an eleventh-century egyptian guide to the universe

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Page 1: An Eleventh-Century Egyptian Guide to the Universe

An Eleventh-Century Egyptian Guide to the Universe

Islamic Philosophy Theology and Science

Texts and Studies

Edited by

Hans Daiber Anna Akasoy

Emilie Savage-Smith

VOLUME 10486321048631

The titles published in this series are listed at brillcomipts

An Eleventh-Century Egyptian Guideto the Universe

The Book of Curiosities

Edited and Translated by

Yossef Rapoport andEmilie Savage-Smith

LEIDEN bull BOSTON

1048626104862410486251048628

Cover illustration Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 fols 23bndash24a reproduced withpermission of the Bodleian Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ghararsquoib al-funun wa-mulah al-ʾuyun An eleventh-century Egyptian guide to the universe the Book of curiosities edited andtranslated by Yossef Rapoport and Emilie Savage-Smith pages cm mdash (Islamic philosophy theology and science v 87) Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 978-90-04-25564-7 (hardback alk paper) mdash ISBN 978-90-04-25699-6 (e-book) 1 CosmographymdashEarly works to 1800 2 GeographymdashEarly works to 1800 3 CartographymdashEarly works to 1800 4 EarthmdashEarly works to 1800 5 Astronomy Medieval I Rapoport Yossef1968ndash II Savage-Smith Emilie III Ghararsquoib al-funun wa-mulah al-ʾuyun English IV Title

GA5G5313 2014 5231089rsquo92762mdashdc23

2013030065

This publication has been typeset in the multilingual ldquoBrillrdquo typeface With over 1048629104862510486241048624 characterscovering Latin IPA Greek and Cyrillic this typeface is especially suitable for use in thehumanities For more information please see wwwbrillcombrill-typeface

ISSN 983088983089983094983097-983096983095983090983097ISBN 983097983095983096-983097983088-983088983092-983090983093983093983094983092-983095 (hardback)ISBN 983097983095983096-983097983088-983088983092-983090983093983094983097983097-983094 (e-book)

Copyright 2014 by Koninklijke Brill NV Leiden The NetherlandsKoninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill Global Oriental Hotei PublishingIDC Publishers and Martinus Nijho983142f Publishers

All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced translated stored ina retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic mechanicalphotocopying recording or otherwise without prior written permission from the publisher

Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NVprovided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center222 Rosewood Drive Suite 910 Danvers MA 01923 USAFees are subject to change

This book is printed on acid-free paper

CONTENTS

List of Figures vii

Acknowledgements xi

Introduction 852017

Sigla 9830911048630

Facsimile of Oxford Bodleian MS Arab c 1048633852016

ARABIC EDITION

Book One On the Heavens 983091852018852018

Book Two On the Earth 8520171048633852016

TRANSLATION WITH COMMENTARY

Book One On the Heavens 983091852018983091

Book Two On the Earth 852020852017852021

Glossary of Star-Names 8520218520181048633

Bibliography 10486301048630983091

Index of Animals and Plants 10486308520231048633

Index of Astronomical and Astrological Terms 1048630852024983091

Index of Peoples and Tribes 1048630852024852020

Index of Place Names 1048630852024852021

General Index 10486301048633983091

LIST OF FIGURES

I9831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

10486241048625 The colophon of MS B transcribed by al-faqīr Manṣūr bi-ism

Shammās (the ordained deacon) in the month of Tishrīn II 1048625104863210486321048626

(November AD 1048625104862910486311048625) Oxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632

fol 104862510486281048628a 1048630

10486241048626 The opening of MS B Oxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632

fol 10486251048624852025b copied AD 1048625104862910486311048625 852023

10486241048627 The opening of MS G Forschungsbibliothek Gotha MS orient

A 10486261048624852022852022 fols 104862510486281048631bndash104862510486281048632a copied 10486251048625104862910486281048625104863110486281048625 852017852016

10486241048628 Stemma showing the probable relationships between preserved

copies 852017983091

10486241048629 Diagram in MS M illustrating retrograde motion of the 1048678983145ve lsquoerraticrsquo

planets at the end of Chapter One Book One Milan Biblioteca

Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fol 10486251048628b copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 8520171048630

1048624852022 Diagram in MS D illustrating retrograde motion of the 1048678983145ve lsquoerraticrsquo

planets at the end of Chapter One Book One Damascus Maktabat

al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fol 10486251048626a copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 8520171048630

10486241048631 Two diagrams in MS B illustrating retrograde motion one labelled

in Arabic script and the other in Syriac script from the end of

Chapter One Book One Oxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632

fols 104862510486251048629bndash10486251048625852022a copied 1048625104862910486311048625 852017852023

10486241048632 The constellations of Booumltes Corona Borealis Hercules Lyra

Cygnus and Cassiopeia from Chapter Three of Book One in MS D

Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 10486261048632bndash1048626852025a

copied in 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852017852024

1048624852025 The constellations Ursa Minor Ursa Major and Draco (with start of

text for Cepheus) from Chapter Three of Book One in MS B Bodleian

Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632 fol 104862510486261048628b copied 1048625104862910486311048625 8520171048633

104862410486251048624 The constellations Ursa Minor and Ursa Major (with start of

text for Draco) from Chapter Three of Book One in MS M Milan

Biblioteca Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fol 10486271048624b copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 852018852016

104862410486251048625 Eleven comets said to have been described by Ptolemy in Chapter

Six of Book One as illustrated in the earliest copy (MS A) compared

with the three later ones (D B and M) Bodleian MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486251048627bndash10486251048628b undated c 1048625104862610486241048624 Damascus Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 1048627852022andash1048627852025a copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 Oxford

Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632 fols 10486251048626852025bndash104862510486271048625a copied 1048625104862910486311048625 Milan

Biblioteca Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fols 10486281048624bndash10486281048628a copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 852018852017

104862410486251048626 The seven illustrated lsquostars with faint lancesrsquo attributed to Hermes

in Chapter Seven of Book One as illustrated in the earliest copy

(MS A) compared with the three later ones (D B and M) Bodleian

MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486251048629bndash1048625852022a undated c 1048625104862610486241048624 Damascus Maktabat

al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 10486281048627andash10486281048627b copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628

Oxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632 fols 104862510486271048627bndash104862510486271048628a copied

1048625104862910486311048625 Milan Biblioteca Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fols 10486281048632bndash1048628852025b

copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 852018852018

viii 9831481048681983155983156 983151852070 8520701048681983143983157983154983141983155

104862410486251048627 The opening of Chapter Nine Book One in MS M Milan

Biblioteca Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fols 1048629852025bndash8520221048624a copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 852018983091

104862410486251048628 Part of Chapter Nine Book One in MS D in which the text for

the 1048678983145rst three lunar mansions as given in MS A is transcribed in the

margins as a commentary (sharḥ) on the discussion of lunar mansions

taken from Kitāb al-Anwāʾ of Ibn Qutaybah (d c 1048626104863185202210486321048632852025) and placed

in the body of the text Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah

MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 10486291048627bndash10486291048628a copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852020

104862410486251048629 Rectilinear frames on consecutive pages in Chapter Ten of Book

Two in MS D They indicate space for a map of the Mediterranean

left blank except for the title written at the bottom of the 1048678983145rst frame

and continued at the top or the next lsquoThe tenth chapter on the

Western Seamdashie the Syrian Seamdashand its harbours and islands and

anchoragesrsquo Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625

fols 8520251048626a and 8520251048626b copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852021

10486241048625852022 Sketch map of al-Mahdīyah in Chapter Thirteen of Book Two

in MS D Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625

fols 8520251048632bndash852025852025a copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 8520181048630

104862410486251048631 Sketch map of Cyprus in Chapter Fifteen of Book Two in MS D

Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fol 104862510486241048629b

copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852023

104862410486251048632 Sketch for map of the River Nile Chapter Eighteen of Book Two in

MS D Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fol 10486251048625852025b

copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852023

10486241048625852025 Sketches for the River Tigris [or Euphrates] (right) and the River

Oxus (left) from Chapter Eighteen of Book Two in MS D Damascus

Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 104862510486261048624bndash104862510486261048625a copied

85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852024

B983151983151983147 O983150983141

10486251048625 Opening diagram of Book One a circular diagram of the skies

Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 1048626bndash1048627a 9830918520171048630

10486251048626 Closing diagram of Chapter One Book One ldquoDepiction of the arcs

of the lsquoerraticrsquo planets and their associations with the twelve signs of

the zodiacrdquo Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 1048629b 983091852016852017

10486251048627 Table in Chapter Four Book One lsquoOn thirty stars with occult

in1048684uencesrsquo Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 10486251048625b 8520181048630852023

10486251048628 Table in Chapter Five Book One lsquoOn the forms of the northern and

southern starsrsquo Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 10486251048626a 8520181048630852020

10486251048629 Continuation of the table in Chapter Five Book One Oxford

Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 10486251048626b 8520181048630852017

1048625852022 Comets illustrated in Chapter Six Book One Oxford Bodleian

Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486251048627bndash10486251048628b 8520188520201048630ndash852018852021852018

10486251048631 Comets illustrated in Chapter Seven Book One Oxford

Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486251048629bndash1048625852022a 8520189830911048630ndash852018983091852023

10486251048632 Maps of Lunar Mansions I through VII Chapter Nine Book One

Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486251048632andash1048625852025a 852018852017852020ndash852018852018852016

1048625852025 Maps of Lunar Mansions VIII through XIV Chapter Nine

Book One Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 1048625852025andash10486261048624a 8520188520161048633ndash852018852017983091

9831481048681983155983156 983151852070 8520701048681983143983157983154983141983155 ix

104862510486251048624 Maps of Lunar Mansions XV through XXI Chapter Nine

Book One Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486261048624andash10486261048624b 852018852016852020ndash8520188520161048633

104862510486251048625 Maps of Lunar Mansions XXII through XXVIII Chapter Nine

Book One Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486261048624bndash10486261048625a 852018852016852016ndash852018852016852020

104862510486251048626 Diagram in Chapter Ten Book One lsquoOn the blowing of winds

earthquakes and tremorsrsquo Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fol 10486261048625b 8520171048633852023

B983151983151983147 T983159983151

10486261048625 Rectangular World MapmdashEurope Oxford Bodleian Library

MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486261048627bndash10486261048628a 852017852024852020

10486261048626 Rectangular World MapmdashAfrica Oxford Bodleian Library

MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486261048627bndash10486261048628a 852017852024852018

10486261048627 Rectangular World MapmdashAsia Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fols 10486261048627bndash10486261048628a 8520178520231048633

10486261048628 Circular World Map Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486261048631bndash10486261048632a 8520171048630852017

10486261048629 Map of the Indian Ocean Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 1048626852025bndash10486271048624a 8520178520211048630

1048626852022 Map of the Mediterranean Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fols 10486271048624bndash10486271048625a 852017852021852018

10486261048631 Map of the Caspian Sea Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486271048625b 8520178520201048630

10486261048632 Map of Sicily Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486271048626bndash10486271048627a 852017983091852024

1048626852025 Map of al-Mahdīyah Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486271048628a 852017983091852016

104862610486251048624 Map of Tinnīs Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486271048629bndash1048627852022a 852017852017852023

104862610486251048625 Map of Cyprus Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 1048627852022b 852017852017852021

104862610486251048626 Diagram of the Bays of Byzantium Oxford Bodleian Library MS

Arab c 8520251048624 fol 10486271048632a 852017852016852020

104862610486251048627 Map of the Sources of the Nile Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fol 10486281048624a 10486331048630

104862610486251048628 Diagrams of Lakes Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048624b 1048633852021

104862610486251048629 Diagrams of Lakes continued Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fol 10486281048625a 1048633852020

10486261048625852022 Map of the Nile Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048626a 852024852024

104862610486251048631 Map of the Euphrates Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048626b 852024852021

104862610486251048632 Map of the Tigris Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048627a 852024983091

10486261048625852025 Map of the Indus Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048627b 852024852017

104862610486261048624 Map of the Oxus Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048628a 8520231048633

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A project extending over a decade and encompass-

ing the heavens as well as the Earth requires the

assistance of countless people who gave generously

of their time their knowledge and on occasion

their money We take this opportunity to express

our gratitude to all of them

The acquisition of The Book of Curiosities by the

Bodleian Library was made possible by a grant from

the Heritage Lottery Fund and generous donations

from the National Arts Collections Fund the Friends

of the Bodleian Saudi Aramco nine Oxford col-

leges (All Souls College Merton College New Col-

lege Nu9831421048678983145eld College St Antonyrsquos College St Cross

College St Johnrsquos College Wadham College and

Wolfson College) and private individuals These

grants and donations also provided funds for the

conservation pigment analysis and digitisation of

the manuscript the exhibition of the manuscript for

the general public and the preparation of a school

teacherrsquos pack based on portions of the manuscript

They also supported the creation in 2007 of a web-

site presenting an electronic high-quality repro-

duction of the original text and its illustrations

linked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition

(without full use of other copies) and a preliminary

English translation ( wwwbodleyoxacukbookof

curiosities) Moreover the monies (supplemented

by a grant from the Arts amp Humanities Research

Council) supported the preparation of a full study

of the treatise of which the present volume is the

major result

In the early stages of work on the Book of Curi-

osities the project manager was Lesley Forbes

then Keeper of Oriental Collections in the Bodleian

Library Conservation of the manuscript was carried

out by Alison McKay and Sabina Pugh in the con-

servation laboratories of the Bodleian Library This

project would have been impossible without their

expertise and support At the Bodleian we received

support and encouragement from many members

of sta983142f not least Colin Wake1048678983145eld Gillian Evison

and Samuel Fanous

Jeremy Johns Professor of the Art and Archae-

ology of the Islamic Mediterranean and Director

of the Khalili Research Centre for the Art amp Mate-

rial Culture of the Middle East served as project

research manager and worked extensively on the

interpretation of the chapter concerned with Sicily

The Khalili Research Centre part of the Orien-

tal Faculty of the University of Oxford provided a

home for the execution of the project

Many other colleagues and scholars gave gener-

ously of their time and expertise to answer numer-

ous queriesmdashnone more so than Professor Paul

Kunitzsch who patiently and meticulously read

through early drafts of chapters concerned with

star-names His assistance has been invaluable in

interpreting the material Because he was unable

to scrutinise the 1048678983145nal version of the translation

and edition he modestly refused to have his name

appear as a co-author There are no doubt errors

that remain in the readings and interpretations of

the star-names which would have been corrected

had he been able to examine the 1048678983145nal text

Here in Oxford we bene1048678983145ted from the unique

wide-ranging expertise of our colleagues at the

Oriental Institute and beyond Professors Geert

Jan van Gelder and Clive Holes helped with some

1048678983145ner points of Arabic poetry and syntax Dr Robert

Simpson gave invaluable help regarding the Cop-

tic vocabulary in the manuscript Nicholas Purcell

and Peregrine Horden helped us develop our ideas

regarding the representation of the Mediterranean

Dr James Howard-Johnston and Professor Elizabeth

Je983142freys provided a platform in which to test inter-

pretations during two Byzantine Studies seminars

here in Oxford and members of the seminar pro-

vided very useful suggestions particularly Peter Tho-

nemann Dimitri Korobeinikov Teresa Shawcross

and Mary Whitby Dr A10486789831451048678983145 al-Akiti Dr Adam Silver-

stein and Professor David Blackmann of the Centre

for the Study of Ancient Documents amongst many

others gave readily of their time and advice

For identi1048678983145cation of place-names in the Medi-

terranean we acknowledge the generous advice of

Professor Johannes Koder and his colleagues Klaus

Belke Friedrich Hild Andreas Kuumllzer and Peter

Soustal at the Tabula Imperii Byzantini project

based in Vienna who have been remarkably gen-

erous with their time and knowledge On the Ana-

tolian coasts we also consulted Raymond Descat

Ausonius Universiteacute de Bordeaux Dr Tassos Papa-

costas working on Prosopography of the Byzan-

tine World at Kingrsquos College London assisted with

xii 983137983139983147983150983151983159983148983141983140983143983141983149983141983150983156983155

our examination of Cyprus Dr Haris Koutelakis of

Athens kindly provided us with a copy of his study

of maps of the Aegean islands which included an

interpretation of the relevant chapter in the Book

of Curiosities Dr Alex Metcalfe University of Lan-

caster contributed invaluable 1048678983145nal comments

on the Sicilian toponyms Dr Yaacov Lev Depart-

ment of Middle Eastern History Bar Ilan Univer-

sity shared with us his knowledge of the Fatimid

Mediterranean

For identi1048678983145cation of place-names in the East-

ern Islamic world East Africa India and East Asia

we would like to thank the generous advice of Dr

Michal Biran of the Hebrew University Dr Emeri

van Donzel Oegstgeest the Netherlands Dr Roxani

Margariti Emory University Professor David W

Phillipson Director of the Museum of Archaeology

and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge

Professor Tansen Sen of Baruch College the City

University of New York Professor Andre Wink of

the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Drs Ronit

Yoeli-Tlalim and Anna Akasoy then with AHRC

Islam-Tibet Project at the Warburg Institute

Professor Len Berggren of Simon Fraser Uni-

versity provided guidance on mathematical mat-

ters Professor Julio Samsoacute University of Barcelona

similarly o983142fered advice on mathematical aspects of

astrology and astronomy

Professor Dr Andreas Kaplony of the Orien-

talisches Seminar and Institut fuumlr den Nahen und

Mittleren Osten Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaumlt

Muumlnchen and Tarek Kahlaoui of the University of

Pennsylvania helped us develop our ideas regarding

Islamic cartography Jean-Charles Ducegravene Senior

Lector Universiteacute Libre de Bruxelles has shared

with us his unique knowledge of the development

of geographical literature in medieval Islam

On the history of cartography in general and

maritime cartography in particular we have ben-

e1048678983145ted from the enthusiastic support of Professor

Richard Unger Department of History University

of British Columbia and the long-standing collabo-

ration of Evelyn Edson Professor Emeritus at Pied-

mont Virginia Community College

Dr Remke Kruk University of Leiden and Dr

Thomas Reimer Wiesbaden have read and com-

mented on the sections that deal with mirabilia

monsters and wondrous animals Dr Gerald Wick-

ens formerly of Kew Gardens has assisted with the

identi1048678983145cation of some of the wondrous plants

In 2008 al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh submitted to

the University of Jordan a masterrsquos thesis consisting

of an edition of the text based on the Bodleian copy

(then available through the website) and a later copy

now in Damascus the thesis was subsequently pub-

lished in Beirut in 2011 and has proved useful to us

at many points which will be noted Mr al-Rawadieh

has generously shared his research with us at vari-

ous stages and we would like to acknowledge his

scholarship and dedication which in many ways

complemented our e983142forts here Dr Lutfallah Gari

1048678983145rst drew our attention to the Damascus manu-

script and subsequently to his own publication

regarding the dating of the Book of Curiosities

Amongst the scores of others who have advised

us on aspects of this complex manuscript we would

like to make special mention of Charles Burnett of

the Warburg Institute our colleagues at Queen Mary

University of London in particular Professors Miri

Rubin and Jerry Brotton and Dr Alfred Hiatt Pro-

fessor Benjamin Kedar The Institute for Advanced

Study The Hebrew University of Jerusalem the

late Professor William Brice of the University of

Manchester Dr Bill Leadbetter of Edith Cowan

University Joondalup Western Australia Jonathan

M Bloom Norma Jean Calderwood University Pro-

fessor of Islamic and Asian Art Boston College Dr

Moya Carey curator in the Asian Department of

the VampA Museum and Dr Boris Rankov and Dr

Judith McKenzie both of the Department of Clas-

sics Royal Holloway University of London Others

who assisted on very speci1048678983145c points are gratefully

acknowledged within the commentary itself

At Brill we would like to thank our editors

Renee Otto Ingrid Heijckers-Velt Nienke Brienen-

Moolenaar and Kathy van Vliet for their patience

and support in seeing this volume through pro-

duction We also thank the Bodleian Library at

the University of Oxford the Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa1048692anīyah in Damascus the Biblioteca Ambro-

siana in Milan the Dār al-Kutub in Cairo and the

Forschungsbibliothek in Gotha for supplying copies

of manuscripts for study purposes and for granting

permission for the publication of select images

Finally for over a decade our families have

heard far more than they probably wished of puz-

zling place-names unidenti1048678983145able star-names maps

of unusual shapes comets that portend doom and

curious stories of exotic lands Without their sup-

port we could not have brought this project to its

conclusion

Yossef Rapoport London

Emilie Savage-Smith Oxford

INTRODUCTION

In June of 2002 the Bodleian Library University ofOxford acquired a highly illustrated manuscript ofa hitherto unknown Arabic cosmographical trea-tise This newly discovered manuscript containeda remarkable series of early maps and astronomi-cal diagrams most of which are unparalleled inany Greek Latin or Arabic material known to bepreserved today No less importantly both the illus-trations and the text preserve material gatheredfrom Muslim astronomers historians scholars andtravellers of the ninth to eleventh centuries whose works are now either lost or preserved only in frag-ments The manuscript now assigned the shelfmarkMS Arab c 90 is here reproduced in facsimileaccompanied by an edition of the Arabic text andan annotated English translation

