ELMACIN, or ELMARYN, GEORGE, author of a History of the Saracens, and known in the East by the name of Ibn-Amid, was a Christian of Egypt, where he was born in the year of the Hegira 620, and of our era 1225. He occupied the place of keith or secretary at the court of the sultans of Egypt, an office which was usually filled by Christians. His history consists of annals which extend from the time of Mohammed till the year of the Hegira 512 (A.D. 1117). It is principally occupied with the affairs of the Saracen empire, but contains some passages relating to the eastern Christians. In 1238 he succeeded his father Yasir Al Amid, who had held the office of secretary to the council of war under the sultans of Egypt for forty-five years. Elmacinus died at Damascus in the year of the Hegira 675 (A.D. 1273). His History of the Saracens was translated from Arabic into Latin by Erpenius, and printed in both languages at Leyden, 1625, in folio. Erpenius, however, died before the publication was completed; and the issuing of the volume was left to Golius, who wrote a preface to the work. The title is, Historia Saracenica, quod res gesta Muslumorum, inde a Mahummed primo imperii et religiosis Muslumum auctore, usque ad initium imperii Atabecari, per XLIX imperatorum successionem fidelissime explicatur, insertis etiam passim Christianorum rebus in Orientis potissimum ecclesiae eodem tempore gestis. Arabice olim exarata a G. Elmacino et Latine redita. Leyden, 1625, 8vo. The Latin text was printed separately in quarto; and there also exists an edition which only contains the Arabic text, and appears to have been designed for the Christians of the Levant. The work has been translated in whole or in part into several modern languages.