ABSTRACT
The question arises of why there were so many chronicles on the reigns of Nnr al-Dln and Xalm. al-Dln written during the late sixth/twelfth and seventh/thirteenth centuries. Obviously the statement that ‘[t]here was not much need for any two annalistic works written at the same time and in the same region’1 does not apply to Syria and al-Jazlra in this period. Limiting one’s interest to the factual value of the works, one wonders indeed what induced the authors to compose works which consisted mostly of passages from their predecessors. For the period up to the death of Xalm. al-Dln (about one third of the entire work) Ibn Wmxil’s Mufarrij constituted a synthesis of previous texts, which added hardly any new information. This was especially so as Abn Shmma’s Raw,atayn had already presented a synthesis of the main relevant authoritative texts for the period, including a simplification of the ornate and difficult rhymed prose (saj ^) of ^Immd al-Dln al-Ixfahmnl. Abn Shmma’s work could be summarily described as a synthesis of existing texts, with the occasional addition based either on his personal knowledge or the odd commentary.