The manuscript is a copy probably made inEgypt in the late twelfth or early thirteenth centuryof an anonymous work compiled in Egypt between AD 1020 and 1050 The rhyming title of the volume Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn looselytranslates as The Book of Curiosities of the Sciences

and Marvels for the Eyes For convenience the trea-tise is referred to simply as The Book of Curiosities

The treatise preserved in this early highly illus-trated manuscript was essentially unknown toscholars prior to its being o1048678fered for sale at auctionin London on 10 October 2000 (Christiersquos Islamic

Art amp Manuscripts lot 41) even though later it wasdiscovered that eight other copies of all or por-tions of the text (lacking most of the illustrations) were preserved in manuscripts of the sixteenthto nineteenth century that had lain unnoticed inother libraries At auction the manuscript was pur-chased by Sam Fogg a well-known London dealerin rare books and manuscripts Not long thereafterhe o1048678fered it to the Bodleian Library at a price wellunder the true market value In June of 2002 follow-ing an extensive fund-raising e1048678fort the Bodleianlibrary celebrated the acquisition of this remarkable Arabic manuscript

The treatise now designated as Bodleian LibraryMS Arab c 90 is divided into two parts (maqālahs)The 983142983145rst part or book on celestial matters is com-posed of ten chapters and begins with a descriptionof the heavens and their in852070983148uence upon events onEarth It contains a number of unique illustrations

and rare texts including an illustrated discourse oncomets and several pages depicting various promi-nent stars nearby the lsquolunar mansionsrsquo which arestar-groups near the ecliptic whose risings and set-tings were traditionally used to predict rain andother meteorological events The authorrsquos inter-est throughout the book is primarily astrologicaland divinatory and no mathematical astronomy ispresented

The second book on the Earth is divided intotwenty-983142983145ve chapters According to the author thissecond book is largely dependent upon the Geog-

raphy of Ptolemy In general however our authorrsquosinterest is descriptive and historical rather thanmathematical Along with geographical and histori-cal texts the manuscript contains two world mapsone rectangular and one circular The author thenfollows with maps of the great seas known to him which were the Indian Ocean the Mediterraneanand the Caspian The author was particularly inter-ested in depicting the shores of the Mediterraneanof which he probably had 983142983145rst-hand knowledgeBesides the detailed schematic map of the coastsand islands of the Mediterranean the treatise alsocontains unique maps of Sicily and Cyprus as wellas the strategic ports of al-Mahdīyah in North Africaand Tinnīs in Egypt The book also includes 983142983145veriver-maps (the Nile the Euphrates the Tigris theOxus and the Indus) The concluding 983142983145ve chaptersdescribe lsquocuriositiesrsquo such as monstrous animals and wondrous plants

In 2007 an electronic high-quality reproductionof the Bodleian manuscript and its illustrationslinked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition(without full use of other copies) and a preliminaryEnglish translation was made available at www bodleyoxacukbookofcuriosities The remarkablesigni983142983145cance of the treatise for the history of Islamiccartography and cosmology in particular and for thehistory of pre-modern cartography in general hasbeen recognized in several publications on speci983142983145cmaps and diagrams in the manuscript983089 The study of

983089 See amongst others Johns amp Savage-Smith 2003 Rapoportamp Savage-Smith 2004 Edson amp Savage-Smith 2004 Parry 2004Barber 2005 Horden amp Purcell 2006 Galician 2007 Bloom 2007Rapoport amp Savage-Smith 2008 Kahlaoui 2008 Kahlaoui 2008a

2 10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

some aspects of this treatise is still on-going espe-cially with regard to its contribution to the historyof astrology and astronomy its place in the geo-graphical and mirabilia traditions and its impacton our knowledge of the Fatimid caliphate and ofmaritime travel in the medieval Islamic world

Our purpose here is to present a full edition of thetreatise taking into account all the later manuscriptcopies In addition we provide here an Englishannotated translation and a facsimile reproductionof the entire manuscript The aim is to allow read-ers to examine the treatise as a whole in a way thatis not possible in an online edition and to consultan authoritative edition and translation that re852070983148ectsour decade-long study of the Bodleian manuscriptand other copies We open with the facsimile ofthe early Bodleian copy followed by the editionemploying all the copies of the entire Arabic textand all the map-and diagram-labels Following this we present an extensively annotated translation ofthe text and the labels concluding with an extendedglossary of star-names and thematic indexes

In the following pages of this Introduction welist and compare the known copies of the treatiseestablish the authorship and date of the treatiseand its component parts and explain our editorialconventions A full comprehensive study of thecontents of the treatise in the context of eleventh-century Fatimid society and learning must await aseparate publication But we hope this edition willgreatly enhance future research on the signi983142983145canceof this remarkable treatise for the history of cartog-raphy science and Islamic civilisation

I T983144983141 C9831519831521048681983141983155

MS A mdashOxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90

Date The copy is unsigned and undated Theappearance of the paper ink and script sug-gests a possible dating of the end of the twelfthcentury

Contents It is an incomplete copy missing part ofthe penultimate chapter and all of the last onein Book Two At the end of the volume in thegutter are narrow remnants of two folios thathave been cut from the volume corresponding

Kaplony 2008 Rapoport 2008 Savage-Smith 2009 Savage-Smith2010 Savage-Smith 2010a Rapoport 2011 Savage-Smith 2011aRapoport 2012

to the missing 983142983145nal chapters (part of 224 and allof 225) The eighth and ninth chapters of BookTwo are missing from the text as they are in allother copies

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle appears in the text on fol 1b10486251048625 as well as onthe title page (fol 1a) as Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn

wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn Beneath the title a laterowner has noted lsquoTo the author of this treatisethere belongs another book whose title is Muḥī983156 (Comprehensive) ⟨ ⟩ it is stated thus in theentry for the island of Sardiniarsquo

Physical description 48 leaves (folios 1andash48b)plus torn gutter strips from two missing leavesDimensions 324 times 245 cm (text area 291 times 226cm on folios without maps) 27 lines per page

Paper The lightly glossed biscuit-brown paper issturdy rather soft and relatively opaque Thepaper has thick slightly curved horizontal laidlines and there are rib shadows but no chainlines or watermarks are visible The thickness ofthe paper varies between 017 and 020 mm andmeasures 3 on the Sharp Scale of Opaquenessthe laid lines are 6ndash7 wirescm with the spacebetween lines less than the width of one line Thepaper appears to have been made using a grassmouldmdasha method used in Egypt and GreaterSyria in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries(greater precision is not possible)983090 The paperhas some damp-staining foxing and wormholesand there is considerable soiling and grime nearthe edges of the pages which have been trimmedfrom their original size with the loss in places oftext and marginalia Numerous repairs had beenmade to the paper at various times Conservationof the manuscript at the Bodleian was carried outby Alison McKay and Sabina Pugh in its conser- vation laboratories Multiple layers of old repairshad accumulated on the leaves causing particu-lar sti1048678fness in the spine area Sympathetic newrepairs replaced the old ones to reveal text andimages but some were left in place as they wereconsidered to be part of the cultural history ofthe manuscript

Script The text area has been frame-ruled Thetext is written in a medium-large Naskh script indense black ink with headings in warm-red ink

983090 For similar Islamic papers see Loveday 2001 and we thankHelen Loveday for examining and discussing with us the paperin this particular manuscript

10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150 3

Many diacritical dots are missing A sin is oftendistinguished from a shīn by a small haacuteček lessfrequently a haacuteček distinguishes the undotted(al-muhmalah) letters rāʾ or ṣad from the dottedforms A haacuteček occasionally is placed over a duc-tus that ought to have had two dots beneath indi-cating a yāʾ in a medial position A tāʾ marbū983156ah is often ligatured to a preceding rāʾ or dāl or dhāl a 983142983145nal letter ʿayn is occasionally ligatured to the983142983145rst letter of the following word A tāʾ marbū983156ah is very seldom dotted A small break occurs beforea medial or 983142983145nal 983156āʾ where the copyist lifted thepen when an unbroken connection with the pre-ceding letter would have been expected Textstops are indicated by a dot enclosed in a circleor by the symbol

ھ

(= intahaacute) There are somecatchwords The illustrations are labelled in asimilar but smaller hand Both hands are closerin many of their characteristics to those of copy-ists known to have worked in Greater Syria atthe end of the twelfth century or early thirteenthcentury than to the hands of securely dated andlocated products of the fourteenth century983091

Illustrations In Book One there is an opening dia-gram (double-page) immediately following theintroduction a single-page diagram at the end of11 and a half-page diagram in 110 There are alsocomet illustrations in 16 and 17 and diagramsof lunar mansions in 19 In Book Two there areseventeen maps or diagrams in chapters 21 2527 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 (two)218 (983142983145ve) The maps in Book Two use a stan-dard set of colours to convey the topographicalfeatures with green for salty seas and lakes andblue for fresh-water lakes and rivers The moun-tains are usually reddish-brown and town walls where depicted are darker brown-purple Reddots represent cities towns villages and anchor-age points The map of al-Mahdīyah has a multi-coloured depiction of the twin palaces of the city

983091 For example the script and paper are similar to a treatiseby the Egyptian scholar al-Dimyāṭī preserved in a copy (OxfordBodleian Library MS Marsh 592) completed 12 Jumādaacute II 592(13 May 1196) which displays many of the same orthographicfeatures including picking up the pen before writing the 983156āʾ (fol 98a1048625983095) for sample pages see Edson amp Savage-Smith 2004 19983142983145g 7 and King 2004 758 983142983145g 27 Other similarities of script andpaper can be observed in Gotha Forschungsbibliothek GothaMS orient A 1521 dated 5691173 Leiden MS Or 3101 cop-ied 5691173 Bodleian MS Huntington 202 copied in Syria inShaʿban 592July 1196 and Bodleian MS Marsh 379 fols 2andash87bmade between 5601165 and 6101213 (for the latter two exam-ples see Savage-Smith 2011 322ndash3 and plates xviiindashxx)

and the diagram of the sources of the Nile depictsa large crocodile The circular world map (at theend of 25) employs a slightly di1048678ferent paletteand is the only map in the volume to employcopper greens

Some illustrations such as those depictingcomets or small islands have traces of gold orsilver sprinklings while other areas in the mapsmay have been over-painted or coated in a shinylacquer-like material that is now crackled andcrazed A preliminary analysis of the pigments was conducted by Dr Sandra Grantham a consul-tant paper conservator using optical microscopyin the conservation workshop of the BodleianLibrary A full analysis using Raman Spectros-copy was subsequently carried out by Dr TraceyChaplin at the Christopher Ingold LaboratoriesUniversity College London983092 Further examinationof the pigments was carried out by Sabina Pughin the conservation workshop of the BodleianLibrary who used optical microscopy to try todetermine which pigments belonged to the origi-nal paint layer and which were over-painting orre-touching Six pigments were identi983142983145ed in theillustrations cinnabar (red) orpiment (yellow)lazurite (blue) indigo carbon-based black andbasic lead carbonate (a lsquolead whitersquo) Four furtherpigments could not be identi983142983145ed a golden mate-rial a green pigment the purple pigment usedto depict city walls and the blue component ofthe dark green pigment mixture on certain foliosNo evidence of modern inks or pigments wasrevealed The results of the scienti983142983145c analyses arecompletely consistent with the suggested originand age of the manuscript

Binding When acquired by the Bodleian Librarythe volume was contained in an Ottoman bindingof possibly eighteenth- or nineteenth-centurydate the binding was too small for the manu-script and in extremely poor condition The 983142983145rstfolio of the manuscript has staining that indicatesan earlier binding included an envelope 852070983148ap Atpresent the volume is dis-bound with the bind-ing removed and stored separately it remainsdis-bound to allow for easier exhibition

Provenance The title page also has two impressionsof an undated Ottoman () stamp reading Saʿdīibn ʿĪsaacute al-faqīr al-mutawakkil ʿalaacute Allāh al-kabīr

983092 The results of the Raman spectroscopic analysis have beenpublished in Chaplin Clark et al 2006

4 10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

There are also two undated ownersrsquo signaturesthe upper signature reading lsquoIn the book collec-tion of the one in need of God Muṣṭafaacute knownas Koumlpruuml-zade may God forgive himrsquo and thelower one reading lsquoAmongst the property of Yaḥyaacute ibn Muḥammad al-Mallāḥ (the sailer thesalt-miner)rsquo Between the two signatures thereis also one completely defaced ownerrsquos note InChapter Five of Book Two there are two half-page paintings (a wāqwāq-tree and an inhabitedscrolling vine) added by a later owner probablyin the fourteenth or 983142983145fteenthth century

Editionsprintings In 2007 an electronic high-quality reproduction of the manuscript and itsillustrations linked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition (without full use of other copies)and a preliminary English translation was madeavailable at wwwbodleyoxacukbookofcuriosi-ties The bibliographic citation is Emilie Savage-Smith and Yossef Rapoport (eds) The Book of

Curiosities A critical edition World-Wide-Webpublication ( wwwbodleyoxacukbookofcuri-osities) (March 2007)

Catalogue descriptions none

MS DmdashDamascus Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa983156anīyah MS 16501

Date The copy was completed on the last Sun-day in the 983142983145rst ten days of Rabīʿ I of the year972 [= 9 Rabīʿ I 972 = 15 October 1564] by AbūBakr ibn Fakhr al-Dīn ibn Ḥamzah ibn al-shaykh

Muḥammad min qaryat Muʿārat Ikhwān (fromthe village of Muʿārat Ikhwān)983093 The colophon isgiven on fol 210b10486251048625ndash10486251048629

Contents It is an incomplete copy Compared toMS A this manuscript lacks many of the illustra-tions maps and diagrams while adding textualmaterial from other sources Book One lacks theopening diagram (though it has the surroundingtext) Also missing from Book One is the entirefourth chapter the start of the 983142983145fth chapter andportions of the ninth and tenth chapters In thebody of the ninth chapter of Book One materialis taken from Ibn Qutaybahrsquos Kitāb al-Anwāʾ the983142983145rst three entries of the ninth chapter as givenin other copies are written here in the margins

983093 The name as written here is possibly a variant of Maʿarratal-Nuʿmān (

ن

984615 1050181 984633 ة ا 984644 نر

984645) a well-known town in northern Syriaع Al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh identi983142983145es Muʿārat Ikhwān with the village of Martaḥwān in the environs of Aleppo (Yāqūt 18664487) but without evidence (Gharāʾib 2011 129 nt 1 and 2689nt 8)

In Book Two the second seventh and elev-enth chapters which contain only maps and notext are missing The eighth and ninth chaptersof Book Two are also missing as in all manu-scripts In 215 there are nine additional entriesfor mythical islands interspersed between theentries for Indian Ocean islands found in MS AThe manuscript also contains three additionallong books (maqālahs) on horses ( fī al-khayl ) in 983142983145ve chapters ( faṣl s) of which the 983142983145nal one ismissing on camels ( fī nūq) in nineteen faṣl s andon hunting and game ( fī ṣayd wa-al-qanaṣ) intwenty-one faṣl s

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle is given in the text on fol 2a1048628ndash1048629 as Gharāʾib

al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn On fol 1a a later handhas written Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ

al-ʿuyūn wa-fīhi min kull ʿilm wa-ṣinf ʿilm 9175011114109ة ه 984645ن ) 1048573نو

1050169 ن

ن91750111141099846451114109 و

1050169

984643 )

Physical description 201 leaves (folios 1andash201b) Thesize of the leaves is not known but there are13ndash15 lines per page The nature of the paper isunknown

Script The text is carefully written in a clearmedium-large Naskh script The text area hasbeen frame-ruled There are text stops and end-of-line 983142983145llers of three dots in a triangular for-mation There are catchwords and most of themarginalia appear to be in the hand of the copy-ist For the opening folio see Gharāʾib 2011 189For other examples of folios from the manuscriptsee 983142983145gs 06 08 and 014ndash019

Illustrations In Book One there is a single-pagediagram at the end of 11 constellation 983142983145guresformed of lines of dots have been added to thetext of 13 In 16 and 17 there are illustrations ofcomets and in 19 diagrams of lunar mansions Atthe end of 21 there is a crude rectangular sketch(repeated twice) aligning the cardinal directions with zodiacal signs Chapter 210 has two emptyrectangular frames with the title of the chapter(lsquoThe tenth chapter on the Western Seamdashiethe Syrian Seamdashand its harbours and islandsand anchoragesrsquo) written at the edge and in 217there are several empty circles suggestive of thelake diagrams in the earlier Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 The city of al-Mahdīyah (213) theisland of Cyprus (215) and the rivers Nile Tigrisand Oxus are represented by crude unlabelledsketches whose general signi983142983145cance is recogniz-able only when compared to the equivalent maps

10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150 5

in the earlier Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 See983142983145gs 06 08 011 012 and 014ndash019 for examples

Binding unknown Provenance The manuscript was formerly kept

in Aleppo as al-Maktabah al-Waqfīyah MS 957On the title page (fol 1a) there are several own-ersrsquo notes for the most part illegible or defacedand one prominent seven-line study note dated9801572ndash3 written by the copyist of the manu-script eight years after completing this copy Thenote indicates that this manuscript was the basisfor another copy prepared by the same copyistbut one that contained only the 983142983145rst book on theheavens The note reads

9175011114109984645ن هن

1114109 ة

9846451114109984644 و

ر

نآ

ا

ى

853572 ا

ل ه

و

ا

ن

984645 س ه

ا

ى

1050151 ا 984625ة

ة 984644 ن 984644 ها

ن

ة984644 984615 984643 ن

853543 ة

ا ان

1050183 ة

ى

ر

ن

ن

1114109 ن

984645 984627 984615 984643 ن و 853575 1050179 853543 ى853561 ا

د

و

853543 984615 1050181 853571 ن

هة

ل

و

1050151 هة ا

ل

853543 ة 984644 ا

853543 ة984644 ة 1050161 1050151 984648 ا

1050169و

853543 ة ن

984644 ا 984648 ط ه ة 984644 ه ا ل

853543984629 ة

اى

1050161 853543 ن

9175011114109

ا

984648ا 984627ش ر

ش ى

ل

ند

و

ة

9175011114109 984644 1050161 984648 ن ه ش 984645ن

هة

984615 1050181 984633 ة

و

نة

ن 853543

There are also three impressions of a small octag-onal ownerrsquos stamp (not legible) On folios 1band 201b there are impressions of a large round

stamp reading اد 1050161ن 984644ن 1114109ةة

1048573 و

984649 984644 ا 1114109نة

9846451114109

ا 984645ن

ن

1114109

984621ة

984649 984648 984645 984625 اة

ن

984644

984645 853543 ن

917501 1050157 ا ن 984648 984644 د ن را ن

ا

Editionsprintings The text of this manuscript hasbeen edited by al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh983094 Forthe purposes of our present edition we havemade use of scans of the Damascus manuscriptitself and on occasion present a di1048678ferent reading

Catalogue descriptions none

MS BmdashOxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 68

item 6

Date The copy was transcribed by al-faqīr Manṣūrbi-ism Shammās (the ordained deacon) inNovember of AD 1571 The date is given as themonth of Tishrīn II 1882 using the Alexandrian(or Seleucid) calendar which began 1 October 312BC The volume in which this item is bound con-tains nine treatises in either Arabic or Karshūnī(the Syriac script used by the Christians of Syriaand Mesopotamia for writing Arabic) all of themapparently copied in Syria See 983142983145g 01 for the col-ophon in the manuscript

983094 Gharāʾib 2011 195ndash512 and 2513ndash689

The folio following this item in the manuscript(fol 145b) has an eleven-line note in Karshūnī pre-senting a carefully written lineage of the copyist

ل

ن د

و

أ

ا نة

984645984648 853549 ر

ا 853543 ن اد ن

984621 أ

ا ل هة]

984627 =] ل هة

984645984627 ن

1114109 ة

9846451114109984644

ل ه

853575 1050179 984625ة ا

ن

ء 853543 ن 984644أ

ا ش

ش و

ا]ن

1050179 ]

