Muslim conquests, and there were many Arab tribes that converted to Christianity, beginning in the 1st century. The interests of the Arabs before the 9th century A.D. were focused primarily on the recording and translating of pre-Islamic poetry. The early Arab Christians recorded Syriac hymns, Arabic poetry, ecclesiastical melodies, proverbs, and ḥikam (rules of governance). They did not otherwise record religion, which gave way to conflicting accounts and weak evidence for specific practices over several centuries. From classic antiquity to the Islamic era and modern times, Arab Christians have played important roles contributing to the culture of the Mashriq, in particular those in the Levant, Egypt and Iraq. Pre-Islamic Period The New Testament has a biblical account of Arab conversion to Christianity recorded in the Book of Acts. When Saint Peter preaches to the people of Jerusalem, they ask,And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? [...] Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. (Acts 2:8, 11 KJV)The first mention of Christianity in Arabia occurs in the New Testament as the Apostle Paul references his journey to Arabia following his conversion (Galatians 1: 15–17). Later, Eusebius discusses a bishop named Beryllus in the see of Bostra, the site of a synod c. 240 AD and two Councils of Arabia. The New Testament signals an early entry of Christianity among the Arabs; in addition to what was narrated by al-Tabari, Abu al-Fida, al-Maqrizi, Ibn Khaldun and al-Masoudi, the disciples of Christ (including Matthew, Bartholomew and Thaddeus) were the ones who went to Arabia as preachers of the religion. Sozomen of Gaza said that the Arabs converted to Christianity through the efforts of priests and monks who spread to Arab regions, and the strength of Christianity increased with the conversion of the major tribes. The religion was organised in many dioceses controlled by bishops and archbishops. The Arab bishops were divided into types: urban bishops residing in cities, and “tent bishops” who resided in tents and moved with their tribes from one place to another. The number of Arab bishops among the Nabataeans alone reached forty according to Ibn Duraid. The first Arab bishop of the Arabs, Saint Moses, spent many years in the 4th century as a hermit between Syria and Egypt. His piety impressed Mavia, Arab warrior-queen of the Tanukhids, and she made his consecration as a