Ближний Восток и его соседи

g 79 h The Odyssey of the Andalusian Conquerors of Crete... of pirate families. The aim of the refugees was concrete, going from Almería ( al-Marīyah ) to Alexandria, a destination explained by the close relations between these two Arab Islamic ports at that time. Even their next journey was specific, having the island of Crete as a final objective. This last voyage was actually encouraged by the Egyptians who had constantly coveted Crete. It would be indeed absurd to suggest that such ‘pirates’ would choose as their chief Abū Ḥafṣ ‘Umar b. Shu‘ayb al-Ballūti, a bourgeois native of Pedroche ( Pitrawdj ) “in the Faḥs al-Ballūti, a district of northern Cordoba”. 75 It should be noted that along with the Cordoban rebels, there was a number of fuqaha ‘ (learned theologians) who, without being punished by Ḥakam, had abandoned Spain and joined the Cordoban refugees until their final destination in Crete, where they continued their edifying activities. 76 Whereas the primary purpose of the Andalusian refugees was not to carry out aimless plundering, there is no doubt that there were violent incidents du- ring their lengthy journey from Almería to Alexandria. Of course, the Andalu- sian fleet could not have been provided with sufficient water and food supplies for the whole voyage. Most probably, their stationing in the Islamic ports of the vast North African coastline was peaceful, but as they approached the dār al-ḥarb , i. e. war area, they would have engaged in hostile activities to survive and complete their passage to Alexandria. It is possible that there was a stopo- ver in Sicily. The Byzantine author Constantine Porphyrogenitus reports on their ac- tivities in Sicily in a somewhat confusing way. According to this author, during the reign of Michael II (820–829), the Agarēnoi (Cordoban refugees) prepared a large fleet and, sailing from Sicily, they desolated the islands of the Cyclades. 77 It seems plausible that if the Cordoban refugees reached Sic- ily which was still in Byzantine hands, they would have stopped and raided this island in order to replenish their supplies and water. 78 Constantine Por- phyrogenitus’ statement that an Andalusian fleet was prepared in Sicily is partly incorrect. Probably it simply reflects the fleet’s passing by this island 75 E. Lévi Provençal, “Abū Ḥafṣ ‘Umar”, in EI 2 , I (1960), 121; Christides, “Abū Ḥafṣ ‘Umar b. Shu‘ayb al-Ballūṭī”, in EI 3 , Leiden-Boston 2015, 7–8. 76 Christides, The Conquest of Crete by the Arabs (ca. 824) , 133–136; see also Ballan, “Andalusi Crete (827–961) and the Arab-Byzantine Frontier”, 13, n. 35. 77 Constantine Porphyrogenitus, De administrando imperio , ed. G. Moravcsik, trans. R. J. Jen- kins, 2 nd ed., Washington D.C. 1967, chapter 22. 78 Unfortunately, there is no evidence in any source about an Arab raid against Sicily in ca 819–820; for Sicily of this period see La Sicile de Byzance à l’Islam , ed. Annliese Nef and Vivien Prigent, Paris 2010; Nike Koutrakou”, “Crete and Sicily: Parallel and Diverging Percep- tions of the Islands and their Past by Late Byzantine Writers (12 th –15 th c.)”, Graeco-Arabica 12, 129–170.