ة

9175011114109984645 9175011114109 984645 نأ

ا

و

نة

ة1048573 853543 ن

ة984648 853549 ن أ

ا 1114109 984644ة

1050161 984648 984629 1114109984645ن

ة

ى

نأ

ا

و

ن

853543 ة

ى

نأ

ا 853543 ن 984625 ن

ل

ن د

و

أ

ا 853543 ن9175011114109 ة

9846451114109984645 853543984627 أ

ا نو

ن

ر

أ

1050151 ان

1114109 ة984644 984615 984643 ة

1050179 ا 853543 ن أ

ا

و

ا]ن

1050179 ] 984648ة853549 ن أ

1050151 1114109 984644ةة

984649 853549 ن او

ة

9175011114109 984645 ة9175011114109 ا

ܬܢܐ) (ܓ 853543 ن 853543 ش9175011114109 ة

9846451114109 ن

ة 853543984645و

ة

ى

نأ

ا ا]ن

1050179 ] ة

ن984621 853543

نأ

1050151 1050161 984648 984629 1114109984645ن

ر

1050165 853543 ن ة

ى

ن او

هة ة

9175011114109984645و

1050161 ة

984649 853549 ن أ

ا

و

984648 د

984645 ة

ى

أ

ا

و

1050161 984648 984629 س ه 1114109984645ن

853543 ن

1114109 ة

9846451114109

س

ة

853543 ة

ش984627 ه س

ا 853543 ن 984648 ن

أ

ا

و

ل ه

853543 ط

ة

ى

نا

و

ل ه

ا ر ن نة

ى

نا

و

ة ة

9175011114109 984644 ة

984649 853549 ن او

ه

س

اة

ى

أ

ن 984648 اأ

ة

984649

ن

984621 و

ة 853543 ن 984644 917501 1050157و 984648 853549 ن ا

1050161 أ

ل ه ا

و

ه

ل

ا ة

ن

1050161 1050161

ن

984621 و

984621ه و

1050161

ة

9175011114109 984645 ة

ه ل

ة ا

ة1048573

ن

984621 1050161 ن

984615 984643 853543 ن9175011114109853549 984648 ة ( (ܟܘة

984649 1050161 984648 853549 ن

984615 1050181 س ه ش

984648 ا

ة

984649 1050161 984648 853549 ن ة

984649

ن

984621

ن

9175011114109 ة1048573 و

984648 ة

984649 1050161 984648 ه 853549 ن

س

ا ة

ى

أ

ا

ه 1048573 984629 984615 1050181ة

ل ه شن

9175011114109 ة1048573 و

ة

1050183 984625ا ن

أ

Contents It is an incomplete copy of Book One Asin MS D it lacks the opening diagram (though ithas the surrounding text) the entire fourth andthe opening part of the 983142983145fth chapter It also lacksthe 983142983145nal chapters of Book One that is the eighthninth and tenth chapters Of Book Two it hasonly a partial copy of the 983142983145rst and third chaptersChapter three of Book Two contains additionalmaterial on each of the climes that is not foundin the other manuscripts

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle is given (in Syriac script) in the text onfol 109b983096 as Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ

al-ʿuyūn see 983142983145g 02 Physical description 46 leaves (folios 109bndash144a)

Dimensions 212 times 153 (text area 174 times c122) cm21ndash24 lines per page

Paper The sti1048678f biscuit paper has little evidenceof sizing and has turned darker near the edgesof the volume It has a thickness of 017minus019mm and an opaqueness factor of 4 with thinstraight vertical laid lines single chain lines and watermarks (an anchor in a circle () and a starover a crescent moon) There is some foxing anddamp-staining

Script There is no trace of frame-ruling and thespacing of lines is irregular The text is written in alarge Arabic and Karshūnī script using dark-brownink with prominent words formed with a broaderpen-stroke text-breaks or headings are indicatedby four small dots There are catchwords but nomarginalia are found in this portion of the vol-ume There is an illuminated heading in black inkand red opaque watercolours at the opening ofthe text (fol 109b) see 983142983145g 02

Page 2: An Eleventh-Century Egyptian Guide to the Universe

Islamic Philosophy Theology and Science

Texts and Studies

Edited by

Hans Daiber Anna Akasoy

Emilie Savage-Smith

VOLUME 10486321048631

The titles published in this series are listed at brillcomipts

An Eleventh-Century Egyptian Guideto the Universe

The Book of Curiosities

Edited and Translated by

Yossef Rapoport andEmilie Savage-Smith

LEIDEN bull BOSTON

1048626104862410486251048628

Cover illustration Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 fols 23bndash24a reproduced withpermission of the Bodleian Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ghararsquoib al-funun wa-mulah al-ʾuyun An eleventh-century Egyptian guide to the universe the Book of curiosities edited andtranslated by Yossef Rapoport and Emilie Savage-Smith pages cm mdash (Islamic philosophy theology and science v 87) Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 978-90-04-25564-7 (hardback alk paper) mdash ISBN 978-90-04-25699-6 (e-book) 1 CosmographymdashEarly works to 1800 2 GeographymdashEarly works to 1800 3 CartographymdashEarly works to 1800 4 EarthmdashEarly works to 1800 5 Astronomy Medieval I Rapoport Yossef1968ndash II Savage-Smith Emilie III Ghararsquoib al-funun wa-mulah al-ʾuyun English IV Title

GA5G5313 2014 5231089rsquo92762mdashdc23

2013030065

This publication has been typeset in the multilingual ldquoBrillrdquo typeface With over 1048629104862510486241048624 characterscovering Latin IPA Greek and Cyrillic this typeface is especially suitable for use in thehumanities For more information please see wwwbrillcombrill-typeface

ISSN 983088983089983094983097-983096983095983090983097ISBN 983097983095983096-983097983088-983088983092-983090983093983093983094983092-983095 (hardback)ISBN 983097983095983096-983097983088-983088983092-983090983093983094983097983097-983094 (e-book)

Copyright 2014 by Koninklijke Brill NV Leiden The NetherlandsKoninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill Global Oriental Hotei PublishingIDC Publishers and Martinus Nijho983142f Publishers

All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced translated stored ina retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic mechanicalphotocopying recording or otherwise without prior written permission from the publisher

Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NVprovided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center222 Rosewood Drive Suite 910 Danvers MA 01923 USAFees are subject to change

This book is printed on acid-free paper

CONTENTS

List of Figures vii

Acknowledgements xi

Introduction 852017

Sigla 9830911048630

Facsimile of Oxford Bodleian MS Arab c 1048633852016

ARABIC EDITION

Book One On the Heavens 983091852018852018

Book Two On the Earth 8520171048633852016

TRANSLATION WITH COMMENTARY

Book One On the Heavens 983091852018983091

Book Two On the Earth 852020852017852021

Glossary of Star-Names 8520218520181048633

Bibliography 10486301048630983091

Index of Animals and Plants 10486308520231048633

Index of Astronomical and Astrological Terms 1048630852024983091

Index of Peoples and Tribes 1048630852024852020

Index of Place Names 1048630852024852021

General Index 10486301048633983091

LIST OF FIGURES

I9831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

10486241048625 The colophon of MS B transcribed by al-faqīr Manṣūr bi-ism

Shammās (the ordained deacon) in the month of Tishrīn II 1048625104863210486321048626

(November AD 1048625104862910486311048625) Oxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632

fol 104862510486281048628a 1048630

10486241048626 The opening of MS B Oxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632

fol 10486251048624852025b copied AD 1048625104862910486311048625 852023

10486241048627 The opening of MS G Forschungsbibliothek Gotha MS orient

A 10486261048624852022852022 fols 104862510486281048631bndash104862510486281048632a copied 10486251048625104862910486281048625104863110486281048625 852017852016

10486241048628 Stemma showing the probable relationships between preserved

copies 852017983091

10486241048629 Diagram in MS M illustrating retrograde motion of the 1048678983145ve lsquoerraticrsquo

planets at the end of Chapter One Book One Milan Biblioteca

Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fol 10486251048628b copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 8520171048630

1048624852022 Diagram in MS D illustrating retrograde motion of the 1048678983145ve lsquoerraticrsquo

planets at the end of Chapter One Book One Damascus Maktabat

al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fol 10486251048626a copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 8520171048630

10486241048631 Two diagrams in MS B illustrating retrograde motion one labelled

in Arabic script and the other in Syriac script from the end of

Chapter One Book One Oxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632

fols 104862510486251048629bndash10486251048625852022a copied 1048625104862910486311048625 852017852023

10486241048632 The constellations of Booumltes Corona Borealis Hercules Lyra

Cygnus and Cassiopeia from Chapter Three of Book One in MS D

Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 10486261048632bndash1048626852025a

copied in 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852017852024

1048624852025 The constellations Ursa Minor Ursa Major and Draco (with start of

text for Cepheus) from Chapter Three of Book One in MS B Bodleian

Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632 fol 104862510486261048628b copied 1048625104862910486311048625 8520171048633

104862410486251048624 The constellations Ursa Minor and Ursa Major (with start of

text for Draco) from Chapter Three of Book One in MS M Milan

Biblioteca Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fol 10486271048624b copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 852018852016

104862410486251048625 Eleven comets said to have been described by Ptolemy in Chapter

Six of Book One as illustrated in the earliest copy (MS A) compared

with the three later ones (D B and M) Bodleian MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486251048627bndash10486251048628b undated c 1048625104862610486241048624 Damascus Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 1048627852022andash1048627852025a copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 Oxford

Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632 fols 10486251048626852025bndash104862510486271048625a copied 1048625104862910486311048625 Milan

Biblioteca Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fols 10486281048624bndash10486281048628a copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 852018852017

104862410486251048626 The seven illustrated lsquostars with faint lancesrsquo attributed to Hermes

in Chapter Seven of Book One as illustrated in the earliest copy

(MS A) compared with the three later ones (D B and M) Bodleian

MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486251048629bndash1048625852022a undated c 1048625104862610486241048624 Damascus Maktabat

al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 10486281048627andash10486281048627b copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628

Oxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632 fols 104862510486271048627bndash104862510486271048628a copied

1048625104862910486311048625 Milan Biblioteca Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fols 10486281048632bndash1048628852025b

copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 852018852018

viii 9831481048681983155983156 983151852070 8520701048681983143983157983154983141983155

104862410486251048627 The opening of Chapter Nine Book One in MS M Milan

Biblioteca Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fols 1048629852025bndash8520221048624a copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 852018983091

104862410486251048628 Part of Chapter Nine Book One in MS D in which the text for

the 1048678983145rst three lunar mansions as given in MS A is transcribed in the

margins as a commentary (sharḥ) on the discussion of lunar mansions

taken from Kitāb al-Anwāʾ of Ibn Qutaybah (d c 1048626104863185202210486321048632852025) and placed

in the body of the text Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah

MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 10486291048627bndash10486291048628a copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852020

104862410486251048629 Rectilinear frames on consecutive pages in Chapter Ten of Book

Two in MS D They indicate space for a map of the Mediterranean

left blank except for the title written at the bottom of the 1048678983145rst frame

and continued at the top or the next lsquoThe tenth chapter on the

Western Seamdashie the Syrian Seamdashand its harbours and islands and

anchoragesrsquo Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625

fols 8520251048626a and 8520251048626b copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852021

10486241048625852022 Sketch map of al-Mahdīyah in Chapter Thirteen of Book Two

in MS D Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625

fols 8520251048632bndash852025852025a copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 8520181048630

104862410486251048631 Sketch map of Cyprus in Chapter Fifteen of Book Two in MS D

Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fol 104862510486241048629b

copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852023

104862410486251048632 Sketch for map of the River Nile Chapter Eighteen of Book Two in

MS D Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fol 10486251048625852025b

copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852023

10486241048625852025 Sketches for the River Tigris [or Euphrates] (right) and the River

Oxus (left) from Chapter Eighteen of Book Two in MS D Damascus

Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 104862510486261048624bndash104862510486261048625a copied

85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852024

B983151983151983147 O983150983141

10486251048625 Opening diagram of Book One a circular diagram of the skies

Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 1048626bndash1048627a 9830918520171048630

10486251048626 Closing diagram of Chapter One Book One ldquoDepiction of the arcs

of the lsquoerraticrsquo planets and their associations with the twelve signs of

the zodiacrdquo Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 1048629b 983091852016852017

10486251048627 Table in Chapter Four Book One lsquoOn thirty stars with occult

in1048684uencesrsquo Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 10486251048625b 8520181048630852023

10486251048628 Table in Chapter Five Book One lsquoOn the forms of the northern and

southern starsrsquo Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 10486251048626a 8520181048630852020

10486251048629 Continuation of the table in Chapter Five Book One Oxford

Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 10486251048626b 8520181048630852017

1048625852022 Comets illustrated in Chapter Six Book One Oxford Bodleian

Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486251048627bndash10486251048628b 8520188520201048630ndash852018852021852018

10486251048631 Comets illustrated in Chapter Seven Book One Oxford

Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486251048629bndash1048625852022a 8520189830911048630ndash852018983091852023

10486251048632 Maps of Lunar Mansions I through VII Chapter Nine Book One

Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486251048632andash1048625852025a 852018852017852020ndash852018852018852016

1048625852025 Maps of Lunar Mansions VIII through XIV Chapter Nine

Book One Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 1048625852025andash10486261048624a 8520188520161048633ndash852018852017983091

9831481048681983155983156 983151852070 8520701048681983143983157983154983141983155 ix

104862510486251048624 Maps of Lunar Mansions XV through XXI Chapter Nine

Book One Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486261048624andash10486261048624b 852018852016852020ndash8520188520161048633

104862510486251048625 Maps of Lunar Mansions XXII through XXVIII Chapter Nine

Book One Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486261048624bndash10486261048625a 852018852016852016ndash852018852016852020

104862510486251048626 Diagram in Chapter Ten Book One lsquoOn the blowing of winds

earthquakes and tremorsrsquo Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fol 10486261048625b 8520171048633852023

B983151983151983147 T983159983151

10486261048625 Rectangular World MapmdashEurope Oxford Bodleian Library

MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486261048627bndash10486261048628a 852017852024852020

10486261048626 Rectangular World MapmdashAfrica Oxford Bodleian Library

MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486261048627bndash10486261048628a 852017852024852018

10486261048627 Rectangular World MapmdashAsia Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fols 10486261048627bndash10486261048628a 8520178520231048633

10486261048628 Circular World Map Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486261048631bndash10486261048632a 8520171048630852017

10486261048629 Map of the Indian Ocean Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 1048626852025bndash10486271048624a 8520178520211048630

1048626852022 Map of the Mediterranean Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fols 10486271048624bndash10486271048625a 852017852021852018

10486261048631 Map of the Caspian Sea Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486271048625b 8520178520201048630

10486261048632 Map of Sicily Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486271048626bndash10486271048627a 852017983091852024

1048626852025 Map of al-Mahdīyah Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486271048628a 852017983091852016

104862610486251048624 Map of Tinnīs Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486271048629bndash1048627852022a 852017852017852023

104862610486251048625 Map of Cyprus Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 1048627852022b 852017852017852021

104862610486251048626 Diagram of the Bays of Byzantium Oxford Bodleian Library MS

Arab c 8520251048624 fol 10486271048632a 852017852016852020

104862610486251048627 Map of the Sources of the Nile Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fol 10486281048624a 10486331048630

104862610486251048628 Diagrams of Lakes Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048624b 1048633852021

104862610486251048629 Diagrams of Lakes continued Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fol 10486281048625a 1048633852020

10486261048625852022 Map of the Nile Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048626a 852024852024

104862610486251048631 Map of the Euphrates Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048626b 852024852021

104862610486251048632 Map of the Tigris Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048627a 852024983091

10486261048625852025 Map of the Indus Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048627b 852024852017

104862610486261048624 Map of the Oxus Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048628a 8520231048633

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A project extending over a decade and encompass-

ing the heavens as well as the Earth requires the

assistance of countless people who gave generously

of their time their knowledge and on occasion

their money We take this opportunity to express

our gratitude to all of them

The acquisition of The Book of Curiosities by the

Bodleian Library was made possible by a grant from

the Heritage Lottery Fund and generous donations

from the National Arts Collections Fund the Friends

of the Bodleian Saudi Aramco nine Oxford col-

leges (All Souls College Merton College New Col-

lege Nu9831421048678983145eld College St Antonyrsquos College St Cross

College St Johnrsquos College Wadham College and

Wolfson College) and private individuals These

grants and donations also provided funds for the

conservation pigment analysis and digitisation of

the manuscript the exhibition of the manuscript for

the general public and the preparation of a school

teacherrsquos pack based on portions of the manuscript

They also supported the creation in 2007 of a web-

site presenting an electronic high-quality repro-

duction of the original text and its illustrations

linked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition

(without full use of other copies) and a preliminary

English translation ( wwwbodleyoxacukbookof

curiosities) Moreover the monies (supplemented

by a grant from the Arts amp Humanities Research

Council) supported the preparation of a full study

of the treatise of which the present volume is the

major result

In the early stages of work on the Book of Curi-

osities the project manager was Lesley Forbes

then Keeper of Oriental Collections in the Bodleian

Library Conservation of the manuscript was carried

out by Alison McKay and Sabina Pugh in the con-

servation laboratories of the Bodleian Library This

project would have been impossible without their

expertise and support At the Bodleian we received

support and encouragement from many members

of sta983142f not least Colin Wake1048678983145eld Gillian Evison

and Samuel Fanous

Jeremy Johns Professor of the Art and Archae-

ology of the Islamic Mediterranean and Director

of the Khalili Research Centre for the Art amp Mate-

rial Culture of the Middle East served as project

research manager and worked extensively on the

interpretation of the chapter concerned with Sicily

The Khalili Research Centre part of the Orien-

tal Faculty of the University of Oxford provided a

home for the execution of the project

Many other colleagues and scholars gave gener-

ously of their time and expertise to answer numer-

ous queriesmdashnone more so than Professor Paul

Kunitzsch who patiently and meticulously read

through early drafts of chapters concerned with

star-names His assistance has been invaluable in

interpreting the material Because he was unable

to scrutinise the 1048678983145nal version of the translation

and edition he modestly refused to have his name

appear as a co-author There are no doubt errors

that remain in the readings and interpretations of

the star-names which would have been corrected

had he been able to examine the 1048678983145nal text

Here in Oxford we bene1048678983145ted from the unique

wide-ranging expertise of our colleagues at the

Oriental Institute and beyond Professors Geert

Jan van Gelder and Clive Holes helped with some

1048678983145ner points of Arabic poetry and syntax Dr Robert

Simpson gave invaluable help regarding the Cop-

tic vocabulary in the manuscript Nicholas Purcell

and Peregrine Horden helped us develop our ideas

regarding the representation of the Mediterranean

Dr James Howard-Johnston and Professor Elizabeth

Je983142freys provided a platform in which to test inter-

pretations during two Byzantine Studies seminars

here in Oxford and members of the seminar pro-

vided very useful suggestions particularly Peter Tho-

nemann Dimitri Korobeinikov Teresa Shawcross

and Mary Whitby Dr A10486789831451048678983145 al-Akiti Dr Adam Silver-

stein and Professor David Blackmann of the Centre

for the Study of Ancient Documents amongst many

others gave readily of their time and advice

For identi1048678983145cation of place-names in the Medi-

terranean we acknowledge the generous advice of

Professor Johannes Koder and his colleagues Klaus

Belke Friedrich Hild Andreas Kuumllzer and Peter

Soustal at the Tabula Imperii Byzantini project

based in Vienna who have been remarkably gen-

erous with their time and knowledge On the Ana-

tolian coasts we also consulted Raymond Descat

Ausonius Universiteacute de Bordeaux Dr Tassos Papa-

costas working on Prosopography of the Byzan-

tine World at Kingrsquos College London assisted with

xii 983137983139983147983150983151983159983148983141983140983143983141983149983141983150983156983155

our examination of Cyprus Dr Haris Koutelakis of

Athens kindly provided us with a copy of his study

of maps of the Aegean islands which included an

interpretation of the relevant chapter in the Book

of Curiosities Dr Alex Metcalfe University of Lan-

caster contributed invaluable 1048678983145nal comments

on the Sicilian toponyms Dr Yaacov Lev Depart-

ment of Middle Eastern History Bar Ilan Univer-

sity shared with us his knowledge of the Fatimid

Mediterranean

For identi1048678983145cation of place-names in the East-

ern Islamic world East Africa India and East Asia

we would like to thank the generous advice of Dr

Michal Biran of the Hebrew University Dr Emeri

van Donzel Oegstgeest the Netherlands Dr Roxani

Margariti Emory University Professor David W

Phillipson Director of the Museum of Archaeology

and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge

Professor Tansen Sen of Baruch College the City

University of New York Professor Andre Wink of

the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Drs Ronit

Yoeli-Tlalim and Anna Akasoy then with AHRC

Islam-Tibet Project at the Warburg Institute

Professor Len Berggren of Simon Fraser Uni-

versity provided guidance on mathematical mat-

ters Professor Julio Samsoacute University of Barcelona

similarly o983142fered advice on mathematical aspects of

astrology and astronomy

Professor Dr Andreas Kaplony of the Orien-

talisches Seminar and Institut fuumlr den Nahen und

Mittleren Osten Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaumlt

Muumlnchen and Tarek Kahlaoui of the University of

Pennsylvania helped us develop our ideas regarding

Islamic cartography Jean-Charles Ducegravene Senior

Lector Universiteacute Libre de Bruxelles has shared

with us his unique knowledge of the development

of geographical literature in medieval Islam

On the history of cartography in general and

maritime cartography in particular we have ben-

e1048678983145ted from the enthusiastic support of Professor

Richard Unger Department of History University

of British Columbia and the long-standing collabo-

ration of Evelyn Edson Professor Emeritus at Pied-

mont Virginia Community College

Dr Remke Kruk University of Leiden and Dr

Thomas Reimer Wiesbaden have read and com-

mented on the sections that deal with mirabilia

monsters and wondrous animals Dr Gerald Wick-

ens formerly of Kew Gardens has assisted with the

identi1048678983145cation of some of the wondrous plants

In 2008 al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh submitted to

the University of Jordan a masterrsquos thesis consisting

of an edition of the text based on the Bodleian copy

(then available through the website) and a later copy

now in Damascus the thesis was subsequently pub-

lished in Beirut in 2011 and has proved useful to us

at many points which will be noted Mr al-Rawadieh

has generously shared his research with us at vari-

ous stages and we would like to acknowledge his

scholarship and dedication which in many ways

complemented our e983142forts here Dr Lutfallah Gari

1048678983145rst drew our attention to the Damascus manu-

script and subsequently to his own publication

regarding the dating of the Book of Curiosities

Amongst the scores of others who have advised

us on aspects of this complex manuscript we would

like to make special mention of Charles Burnett of

the Warburg Institute our colleagues at Queen Mary

University of London in particular Professors Miri

Rubin and Jerry Brotton and Dr Alfred Hiatt Pro-

fessor Benjamin Kedar The Institute for Advanced

Study The Hebrew University of Jerusalem the

late Professor William Brice of the University of

Manchester Dr Bill Leadbetter of Edith Cowan

University Joondalup Western Australia Jonathan

M Bloom Norma Jean Calderwood University Pro-

fessor of Islamic and Asian Art Boston College Dr

Moya Carey curator in the Asian Department of

the VampA Museum and Dr Boris Rankov and Dr

Judith McKenzie both of the Department of Clas-

sics Royal Holloway University of London Others

who assisted on very speci1048678983145c points are gratefully

acknowledged within the commentary itself

At Brill we would like to thank our editors

Renee Otto Ingrid Heijckers-Velt Nienke Brienen-

Moolenaar and Kathy van Vliet for their patience

and support in seeing this volume through pro-

duction We also thank the Bodleian Library at

the University of Oxford the Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa1048692anīyah in Damascus the Biblioteca Ambro-

siana in Milan the Dār al-Kutub in Cairo and the

Forschungsbibliothek in Gotha for supplying copies

of manuscripts for study purposes and for granting

permission for the publication of select images

Finally for over a decade our families have

heard far more than they probably wished of puz-

zling place-names unidenti1048678983145able star-names maps

of unusual shapes comets that portend doom and

curious stories of exotic lands Without their sup-

port we could not have brought this project to its

conclusion

Yossef Rapoport London

Emilie Savage-Smith Oxford

INTRODUCTION

In June of 2002 the Bodleian Library University ofOxford acquired a highly illustrated manuscript ofa hitherto unknown Arabic cosmographical trea-tise This newly discovered manuscript containeda remarkable series of early maps and astronomi-cal diagrams most of which are unparalleled inany Greek Latin or Arabic material known to bepreserved today No less importantly both the illus-trations and the text preserve material gatheredfrom Muslim astronomers historians scholars andtravellers of the ninth to eleventh centuries whose works are now either lost or preserved only in frag-ments The manuscript now assigned the shelfmarkMS Arab c 90 is here reproduced in facsimileaccompanied by an edition of the Arabic text andan annotated English translation

