Although we showcased the more famous Suavic passage by Arab writers, there are other works that mention Suavs that are less known. Thus, while we have previously discussed Ibn Hawqal (see here), a lesser known passage from this same writer also mentions Suavs on Sicily. The following translation comes from the William Granara translation (from 1983). The underlying edition is that of Michele Amari (Lipsia: F.A. Brockhaus, 1857). For the rest of Ibn Hawqal, Granara directs his readers to M.J. deGoeje’s edition in Bibliotheca Geographorum Arabicorum (Leiden: Brill, 1973).
Note that some of these passages by Ibn Hawqal are repeated in the 13th century by Yāqūt in his “Dictionary of Countries”.
For other evidence of Suavs in Sicily see also Michele Amari’s Storia di musulmani di Sicilia, volume 2 (of the 1935 edition) which mentions a Suav military unit (or slave?) created by the Arabs which was successfully employed in the Arab-Byzantine conflicts as well as, in the year 939, a village of apparently Suavic origin (“Sclafani”). Note that there are other place names in Sicily that indicate Suavic origin.
Incidentally, Amari, hypothesizes that the origin of the Suav district in Palermo dates back to a raid in 928/929 by Suavic pirates from the Adriatic coast who were led by Sârib as-Saqlabi – presumably a Serb – and who, in league with Arabs, raided Calabria, Sardinia and Corsica. Amari’s source for this idea, however, is the later 14th century writer, Abulfeda (Abū al-Fidāʾ).
Be that as it may, it is clear that Suavic settlement on Sicily predated that incident. For earlier evidence of Suavs in Sicily in the 8th or maybe even 7th century see here (discussing Suavs in “The Life of Saint Pancratius of Taormina”).
On Suavs on the relatively nearby Malta in the 11th century see here (referencing claims made by the later chronicle al-Himyari).
The Suavic Quarter/District name later disappears and, according to Lewicki, is replaced by the name Seralcadi or Seralcadio (from the Arabic – sari-al-qadì – for the Street of the Judge). Today the area is referred to as Mount of Piety (Monte di Pietà).
The area in question
Note Sicily had been taken by the Muslims in 902 who would hold the island until the Norman conquest of the 11th century.
“Sicily is an island seven days long (walking distance) by four days. Much off it is mountainous and full of castles and fortresses. Most of the land is inhabited and cultivated. It has no city as popular nor as famous as that known as Palermo (Balarm), the capital of the island. Palermo is a seaport city in the North.
Palermo consists of five quarters, each one close to the others, but situated in such a way that the borders of each are clearly defined. The largest quarter is itself called Palermo. It is enclosed by a high defensive stone wall and inhabited by merchants. It houses the Friday mosque which was, at one time, a Christian church. The mosque has a huge sanctuary. I heard certain logicians say that the Greek philosopher Aristotle is buried in a wooden box suspended in the sanctuary. The Christians used to venerate him and pray to him for rain. They preserved the traditions of Classical Greece which he ahd handed down to them from his forefathers. It was said that the reason for suspending the body mid-air was so that the people could go and see it there in order to pray for rain or seek cures for all sorts of calamities that befell them, be they natural disasters, death or civil strife. I myself saw a great big box which suggests that the tomb may actually be there.
The quarter of the city known as al-Khalisa* has a wooden wall which is not like the stone wall that surrounds the Old City (Palermo). The sultan and his entourage inhabit this quarter. It has neither markets nor inns. It does have public baths as well as a small but frequently attended Friday mosque. The quarter also houses the sultan’s prison, the naval arsenal and the administration offices. It has four gates facing south and west. On these sides, south and west, is the ocean. Also, there is a wall there that has no gate.
[*note: compare with Calisia :-)]
The Slav Quarter (Harat al-Saqaliba) is more populous and grander than the two mentioned above. It contains the port as well. It also has springs that run through it as well as through the Old City. These springs serve as the only border between the two quarters.
The so-called Quarter of the Mosque, also referred to as Ibn Saqlab, is also large, but does not have running water. Its residents get their drinking water from wells.
Outside of the city to the south is a great big valley, known as Wadi cAbbas, full of mills, but unsuitable for orchards and gardens.
The New Quarter (al-Hara al-Jadida) is a large section of the city, located close to the Quarter of the Mosque. There is no border nor divided between the two. Nor does it have a wall adjacent to the Slav Quarter.
The vast majority of the markets are situated between Ibn Saqlab Mosque and the New Quarter. There are, for example, markets for the oil merchants, money changers and pharmacists, all of which are located outside the city wall There are also cobblers armourers and coppersmiths. Finally, there are grain markets and markets for other types of crafts as well.
