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This paper looks into the complex manuscript tradition of the Christian Arabic universal chronicle composed by the Melkite patriarch of Alexandria Eutychius, also known as Sa‘īd ibn Baṭrīq (877-940). A textual analysis of the two recensions of the text (the so-called ‘Alexandrian recension’ and the so-called ‘Antioch recension’), together with codicological and paleographical evidence, leads to the conclusion that, contrary to what claimed by Michael Breydy, the manuscript containing the shortest version of the text (the codex Sinaiticus Arabicus 582) cannot be the author’s autograph, nor does it contain the original recension of the chronicle, but rather an abridged version of it. In view of this, a re-assessment of the whole manuscript tradition and a new critical edition are called for, as well as a re-evaluation of Eutychius’ value as a historian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]