Un inconnu de l’histoire ? À la recherche des sources externes sur Anastase le Sinaïte

Zaganas, Dimitrios [UCL]

This article raises the question of the identity of Anastasius of Sinai, an enigmatic figure of the Byzantine “dark ages” (late 7th–early 8th c.). Although his works are generally regarded as a key source for the history of early Islamic Near East, Anastasius himself seems to have gone unnoticed in Byzantine sources. All information about him has thus so far been gleaned from his own writings. Who was in fact Anastasius and what was his connection with Sinai Peninsula and with the Chalcedonian Church of Alexandria? Did he ever emerge on the stage of history? Are there any (reliable) external sources which could shed light on his life? In lieu of an answer, this study shows that the late note on “Saint Anastasius of Mount Sinai” in the Synaxarion of Constantinople (20 or 21 April) is based on hagiographic commonplaces and on a partial knowledge of Anastasius’ works. On the contrary, an overlooked chapter “On the abbot Anastasius of Raithu” gives valuable information on a great ascetic and polemicist who may well be Anastasius, the author of the Hodegos. Besides, the hagiographical-historical Copto-Arabic sources inform us of two Chalcedonian Anastasii, one (self-proclaimed) bishop and another deacon of Alexandria, whose activity in the first half of 8th century caused concerns to the Coptic Church, and bears some resemblance to Anastasius of Sinai’s own activity in Egypt under the Umayyads.