The manuscript is a copy probably made inEgypt in the late twelfth or early thirteenth centuryof an anonymous work compiled in Egypt between AD 1020 and 1050 The rhyming title of the volume Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn looselytranslates as The Book of Curiosities of the Sciences

and Marvels for the Eyes For convenience the trea-tise is referred to simply as The Book of Curiosities

The treatise preserved in this early highly illus-trated manuscript was essentially unknown toscholars prior to its being o1048678fered for sale at auctionin London on 10 October 2000 (Christiersquos Islamic

Art amp Manuscripts lot 41) even though later it wasdiscovered that eight other copies of all or por-tions of the text (lacking most of the illustrations) were preserved in manuscripts of the sixteenthto nineteenth century that had lain unnoticed inother libraries At auction the manuscript was pur-chased by Sam Fogg a well-known London dealerin rare books and manuscripts Not long thereafterhe o1048678fered it to the Bodleian Library at a price wellunder the true market value In June of 2002 follow-ing an extensive fund-raising e1048678fort the Bodleianlibrary celebrated the acquisition of this remarkable Arabic manuscript

The treatise now designated as Bodleian LibraryMS Arab c 90 is divided into two parts (maqālahs)The 983142983145rst part or book on celestial matters is com-posed of ten chapters and begins with a descriptionof the heavens and their in852070983148uence upon events onEarth It contains a number of unique illustrations

and rare texts including an illustrated discourse oncomets and several pages depicting various promi-nent stars nearby the lsquolunar mansionsrsquo which arestar-groups near the ecliptic whose risings and set-tings were traditionally used to predict rain andother meteorological events The authorrsquos inter-est throughout the book is primarily astrologicaland divinatory and no mathematical astronomy ispresented

The second book on the Earth is divided intotwenty-983142983145ve chapters According to the author thissecond book is largely dependent upon the Geog-

raphy of Ptolemy In general however our authorrsquosinterest is descriptive and historical rather thanmathematical Along with geographical and histori-cal texts the manuscript contains two world mapsone rectangular and one circular The author thenfollows with maps of the great seas known to him which were the Indian Ocean the Mediterraneanand the Caspian The author was particularly inter-ested in depicting the shores of the Mediterraneanof which he probably had 983142983145rst-hand knowledgeBesides the detailed schematic map of the coastsand islands of the Mediterranean the treatise alsocontains unique maps of Sicily and Cyprus as wellas the strategic ports of al-Mahdīyah in North Africaand Tinnīs in Egypt The book also includes 983142983145veriver-maps (the Nile the Euphrates the Tigris theOxus and the Indus) The concluding 983142983145ve chaptersdescribe lsquocuriositiesrsquo such as monstrous animals and wondrous plants

In 2007 an electronic high-quality reproductionof the Bodleian manuscript and its illustrationslinked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition(without full use of other copies) and a preliminaryEnglish translation was made available at www bodleyoxacukbookofcuriosities The remarkablesigni983142983145cance of the treatise for the history of Islamiccartography and cosmology in particular and for thehistory of pre-modern cartography in general hasbeen recognized in several publications on speci983142983145cmaps and diagrams in the manuscript983089 The study of

983089 See amongst others Johns amp Savage-Smith 2003 Rapoportamp Savage-Smith 2004 Edson amp Savage-Smith 2004 Parry 2004Barber 2005 Horden amp Purcell 2006 Galician 2007 Bloom 2007Rapoport amp Savage-Smith 2008 Kahlaoui 2008 Kahlaoui 2008a

2 10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

some aspects of this treatise is still on-going espe-cially with regard to its contribution to the historyof astrology and astronomy its place in the geo-graphical and mirabilia traditions and its impacton our knowledge of the Fatimid caliphate and ofmaritime travel in the medieval Islamic world

Our purpose here is to present a full edition of thetreatise taking into account all the later manuscriptcopies In addition we provide here an Englishannotated translation and a facsimile reproductionof the entire manuscript The aim is to allow read-ers to examine the treatise as a whole in a way thatis not possible in an online edition and to consultan authoritative edition and translation that re852070983148ectsour decade-long study of the Bodleian manuscriptand other copies We open with the facsimile ofthe early Bodleian copy followed by the editionemploying all the copies of the entire Arabic textand all the map-and diagram-labels Following this we present an extensively annotated translation ofthe text and the labels concluding with an extendedglossary of star-names and thematic indexes

In the following pages of this Introduction welist and compare the known copies of the treatiseestablish the authorship and date of the treatiseand its component parts and explain our editorialconventions A full comprehensive study of thecontents of the treatise in the context of eleventh-century Fatimid society and learning must await aseparate publication But we hope this edition willgreatly enhance future research on the signi983142983145canceof this remarkable treatise for the history of cartog-raphy science and Islamic civilisation

I T983144983141 C9831519831521048681983141983155

MS A mdashOxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90

Date The copy is unsigned and undated Theappearance of the paper ink and script sug-gests a possible dating of the end of the twelfthcentury

Contents It is an incomplete copy missing part ofthe penultimate chapter and all of the last onein Book Two At the end of the volume in thegutter are narrow remnants of two folios thathave been cut from the volume corresponding

Kaplony 2008 Rapoport 2008 Savage-Smith 2009 Savage-Smith2010 Savage-Smith 2010a Rapoport 2011 Savage-Smith 2011aRapoport 2012

to the missing 983142983145nal chapters (part of 224 and allof 225) The eighth and ninth chapters of BookTwo are missing from the text as they are in allother copies

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle appears in the text on fol 1b10486251048625 as well as onthe title page (fol 1a) as Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn

wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn Beneath the title a laterowner has noted lsquoTo the author of this treatisethere belongs another book whose title is Muḥī983156 (Comprehensive) ⟨ ⟩ it is stated thus in theentry for the island of Sardiniarsquo

Physical description 48 leaves (folios 1andash48b)plus torn gutter strips from two missing leavesDimensions 324 times 245 cm (text area 291 times 226cm on folios without maps) 27 lines per page

Paper The lightly glossed biscuit-brown paper issturdy rather soft and relatively opaque Thepaper has thick slightly curved horizontal laidlines and there are rib shadows but no chainlines or watermarks are visible The thickness ofthe paper varies between 017 and 020 mm andmeasures 3 on the Sharp Scale of Opaquenessthe laid lines are 6ndash7 wirescm with the spacebetween lines less than the width of one line Thepaper appears to have been made using a grassmouldmdasha method used in Egypt and GreaterSyria in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries(greater precision is not possible)983090 The paperhas some damp-staining foxing and wormholesand there is considerable soiling and grime nearthe edges of the pages which have been trimmedfrom their original size with the loss in places oftext and marginalia Numerous repairs had beenmade to the paper at various times Conservationof the manuscript at the Bodleian was carried outby Alison McKay and Sabina Pugh in its conser- vation laboratories Multiple layers of old repairshad accumulated on the leaves causing particu-lar sti1048678fness in the spine area Sympathetic newrepairs replaced the old ones to reveal text andimages but some were left in place as they wereconsidered to be part of the cultural history ofthe manuscript

Script The text area has been frame-ruled Thetext is written in a medium-large Naskh script indense black ink with headings in warm-red ink

983090 For similar Islamic papers see Loveday 2001 and we thankHelen Loveday for examining and discussing with us the paperin this particular manuscript

10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150 3

Many diacritical dots are missing A sin is oftendistinguished from a shīn by a small haacuteček lessfrequently a haacuteček distinguishes the undotted(al-muhmalah) letters rāʾ or ṣad from the dottedforms A haacuteček occasionally is placed over a duc-tus that ought to have had two dots beneath indi-cating a yāʾ in a medial position A tāʾ marbū983156ah is often ligatured to a preceding rāʾ or dāl or dhāl a 983142983145nal letter ʿayn is occasionally ligatured to the983142983145rst letter of the following word A tāʾ marbū983156ah is very seldom dotted A small break occurs beforea medial or 983142983145nal 983156āʾ where the copyist lifted thepen when an unbroken connection with the pre-ceding letter would have been expected Textstops are indicated by a dot enclosed in a circleor by the symbol

ھ

(= intahaacute) There are somecatchwords The illustrations are labelled in asimilar but smaller hand Both hands are closerin many of their characteristics to those of copy-ists known to have worked in Greater Syria atthe end of the twelfth century or early thirteenthcentury than to the hands of securely dated andlocated products of the fourteenth century983091

Illustrations In Book One there is an opening dia-gram (double-page) immediately following theintroduction a single-page diagram at the end of11 and a half-page diagram in 110 There are alsocomet illustrations in 16 and 17 and diagramsof lunar mansions in 19 In Book Two there areseventeen maps or diagrams in chapters 21 2527 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 (two)218 (983142983145ve) The maps in Book Two use a stan-dard set of colours to convey the topographicalfeatures with green for salty seas and lakes andblue for fresh-water lakes and rivers The moun-tains are usually reddish-brown and town walls where depicted are darker brown-purple Reddots represent cities towns villages and anchor-age points The map of al-Mahdīyah has a multi-coloured depiction of the twin palaces of the city

983091 For example the script and paper are similar to a treatiseby the Egyptian scholar al-Dimyāṭī preserved in a copy (OxfordBodleian Library MS Marsh 592) completed 12 Jumādaacute II 592(13 May 1196) which displays many of the same orthographicfeatures including picking up the pen before writing the 983156āʾ (fol 98a1048625983095) for sample pages see Edson amp Savage-Smith 2004 19983142983145g 7 and King 2004 758 983142983145g 27 Other similarities of script andpaper can be observed in Gotha Forschungsbibliothek GothaMS orient A 1521 dated 5691173 Leiden MS Or 3101 cop-ied 5691173 Bodleian MS Huntington 202 copied in Syria inShaʿban 592July 1196 and Bodleian MS Marsh 379 fols 2andash87bmade between 5601165 and 6101213 (for the latter two exam-ples see Savage-Smith 2011 322ndash3 and plates xviiindashxx)

and the diagram of the sources of the Nile depictsa large crocodile The circular world map (at theend of 25) employs a slightly di1048678ferent paletteand is the only map in the volume to employcopper greens

Some illustrations such as those depictingcomets or small islands have traces of gold orsilver sprinklings while other areas in the mapsmay have been over-painted or coated in a shinylacquer-like material that is now crackled andcrazed A preliminary analysis of the pigments was conducted by Dr Sandra Grantham a consul-tant paper conservator using optical microscopyin the conservation workshop of the BodleianLibrary A full analysis using Raman Spectros-copy was subsequently carried out by Dr TraceyChaplin at the Christopher Ingold LaboratoriesUniversity College London983092 Further examinationof the pigments was carried out by Sabina Pughin the conservation workshop of the BodleianLibrary who used optical microscopy to try todetermine which pigments belonged to the origi-nal paint layer and which were over-painting orre-touching Six pigments were identi983142983145ed in theillustrations cinnabar (red) orpiment (yellow)lazurite (blue) indigo carbon-based black andbasic lead carbonate (a lsquolead whitersquo) Four furtherpigments could not be identi983142983145ed a golden mate-rial a green pigment the purple pigment usedto depict city walls and the blue component ofthe dark green pigment mixture on certain foliosNo evidence of modern inks or pigments wasrevealed The results of the scienti983142983145c analyses arecompletely consistent with the suggested originand age of the manuscript

Binding When acquired by the Bodleian Librarythe volume was contained in an Ottoman bindingof possibly eighteenth- or nineteenth-centurydate the binding was too small for the manu-script and in extremely poor condition The 983142983145rstfolio of the manuscript has staining that indicatesan earlier binding included an envelope 852070983148ap Atpresent the volume is dis-bound with the bind-ing removed and stored separately it remainsdis-bound to allow for easier exhibition

Provenance The title page also has two impressionsof an undated Ottoman () stamp reading Saʿdīibn ʿĪsaacute al-faqīr al-mutawakkil ʿalaacute Allāh al-kabīr

983092 The results of the Raman spectroscopic analysis have beenpublished in Chaplin Clark et al 2006

4 10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

There are also two undated ownersrsquo signaturesthe upper signature reading lsquoIn the book collec-tion of the one in need of God Muṣṭafaacute knownas Koumlpruuml-zade may God forgive himrsquo and thelower one reading lsquoAmongst the property of Yaḥyaacute ibn Muḥammad al-Mallāḥ (the sailer thesalt-miner)rsquo Between the two signatures thereis also one completely defaced ownerrsquos note InChapter Five of Book Two there are two half-page paintings (a wāqwāq-tree and an inhabitedscrolling vine) added by a later owner probablyin the fourteenth or 983142983145fteenthth century

Editionsprintings In 2007 an electronic high-quality reproduction of the manuscript and itsillustrations linked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition (without full use of other copies)and a preliminary English translation was madeavailable at wwwbodleyoxacukbookofcuriosi-ties The bibliographic citation is Emilie Savage-Smith and Yossef Rapoport (eds) The Book of

Curiosities A critical edition World-Wide-Webpublication ( wwwbodleyoxacukbookofcuri-osities) (March 2007)

Catalogue descriptions none

MS DmdashDamascus Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa983156anīyah MS 16501

Date The copy was completed on the last Sun-day in the 983142983145rst ten days of Rabīʿ I of the year972 [= 9 Rabīʿ I 972 = 15 October 1564] by AbūBakr ibn Fakhr al-Dīn ibn Ḥamzah ibn al-shaykh

Muḥammad min qaryat Muʿārat Ikhwān (fromthe village of Muʿārat Ikhwān)983093 The colophon isgiven on fol 210b10486251048625ndash10486251048629

Contents It is an incomplete copy Compared toMS A this manuscript lacks many of the illustra-tions maps and diagrams while adding textualmaterial from other sources Book One lacks theopening diagram (though it has the surroundingtext) Also missing from Book One is the entirefourth chapter the start of the 983142983145fth chapter andportions of the ninth and tenth chapters In thebody of the ninth chapter of Book One materialis taken from Ibn Qutaybahrsquos Kitāb al-Anwāʾ the983142983145rst three entries of the ninth chapter as givenin other copies are written here in the margins

983093 The name as written here is possibly a variant of Maʿarratal-Nuʿmān (

ن

984615 1050181 984633 ة ا 984644 نر

984645) a well-known town in northern Syriaع Al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh identi983142983145es Muʿārat Ikhwān with the village of Martaḥwān in the environs of Aleppo (Yāqūt 18664487) but without evidence (Gharāʾib 2011 129 nt 1 and 2689nt 8)

In Book Two the second seventh and elev-enth chapters which contain only maps and notext are missing The eighth and ninth chaptersof Book Two are also missing as in all manu-scripts In 215 there are nine additional entriesfor mythical islands interspersed between theentries for Indian Ocean islands found in MS AThe manuscript also contains three additionallong books (maqālahs) on horses ( fī al-khayl ) in 983142983145ve chapters ( faṣl s) of which the 983142983145nal one ismissing on camels ( fī nūq) in nineteen faṣl s andon hunting and game ( fī ṣayd wa-al-qanaṣ) intwenty-one faṣl s

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle is given in the text on fol 2a1048628ndash1048629 as Gharāʾib

al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn On fol 1a a later handhas written Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ

al-ʿuyūn wa-fīhi min kull ʿilm wa-ṣinf ʿilm 9175011114109ة ه 984645ن ) 1048573نو

1050169 ن

ن91750111141099846451114109 و

1050169

984643 )

Physical description 201 leaves (folios 1andash201b) Thesize of the leaves is not known but there are13ndash15 lines per page The nature of the paper isunknown

Script The text is carefully written in a clearmedium-large Naskh script The text area hasbeen frame-ruled There are text stops and end-of-line 983142983145llers of three dots in a triangular for-mation There are catchwords and most of themarginalia appear to be in the hand of the copy-ist For the opening folio see Gharāʾib 2011 189For other examples of folios from the manuscriptsee 983142983145gs 06 08 and 014ndash019

Illustrations In Book One there is a single-pagediagram at the end of 11 constellation 983142983145guresformed of lines of dots have been added to thetext of 13 In 16 and 17 there are illustrations ofcomets and in 19 diagrams of lunar mansions Atthe end of 21 there is a crude rectangular sketch(repeated twice) aligning the cardinal directions with zodiacal signs Chapter 210 has two emptyrectangular frames with the title of the chapter(lsquoThe tenth chapter on the Western Seamdashiethe Syrian Seamdashand its harbours and islandsand anchoragesrsquo) written at the edge and in 217there are several empty circles suggestive of thelake diagrams in the earlier Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 The city of al-Mahdīyah (213) theisland of Cyprus (215) and the rivers Nile Tigrisand Oxus are represented by crude unlabelledsketches whose general signi983142983145cance is recogniz-able only when compared to the equivalent maps

10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150 5

in the earlier Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 See983142983145gs 06 08 011 012 and 014ndash019 for examples

Binding unknown Provenance The manuscript was formerly kept

in Aleppo as al-Maktabah al-Waqfīyah MS 957On the title page (fol 1a) there are several own-ersrsquo notes for the most part illegible or defacedand one prominent seven-line study note dated9801572ndash3 written by the copyist of the manu-script eight years after completing this copy Thenote indicates that this manuscript was the basisfor another copy prepared by the same copyistbut one that contained only the 983142983145rst book on theheavens The note reads

9175011114109984645ن هن

1114109 ة

9846451114109984644 و

ر

نآ

ا

ى

853572 ا

ل ه

و

ا

ن

984645 س ه

ا

ى

1050151 ا 984625ة

ة 984644 ن 984644 ها

ن

ة984644 984615 984643 ن

853543 ة

ا ان

1050183 ة

ى

ر

ن

ن

1114109 ن

984645 984627 984615 984643 ن و 853575 1050179 853543 ى853561 ا

د

و

853543 984615 1050181 853571 ن

هة

ل

و

1050151 هة ا

ل

853543 ة 984644 ا

853543 ة984644 ة 1050161 1050151 984648 ا

1050169و

853543 ة ن

984644 ا 984648 ط ه ة 984644 ه ا ل

853543984629 ة

اى

1050161 853543 ن

9175011114109

ا

984648ا 984627ش ر

ش ى

ل

ند

و

ة

9175011114109 984644 1050161 984648 ن ه ش 984645ن

هة

984615 1050181 984633 ة

و

نة

ن 853543

There are also three impressions of a small octag-onal ownerrsquos stamp (not legible) On folios 1band 201b there are impressions of a large round

stamp reading اد 1050161ن 984644ن 1114109ةة

1048573 و

984649 984644 ا 1114109نة

9846451114109

ا 984645ن

ن

1114109

984621ة

984649 984648 984645 984625 اة

ن

984644

984645 853543 ن

917501 1050157 ا ن 984648 984644 د ن را ن

ا

Editionsprintings The text of this manuscript hasbeen edited by al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh983094 Forthe purposes of our present edition we havemade use of scans of the Damascus manuscriptitself and on occasion present a di1048678ferent reading

