Marcos Dobelio

Marcos Dobelio (Arabic: Murquṣ al-Duʿābilī al-Kurdī; c. 1572 – 1654) was a Christian scholar, author, translator, and Arabist of Kurdish origin active in early 17th-century Europe. He is best known for his involvement in the scholarly evaluation of the so-called Lead Books of the Sacromonte. Dobelio also taught Arabic at the Sapienza University of Rome and possessed an important collection of Arabic manuscripts. The Dutch Arabist Thomas Erpenius (1584–1624) referred to his collection as one of the most important in Europe.^[1]

Marcos Dobelio was probably born around 1572, though details of his early life remain only partially documented. Both contemporary records and modern scholarship identify him as being of Kurdish origin. In a roster of Arabic experts compiled in Rome in the early seventeenth century, he is described as “a Kurd by nationality who resides in Rome, holds the chair of the Arabic language at Rome, and also knows Latin.” In another contemporary document, a letter dated 2 March 1610, the canon Juan de Matute refers to him as “a Parthian by nation”.

Further evidence of his background appears in a codex from the Barberini collection, where Dobelio signs his name in Arabic as “Murqus al-Duʿābili al-Kurdi,” explicitly employing the nisba al-Kurdi (“the Kurd”).^[2]

Additional contemporary references link Dobelio to Nisibin (Nusaybin), where he appears under the name "Marco Dobelo di Nisibe", indicating an origin or early association with that city. Evidence further suggests that he spent part of his early career in Aleppo, a major intellectual center for eastern Christian scholars and translators, before establishing himself in Rome. By the time he settled in Italy, Dobelio had acquired extensive training in Arabic and related languages, which enabled his emergence as a respected Arabist within European scholarly circles. Contemporary records place Dobelio within European Christian ecclesiastical scholarly networks, including his service with the papal library and with Catholic authorities examining the Lead Books.

After arriving in Rome around 1597, Marcos Dobelio taught Arabic at the University of La Sapienza and worked with Arabic manuscripts in ecclesiastical contexts.^[3]

In 1610 he was summoned to Granada by a royal committee appointed by King Philip III to evaluate the authenticity of the Lead Books of the Sacromonte. Noted for his strong command of Arabic, Dobelio examined the original texts but soon concluded that they were forgeries. After informing Archbishop Pedro Castro Nero of his assessment, his service in Granada came to an end.^[3]

Between approximately 1610 and 1638, Dobelio participated in the broader scholarly debates on the Lead Books in Spain. His assessment has been described by modern scholars as one of the most important contributions to the controversy and as an explicitly polemical rejection of the books’ authenticity.^[3]

Dobelio’s most substantial surviving work is the "Nuevo descubrimiento de la falsedad del metal", the introduction of which can be dated to 1638. In this treatise, Dobelio argued that the Lead Books were Morisco forgeries drawing heavily on Islamic sources. Although only part of the work survives, it circulated among scholars and later influenced Vatican assessments of the Lead Books, particularly the work of the Arabist Ludovico Marracci.^[3] In addition to his polemical writings, Dobelio assembled a significant private collection of Arabic manuscripts, which the Dutch Arabist Thomas Erpenius described as one of the most important in Europe.^[3]