THE ARAB ENCOUNTER OF CHRISTIANITY IN THE LATE ANTIQUITY

 

'MEETING' (Copyright 2020 Salvatore Puleio)

ARABS AND CHRISTIANITY IN THE LATE ANTIQUITY

 

During the IV and V centuries of the Vulgar Era, the Arabs came to a close contact with the Empire of the Romans; this way, the immense territory of Syria and Mesopotamia met a religious tradition which was strictly linked to the political issues of power and control. In fact, the ‘throne and the altar’ have always been connected; after Constantine, however, Christianity shaped and influenced in a significant way the history of the Empire of the Caesars. The religious sphere pervaded thus every issue of the public life, in Constantinople as well as in the periphery; as a matter of fact, Christianity was used as a tool to subject people to the imperial ideology. Although framed as a religious discourse, it came to be a process of cultural assimilation; however powerful, this mechanism was not always so easy to perform. In fact, we have to bear in mind the particularities of the religions in late antiquity, which could present difficulties on this regard; in this article, I wan to (briefly) explore what happened, during late antiquity, when the Arabs were confronted with the rising power of Christianity.

 

As a matter of fact, we are in the presence of a double movement, as, on one side, Christianity was very powerful, both politically and culturally; on the other side though, there was the need to avoid any link with the religious sphere. These two aspects were involved inside the Roman Empire and in the present-day Iran, back then under Sasanian rule; the main actors of this movement were the elites which dominated the Arabian Peninsula in the V and VI century CE, which were considered Roman allies. We are talking about the Nasrids and the Jafnids, who, as we will see, had a decisive impact on the politics of this period.

 

The Processes involved

 

When Christianity rose as a true political and cultural power, it changed the way for non-Romans to get the Roman membership; as a matter of fact, from the IV to the VI centuries CE, religion was one of the many ways to exert influence. In particular, culture, law, the classical architecture and the religion were the main civilizing aspects, which could be used to have loyal and Christian allies. Many times, as a matter of fact, when a people at the periphery of the empire converted to Christianity, or a group of Christians was formally incorporated into the empire, this process led in an alliance or at least in the political subordination. Furthermore, it could happen that a Christian leader could centralize the power around him, like in Iberia and Axum; in other words, Christianity became a central factor in the political issues.

 

The religious connections thus established had implications well beyond the mere problem of rite or belief, as religion, from a general point of view, was considered to be strictly and deeply united with the political power. In the case of Christianity, then, this process was particularly evident, and from a literary point of view, the Christianization of Arabs denotes the dominance of the ideas about the chaotic nature of the nomad tribes, which were considered as barbarian, and thus, to be civilized. These ideas, on the other side are well reflected by the narrations of the Arab conversions which focus on the ethnographic aspects; in particular, the entry of these people into Christianity is framed as the biblical redemption and as a new birth, elements commonly found in the standard narrative about conversions. For this reason, it is full of symbols and signs of a dramatic nature, which serves the purpose to underline the importance of the moment and of the ‘choice’ to convert to Christianity.

 

The Arab conversion to the Christian religion, in the late antiquity, was prepared, in some way, by the meeting with the monks and eremites who wandered through the region, men who wanted to live the evangelical message far from the cities and the main centers of civilization. These men, considered ‘holy’ by the Christians, who deemed them as an example of Christian life, were most likely the main element of Christianization for the Arabs. The monks living in the desert, as a matter of fact, healed the sick, and took care of the most vulnerable elements of society; an example above all is given narrated by Cyril of Scythopolis. The latter, in particular, narrated how a man called Aspebetos became Christian after Euthymius healed his son from something an Iranian magus was unable to cure. Again, we can consider the story of Zokomos, who was leading a group of Arabs converted to Christianity by a wandering eremite in the same historical era; the man, as Sozomen tells us, had no children, and he was instructed to pray to God. After following the advice of the ‘holy’ man, a miracle was said to happen and a son was born, leading the whole tribe to convert to Christianity. Other examples then, point to the fact that the mere presence of the monk is enough to convert the people, as in the case of ‘Symeon Stylites’, who stunned them and the Arabs abandoned their former pagan beliefs.

 

Although different, these kind of narrations have one commonality, as, in fact, they suggest that, by becoming Christian, the Arab people are no longer barbarians, and thus can be admitted to the civilized world, a Christian one of course. Evidently, these stories have nothing to do with what really happened; on the contrary, the use of rhetoric seems to stress the radical changes followed by the Christian conversion. In fact, the ‘conversion’ is about a unidirectional event, but the assimilation, on the other hand, is composed by many effects of a political, cultural and social nature, which go well beyond the passive adoption of the new religion.

 

The Christian practice, could integrate in the religious milieu in different ways, as, in fact, the Graeco and Roman deities were ‘christianized’ by worshiping a goddess who was virgin and who gave birth to a child of divine nature. This way, the ancient religion could be adsorbed and re-framed in the Christian doctrine; on this regard, there is evidence of epigraphic nature of the co-existence of pagan beliefs and tradition along or mixed with the new religion. In other words, the acceptance of Christianity was not opposed to the practices and symbols of the ancient religions, and partially compatible also with the neo-Platonic background.

 

Conclusion

 

In this article, we saw how Christianity came to be the leading force in the Roman world and in its periphery as well; in fact, the Arab (pagan) tribes were converted by the Christian monks and eremites, whose behavior led them to abandon their former beliefs. In this way, the converted people could become allies of the Romans and be considered ‘civilized’; this process, finally, was promoted by the compatibility between Christianity and the ancient religious traditions, which were ‘christianized’ or co-existed with the new religion.