as a Historian (Keany, 2013:83). Sibt ibn al-Jawzi wrote Mirror of time in histories of the notables (Mir’at al-Zamān fī Tawarīkh al-'Ayān - مرآة الزمان في تواريخ الأعيان) in 23 volumes in the 13th century CE.

al-Suyuti is presently recognized as the most prolific author in the whole of Islamic literature (E. Geoffroy in Encyclopedia of Islam v. 9, 1991:913-916). He was widely read and famous across the Islamic world during his lifetime and was known for extreme self-confidence in his mental abilities (e.g. he had memorized 200,000 hadiths and was a polymath) which mingled with arrogance and created acrimonious relations inside Egypt (E. Geoffroy in Encyclopedia of Islam v. 9, 1991:913-916). E. Geoffroy in Encyclopedia of Islam v. 9 (1991:913-916) describes his procedure as scientific in so far as he quotes his sources with precision and presents them in a critical way and states that he cannot be considered as a mere compiler. He may have authored close to a thousand books writing on many subjects (e.g., History, Biography) besides religion and Islamic jurisprudence. as-Suyuti was born in Egypt in 1445 CE and at the age of eighteen taught Shafi'i law at the mosque of Shaykhu and gave juridicial consultations. In 1472 CE, he became a teacher of hadith at the same mosque. In 1486 CE at the age of 40, as-Suyuti retired from public life. By 1501 CE, he had completely isolated himself in his home on Rawda Island in Cairo where he worked on the editing and revision of his literary works. He died there in 1505 CE (E. Geoffroy in Encyclopedia of Islam v. 9, 1991:913-916). His book Clearing up the Description of Earthquakes (Kashf as-Salsalah 'an wasf Az-zalzalak) is a valuable reference for historical earthquakes and is one of the earliest extant earthquake catalogs.

• from an abridged translation by Sprenger (1843:742)

239. At Tiberias.

• see two-thirds of the way down on page 742 stating 239. At Tiberias.
• from an abridged translation by Sprenger (1843:742)
• from archive.org

• The Noor book courtesy of Najib Abou Karaki (personal correspondence, 2022)

Sprenger (1843). "As-Soyuti's work on Earthquakes, ." Journal of The Asiatic Society of Bengal 12(141): 741-749.

Nejjar, S. (1973-1974). Traité du tremblement de terre / Jalal ad-Din as-Suyut'i ; trad. annotée [de l'arabe] de Saïd Nejjar. Rabat, Cahiers du centre universitaire de la recherche scientifique.

Al-Sadani, A. (1971). (Jalal-Eddine Al-Suyouti) Kasff Al-Salsala Wa Wasf Al-Zalzalah, in Arabic. Rabat, Morocco.

Ibn al-Imad was born in Damascus in 1623 CE and lived in Cairo for a long time before returning to Damascus to teach. He died in 1679 CE (wikipedia and F. Rosenthal in Encyclopedia of Islam v. 3, 1991:807). In 1670 CE, he completed Fragments of Gold in the Accounts of Those Who Have Departed (Shadharat al-dhahab fi akhbar man dhahab) which is an annalistically arranged biographical history covering A.H. 1-1000 (F. Rosenthal in Encyclopedia of Islam v. 3, 1991:807).

• from Guidoboni et al (1994)

During the night, the earth shook at Tiberias. The mountains shook, and then a big rock — eighty cubits by fifty — split open, and so... Many people died

Info on al-Hanbali and his works (in Arabic but a modern browser can translate it)

Stone (2014) The Cubit: A History and Measurement Commentary, Journal of Anthropology