The Arabs in Malta : 870-1150

Abstract

Οἱ παῖδες Ἄγαρ ἀθέου is the phrase used by the mid-12th-century anonymous poet exiled on Melitogaudos to describe his neighbours on the island. As the publication of the long lament by this poet did not give much attention to his unneighbourly neighbours, it is the object of this communication to take a closer look at this community, addressing the related questions of who, when and under what conditions were they there, in the light of what was happening at the time in Sicily, and to the South, in North Africa. We conclude with a hypothetical reconstruction of developments in Malta during the Arab period.