Ibn al-Athir belonged to the Shayban lineage of the large and influential
Arab tribe
Banu Bakr, which lived across upper
Mesopotamia and gave its name to the city of
Diyar Bakr. He is also described to have been of
Kurdish origin. In the analysis of
Sharafnama , historian
Naji Ma'ruf notes that its author, Emir
Sharaf Khan Bidlisi, explicitly identified a number of scholars and families of Arab origin, stating their lineage without ambiguity. However, in the Arabic translation of the work, these same individuals are often presented in a way that may lead readers to assume they were Kurds, despite the original text confirming their Arab heritage. According to Ma'ruf, Arabs constitute more than half of the figures mentioned in
Sharafnama, even though the work primarily concerns the history of Kurdish states and emirates. As an example, Ma'ruf cites the historian Ibn al-Athir al-Jazari and his brothers
Diyā' ad-Dīn Ibn Athir and
Majd ad-Dīn Ibn Athir, who, according to all major Arabic biographical sources, were Arabs of the
Banu Shayban tribe. In the translator’s footnotes to the Arabic edition, Ibn al-Athir is described as Kurdish, a claim that is unfounded and contrary to Sharaf Khan's own statements. As above mentioned, Ibn al-Athir was the brother of Majd ad-Dīn Ibn Athir and Diyā' ad-Dīn Ibn Athir. al-Athir lived a scholarly life in
Mosul, often visited
Baghdad, and for a time traveled with
Saladin's army in
Syria. He later lived in
Aleppo and
Damascus. His chief work was a history of the world,
al-Kamil fi at-Tarikh (
The Complete History). == Death ==