Łewond (Old Armenian: Ղեւոնդ) or Leontius[1] was a late 8th-century Armenian priest and historian.[2]
Very little is known about his life, except that he was an eyewitness to the events he describes after 774.[1] His historical work was commissioned by Sapuh, son of Smbat VII Bagratuni, the presiding prince of Armenia in 761–775, and covers the years 632 to 789.[1] It is an indispensable source for the early history of Arab rule over Armenia; indeed for the years 662–770 his account is the only testimony of note.[3] It also contains important information on the Arab–Byzantine wars of the period.[1] The work includes a letter supposedly sent by the Byzantine emperor Leo III the Isaurian (r. 717–741) to the Umayyad caliph Umar II (r. 717–720) that contains a defence of the Christian faith, but this version is a later Armenian composition.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e ODB, "Łewond" (R. Thomson), p. 1220.
- ^ "An Armenian Futūh Narrative: Łewond's Eighth-Century History of the Caliphate". isac.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
- ^ Canard & Cahen 1960, p. 635.
Sources
- Canard, Marius & Cahen, Claude (1960). "Armīniya". In Gibb, H. A. R.; Kramers, J. H.; Lévi-Provençal, E.; Schacht, J.; Lewis, B. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume I: A–B. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 634–640. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0064. OCLC 495469456.
- Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
- Mahé, Jean-Pierre; Martin-Hisard, Bernadette (2015). Łewond Vardapet: discours historique. Paris: ACHCByz. ISBN 9782916716565.
Further reading
- Andrews, Tara (2018). "Levond". In Nicholson, Oliver (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-866277-8.
- Greenwood, T. W. (2012). "A Reassessment of the History of Łewond". Le Muséon (1): 99–167. doi:10.2143/MUS.125.1.2162441. ISSN 1783-158X.
- La Porta, Sergio; Vacca, Alison M. (2024). An Armenian Futūh Narrative: Łewond’s Eighth-Century History of the Caliphate (PDF). Late Antique and Medieval Islamic Near East 4. Chicago: Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures. ISBN 978-1-61491-095-4.