Inside the (Old) city, however, are over one hundred and fifty butcher shops. The other quarters, on the other hand, have only a few of these. Such a quantity is indicative of their value. The mosque there is so large that when I counted the people when it was completely full, I found over seven thousand. There were more than thirty-six rows at prayer time, each row counting almost two hundred people. The mosques of the Old City, of al-Khalisa and of the other quarters surrounding the city from beyond the wall, number more than three hundred, most of them built with roofs, walls and gates. Those on the island most knowledgeable and best informed agree on this number.
Outside the city, in areas that border it directly as well as those that are adjacent to its gardens and towers, are the closely connected inns (mahall). The one closest to Wadi cAbbas is near a place called The Barracks (al-Mucaskar), which actually extends from the countryside to Wadi-cAbbas. Some of these inns stand one after the other until they reach an area known as al-Bayda. This is a village which overlooks the city at a distance of about six kilometers. It had been destroyed and its inhabitants perished in a series of civil wars which plagued the country.
No one would deny the importance of these small towns since there are over two hundred mosques there alone. Personally, I have never seen such a number in any one of the major cities, even those twice as large as Palermo. In fact, I have not heard anything like it except what they say about Cordova. I have not been able to verify that. I am inclined to doubt it. I am quite sure about Sicily, however, since I have seen most of them with my own eyes.
One day I was standing beside the house of Abu Muhammad al-Qafsi, the lawyer, a specialist in contracts. Looking out from his mosque at a distance of a shot of an arrow, I noticed about ten mosques, some of them facing each other, often separated by a road, Inquiring as to the excessive number of them, I was told that the people are extremely proud, each wanting his own private mosque to share with only his family and his small inner circle. Among them were two brothers who lived next door to each other, and whose walls were adjacent. Each one built his own mosque so that he could pray there in private.
Among these ten mosques which I mentioned is a mosque there Abu Muhammad al-Qafsi prays. Next to it at about twenty paces is a mosque which he built for his son so that he could study law in it. Each one wants it to be said that this is so-and-so’s mosque and no one else’s. This son of his thought himself something special. He admired himself and was so arrogant that he acted like the father instead of the son.
There are quite a few ribat on the coastline, full of freeloaders, scoundrels and renegades, both old and young, poor and ignorant. These people would pretend to perform their prostrations, standing in order to teal money given to charity, or to defame honorable women. Most of them were pimpts and perverts. They sought refuge there because they were incapable of doing anything else, and because they had no place to go. They were low-life and rabble…
The city is oblong shaped and has a market which cuts across it from east to west. This market is called al-Samat and is paved with stone. It houses all sorts of merchants, from one side to the other.
Palermo sits on many springs, from east to west, each one able to power two mills. From their sources to their mouths these waters fertilize much land. There one finds Persian sugar cane and succulent vegetable gardens. Throughout the land one also finds lots on which papyrus is grown, This is used for making paper. I do not know if Egyptian papyrus has an equivalent on the face of the earth with the exception of that in Sicily. Much of it is twisted into rope which is then used for ships. Some of it is used, as stated, for paper for the use of the sultan, depending upon the amount available…
Most of the water of the city quarters and the towns comes from wells. It is rather thick and unhealthy. They drink it for lack of fresh water. The crudeness of their manners and the dullness of their senses come from their excess in eating raw onions. There is no one among them, rich nor poor, who does not eat them day in and day out. This is what has thwarted their imaginations, impaired their minds, numbed their senses, altered their thinking, clouded their understanding and even ruined their facial features. It has, in fact, changed their dispositions so much that they do not always see things as they actually are.
There are more than three hundred teachers who educate the young. They see themselves as the most honorable and noble of people, God’s chosen people, His loyal servants. This is contrary to what is known of teachers, that is, their inferior intellects and dim-wittedness. For they have come to their professions escaping the duty of jihad, shirking from battle.
I have written a book with a full account of them.”
Although names are frequently recycled, and a connection between the Shekelesh of the Sea Peoples fame and the Siculi of Sicily is possible, it is worth noting for the overly ambitious that it would take a lot more to establish a connection with the Sclavi. The existence of today’s Modica (earlier Μότουκα, Mótouka, Mutyca or Motyca) certainly won’t be sufficient. That “Trojans” and others migrated to Sicily is, of course, possible though here some Germanic researchers might also claim the heritage as with, for example, Segesta on the other side of the island.
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