Catalogue descriptions none

MS BmdashOxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 68

item 6

Date The copy was transcribed by al-faqīr Manṣūrbi-ism Shammās (the ordained deacon) inNovember of AD 1571 The date is given as themonth of Tishrīn II 1882 using the Alexandrian(or Seleucid) calendar which began 1 October 312BC The volume in which this item is bound con-tains nine treatises in either Arabic or Karshūnī(the Syriac script used by the Christians of Syriaand Mesopotamia for writing Arabic) all of themapparently copied in Syria See 983142983145g 01 for the col-ophon in the manuscript

983094 Gharāʾib 2011 195ndash512 and 2513ndash689

The folio following this item in the manuscript(fol 145b) has an eleven-line note in Karshūnī pre-senting a carefully written lineage of the copyist

ل

ن د

و

أ

ا نة

984645984648 853549 ر

ا 853543 ن اد ن

984621 أ

ا ل هة]

984627 =] ل هة

984645984627 ن

1114109 ة

9846451114109984644

ل ه

853575 1050179 984625ة ا

ن

ء 853543 ن 984644أ

ا ش

ش و

ا]ن

1050179 ]

ة

9175011114109984645 9175011114109 984645 نأ

ا

و

نة

ة1048573 853543 ن

ة984648 853549 ن أ

ا 1114109 984644ة

1050161 984648 984629 1114109984645ن

ة

ى

نأ

ا

و

ن

853543 ة

ى

نأ

ا 853543 ن 984625 ن

ل

ن د

و

أ

ا 853543 ن9175011114109 ة

9846451114109984645 853543984627 أ

ا نو

ن

ر

أ

1050151 ان

1114109 ة984644 984615 984643 ة

1050179 ا 853543 ن أ

ا

و

ا]ن

1050179 ] 984648ة853549 ن أ

1050151 1114109 984644ةة

984649 853549 ن او

ة

9175011114109 984645 ة9175011114109 ا

ܬܢܐ) (ܓ 853543 ن 853543 ش9175011114109 ة

9846451114109 ن

ة 853543984645و

ة

ى

نأ

ا ا]ن

1050179 ] ة

ن984621 853543

نأ

1050151 1050161 984648 984629 1114109984645ن

ر

1050165 853543 ن ة

ى

ن او

هة ة

9175011114109984645و

1050161 ة

984649 853549 ن أ

ا

و

984648 د

984645 ة

ى

أ

ا

و

1050161 984648 984629 س ه 1114109984645ن

853543 ن

1114109 ة

9846451114109

س

ة

853543 ة

ش984627 ه س

ا 853543 ن 984648 ن

أ

ا

و

ل ه

853543 ط

ة

ى

نا

و

ل ه

ا ر ن نة

ى

نا

و

ة ة

9175011114109 984644 ة

984649 853549 ن او

ه

س

اة

ى

أ

ن 984648 اأ

ة

984649

ن

984621 و

ة 853543 ن 984644 917501 1050157و 984648 853549 ن ا

1050161 أ

ل ه ا

و

ه

ل

ا ة

ن

1050161 1050161

ن

984621 و

984621ه و

1050161

ة

9175011114109 984645 ة

ه ل

ة ا

ة1048573

ن

984621 1050161 ن

984615 984643 853543 ن9175011114109853549 984648 ة ( (ܟܘة

984649 1050161 984648 853549 ن

984615 1050181 س ه ش

984648 ا

ة

984649 1050161 984648 853549 ن ة

984649

ن

984621

ن

9175011114109 ة1048573 و

984648 ة

984649 1050161 984648 ه 853549 ن

س

ا ة

ى

أ

ا

ه 1048573 984629 984615 1050181ة

ل ه شن

9175011114109 ة1048573 و

ة

1050183 984625ا ن

أ

Contents It is an incomplete copy of Book One Asin MS D it lacks the opening diagram (though ithas the surrounding text) the entire fourth andthe opening part of the 983142983145fth chapter It also lacksthe 983142983145nal chapters of Book One that is the eighthninth and tenth chapters Of Book Two it hasonly a partial copy of the 983142983145rst and third chaptersChapter three of Book Two contains additionalmaterial on each of the climes that is not foundin the other manuscripts

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle is given (in Syriac script) in the text onfol 109b983096 as Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ

al-ʿuyūn see 983142983145g 02 Physical description 46 leaves (folios 109bndash144a)

Dimensions 212 times 153 (text area 174 times c122) cm21ndash24 lines per page

Paper The sti1048678f biscuit paper has little evidenceof sizing and has turned darker near the edgesof the volume It has a thickness of 017minus019mm and an opaqueness factor of 4 with thinstraight vertical laid lines single chain lines and watermarks (an anchor in a circle () and a starover a crescent moon) There is some foxing anddamp-staining

Script There is no trace of frame-ruling and thespacing of lines is irregular The text is written in alarge Arabic and Karshūnī script using dark-brownink with prominent words formed with a broaderpen-stroke text-breaks or headings are indicatedby four small dots There are catchwords but nomarginalia are found in this portion of the vol-ume There is an illuminated heading in black inkand red opaque watercolours at the opening ofthe text (fol 109b) see 983142983145g 02

Page 3: An Eleventh-Century Egyptian Guide to the Universe

An Eleventh-Century Egyptian Guideto the Universe

The Book of Curiosities

Edited and Translated by

Yossef Rapoport andEmilie Savage-Smith

LEIDEN bull BOSTON

1048626104862410486251048628

Cover illustration Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 fols 23bndash24a reproduced withpermission of the Bodleian Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ghararsquoib al-funun wa-mulah al-ʾuyun An eleventh-century Egyptian guide to the universe the Book of curiosities edited andtranslated by Yossef Rapoport and Emilie Savage-Smith pages cm mdash (Islamic philosophy theology and science v 87) Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 978-90-04-25564-7 (hardback alk paper) mdash ISBN 978-90-04-25699-6 (e-book) 1 CosmographymdashEarly works to 1800 2 GeographymdashEarly works to 1800 3 CartographymdashEarly works to 1800 4 EarthmdashEarly works to 1800 5 Astronomy Medieval I Rapoport Yossef1968ndash II Savage-Smith Emilie III Ghararsquoib al-funun wa-mulah al-ʾuyun English IV Title

GA5G5313 2014 5231089rsquo92762mdashdc23

2013030065

This publication has been typeset in the multilingual ldquoBrillrdquo typeface With over 1048629104862510486241048624 characterscovering Latin IPA Greek and Cyrillic this typeface is especially suitable for use in thehumanities For more information please see wwwbrillcombrill-typeface

ISSN 983088983089983094983097-983096983095983090983097ISBN 983097983095983096-983097983088-983088983092-983090983093983093983094983092-983095 (hardback)ISBN 983097983095983096-983097983088-983088983092-983090983093983094983097983097-983094 (e-book)

Copyright 2014 by Koninklijke Brill NV Leiden The NetherlandsKoninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill Global Oriental Hotei PublishingIDC Publishers and Martinus Nijho983142f Publishers

All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced translated stored ina retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic mechanicalphotocopying recording or otherwise without prior written permission from the publisher

Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NVprovided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center222 Rosewood Drive Suite 910 Danvers MA 01923 USAFees are subject to change

This book is printed on acid-free paper

CONTENTS

List of Figures vii

Acknowledgements xi

Introduction 852017

Sigla 9830911048630

Facsimile of Oxford Bodleian MS Arab c 1048633852016

ARABIC EDITION

Book One On the Heavens 983091852018852018

Book Two On the Earth 8520171048633852016

TRANSLATION WITH COMMENTARY

Book One On the Heavens 983091852018983091

Book Two On the Earth 852020852017852021

Glossary of Star-Names 8520218520181048633

Bibliography 10486301048630983091

Index of Animals and Plants 10486308520231048633

Index of Astronomical and Astrological Terms 1048630852024983091

Index of Peoples and Tribes 1048630852024852020

Index of Place Names 1048630852024852021

General Index 10486301048633983091

LIST OF FIGURES

I9831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

10486241048625 The colophon of MS B transcribed by al-faqīr Manṣūr bi-ism

Shammās (the ordained deacon) in the month of Tishrīn II 1048625104863210486321048626

(November AD 1048625104862910486311048625) Oxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632

fol 104862510486281048628a 1048630

10486241048626 The opening of MS B Oxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632

fol 10486251048624852025b copied AD 1048625104862910486311048625 852023

10486241048627 The opening of MS G Forschungsbibliothek Gotha MS orient

A 10486261048624852022852022 fols 104862510486281048631bndash104862510486281048632a copied 10486251048625104862910486281048625104863110486281048625 852017852016

10486241048628 Stemma showing the probable relationships between preserved

copies 852017983091

10486241048629 Diagram in MS M illustrating retrograde motion of the 1048678983145ve lsquoerraticrsquo

planets at the end of Chapter One Book One Milan Biblioteca

Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fol 10486251048628b copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 8520171048630

1048624852022 Diagram in MS D illustrating retrograde motion of the 1048678983145ve lsquoerraticrsquo

planets at the end of Chapter One Book One Damascus Maktabat

al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fol 10486251048626a copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 8520171048630

10486241048631 Two diagrams in MS B illustrating retrograde motion one labelled

in Arabic script and the other in Syriac script from the end of

Chapter One Book One Oxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632

fols 104862510486251048629bndash10486251048625852022a copied 1048625104862910486311048625 852017852023

10486241048632 The constellations of Booumltes Corona Borealis Hercules Lyra

Cygnus and Cassiopeia from Chapter Three of Book One in MS D

Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 10486261048632bndash1048626852025a

copied in 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852017852024

1048624852025 The constellations Ursa Minor Ursa Major and Draco (with start of

text for Cepheus) from Chapter Three of Book One in MS B Bodleian

Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632 fol 104862510486261048628b copied 1048625104862910486311048625 8520171048633

104862410486251048624 The constellations Ursa Minor and Ursa Major (with start of

text for Draco) from Chapter Three of Book One in MS M Milan

Biblioteca Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fol 10486271048624b copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 852018852016

104862410486251048625 Eleven comets said to have been described by Ptolemy in Chapter

Six of Book One as illustrated in the earliest copy (MS A) compared

with the three later ones (D B and M) Bodleian MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486251048627bndash10486251048628b undated c 1048625104862610486241048624 Damascus Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 1048627852022andash1048627852025a copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 Oxford

Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632 fols 10486251048626852025bndash104862510486271048625a copied 1048625104862910486311048625 Milan

Biblioteca Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fols 10486281048624bndash10486281048628a copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 852018852017

104862410486251048626 The seven illustrated lsquostars with faint lancesrsquo attributed to Hermes

in Chapter Seven of Book One as illustrated in the earliest copy

(MS A) compared with the three later ones (D B and M) Bodleian

MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486251048629bndash1048625852022a undated c 1048625104862610486241048624 Damascus Maktabat

al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 10486281048627andash10486281048627b copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628

Oxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632 fols 104862510486271048627bndash104862510486271048628a copied

1048625104862910486311048625 Milan Biblioteca Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fols 10486281048632bndash1048628852025b

copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 852018852018

viii 9831481048681983155983156 983151852070 8520701048681983143983157983154983141983155

104862410486251048627 The opening of Chapter Nine Book One in MS M Milan

Biblioteca Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fols 1048629852025bndash8520221048624a copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 852018983091

104862410486251048628 Part of Chapter Nine Book One in MS D in which the text for

the 1048678983145rst three lunar mansions as given in MS A is transcribed in the

margins as a commentary (sharḥ) on the discussion of lunar mansions

taken from Kitāb al-Anwāʾ of Ibn Qutaybah (d c 1048626104863185202210486321048632852025) and placed

in the body of the text Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah

MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 10486291048627bndash10486291048628a copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852020

104862410486251048629 Rectilinear frames on consecutive pages in Chapter Ten of Book

Two in MS D They indicate space for a map of the Mediterranean

left blank except for the title written at the bottom of the 1048678983145rst frame

and continued at the top or the next lsquoThe tenth chapter on the

Western Seamdashie the Syrian Seamdashand its harbours and islands and

anchoragesrsquo Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625

fols 8520251048626a and 8520251048626b copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852021

10486241048625852022 Sketch map of al-Mahdīyah in Chapter Thirteen of Book Two

in MS D Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625

fols 8520251048632bndash852025852025a copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 8520181048630

104862410486251048631 Sketch map of Cyprus in Chapter Fifteen of Book Two in MS D

Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fol 104862510486241048629b

copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852023

104862410486251048632 Sketch for map of the River Nile Chapter Eighteen of Book Two in

MS D Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fol 10486251048625852025b

copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852023

10486241048625852025 Sketches for the River Tigris [or Euphrates] (right) and the River

Oxus (left) from Chapter Eighteen of Book Two in MS D Damascus

Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 104862510486261048624bndash104862510486261048625a copied

85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852024

B983151983151983147 O983150983141

10486251048625 Opening diagram of Book One a circular diagram of the skies

Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 1048626bndash1048627a 9830918520171048630

10486251048626 Closing diagram of Chapter One Book One ldquoDepiction of the arcs

of the lsquoerraticrsquo planets and their associations with the twelve signs of

the zodiacrdquo Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 1048629b 983091852016852017

10486251048627 Table in Chapter Four Book One lsquoOn thirty stars with occult

in1048684uencesrsquo Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 10486251048625b 8520181048630852023

10486251048628 Table in Chapter Five Book One lsquoOn the forms of the northern and

southern starsrsquo Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 10486251048626a 8520181048630852020

10486251048629 Continuation of the table in Chapter Five Book One Oxford

Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 10486251048626b 8520181048630852017

1048625852022 Comets illustrated in Chapter Six Book One Oxford Bodleian

Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486251048627bndash10486251048628b 8520188520201048630ndash852018852021852018

10486251048631 Comets illustrated in Chapter Seven Book One Oxford

Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486251048629bndash1048625852022a 8520189830911048630ndash852018983091852023

10486251048632 Maps of Lunar Mansions I through VII Chapter Nine Book One

Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486251048632andash1048625852025a 852018852017852020ndash852018852018852016

1048625852025 Maps of Lunar Mansions VIII through XIV Chapter Nine

Book One Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 1048625852025andash10486261048624a 8520188520161048633ndash852018852017983091

9831481048681983155983156 983151852070 8520701048681983143983157983154983141983155 ix

104862510486251048624 Maps of Lunar Mansions XV through XXI Chapter Nine

Book One Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486261048624andash10486261048624b 852018852016852020ndash8520188520161048633

104862510486251048625 Maps of Lunar Mansions XXII through XXVIII Chapter Nine

Book One Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486261048624bndash10486261048625a 852018852016852016ndash852018852016852020

104862510486251048626 Diagram in Chapter Ten Book One lsquoOn the blowing of winds

earthquakes and tremorsrsquo Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fol 10486261048625b 8520171048633852023

B983151983151983147 T983159983151

10486261048625 Rectangular World MapmdashEurope Oxford Bodleian Library

MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486261048627bndash10486261048628a 852017852024852020

10486261048626 Rectangular World MapmdashAfrica Oxford Bodleian Library

MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486261048627bndash10486261048628a 852017852024852018

10486261048627 Rectangular World MapmdashAsia Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fols 10486261048627bndash10486261048628a 8520178520231048633

10486261048628 Circular World Map Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486261048631bndash10486261048632a 8520171048630852017

10486261048629 Map of the Indian Ocean Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 1048626852025bndash10486271048624a 8520178520211048630

1048626852022 Map of the Mediterranean Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fols 10486271048624bndash10486271048625a 852017852021852018

10486261048631 Map of the Caspian Sea Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486271048625b 8520178520201048630

10486261048632 Map of Sicily Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486271048626bndash10486271048627a 852017983091852024

1048626852025 Map of al-Mahdīyah Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486271048628a 852017983091852016

104862610486251048624 Map of Tinnīs Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486271048629bndash1048627852022a 852017852017852023

104862610486251048625 Map of Cyprus Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 1048627852022b 852017852017852021

104862610486251048626 Diagram of the Bays of Byzantium Oxford Bodleian Library MS

Arab c 8520251048624 fol 10486271048632a 852017852016852020

104862610486251048627 Map of the Sources of the Nile Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fol 10486281048624a 10486331048630

104862610486251048628 Diagrams of Lakes Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048624b 1048633852021

104862610486251048629 Diagrams of Lakes continued Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fol 10486281048625a 1048633852020

10486261048625852022 Map of the Nile Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048626a 852024852024

104862610486251048631 Map of the Euphrates Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048626b 852024852021

104862610486251048632 Map of the Tigris Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048627a 852024983091

10486261048625852025 Map of the Indus Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048627b 852024852017

104862610486261048624 Map of the Oxus Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048628a 8520231048633

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A project extending over a decade and encompass-

ing the heavens as well as the Earth requires the

assistance of countless people who gave generously

of their time their knowledge and on occasion

their money We take this opportunity to express

our gratitude to all of them

The acquisition of The Book of Curiosities by the

Bodleian Library was made possible by a grant from

the Heritage Lottery Fund and generous donations

from the National Arts Collections Fund the Friends

of the Bodleian Saudi Aramco nine Oxford col-

leges (All Souls College Merton College New Col-

lege Nu9831421048678983145eld College St Antonyrsquos College St Cross

College St Johnrsquos College Wadham College and

Wolfson College) and private individuals These

grants and donations also provided funds for the

conservation pigment analysis and digitisation of

the manuscript the exhibition of the manuscript for

the general public and the preparation of a school

teacherrsquos pack based on portions of the manuscript

They also supported the creation in 2007 of a web-

site presenting an electronic high-quality repro-

duction of the original text and its illustrations

linked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition

(without full use of other copies) and a preliminary

English translation ( wwwbodleyoxacukbookof

curiosities) Moreover the monies (supplemented

by a grant from the Arts amp Humanities Research

Council) supported the preparation of a full study

of the treatise of which the present volume is the

major result

In the early stages of work on the Book of Curi-

osities the project manager was Lesley Forbes

then Keeper of Oriental Collections in the Bodleian

Library Conservation of the manuscript was carried

out by Alison McKay and Sabina Pugh in the con-

servation laboratories of the Bodleian Library This

project would have been impossible without their

expertise and support At the Bodleian we received

support and encouragement from many members

of sta983142f not least Colin Wake1048678983145eld Gillian Evison

and Samuel Fanous

Jeremy Johns Professor of the Art and Archae-

ology of the Islamic Mediterranean and Director

of the Khalili Research Centre for the Art amp Mate-

rial Culture of the Middle East served as project

research manager and worked extensively on the

interpretation of the chapter concerned with Sicily

The Khalili Research Centre part of the Orien-

tal Faculty of the University of Oxford provided a

home for the execution of the project

Many other colleagues and scholars gave gener-

ously of their time and expertise to answer numer-

ous queriesmdashnone more so than Professor Paul

Kunitzsch who patiently and meticulously read

through early drafts of chapters concerned with

star-names His assistance has been invaluable in

interpreting the material Because he was unable

to scrutinise the 1048678983145nal version of the translation

and edition he modestly refused to have his name

appear as a co-author There are no doubt errors

that remain in the readings and interpretations of

the star-names which would have been corrected

had he been able to examine the 1048678983145nal text

Here in Oxford we bene1048678983145ted from the unique

wide-ranging expertise of our colleagues at the

Oriental Institute and beyond Professors Geert

Jan van Gelder and Clive Holes helped with some

1048678983145ner points of Arabic poetry and syntax Dr Robert

Simpson gave invaluable help regarding the Cop-

tic vocabulary in the manuscript Nicholas Purcell

and Peregrine Horden helped us develop our ideas

regarding the representation of the Mediterranean

Dr James Howard-Johnston and Professor Elizabeth

Je983142freys provided a platform in which to test inter-

pretations during two Byzantine Studies seminars

here in Oxford and members of the seminar pro-

vided very useful suggestions particularly Peter Tho-

nemann Dimitri Korobeinikov Teresa Shawcross

and Mary Whitby Dr A10486789831451048678983145 al-Akiti Dr Adam Silver-

stein and Professor David Blackmann of the Centre

for the Study of Ancient Documents amongst many

others gave readily of their time and advice

For identi1048678983145cation of place-names in the Medi-

terranean we acknowledge the generous advice of

Professor Johannes Koder and his colleagues Klaus

Belke Friedrich Hild Andreas Kuumllzer and Peter

Soustal at the Tabula Imperii Byzantini project

based in Vienna who have been remarkably gen-

erous with their time and knowledge On the Ana-

tolian coasts we also consulted Raymond Descat

Ausonius Universiteacute de Bordeaux Dr Tassos Papa-

costas working on Prosopography of the Byzan-

tine World at Kingrsquos College London assisted with

xii 983137983139983147983150983151983159983148983141983140983143983141983149983141983150983156983155

