Судан и Большой Ближний Восток

319 Vassilios Christides. The Cycle of the Arab-Byzantine Struggle in Crete... while next to the helmsman, a flag is waving. Tsamakda expressed the view that the caption “Thomas flying to the Agarenoi” is misleading and does not actually correspond to any flight, suggesting an expedition instead. 1 The painter actually depicted a triumphant realistic flight of Thomas, who was very popular, and his escape was followed by a large number of supporters. The second depiction of Thomas’ activities appears in a frequently reproduced illumination because of its unique representation of a Byzan­ tine fire-thrower (Fig. 70, fol. 34v, bottom in SkM). It is a simplified sketch of a Byzantine warship with double series of oars and a soldier carrying a lance representing the marines. A fire-thrower is presented holding a trumpet-tube from which Greek fire is launched against the enemy ship. It is not clear whether the painter wanted to draw the flame thrower mounted on the bow or instead a hand flame thrower. 2 1 Tsamakda, op. cit., 70. 2 For the Greek fire and the fire throwers, see V. Christides, “New Light on Navigation and Naval Warfare in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean (6 th — 14 th centuries AD), Nubica III/1 (1994), p. 7–8, figs. 2–3. It should be noted that in contrast to the Byzantine sources, there are many descriptions of various types of Greek fire and illuminations of fire throwers in the Arabic sources. Of particular importance is an Arabic descrip- tion of a fireproof cloak; see V. Christides, “Fireproofing of War Machines, Ships andGarments”, in Sailing Ships of theMediterranean Sea and the Arabian Gulf , ed. C. G. Makrypoulias, Athens 1998, 13–14. M. J. de Goeje had already noticed the use of fireproof cloaks by the Arabs; see “Quelques observations sur le feu grégeois”, in Homenaje à D. Francisco Codera , Zaragoza 1904, p. 97: “Ce sont probablement des vêtements imbibés de ce talc qu’on a en vue dans le récit d l’expédition de Haroun ar-Rashîd en Asie Mineure de 802”. Con- cerning the Greek fire and the machinery for launching it, Arab technology was enriched with relevant Chinese technology; see Christides, “Once Again the Transmission of Chinese Naval Technology to the Arabs: Primitive Propel Rockets”, in Proceedings of the 1 st International Congress for Sino-Greek Studies (Ioannina, 2–4October 2004), ed. Ch. Stravrakos, Ioannina 2008, 59–66, and figs. II and III of the present paper; see also J. Haldon, “«Greek Fire» Revisited: Recent and Current Research”, in Byzantine Style, Religion and Civilization , in Honour or Sir Steven Runciman, ed. Elizabeth Jeffreys, Cambridge 2006, 290–325. This work is based on a detailed analysis of the Byzantine sources, but the Arabic sources cited above are not taken into consideration.