The Most Famous
HISTORIANS from Syria
This page contains a list of the greatest Syrian Historians. The pantheon dataset contains 561 Historians, 4 of which were born in Syria. This makes Syria the birth place of the 17th most number of Historians behind Czechia, and Iraq.
Top 6
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Syrian Historians of all time. This list of famous Syrian Historians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Ibn Kathir (1301 - 1373)
With an HPI of 70.15, Ibn Kathir is the most famous Syrian Historian. His biography has been translated into 40 different languages on wikipedia.
Abu al-Fida Isma'il ibn Umar ibn Kathir al-Dimashqi (Arabic: أبو الفداء إسماعيل بن عمر بن كثير الدمشقي, romanized: Abū al-Fiḍā’ Ismā‘īl ibn ‘Umar ibn Kathīr al-Dimashqī; c. 1300–1373), known simply as Ibn Kathir, was an Arab Islamic exegete, historian and scholar. An expert on tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis), tarikh (history) and fiqh (jurisprudence), he is considered a leading authority on Sunni Islam. Born in Bostra, Mamluk Sultanate, Ibn Kathir's teachers include al-Dhahabi and Ibn Taymiyya. He wrote several books, including a fourteen-volume universal history titled al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya (Arabic: البداية والنهاية). His renowned tafsir, Tafsir Ibn Kathir, is recognized for its critical approach to Israʼiliyyat, especially among Western Muslims and Wahhabi scholars. His methodology largely derives from his teacher Ibn Taymiyya, and differs from that of other earlier renowned exegetes such as Tabari. He adhered to the Athari school of Islamic theology.
2. Al-Dhahabi (1274 - 1348)
With an HPI of 62.54, Al-Dhahabi is the 2nd most famous Syrian Historian. His biography has been translated into 31 different languages.
Shams ad-Dīn adh-Dhahabī (شمس الدين الذهبي), also known as Shams ad-Dīn Abū ʿAbdillāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿUthmān ibn Qāymāẓ ibn ʿAbdillāh at-Turkumānī al-Fāriqī ad-Dimashqī (5 October 1274 – 3 February 1348) was an Athari theologian, Islamic historian and Hadith scholar.
3. Nicolaus of Damascus (-64 - 4)
With an HPI of 61.93, Nicolaus of Damascus is the 3rd most famous Syrian Historian. His biography has been translated into 35 different languages.
Nicolaus of Damascus (Greek: Νικόλαος Δαμασκηνός, Nikolāos Damaskēnos; Latin: Nicolaus Damascenus; c. 64 BC – after 4 AD), was a Greek historian, diplomat and philosopher who lived during the Augustan age of the Roman Empire. His name is derived from that of his birthplace, Damascus. His output was vast, but is nearly all lost. His chief work was a universal history in 144 books. There exist considerable remains of two works of his old age; a life of Augustus, and an autobiography. He also wrote a life of Herod, some philosophical works, and some tragedies and comedies. There is an article on him in the Suda.
4. Evagrius Scholasticus (536 - 594)
With an HPI of 56.69, Evagrius Scholasticus is the 4th most famous Syrian Historian. His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.
Evagrius Scholasticus (Greek: Εὐάγριος Σχολαστικός) was a Syrian scholar and intellectual living in the 6th century AD, and an aide to the patriarch Gregory of Antioch. His surviving work, Ecclesiastical History (Ἐκκλησιαστικὴ Ἱστορία), comprises a six-volume collection concerning the Church's history from the First Council of Ephesus (431) to the emperor Maurice’s reign until Scholasticus' death.