our examination of Cyprus Dr Haris Koutelakis of

Athens kindly provided us with a copy of his study

of maps of the Aegean islands which included an

interpretation of the relevant chapter in the Book

of Curiosities Dr Alex Metcalfe University of Lan-

caster contributed invaluable 1048678983145nal comments

on the Sicilian toponyms Dr Yaacov Lev Depart-

ment of Middle Eastern History Bar Ilan Univer-

sity shared with us his knowledge of the Fatimid

Mediterranean

For identi1048678983145cation of place-names in the East-

ern Islamic world East Africa India and East Asia

we would like to thank the generous advice of Dr

Michal Biran of the Hebrew University Dr Emeri

van Donzel Oegstgeest the Netherlands Dr Roxani

Margariti Emory University Professor David W

Phillipson Director of the Museum of Archaeology

and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge

Professor Tansen Sen of Baruch College the City

University of New York Professor Andre Wink of

the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Drs Ronit

Yoeli-Tlalim and Anna Akasoy then with AHRC

Islam-Tibet Project at the Warburg Institute

Professor Len Berggren of Simon Fraser Uni-

versity provided guidance on mathematical mat-

ters Professor Julio Samsoacute University of Barcelona

similarly o983142fered advice on mathematical aspects of

astrology and astronomy

Professor Dr Andreas Kaplony of the Orien-

talisches Seminar and Institut fuumlr den Nahen und

Mittleren Osten Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaumlt

Muumlnchen and Tarek Kahlaoui of the University of

Pennsylvania helped us develop our ideas regarding

Islamic cartography Jean-Charles Ducegravene Senior

Lector Universiteacute Libre de Bruxelles has shared

with us his unique knowledge of the development

of geographical literature in medieval Islam

On the history of cartography in general and

maritime cartography in particular we have ben-

e1048678983145ted from the enthusiastic support of Professor

Richard Unger Department of History University

of British Columbia and the long-standing collabo-

ration of Evelyn Edson Professor Emeritus at Pied-

mont Virginia Community College

Dr Remke Kruk University of Leiden and Dr

Thomas Reimer Wiesbaden have read and com-

mented on the sections that deal with mirabilia

monsters and wondrous animals Dr Gerald Wick-

ens formerly of Kew Gardens has assisted with the

identi1048678983145cation of some of the wondrous plants

In 2008 al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh submitted to

the University of Jordan a masterrsquos thesis consisting

of an edition of the text based on the Bodleian copy

(then available through the website) and a later copy

now in Damascus the thesis was subsequently pub-

lished in Beirut in 2011 and has proved useful to us

at many points which will be noted Mr al-Rawadieh

has generously shared his research with us at vari-

ous stages and we would like to acknowledge his

scholarship and dedication which in many ways

complemented our e983142forts here Dr Lutfallah Gari

1048678983145rst drew our attention to the Damascus manu-

script and subsequently to his own publication

regarding the dating of the Book of Curiosities

Amongst the scores of others who have advised

us on aspects of this complex manuscript we would

like to make special mention of Charles Burnett of

the Warburg Institute our colleagues at Queen Mary

University of London in particular Professors Miri

Rubin and Jerry Brotton and Dr Alfred Hiatt Pro-

fessor Benjamin Kedar The Institute for Advanced

Study The Hebrew University of Jerusalem the

late Professor William Brice of the University of

Manchester Dr Bill Leadbetter of Edith Cowan

University Joondalup Western Australia Jonathan

M Bloom Norma Jean Calderwood University Pro-

fessor of Islamic and Asian Art Boston College Dr

Moya Carey curator in the Asian Department of

the VampA Museum and Dr Boris Rankov and Dr

Judith McKenzie both of the Department of Clas-

sics Royal Holloway University of London Others

who assisted on very speci1048678983145c points are gratefully

acknowledged within the commentary itself

At Brill we would like to thank our editors

Renee Otto Ingrid Heijckers-Velt Nienke Brienen-

Moolenaar and Kathy van Vliet for their patience

and support in seeing this volume through pro-

duction We also thank the Bodleian Library at

the University of Oxford the Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa1048692anīyah in Damascus the Biblioteca Ambro-

siana in Milan the Dār al-Kutub in Cairo and the

Forschungsbibliothek in Gotha for supplying copies

of manuscripts for study purposes and for granting

permission for the publication of select images

Finally for over a decade our families have

heard far more than they probably wished of puz-

zling place-names unidenti1048678983145able star-names maps

of unusual shapes comets that portend doom and

curious stories of exotic lands Without their sup-

port we could not have brought this project to its

conclusion

Yossef Rapoport London

Emilie Savage-Smith Oxford

INTRODUCTION

In June of 2002 the Bodleian Library University ofOxford acquired a highly illustrated manuscript ofa hitherto unknown Arabic cosmographical trea-tise This newly discovered manuscript containeda remarkable series of early maps and astronomi-cal diagrams most of which are unparalleled inany Greek Latin or Arabic material known to bepreserved today No less importantly both the illus-trations and the text preserve material gatheredfrom Muslim astronomers historians scholars andtravellers of the ninth to eleventh centuries whose works are now either lost or preserved only in frag-ments The manuscript now assigned the shelfmarkMS Arab c 90 is here reproduced in facsimileaccompanied by an edition of the Arabic text andan annotated English translation

The manuscript is a copy probably made inEgypt in the late twelfth or early thirteenth centuryof an anonymous work compiled in Egypt between AD 1020 and 1050 The rhyming title of the volume Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn looselytranslates as The Book of Curiosities of the Sciences

and Marvels for the Eyes For convenience the trea-tise is referred to simply as The Book of Curiosities

The treatise preserved in this early highly illus-trated manuscript was essentially unknown toscholars prior to its being o1048678fered for sale at auctionin London on 10 October 2000 (Christiersquos Islamic

Art amp Manuscripts lot 41) even though later it wasdiscovered that eight other copies of all or por-tions of the text (lacking most of the illustrations) were preserved in manuscripts of the sixteenthto nineteenth century that had lain unnoticed inother libraries At auction the manuscript was pur-chased by Sam Fogg a well-known London dealerin rare books and manuscripts Not long thereafterhe o1048678fered it to the Bodleian Library at a price wellunder the true market value In June of 2002 follow-ing an extensive fund-raising e1048678fort the Bodleianlibrary celebrated the acquisition of this remarkable Arabic manuscript

The treatise now designated as Bodleian LibraryMS Arab c 90 is divided into two parts (maqālahs)The 983142983145rst part or book on celestial matters is com-posed of ten chapters and begins with a descriptionof the heavens and their in852070983148uence upon events onEarth It contains a number of unique illustrations

and rare texts including an illustrated discourse oncomets and several pages depicting various promi-nent stars nearby the lsquolunar mansionsrsquo which arestar-groups near the ecliptic whose risings and set-tings were traditionally used to predict rain andother meteorological events The authorrsquos inter-est throughout the book is primarily astrologicaland divinatory and no mathematical astronomy ispresented

The second book on the Earth is divided intotwenty-983142983145ve chapters According to the author thissecond book is largely dependent upon the Geog-

raphy of Ptolemy In general however our authorrsquosinterest is descriptive and historical rather thanmathematical Along with geographical and histori-cal texts the manuscript contains two world mapsone rectangular and one circular The author thenfollows with maps of the great seas known to him which were the Indian Ocean the Mediterraneanand the Caspian The author was particularly inter-ested in depicting the shores of the Mediterraneanof which he probably had 983142983145rst-hand knowledgeBesides the detailed schematic map of the coastsand islands of the Mediterranean the treatise alsocontains unique maps of Sicily and Cyprus as wellas the strategic ports of al-Mahdīyah in North Africaand Tinnīs in Egypt The book also includes 983142983145veriver-maps (the Nile the Euphrates the Tigris theOxus and the Indus) The concluding 983142983145ve chaptersdescribe lsquocuriositiesrsquo such as monstrous animals and wondrous plants

In 2007 an electronic high-quality reproductionof the Bodleian manuscript and its illustrationslinked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition(without full use of other copies) and a preliminaryEnglish translation was made available at www bodleyoxacukbookofcuriosities The remarkablesigni983142983145cance of the treatise for the history of Islamiccartography and cosmology in particular and for thehistory of pre-modern cartography in general hasbeen recognized in several publications on speci983142983145cmaps and diagrams in the manuscript983089 The study of

983089 See amongst others Johns amp Savage-Smith 2003 Rapoportamp Savage-Smith 2004 Edson amp Savage-Smith 2004 Parry 2004Barber 2005 Horden amp Purcell 2006 Galician 2007 Bloom 2007Rapoport amp Savage-Smith 2008 Kahlaoui 2008 Kahlaoui 2008a

2 10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

some aspects of this treatise is still on-going espe-cially with regard to its contribution to the historyof astrology and astronomy its place in the geo-graphical and mirabilia traditions and its impacton our knowledge of the Fatimid caliphate and ofmaritime travel in the medieval Islamic world

Our purpose here is to present a full edition of thetreatise taking into account all the later manuscriptcopies In addition we provide here an Englishannotated translation and a facsimile reproductionof the entire manuscript The aim is to allow read-ers to examine the treatise as a whole in a way thatis not possible in an online edition and to consultan authoritative edition and translation that re852070983148ectsour decade-long study of the Bodleian manuscriptand other copies We open with the facsimile ofthe early Bodleian copy followed by the editionemploying all the copies of the entire Arabic textand all the map-and diagram-labels Following this we present an extensively annotated translation ofthe text and the labels concluding with an extendedglossary of star-names and thematic indexes

In the following pages of this Introduction welist and compare the known copies of the treatiseestablish the authorship and date of the treatiseand its component parts and explain our editorialconventions A full comprehensive study of thecontents of the treatise in the context of eleventh-century Fatimid society and learning must await aseparate publication But we hope this edition willgreatly enhance future research on the signi983142983145canceof this remarkable treatise for the history of cartog-raphy science and Islamic civilisation

I T983144983141 C9831519831521048681983141983155

MS A mdashOxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90

Date The copy is unsigned and undated Theappearance of the paper ink and script sug-gests a possible dating of the end of the twelfthcentury

Contents It is an incomplete copy missing part ofthe penultimate chapter and all of the last onein Book Two At the end of the volume in thegutter are narrow remnants of two folios thathave been cut from the volume corresponding

Kaplony 2008 Rapoport 2008 Savage-Smith 2009 Savage-Smith2010 Savage-Smith 2010a Rapoport 2011 Savage-Smith 2011aRapoport 2012

to the missing 983142983145nal chapters (part of 224 and allof 225) The eighth and ninth chapters of BookTwo are missing from the text as they are in allother copies

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle appears in the text on fol 1b10486251048625 as well as onthe title page (fol 1a) as Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn

wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn Beneath the title a laterowner has noted lsquoTo the author of this treatisethere belongs another book whose title is Muḥī983156 (Comprehensive) ⟨ ⟩ it is stated thus in theentry for the island of Sardiniarsquo

Physical description 48 leaves (folios 1andash48b)plus torn gutter strips from two missing leavesDimensions 324 times 245 cm (text area 291 times 226cm on folios without maps) 27 lines per page

Paper The lightly glossed biscuit-brown paper issturdy rather soft and relatively opaque Thepaper has thick slightly curved horizontal laidlines and there are rib shadows but no chainlines or watermarks are visible The thickness ofthe paper varies between 017 and 020 mm andmeasures 3 on the Sharp Scale of Opaquenessthe laid lines are 6ndash7 wirescm with the spacebetween lines less than the width of one line Thepaper appears to have been made using a grassmouldmdasha method used in Egypt and GreaterSyria in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries(greater precision is not possible)983090 The paperhas some damp-staining foxing and wormholesand there is considerable soiling and grime nearthe edges of the pages which have been trimmedfrom their original size with the loss in places oftext and marginalia Numerous repairs had beenmade to the paper at various times Conservationof the manuscript at the Bodleian was carried outby Alison McKay and Sabina Pugh in its conser- vation laboratories Multiple layers of old repairshad accumulated on the leaves causing particu-lar sti1048678fness in the spine area Sympathetic newrepairs replaced the old ones to reveal text andimages but some were left in place as they wereconsidered to be part of the cultural history ofthe manuscript

Script The text area has been frame-ruled Thetext is written in a medium-large Naskh script indense black ink with headings in warm-red ink

983090 For similar Islamic papers see Loveday 2001 and we thankHelen Loveday for examining and discussing with us the paperin this particular manuscript

10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150 3

Many diacritical dots are missing A sin is oftendistinguished from a shīn by a small haacuteček lessfrequently a haacuteček distinguishes the undotted(al-muhmalah) letters rāʾ or ṣad from the dottedforms A haacuteček occasionally is placed over a duc-tus that ought to have had two dots beneath indi-cating a yāʾ in a medial position A tāʾ marbū983156ah is often ligatured to a preceding rāʾ or dāl or dhāl a 983142983145nal letter ʿayn is occasionally ligatured to the983142983145rst letter of the following word A tāʾ marbū983156ah is very seldom dotted A small break occurs beforea medial or 983142983145nal 983156āʾ where the copyist lifted thepen when an unbroken connection with the pre-ceding letter would have been expected Textstops are indicated by a dot enclosed in a circleor by the symbol

ھ

(= intahaacute) There are somecatchwords The illustrations are labelled in asimilar but smaller hand Both hands are closerin many of their characteristics to those of copy-ists known to have worked in Greater Syria atthe end of the twelfth century or early thirteenthcentury than to the hands of securely dated andlocated products of the fourteenth century983091

Illustrations In Book One there is an opening dia-gram (double-page) immediately following theintroduction a single-page diagram at the end of11 and a half-page diagram in 110 There are alsocomet illustrations in 16 and 17 and diagramsof lunar mansions in 19 In Book Two there areseventeen maps or diagrams in chapters 21 2527 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 (two)218 (983142983145ve) The maps in Book Two use a stan-dard set of colours to convey the topographicalfeatures with green for salty seas and lakes andblue for fresh-water lakes and rivers The moun-tains are usually reddish-brown and town walls where depicted are darker brown-purple Reddots represent cities towns villages and anchor-age points The map of al-Mahdīyah has a multi-coloured depiction of the twin palaces of the city

983091 For example the script and paper are similar to a treatiseby the Egyptian scholar al-Dimyāṭī preserved in a copy (OxfordBodleian Library MS Marsh 592) completed 12 Jumādaacute II 592(13 May 1196) which displays many of the same orthographicfeatures including picking up the pen before writing the 983156āʾ (fol 98a1048625983095) for sample pages see Edson amp Savage-Smith 2004 19983142983145g 7 and King 2004 758 983142983145g 27 Other similarities of script andpaper can be observed in Gotha Forschungsbibliothek GothaMS orient A 1521 dated 5691173 Leiden MS Or 3101 cop-ied 5691173 Bodleian MS Huntington 202 copied in Syria inShaʿban 592July 1196 and Bodleian MS Marsh 379 fols 2andash87bmade between 5601165 and 6101213 (for the latter two exam-ples see Savage-Smith 2011 322ndash3 and plates xviiindashxx)

and the diagram of the sources of the Nile depictsa large crocodile The circular world map (at theend of 25) employs a slightly di1048678ferent paletteand is the only map in the volume to employcopper greens

Some illustrations such as those depictingcomets or small islands have traces of gold orsilver sprinklings while other areas in the mapsmay have been over-painted or coated in a shinylacquer-like material that is now crackled andcrazed A preliminary analysis of the pigments was conducted by Dr Sandra Grantham a consul-tant paper conservator using optical microscopyin the conservation workshop of the BodleianLibrary A full analysis using Raman Spectros-copy was subsequently carried out by Dr TraceyChaplin at the Christopher Ingold LaboratoriesUniversity College London983092 Further examinationof the pigments was carried out by Sabina Pughin the conservation workshop of the BodleianLibrary who used optical microscopy to try todetermine which pigments belonged to the origi-nal paint layer and which were over-painting orre-touching Six pigments were identi983142983145ed in theillustrations cinnabar (red) orpiment (yellow)lazurite (blue) indigo carbon-based black andbasic lead carbonate (a lsquolead whitersquo) Four furtherpigments could not be identi983142983145ed a golden mate-rial a green pigment the purple pigment usedto depict city walls and the blue component ofthe dark green pigment mixture on certain foliosNo evidence of modern inks or pigments wasrevealed The results of the scienti983142983145c analyses arecompletely consistent with the suggested originand age of the manuscript

Binding When acquired by the Bodleian Librarythe volume was contained in an Ottoman bindingof possibly eighteenth- or nineteenth-centurydate the binding was too small for the manu-script and in extremely poor condition The 983142983145rstfolio of the manuscript has staining that indicatesan earlier binding included an envelope 852070983148ap Atpresent the volume is dis-bound with the bind-ing removed and stored separately it remainsdis-bound to allow for easier exhibition

Provenance The title page also has two impressionsof an undated Ottoman () stamp reading Saʿdīibn ʿĪsaacute al-faqīr al-mutawakkil ʿalaacute Allāh al-kabīr

983092 The results of the Raman spectroscopic analysis have beenpublished in Chaplin Clark et al 2006

4 10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

There are also two undated ownersrsquo signaturesthe upper signature reading lsquoIn the book collec-tion of the one in need of God Muṣṭafaacute knownas Koumlpruuml-zade may God forgive himrsquo and thelower one reading lsquoAmongst the property of Yaḥyaacute ibn Muḥammad al-Mallāḥ (the sailer thesalt-miner)rsquo Between the two signatures thereis also one completely defaced ownerrsquos note InChapter Five of Book Two there are two half-page paintings (a wāqwāq-tree and an inhabitedscrolling vine) added by a later owner probablyin the fourteenth or 983142983145fteenthth century

Editionsprintings In 2007 an electronic high-quality reproduction of the manuscript and itsillustrations linked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition (without full use of other copies)and a preliminary English translation was madeavailable at wwwbodleyoxacukbookofcuriosi-ties The bibliographic citation is Emilie Savage-Smith and Yossef Rapoport (eds) The Book of

Curiosities A critical edition World-Wide-Webpublication ( wwwbodleyoxacukbookofcuri-osities) (March 2007)

Catalogue descriptions none

MS DmdashDamascus Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa983156anīyah MS 16501

Date The copy was completed on the last Sun-day in the 983142983145rst ten days of Rabīʿ I of the year972 [= 9 Rabīʿ I 972 = 15 October 1564] by AbūBakr ibn Fakhr al-Dīn ibn Ḥamzah ibn al-shaykh

Muḥammad min qaryat Muʿārat Ikhwān (fromthe village of Muʿārat Ikhwān)983093 The colophon isgiven on fol 210b10486251048625ndash10486251048629

Contents It is an incomplete copy Compared toMS A this manuscript lacks many of the illustra-tions maps and diagrams while adding textualmaterial from other sources Book One lacks theopening diagram (though it has the surroundingtext) Also missing from Book One is the entirefourth chapter the start of the 983142983145fth chapter andportions of the ninth and tenth chapters In thebody of the ninth chapter of Book One materialis taken from Ibn Qutaybahrsquos Kitāb al-Anwāʾ the983142983145rst three entries of the ninth chapter as givenin other copies are written here in the margins

983093 The name as written here is possibly a variant of Maʿarratal-Nuʿmān (

ن

984615 1050181 984633 ة ا 984644 نر

984645) a well-known town in northern Syriaع Al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh identi983142983145es Muʿārat Ikhwān with the village of Martaḥwān in the environs of Aleppo (Yāqūt 18664487) but without evidence (Gharāʾib 2011 129 nt 1 and 2689nt 8)

In Book Two the second seventh and elev-enth chapters which contain only maps and notext are missing The eighth and ninth chaptersof Book Two are also missing as in all manu-scripts In 215 there are nine additional entriesfor mythical islands interspersed between theentries for Indian Ocean islands found in MS AThe manuscript also contains three additionallong books (maqālahs) on horses ( fī al-khayl ) in 983142983145ve chapters ( faṣl s) of which the 983142983145nal one ismissing on camels ( fī nūq) in nineteen faṣl s andon hunting and game ( fī ṣayd wa-al-qanaṣ) intwenty-one faṣl s

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle is given in the text on fol 2a1048628ndash1048629 as Gharāʾib

al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn On fol 1a a later handhas written Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ

al-ʿuyūn wa-fīhi min kull ʿilm wa-ṣinf ʿilm 9175011114109ة ه 984645ن ) 1048573نو

1050169 ن

ن91750111141099846451114109 و

1050169

984643 )

Physical description 201 leaves (folios 1andash201b) Thesize of the leaves is not known but there are13ndash15 lines per page The nature of the paper isunknown

Script The text is carefully written in a clearmedium-large Naskh script The text area hasbeen frame-ruled There are text stops and end-of-line 983142983145llers of three dots in a triangular for-mation There are catchwords and most of themarginalia appear to be in the hand of the copy-ist For the opening folio see Gharāʾib 2011 189For other examples of folios from the manuscriptsee 983142983145gs 06 08 and 014ndash019

