Thank you. I find your writings very interesting and enlightening. Thank you also for alerting me to the important work of Harry Tzalas. I didn’t know about him before. His work seems very interesting, and I do hope that he is successful.
The cause of the Bashmurite Revolt of 831/2 AD is mentioned in the History of the Patriarchs of the Coptic Church of Alexandria (HOPCCA). Yoa’anis (John) II who wrote the part that deals with the revolt says, after the mentioning of the chaos that seized Egypt during the reign of Al-Amin and Al-Mamun and led to the neglect of agriculture and the ruin of the countryside, :
“Satan did not cease to stir up wars and murder. Two men at that time were overseers of taxes, one of whom was named Ahmad son of Al-Asbat, and the other Ibrahîm son of Tamîm. These two men, in spite of the troubles from which the people were suffering, persisted in demanding the taxes without mercy, and men were increasingly and incalculably distressed. Their greatest trouble arose from the extortion practised by the two overseers of taxes; for what they could not pay was required of them. After this the merciful God by his righteous judgment sent down a great dearth upon Egypt, so that wheat reached the price of one dinar for five waibahs. Many of the women and infants and young people, and of the old and the middle-aged, died of starvation, in fact of the whole population a countless number, through the severity of the famine. And the overseer of taxes was doing harm to the people in every place. And most of the Bashmurite Christians were severely chastised, like the Israelites; so that at last they even sold their own children to pay their taxes, because they were greatly distressed. For they were tied to the mills and beaten, so that they should work the mills like cattle. And their tormentor was a man named Ghaith. So, after long and wearisome days, death put an end to their sufferings.
But afterward the Bashmurites, seeing that they had no means of escape, and at the same time that no troops could enter their country on account of the abundance of marshes which it contained, and because none was acquainted with the roads except themselves, began to rebel and to refuse to pay the taxes. And they came to an agreement and plotted together over this matter.” (1)
But afterward the Bashmurites, seeing that they had no means of escape, and at the same time that no troops could enter their country on account of the abundance of marshes which it contained, and because none was acquainted with the roads except themselves, began to rebel and to refuse to pay the taxes. And they came to an agreement and plotted together over this matter.” (1)
Your theory about the cause of 831/2 Coptic revolts in the marshes of Bashmur in the eastern coast of the Nile Delta is also interesting. Bucolia, at the eastern side of Alexandria is said in some Coptic traditions where St Mark was martyred (2). The same word “Bucolia” is also given to the Bashmur (3). I don’t know the nexus between the two geographical locations [the first at Alexandria, and the other between Lake Burullus (which is located east of Rosetta/Rashid) and Damietta (4)], but it is certainly interesting. It is interesting also to note that the History of the Patriarchs mentions in the Live of St. Mark (Part 1, Chapter 2) that the Christians of Alexandria built a church (their first church) “in a place called the Cattle-pasture, near the sea, beside a rock from which stone is hewn.”(5) B. Evetts footnotes “the Cattle-pasture” with the Greek equivalent “Τὰ Βουκόλου, Bucolia” (6). That place (the cattle-yard; the cattle-shed) was where St. Mark was tortured and martyred. The Bashmur in the eastern coast of the Delta is known to be an area of buffalo-herding. It is possible that the similarity in names between the two geographical areas have led to the Bashmurite Revolt of 831/2 AD being connected to the robbing of St Mark’s body by the Arabs from Alexandria (where it was kept in his church built at Bucalia), and its later selling to the Venetians.
But, as the Arabs say, “Allah knows more”!
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(1) History of the Patriarchs of the Coptic Church of Alexandria (IV): Mennas I to Joseph (849): Arabic text edited, translated, and annotated by B. Evetts; pp. 486-7 [Find it here]
(2) See A Description, Geographical, Historical, and Topographical, of the Various Countries of the Globe by Josiah Conder (1830): Volume 1, Egypt, Nubia, and Abyssinia; page p. 209 [Find it here]
(3) Ibid; page 248 [Find it here]
(4) See here
(5) See here
(6) The Arabic of Severus of Ashmunin, the translator of this part of the History of the Patriarchs, is مرعى البهائم which literally mean the animals-pasture.
(1) History of the Patriarchs of the Coptic Church of Alexandria (IV): Mennas I to Joseph (849): Arabic text edited, translated, and annotated by B. Evetts; pp. 486-7 [Find it here]
(2) See A Description, Geographical, Historical, and Topographical, of the Various Countries of the Globe by Josiah Conder (1830): Volume 1, Egypt, Nubia, and Abyssinia; page p. 209 [Find it here]
(3) Ibid; page 248 [Find it here]
(4) See here
(5) See here
(6) The Arabic of Severus of Ashmunin, the translator of this part of the History of the Patriarchs, is مرعى البهائم which literally mean the animals-pasture.