5. Malchus (b. 450)
With an HPI of 52.13, Malchus is the 5th most famous Syrian Historian. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Malchus (Ancient Greek: Μάλχος, Málkhos) was a 5th-century Byzantine historian of an Arab origin from the city of Philadelphia (nowadays Amman). According to the Suda, Malchus was a Byzantine (i.e. from Constantinople); but Photius states that he was a native of Philadelphia; the ancient Rabbah in the country of Ammonitis, east of the River Jordan. His name makes it probable that he originally came from the Arab people around Philadelphia, as his name is alike the Arab name Malek (مالك) . Malchus probably followed his profession of rhetorician or sophist at Constantinople. According to Suda, he wrote a history extending from the reign of Constantine I to that of Anastasius I; but the work in seven books, of which Photius has given an account (Bibl. cod. 78), and to which he gives the title Βυζαντιακά, comprehended only the period from the final sickness of the Eastern emperor Leo I (473 or 474), to the death of Julius Nepos, emperor of the West (480). It has been supposed that this was an extract from the work mentioned by Suidas, or a mutilated copy: that it was incomplete is said by Photius himself, who says that the start of the first of the seven books showed that the author had already written some previous parts, and that the close of the seventh book showed his intention of carrying it further, if his life was spared. Some scholars, among them Valesius, have thought that the history of Malchus began with Leo's sickness, and that he was the continuator of Priscus, whose history is supposed to have left off at that point. Barthold Georg Niebuhr supposed that this coincidence arose from Photius having met with a portion only of the work of Malchus, which had been inserted in some historical Catena after the work of Priscus; or that the history of the previous period had been given by Malchus in another work. Suidas speaks of the history in its whole extent; it may have been published in successive parts, as the author was able to finish it; and Photius possibly had met with only one part. Photius praises the style of Malchus as a model of historical composition; pure, free from redundancy and consisting of well-selected words and phrases. He notices also his eminence as a rhetorician, and says that he was favourable to Christianity; a statement which has been thought inconsistent with the praises for Pamprepius. The works of Malchus are lost, except the portions contained in the Excerpta of Constantine VII, and some extracts in Suda.
6. Abu Shama (1203 - 1267)
With an HPI of 50.62, Abu Shama is the 6th most famous Syrian Historian. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Abū Shāma Shihāb al-Dīn al-Maḳdisī (10 January 1203 – 13 June 1267) was an Arab historian. Abū Shāma was born in Damascus, where he passed his whole life save for one year in Egypt, a fortnight in Jerusalem and two pilgrimages to the Ḥijāz. He was an eyewitness to and provides the most precise information about the siege of Damascus in May–June 1229. He received a diverse Sunnī education and wrote on a variety of topics. In 1263, he became a professor in the Damascene madrasas of al-Rukniyya and al-Ashrafiyya. He died five years later in Damascus. Five works by Abū Shāma survive. All the rest have been lost, some in a fire that destroyed his library. He is best known today for his three historical writings, especially his two volumes on Syria in the Zengid and Ayyubid periods: Kitāb al-rawḍatayn fī akhbār al-dawlatayn al-Nūriyya wa-l-Ṣalāḥiyya (The Book of the Two Gardens, Concerning Affairs of the Reigns of Nūr al-Dīn and Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn), a chronological account of the reigns of Nūr al-Dīn (1146–1174) and Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn (1174–1193). He is careful to cite his sources. His main ones are al-Barḳ al-Shāmī of ʿImād al-Dīn al-Iṣfahānī, Sīrat Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn of Ibn Abī Ṭayy and the epistles (Rasāʾil) of al-Ḳāḍī al-Fāḍil. He usually quotes his sources verbatim, with the exception of ʿImād al-Dīn. al-Dhayl ʿalaʾl-rawḍatayn (Sequel to the Two Gardens), a continuation of the previous work down to contemporary events. His main source in the first part is the Mirʾāt al-Zamān of Sibṭ ibn al-Jawzī and in the second part himself as eyewitness. Taʾrīkh Dimashḳ (History of Damascus), a summary of the eponymous work of Ibn ʿAsākir (died 1175). It survives in two versions. Abū Shāma's works are important sources for the history of the Crusades. There are partial translations in French and German. Abū Shāma also wrote commentaries on: the Ḳaṣīda al-Shāṭibiyya of al-Shāṭibī (died 1194) seven poems on Muḥammad by his teacher ʿAlam al-Dīn al-Sakhāwī (died 1245)
People
Pantheon has 6 people classified as Syrian historians born between 64 BC and 1301. Of these 6, none of them are still alive today. The most famous deceased Syrian historians include Ibn Kathir, Al-Dhahabi, and Nicolaus of Damascus. As of April 2024, 2 new Syrian historians have been added to Pantheon including Malchus, and Abu Shama.
Deceased Syrian Historians
Go to all Rankings
Ibn Kathir
1301 - 1373
HPI: 70.15
Al-Dhahabi
1274 - 1348
HPI: 62.54
Nicolaus of Damascus
64 BC - 4
HPI: 61.93
Evagrius Scholasticus
536 - 594
HPI: 56.69
Malchus
450 - Present
HPI: 52.13
Abu Shama
1203 - 1267
HPI: 50.62