Illustrations In Book One there is a single-pagediagram at the end of 11 constellation 983142983145guresformed of lines of dots have been added to thetext of 13 In 16 and 17 there are illustrations ofcomets and in 19 diagrams of lunar mansions Atthe end of 21 there is a crude rectangular sketch(repeated twice) aligning the cardinal directions with zodiacal signs Chapter 210 has two emptyrectangular frames with the title of the chapter(lsquoThe tenth chapter on the Western Seamdashiethe Syrian Seamdashand its harbours and islandsand anchoragesrsquo) written at the edge and in 217there are several empty circles suggestive of thelake diagrams in the earlier Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 The city of al-Mahdīyah (213) theisland of Cyprus (215) and the rivers Nile Tigrisand Oxus are represented by crude unlabelledsketches whose general signi983142983145cance is recogniz-able only when compared to the equivalent maps

10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150 5

in the earlier Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 See983142983145gs 06 08 011 012 and 014ndash019 for examples

Binding unknown Provenance The manuscript was formerly kept

in Aleppo as al-Maktabah al-Waqfīyah MS 957On the title page (fol 1a) there are several own-ersrsquo notes for the most part illegible or defacedand one prominent seven-line study note dated9801572ndash3 written by the copyist of the manu-script eight years after completing this copy Thenote indicates that this manuscript was the basisfor another copy prepared by the same copyistbut one that contained only the 983142983145rst book on theheavens The note reads

9175011114109984645ن هن

1114109 ة

9846451114109984644 و

ر

نآ

ا

ى

853572 ا

ل ه

و

ا

ن

984645 س ه

ا

ى

1050151 ا 984625ة

ة 984644 ن 984644 ها

ن

ة984644 984615 984643 ن

853543 ة

ا ان

1050183 ة

ى

ر

ن

ن

1114109 ن

984645 984627 984615 984643 ن و 853575 1050179 853543 ى853561 ا

د

و

853543 984615 1050181 853571 ن

هة

ل

و

1050151 هة ا

ل

853543 ة 984644 ا

853543 ة984644 ة 1050161 1050151 984648 ا

1050169و

853543 ة ن

984644 ا 984648 ط ه ة 984644 ه ا ل

853543984629 ة

اى

1050161 853543 ن

9175011114109

ا

984648ا 984627ش ر

ش ى

ل

ند

و

ة

9175011114109 984644 1050161 984648 ن ه ش 984645ن

هة

984615 1050181 984633 ة

و

نة

ن 853543

There are also three impressions of a small octag-onal ownerrsquos stamp (not legible) On folios 1band 201b there are impressions of a large round

stamp reading اد 1050161ن 984644ن 1114109ةة

1048573 و

984649 984644 ا 1114109نة

9846451114109

ا 984645ن

ن

1114109

984621ة

984649 984648 984645 984625 اة

ن

984644

984645 853543 ن

917501 1050157 ا ن 984648 984644 د ن را ن

ا

Editionsprintings The text of this manuscript hasbeen edited by al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh983094 Forthe purposes of our present edition we havemade use of scans of the Damascus manuscriptitself and on occasion present a di1048678ferent reading

Catalogue descriptions none

MS BmdashOxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 68

item 6

Date The copy was transcribed by al-faqīr Manṣūrbi-ism Shammās (the ordained deacon) inNovember of AD 1571 The date is given as themonth of Tishrīn II 1882 using the Alexandrian(or Seleucid) calendar which began 1 October 312BC The volume in which this item is bound con-tains nine treatises in either Arabic or Karshūnī(the Syriac script used by the Christians of Syriaand Mesopotamia for writing Arabic) all of themapparently copied in Syria See 983142983145g 01 for the col-ophon in the manuscript

983094 Gharāʾib 2011 195ndash512 and 2513ndash689

The folio following this item in the manuscript(fol 145b) has an eleven-line note in Karshūnī pre-senting a carefully written lineage of the copyist

ل

ن د

و

أ

ا نة

984645984648 853549 ر

ا 853543 ن اد ن

984621 أ

ا ل هة]

984627 =] ل هة

984645984627 ن

1114109 ة

9846451114109984644

ل ه

853575 1050179 984625ة ا

ن

ء 853543 ن 984644أ

ا ش

ش و

ا]ن

1050179 ]

ة

9175011114109984645 9175011114109 984645 نأ

ا

و

نة

ة1048573 853543 ن

ة984648 853549 ن أ

ا 1114109 984644ة

1050161 984648 984629 1114109984645ن

ة

ى

نأ

ا

و

ن

853543 ة

ى

نأ

ا 853543 ن 984625 ن

ل

ن د

و

أ

ا 853543 ن9175011114109 ة

9846451114109984645 853543984627 أ

ا نو

ن

ر

أ

1050151 ان

1114109 ة984644 984615 984643 ة

1050179 ا 853543 ن أ

ا

و

ا]ن

1050179 ] 984648ة853549 ن أ

1050151 1114109 984644ةة

984649 853549 ن او

ة

9175011114109 984645 ة9175011114109 ا

ܬܢܐ) (ܓ 853543 ن 853543 ش9175011114109 ة

9846451114109 ن

ة 853543984645و

ة

ى

نأ

ا ا]ن

1050179 ] ة

ن984621 853543

نأ

1050151 1050161 984648 984629 1114109984645ن

ر

1050165 853543 ن ة

ى

ن او

هة ة

9175011114109984645و

1050161 ة

984649 853549 ن أ

ا

و

984648 د

984645 ة

ى

أ

ا

و

1050161 984648 984629 س ه 1114109984645ن

853543 ن

1114109 ة

9846451114109

س

ة

853543 ة

ش984627 ه س

ا 853543 ن 984648 ن

أ

ا

و

ل ه

853543 ط

ة

ى

نا

و

ل ه

ا ر ن نة

ى

نا

و

ة ة

9175011114109 984644 ة

984649 853549 ن او

ه

س

اة

ى

أ

ن 984648 اأ

ة

984649

ن

984621 و

ة 853543 ن 984644 917501 1050157و 984648 853549 ن ا

1050161 أ

ل ه ا

و

ه

ل

ا ة

ن

1050161 1050161

ن

984621 و

984621ه و

1050161

ة

9175011114109 984645 ة

ه ل

ة ا

ة1048573

ن

984621 1050161 ن

984615 984643 853543 ن9175011114109853549 984648 ة ( (ܟܘة

984649 1050161 984648 853549 ن

984615 1050181 س ه ش

984648 ا

ة

984649 1050161 984648 853549 ن ة

984649

ن

984621

ن

9175011114109 ة1048573 و

984648 ة

984649 1050161 984648 ه 853549 ن

س

ا ة

ى

أ

ا

ه 1048573 984629 984615 1050181ة

ل ه شن

9175011114109 ة1048573 و

ة

1050183 984625ا ن

أ

Contents It is an incomplete copy of Book One Asin MS D it lacks the opening diagram (though ithas the surrounding text) the entire fourth andthe opening part of the 983142983145fth chapter It also lacksthe 983142983145nal chapters of Book One that is the eighthninth and tenth chapters Of Book Two it hasonly a partial copy of the 983142983145rst and third chaptersChapter three of Book Two contains additionalmaterial on each of the climes that is not foundin the other manuscripts

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle is given (in Syriac script) in the text onfol 109b983096 as Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ

al-ʿuyūn see 983142983145g 02 Physical description 46 leaves (folios 109bndash144a)

Dimensions 212 times 153 (text area 174 times c122) cm21ndash24 lines per page

Paper The sti1048678f biscuit paper has little evidenceof sizing and has turned darker near the edgesof the volume It has a thickness of 017minus019mm and an opaqueness factor of 4 with thinstraight vertical laid lines single chain lines and watermarks (an anchor in a circle () and a starover a crescent moon) There is some foxing anddamp-staining

Script There is no trace of frame-ruling and thespacing of lines is irregular The text is written in alarge Arabic and Karshūnī script using dark-brownink with prominent words formed with a broaderpen-stroke text-breaks or headings are indicatedby four small dots There are catchwords but nomarginalia are found in this portion of the vol-ume There is an illuminated heading in black inkand red opaque watercolours at the opening ofthe text (fol 109b) see 983142983145g 02

Page 4: An Eleventh-Century Egyptian Guide to the Universe

Cover illustration Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 fols 23bndash24a reproduced withpermission of the Bodleian Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ghararsquoib al-funun wa-mulah al-ʾuyun An eleventh-century Egyptian guide to the universe the Book of curiosities edited andtranslated by Yossef Rapoport and Emilie Savage-Smith pages cm mdash (Islamic philosophy theology and science v 87) Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 978-90-04-25564-7 (hardback alk paper) mdash ISBN 978-90-04-25699-6 (e-book) 1 CosmographymdashEarly works to 1800 2 GeographymdashEarly works to 1800 3 CartographymdashEarly works to 1800 4 EarthmdashEarly works to 1800 5 Astronomy Medieval I Rapoport Yossef1968ndash II Savage-Smith Emilie III Ghararsquoib al-funun wa-mulah al-ʾuyun English IV Title

GA5G5313 2014 5231089rsquo92762mdashdc23

2013030065

This publication has been typeset in the multilingual ldquoBrillrdquo typeface With over 1048629104862510486241048624 characterscovering Latin IPA Greek and Cyrillic this typeface is especially suitable for use in thehumanities For more information please see wwwbrillcombrill-typeface

ISSN 983088983089983094983097-983096983095983090983097ISBN 983097983095983096-983097983088-983088983092-983090983093983093983094983092-983095 (hardback)ISBN 983097983095983096-983097983088-983088983092-983090983093983094983097983097-983094 (e-book)

Copyright 2014 by Koninklijke Brill NV Leiden The NetherlandsKoninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill Global Oriental Hotei PublishingIDC Publishers and Martinus Nijho983142f Publishers

All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced translated stored ina retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic mechanicalphotocopying recording or otherwise without prior written permission from the publisher

Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NVprovided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center222 Rosewood Drive Suite 910 Danvers MA 01923 USAFees are subject to change

This book is printed on acid-free paper

CONTENTS

List of Figures vii

Acknowledgements xi

Introduction 852017

Sigla 9830911048630

Facsimile of Oxford Bodleian MS Arab c 1048633852016

ARABIC EDITION

Book One On the Heavens 983091852018852018

Book Two On the Earth 8520171048633852016

TRANSLATION WITH COMMENTARY

Book One On the Heavens 983091852018983091

Book Two On the Earth 852020852017852021

Glossary of Star-Names 8520218520181048633

Bibliography 10486301048630983091

Index of Animals and Plants 10486308520231048633

Index of Astronomical and Astrological Terms 1048630852024983091

Index of Peoples and Tribes 1048630852024852020

Index of Place Names 1048630852024852021

General Index 10486301048633983091

LIST OF FIGURES

I9831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

10486241048625 The colophon of MS B transcribed by al-faqīr Manṣūr bi-ism

Shammās (the ordained deacon) in the month of Tishrīn II 1048625104863210486321048626

(November AD 1048625104862910486311048625) Oxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632

fol 104862510486281048628a 1048630

10486241048626 The opening of MS B Oxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632

fol 10486251048624852025b copied AD 1048625104862910486311048625 852023

10486241048627 The opening of MS G Forschungsbibliothek Gotha MS orient

A 10486261048624852022852022 fols 104862510486281048631bndash104862510486281048632a copied 10486251048625104862910486281048625104863110486281048625 852017852016

10486241048628 Stemma showing the probable relationships between preserved

copies 852017983091

10486241048629 Diagram in MS M illustrating retrograde motion of the 1048678983145ve lsquoerraticrsquo

planets at the end of Chapter One Book One Milan Biblioteca

Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fol 10486251048628b copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 8520171048630

1048624852022 Diagram in MS D illustrating retrograde motion of the 1048678983145ve lsquoerraticrsquo

planets at the end of Chapter One Book One Damascus Maktabat

al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fol 10486251048626a copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 8520171048630

10486241048631 Two diagrams in MS B illustrating retrograde motion one labelled

in Arabic script and the other in Syriac script from the end of

Chapter One Book One Oxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632

fols 104862510486251048629bndash10486251048625852022a copied 1048625104862910486311048625 852017852023

10486241048632 The constellations of Booumltes Corona Borealis Hercules Lyra

Cygnus and Cassiopeia from Chapter Three of Book One in MS D

Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 10486261048632bndash1048626852025a

copied in 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852017852024

1048624852025 The constellations Ursa Minor Ursa Major and Draco (with start of

text for Cepheus) from Chapter Three of Book One in MS B Bodleian

Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632 fol 104862510486261048628b copied 1048625104862910486311048625 8520171048633

104862410486251048624 The constellations Ursa Minor and Ursa Major (with start of

text for Draco) from Chapter Three of Book One in MS M Milan

Biblioteca Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fol 10486271048624b copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 852018852016

104862410486251048625 Eleven comets said to have been described by Ptolemy in Chapter

Six of Book One as illustrated in the earliest copy (MS A) compared

with the three later ones (D B and M) Bodleian MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486251048627bndash10486251048628b undated c 1048625104862610486241048624 Damascus Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 1048627852022andash1048627852025a copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 Oxford

Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632 fols 10486251048626852025bndash104862510486271048625a copied 1048625104862910486311048625 Milan

Biblioteca Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fols 10486281048624bndash10486281048628a copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 852018852017

104862410486251048626 The seven illustrated lsquostars with faint lancesrsquo attributed to Hermes

in Chapter Seven of Book One as illustrated in the earliest copy

(MS A) compared with the three later ones (D B and M) Bodleian

MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486251048629bndash1048625852022a undated c 1048625104862610486241048624 Damascus Maktabat

al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 10486281048627andash10486281048627b copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628

Oxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632 fols 104862510486271048627bndash104862510486271048628a copied

1048625104862910486311048625 Milan Biblioteca Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fols 10486281048632bndash1048628852025b

copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 852018852018

viii 9831481048681983155983156 983151852070 8520701048681983143983157983154983141983155

104862410486251048627 The opening of Chapter Nine Book One in MS M Milan

Biblioteca Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fols 1048629852025bndash8520221048624a copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 852018983091

104862410486251048628 Part of Chapter Nine Book One in MS D in which the text for

the 1048678983145rst three lunar mansions as given in MS A is transcribed in the

margins as a commentary (sharḥ) on the discussion of lunar mansions

taken from Kitāb al-Anwāʾ of Ibn Qutaybah (d c 1048626104863185202210486321048632852025) and placed

in the body of the text Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah

MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 10486291048627bndash10486291048628a copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852020

104862410486251048629 Rectilinear frames on consecutive pages in Chapter Ten of Book

Two in MS D They indicate space for a map of the Mediterranean

left blank except for the title written at the bottom of the 1048678983145rst frame

and continued at the top or the next lsquoThe tenth chapter on the

Western Seamdashie the Syrian Seamdashand its harbours and islands and

anchoragesrsquo Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625

fols 8520251048626a and 8520251048626b copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852021

10486241048625852022 Sketch map of al-Mahdīyah in Chapter Thirteen of Book Two

in MS D Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625

fols 8520251048632bndash852025852025a copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 8520181048630

104862410486251048631 Sketch map of Cyprus in Chapter Fifteen of Book Two in MS D

Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fol 104862510486241048629b

copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852023

104862410486251048632 Sketch for map of the River Nile Chapter Eighteen of Book Two in

MS D Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fol 10486251048625852025b

copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852023

10486241048625852025 Sketches for the River Tigris [or Euphrates] (right) and the River

Oxus (left) from Chapter Eighteen of Book Two in MS D Damascus

Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 104862510486261048624bndash104862510486261048625a copied

85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852024

B983151983151983147 O983150983141

10486251048625 Opening diagram of Book One a circular diagram of the skies

Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 1048626bndash1048627a 9830918520171048630

10486251048626 Closing diagram of Chapter One Book One ldquoDepiction of the arcs

of the lsquoerraticrsquo planets and their associations with the twelve signs of

the zodiacrdquo Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 1048629b 983091852016852017

10486251048627 Table in Chapter Four Book One lsquoOn thirty stars with occult

in1048684uencesrsquo Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 10486251048625b 8520181048630852023

10486251048628 Table in Chapter Five Book One lsquoOn the forms of the northern and

southern starsrsquo Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 10486251048626a 8520181048630852020

10486251048629 Continuation of the table in Chapter Five Book One Oxford

Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 10486251048626b 8520181048630852017

1048625852022 Comets illustrated in Chapter Six Book One Oxford Bodleian

Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486251048627bndash10486251048628b 8520188520201048630ndash852018852021852018

10486251048631 Comets illustrated in Chapter Seven Book One Oxford

Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486251048629bndash1048625852022a 8520189830911048630ndash852018983091852023

10486251048632 Maps of Lunar Mansions I through VII Chapter Nine Book One

Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486251048632andash1048625852025a 852018852017852020ndash852018852018852016

1048625852025 Maps of Lunar Mansions VIII through XIV Chapter Nine

Book One Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 1048625852025andash10486261048624a 8520188520161048633ndash852018852017983091

9831481048681983155983156 983151852070 8520701048681983143983157983154983141983155 ix

104862510486251048624 Maps of Lunar Mansions XV through XXI Chapter Nine

Book One Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486261048624andash10486261048624b 852018852016852020ndash8520188520161048633

104862510486251048625 Maps of Lunar Mansions XXII through XXVIII Chapter Nine

Book One Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486261048624bndash10486261048625a 852018852016852016ndash852018852016852020

104862510486251048626 Diagram in Chapter Ten Book One lsquoOn the blowing of winds

earthquakes and tremorsrsquo Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fol 10486261048625b 8520171048633852023

B983151983151983147 T983159983151

10486261048625 Rectangular World MapmdashEurope Oxford Bodleian Library

MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486261048627bndash10486261048628a 852017852024852020

10486261048626 Rectangular World MapmdashAfrica Oxford Bodleian Library

MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486261048627bndash10486261048628a 852017852024852018

10486261048627 Rectangular World MapmdashAsia Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fols 10486261048627bndash10486261048628a 8520178520231048633

10486261048628 Circular World Map Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486261048631bndash10486261048632a 8520171048630852017

10486261048629 Map of the Indian Ocean Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 1048626852025bndash10486271048624a 8520178520211048630

1048626852022 Map of the Mediterranean Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fols 10486271048624bndash10486271048625a 852017852021852018

10486261048631 Map of the Caspian Sea Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486271048625b 8520178520201048630

10486261048632 Map of Sicily Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486271048626bndash10486271048627a 852017983091852024

1048626852025 Map of al-Mahdīyah Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486271048628a 852017983091852016

104862610486251048624 Map of Tinnīs Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486271048629bndash1048627852022a 852017852017852023

104862610486251048625 Map of Cyprus Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 1048627852022b 852017852017852021

104862610486251048626 Diagram of the Bays of Byzantium Oxford Bodleian Library MS

Arab c 8520251048624 fol 10486271048632a 852017852016852020

104862610486251048627 Map of the Sources of the Nile Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fol 10486281048624a 10486331048630

104862610486251048628 Diagrams of Lakes Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048624b 1048633852021

104862610486251048629 Diagrams of Lakes continued Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fol 10486281048625a 1048633852020

10486261048625852022 Map of the Nile Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048626a 852024852024

104862610486251048631 Map of the Euphrates Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048626b 852024852021

104862610486251048632 Map of the Tigris Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048627a 852024983091

10486261048625852025 Map of the Indus Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048627b 852024852017

104862610486261048624 Map of the Oxus Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048628a 8520231048633

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A project extending over a decade and encompass-

ing the heavens as well as the Earth requires the

assistance of countless people who gave generously

of their time their knowledge and on occasion

their money We take this opportunity to express

our gratitude to all of them

The acquisition of The Book of Curiosities by the

Bodleian Library was made possible by a grant from

the Heritage Lottery Fund and generous donations

from the National Arts Collections Fund the Friends

of the Bodleian Saudi Aramco nine Oxford col-

leges (All Souls College Merton College New Col-

lege Nu9831421048678983145eld College St Antonyrsquos College St Cross

College St Johnrsquos College Wadham College and

Wolfson College) and private individuals These

grants and donations also provided funds for the

conservation pigment analysis and digitisation of

the manuscript the exhibition of the manuscript for

the general public and the preparation of a school

teacherrsquos pack based on portions of the manuscript

They also supported the creation in 2007 of a web-

site presenting an electronic high-quality repro-

duction of the original text and its illustrations

linked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition

(without full use of other copies) and a preliminary

English translation ( wwwbodleyoxacukbookof

curiosities) Moreover the monies (supplemented

by a grant from the Arts amp Humanities Research

Council) supported the preparation of a full study

of the treatise of which the present volume is the

major result

In the early stages of work on the Book of Curi-

osities the project manager was Lesley Forbes

then Keeper of Oriental Collections in the Bodleian

Library Conservation of the manuscript was carried

out by Alison McKay and Sabina Pugh in the con-

servation laboratories of the Bodleian Library This

project would have been impossible without their

expertise and support At the Bodleian we received

support and encouragement from many members

of sta983142f not least Colin Wake1048678983145eld Gillian Evison

and Samuel Fanous

Jeremy Johns Professor of the Art and Archae-

ology of the Islamic Mediterranean and Director

of the Khalili Research Centre for the Art amp Mate-

rial Culture of the Middle East served as project

research manager and worked extensively on the

interpretation of the chapter concerned with Sicily

The Khalili Research Centre part of the Orien-

tal Faculty of the University of Oxford provided a

home for the execution of the project

Many other colleagues and scholars gave gener-

ously of their time and expertise to answer numer-

ous queriesmdashnone more so than Professor Paul

Kunitzsch who patiently and meticulously read

through early drafts of chapters concerned with

star-names His assistance has been invaluable in

interpreting the material Because he was unable

to scrutinise the 1048678983145nal version of the translation

and edition he modestly refused to have his name

appear as a co-author There are no doubt errors

that remain in the readings and interpretations of

the star-names which would have been corrected

had he been able to examine the 1048678983145nal text

Here in Oxford we bene1048678983145ted from the unique

wide-ranging expertise of our colleagues at the

Oriental Institute and beyond Professors Geert

Jan van Gelder and Clive Holes helped with some

1048678983145ner points of Arabic poetry and syntax Dr Robert

Simpson gave invaluable help regarding the Cop-

tic vocabulary in the manuscript Nicholas Purcell

and Peregrine Horden helped us develop our ideas

regarding the representation of the Mediterranean

Dr James Howard-Johnston and Professor Elizabeth

Je983142freys provided a platform in which to test inter-

pretations during two Byzantine Studies seminars

here in Oxford and members of the seminar pro-

vided very useful suggestions particularly Peter Tho-

nemann Dimitri Korobeinikov Teresa Shawcross

and Mary Whitby Dr A10486789831451048678983145 al-Akiti Dr Adam Silver-

stein and Professor David Blackmann of the Centre

for the Study of Ancient Documents amongst many

others gave readily of their time and advice

For identi1048678983145cation of place-names in the Medi-

terranean we acknowledge the generous advice of

Professor Johannes Koder and his colleagues Klaus

Belke Friedrich Hild Andreas Kuumllzer and Peter

Soustal at the Tabula Imperii Byzantini project

based in Vienna who have been remarkably gen-

erous with their time and knowledge On the Ana-

tolian coasts we also consulted Raymond Descat

Ausonius Universiteacute de Bordeaux Dr Tassos Papa-

costas working on Prosopography of the Byzan-

tine World at Kingrsquos College London assisted with

xii 983137983139983147983150983151983159983148983141983140983143983141983149983141983150983156983155

our examination of Cyprus Dr Haris Koutelakis of

Athens kindly provided us with a copy of his study

of maps of the Aegean islands which included an

interpretation of the relevant chapter in the Book

of Curiosities Dr Alex Metcalfe University of Lan-

caster contributed invaluable 1048678983145nal comments

on the Sicilian toponyms Dr Yaacov Lev Depart-

ment of Middle Eastern History Bar Ilan Univer-

sity shared with us his knowledge of the Fatimid

Mediterranean

For identi1048678983145cation of place-names in the East-

ern Islamic world East Africa India and East Asia

we would like to thank the generous advice of Dr

Michal Biran of the Hebrew University Dr Emeri

van Donzel Oegstgeest the Netherlands Dr Roxani

Margariti Emory University Professor David W

Phillipson Director of the Museum of Archaeology

and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge

Professor Tansen Sen of Baruch College the City

University of New York Professor Andre Wink of

the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Drs Ronit

Yoeli-Tlalim and Anna Akasoy then with AHRC

Islam-Tibet Project at the Warburg Institute

Professor Len Berggren of Simon Fraser Uni-

versity provided guidance on mathematical mat-

ters Professor Julio Samsoacute University of Barcelona

similarly o983142fered advice on mathematical aspects of

astrology and astronomy

Professor Dr Andreas Kaplony of the Orien-

talisches Seminar and Institut fuumlr den Nahen und

Mittleren Osten Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaumlt

Muumlnchen and Tarek Kahlaoui of the University of

Pennsylvania helped us develop our ideas regarding

Islamic cartography Jean-Charles Ducegravene Senior

Lector Universiteacute Libre de Bruxelles has shared

with us his unique knowledge of the development

of geographical literature in medieval Islam

On the history of cartography in general and

maritime cartography in particular we have ben-

e1048678983145ted from the enthusiastic support of Professor

Richard Unger Department of History University

of British Columbia and the long-standing collabo-

ration of Evelyn Edson Professor Emeritus at Pied-

mont Virginia Community College

Dr Remke Kruk University of Leiden and Dr

Thomas Reimer Wiesbaden have read and com-

mented on the sections that deal with mirabilia

monsters and wondrous animals Dr Gerald Wick-

ens formerly of Kew Gardens has assisted with the

identi1048678983145cation of some of the wondrous plants

In 2008 al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh submitted to

the University of Jordan a masterrsquos thesis consisting

of an edition of the text based on the Bodleian copy

(then available through the website) and a later copy

now in Damascus the thesis was subsequently pub-

lished in Beirut in 2011 and has proved useful to us

at many points which will be noted Mr al-Rawadieh

has generously shared his research with us at vari-

ous stages and we would like to acknowledge his

scholarship and dedication which in many ways

complemented our e983142forts here Dr Lutfallah Gari

1048678983145rst drew our attention to the Damascus manu-

script and subsequently to his own publication

regarding the dating of the Book of Curiosities

Amongst the scores of others who have advised

us on aspects of this complex manuscript we would

like to make special mention of Charles Burnett of

the Warburg Institute our colleagues at Queen Mary

University of London in particular Professors Miri

Rubin and Jerry Brotton and Dr Alfred Hiatt Pro-

fessor Benjamin Kedar The Institute for Advanced

Study The Hebrew University of Jerusalem the

late Professor William Brice of the University of

Manchester Dr Bill Leadbetter of Edith Cowan

University Joondalup Western Australia Jonathan

M Bloom Norma Jean Calderwood University Pro-

fessor of Islamic and Asian Art Boston College Dr

Moya Carey curator in the Asian Department of

the VampA Museum and Dr Boris Rankov and Dr

Judith McKenzie both of the Department of Clas-

sics Royal Holloway University of London Others

who assisted on very speci1048678983145c points are gratefully

acknowledged within the commentary itself

At Brill we would like to thank our editors

Renee Otto Ingrid Heijckers-Velt Nienke Brienen-

Moolenaar and Kathy van Vliet for their patience

and support in seeing this volume through pro-

duction We also thank the Bodleian Library at

the University of Oxford the Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa1048692anīyah in Damascus the Biblioteca Ambro-

siana in Milan the Dār al-Kutub in Cairo and the

Forschungsbibliothek in Gotha for supplying copies

of manuscripts for study purposes and for granting

permission for the publication of select images

Finally for over a decade our families have

heard far more than they probably wished of puz-

zling place-names unidenti1048678983145able star-names maps

of unusual shapes comets that portend doom and

curious stories of exotic lands Without their sup-

port we could not have brought this project to its

conclusion

Yossef Rapoport London

Emilie Savage-Smith Oxford

INTRODUCTION

In June of 2002 the Bodleian Library University ofOxford acquired a highly illustrated manuscript ofa hitherto unknown Arabic cosmographical trea-tise This newly discovered manuscript containeda remarkable series of early maps and astronomi-cal diagrams most of which are unparalleled inany Greek Latin or Arabic material known to bepreserved today No less importantly both the illus-trations and the text preserve material gatheredfrom Muslim astronomers historians scholars andtravellers of the ninth to eleventh centuries whose works are now either lost or preserved only in frag-ments The manuscript now assigned the shelfmarkMS Arab c 90 is here reproduced in facsimileaccompanied by an edition of the Arabic text andan annotated English translation

The manuscript is a copy probably made inEgypt in the late twelfth or early thirteenth centuryof an anonymous work compiled in Egypt between AD 1020 and 1050 The rhyming title of the volume Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn looselytranslates as The Book of Curiosities of the Sciences

and Marvels for the Eyes For convenience the trea-tise is referred to simply as The Book of Curiosities

The treatise preserved in this early highly illus-trated manuscript was essentially unknown toscholars prior to its being o1048678fered for sale at auctionin London on 10 October 2000 (Christiersquos Islamic

Art amp Manuscripts lot 41) even though later it wasdiscovered that eight other copies of all or por-tions of the text (lacking most of the illustrations) were preserved in manuscripts of the sixteenthto nineteenth century that had lain unnoticed inother libraries At auction the manuscript was pur-chased by Sam Fogg a well-known London dealerin rare books and manuscripts Not long thereafterhe o1048678fered it to the Bodleian Library at a price wellunder the true market value In June of 2002 follow-ing an extensive fund-raising e1048678fort the Bodleianlibrary celebrated the acquisition of this remarkable Arabic manuscript

The treatise now designated as Bodleian LibraryMS Arab c 90 is divided into two parts (maqālahs)The 983142983145rst part or book on celestial matters is com-posed of ten chapters and begins with a descriptionof the heavens and their in852070983148uence upon events onEarth It contains a number of unique illustrations

and rare texts including an illustrated discourse oncomets and several pages depicting various promi-nent stars nearby the lsquolunar mansionsrsquo which arestar-groups near the ecliptic whose risings and set-tings were traditionally used to predict rain andother meteorological events The authorrsquos inter-est throughout the book is primarily astrologicaland divinatory and no mathematical astronomy ispresented

The second book on the Earth is divided intotwenty-983142983145ve chapters According to the author thissecond book is largely dependent upon the Geog-

raphy of Ptolemy In general however our authorrsquosinterest is descriptive and historical rather thanmathematical Along with geographical and histori-cal texts the manuscript contains two world mapsone rectangular and one circular The author thenfollows with maps of the great seas known to him which were the Indian Ocean the Mediterraneanand the Caspian The author was particularly inter-ested in depicting the shores of the Mediterraneanof which he probably had 983142983145rst-hand knowledgeBesides the detailed schematic map of the coastsand islands of the Mediterranean the treatise alsocontains unique maps of Sicily and Cyprus as wellas the strategic ports of al-Mahdīyah in North Africaand Tinnīs in Egypt The book also includes 983142983145veriver-maps (the Nile the Euphrates the Tigris theOxus and the Indus) The concluding 983142983145ve chaptersdescribe lsquocuriositiesrsquo such as monstrous animals and wondrous plants

In 2007 an electronic high-quality reproductionof the Bodleian manuscript and its illustrationslinked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition(without full use of other copies) and a preliminaryEnglish translation was made available at www bodleyoxacukbookofcuriosities The remarkablesigni983142983145cance of the treatise for the history of Islamiccartography and cosmology in particular and for thehistory of pre-modern cartography in general hasbeen recognized in several publications on speci983142983145cmaps and diagrams in the manuscript983089 The study of

983089 See amongst others Johns amp Savage-Smith 2003 Rapoportamp Savage-Smith 2004 Edson amp Savage-Smith 2004 Parry 2004Barber 2005 Horden amp Purcell 2006 Galician 2007 Bloom 2007Rapoport amp Savage-Smith 2008 Kahlaoui 2008 Kahlaoui 2008a

2 10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

some aspects of this treatise is still on-going espe-cially with regard to its contribution to the historyof astrology and astronomy its place in the geo-graphical and mirabilia traditions and its impacton our knowledge of the Fatimid caliphate and ofmaritime travel in the medieval Islamic world

Our purpose here is to present a full edition of thetreatise taking into account all the later manuscriptcopies In addition we provide here an Englishannotated translation and a facsimile reproductionof the entire manuscript The aim is to allow read-ers to examine the treatise as a whole in a way thatis not possible in an online edition and to consultan authoritative edition and translation that re852070983148ectsour decade-long study of the Bodleian manuscriptand other copies We open with the facsimile ofthe early Bodleian copy followed by the editionemploying all the copies of the entire Arabic textand all the map-and diagram-labels Following this we present an extensively annotated translation ofthe text and the labels concluding with an extendedglossary of star-names and thematic indexes

In the following pages of this Introduction welist and compare the known copies of the treatiseestablish the authorship and date of the treatiseand its component parts and explain our editorialconventions A full comprehensive study of thecontents of the treatise in the context of eleventh-century Fatimid society and learning must await aseparate publication But we hope this edition willgreatly enhance future research on the signi983142983145canceof this remarkable treatise for the history of cartog-raphy science and Islamic civilisation

I T983144983141 C9831519831521048681983141983155

MS A mdashOxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90

Date The copy is unsigned and undated Theappearance of the paper ink and script sug-gests a possible dating of the end of the twelfthcentury

Contents It is an incomplete copy missing part ofthe penultimate chapter and all of the last onein Book Two At the end of the volume in thegutter are narrow remnants of two folios thathave been cut from the volume corresponding

Kaplony 2008 Rapoport 2008 Savage-Smith 2009 Savage-Smith2010 Savage-Smith 2010a Rapoport 2011 Savage-Smith 2011aRapoport 2012

to the missing 983142983145nal chapters (part of 224 and allof 225) The eighth and ninth chapters of BookTwo are missing from the text as they are in allother copies

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle appears in the text on fol 1b10486251048625 as well as onthe title page (fol 1a) as Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn

wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn Beneath the title a laterowner has noted lsquoTo the author of this treatisethere belongs another book whose title is Muḥī983156 (Comprehensive) ⟨ ⟩ it is stated thus in theentry for the island of Sardiniarsquo

Physical description 48 leaves (folios 1andash48b)plus torn gutter strips from two missing leavesDimensions 324 times 245 cm (text area 291 times 226cm on folios without maps) 27 lines per page

Paper The lightly glossed biscuit-brown paper issturdy rather soft and relatively opaque Thepaper has thick slightly curved horizontal laidlines and there are rib shadows but no chainlines or watermarks are visible The thickness ofthe paper varies between 017 and 020 mm andmeasures 3 on the Sharp Scale of Opaquenessthe laid lines are 6ndash7 wirescm with the spacebetween lines less than the width of one line Thepaper appears to have been made using a grassmouldmdasha method used in Egypt and GreaterSyria in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries(greater precision is not possible)983090 The paperhas some damp-staining foxing and wormholesand there is considerable soiling and grime nearthe edges of the pages which have been trimmedfrom their original size with the loss in places oftext and marginalia Numerous repairs had beenmade to the paper at various times Conservationof the manuscript at the Bodleian was carried outby Alison McKay and Sabina Pugh in its conser- vation laboratories Multiple layers of old repairshad accumulated on the leaves causing particu-lar sti1048678fness in the spine area Sympathetic newrepairs replaced the old ones to reveal text andimages but some were left in place as they wereconsidered to be part of the cultural history ofthe manuscript

Script The text area has been frame-ruled Thetext is written in a medium-large Naskh script indense black ink with headings in warm-red ink

983090 For similar Islamic papers see Loveday 2001 and we thankHelen Loveday for examining and discussing with us the paperin this particular manuscript

10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150 3

Many diacritical dots are missing A sin is oftendistinguished from a shīn by a small haacuteček lessfrequently a haacuteček distinguishes the undotted(al-muhmalah) letters rāʾ or ṣad from the dottedforms A haacuteček occasionally is placed over a duc-tus that ought to have had two dots beneath indi-cating a yāʾ in a medial position A tāʾ marbū983156ah is often ligatured to a preceding rāʾ or dāl or dhāl a 983142983145nal letter ʿayn is occasionally ligatured to the983142983145rst letter of the following word A tāʾ marbū983156ah is very seldom dotted A small break occurs beforea medial or 983142983145nal 983156āʾ where the copyist lifted thepen when an unbroken connection with the pre-ceding letter would have been expected Textstops are indicated by a dot enclosed in a circleor by the symbol

ھ

(= intahaacute) There are somecatchwords The illustrations are labelled in asimilar but smaller hand Both hands are closerin many of their characteristics to those of copy-ists known to have worked in Greater Syria atthe end of the twelfth century or early thirteenthcentury than to the hands of securely dated andlocated products of the fourteenth century983091

Illustrations In Book One there is an opening dia-gram (double-page) immediately following theintroduction a single-page diagram at the end of11 and a half-page diagram in 110 There are alsocomet illustrations in 16 and 17 and diagramsof lunar mansions in 19 In Book Two there areseventeen maps or diagrams in chapters 21 2527 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 (two)218 (983142983145ve) The maps in Book Two use a stan-dard set of colours to convey the topographicalfeatures with green for salty seas and lakes andblue for fresh-water lakes and rivers The moun-tains are usually reddish-brown and town walls where depicted are darker brown-purple Reddots represent cities towns villages and anchor-age points The map of al-Mahdīyah has a multi-coloured depiction of the twin palaces of the city

983091 For example the script and paper are similar to a treatiseby the Egyptian scholar al-Dimyāṭī preserved in a copy (OxfordBodleian Library MS Marsh 592) completed 12 Jumādaacute II 592(13 May 1196) which displays many of the same orthographicfeatures including picking up the pen before writing the 983156āʾ (fol 98a1048625983095) for sample pages see Edson amp Savage-Smith 2004 19983142983145g 7 and King 2004 758 983142983145g 27 Other similarities of script andpaper can be observed in Gotha Forschungsbibliothek GothaMS orient A 1521 dated 5691173 Leiden MS Or 3101 cop-ied 5691173 Bodleian MS Huntington 202 copied in Syria inShaʿban 592July 1196 and Bodleian MS Marsh 379 fols 2andash87bmade between 5601165 and 6101213 (for the latter two exam-ples see Savage-Smith 2011 322ndash3 and plates xviiindashxx)

and the diagram of the sources of the Nile depictsa large crocodile The circular world map (at theend of 25) employs a slightly di1048678ferent paletteand is the only map in the volume to employcopper greens

Some illustrations such as those depictingcomets or small islands have traces of gold orsilver sprinklings while other areas in the mapsmay have been over-painted or coated in a shinylacquer-like material that is now crackled andcrazed A preliminary analysis of the pigments was conducted by Dr Sandra Grantham a consul-tant paper conservator using optical microscopyin the conservation workshop of the BodleianLibrary A full analysis using Raman Spectros-copy was subsequently carried out by Dr TraceyChaplin at the Christopher Ingold LaboratoriesUniversity College London983092 Further examinationof the pigments was carried out by Sabina Pughin the conservation workshop of the BodleianLibrary who used optical microscopy to try todetermine which pigments belonged to the origi-nal paint layer and which were over-painting orre-touching Six pigments were identi983142983145ed in theillustrations cinnabar (red) orpiment (yellow)lazurite (blue) indigo carbon-based black andbasic lead carbonate (a lsquolead whitersquo) Four furtherpigments could not be identi983142983145ed a golden mate-rial a green pigment the purple pigment usedto depict city walls and the blue component ofthe dark green pigment mixture on certain foliosNo evidence of modern inks or pigments wasrevealed The results of the scienti983142983145c analyses arecompletely consistent with the suggested originand age of the manuscript

Binding When acquired by the Bodleian Librarythe volume was contained in an Ottoman bindingof possibly eighteenth- or nineteenth-centurydate the binding was too small for the manu-script and in extremely poor condition The 983142983145rstfolio of the manuscript has staining that indicatesan earlier binding included an envelope 852070983148ap Atpresent the volume is dis-bound with the bind-ing removed and stored separately it remainsdis-bound to allow for easier exhibition

Provenance The title page also has two impressionsof an undated Ottoman () stamp reading Saʿdīibn ʿĪsaacute al-faqīr al-mutawakkil ʿalaacute Allāh al-kabīr

983092 The results of the Raman spectroscopic analysis have beenpublished in Chaplin Clark et al 2006

4 10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

There are also two undated ownersrsquo signaturesthe upper signature reading lsquoIn the book collec-tion of the one in need of God Muṣṭafaacute knownas Koumlpruuml-zade may God forgive himrsquo and thelower one reading lsquoAmongst the property of Yaḥyaacute ibn Muḥammad al-Mallāḥ (the sailer thesalt-miner)rsquo Between the two signatures thereis also one completely defaced ownerrsquos note InChapter Five of Book Two there are two half-page paintings (a wāqwāq-tree and an inhabitedscrolling vine) added by a later owner probablyin the fourteenth or 983142983145fteenthth century

Editionsprintings In 2007 an electronic high-quality reproduction of the manuscript and itsillustrations linked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition (without full use of other copies)and a preliminary English translation was madeavailable at wwwbodleyoxacukbookofcuriosi-ties The bibliographic citation is Emilie Savage-Smith and Yossef Rapoport (eds) The Book of

Curiosities A critical edition World-Wide-Webpublication ( wwwbodleyoxacukbookofcuri-osities) (March 2007)

Catalogue descriptions none

MS DmdashDamascus Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa983156anīyah MS 16501

Date The copy was completed on the last Sun-day in the 983142983145rst ten days of Rabīʿ I of the year972 [= 9 Rabīʿ I 972 = 15 October 1564] by AbūBakr ibn Fakhr al-Dīn ibn Ḥamzah ibn al-shaykh

Muḥammad min qaryat Muʿārat Ikhwān (fromthe village of Muʿārat Ikhwān)983093 The colophon isgiven on fol 210b10486251048625ndash10486251048629

Contents It is an incomplete copy Compared toMS A this manuscript lacks many of the illustra-tions maps and diagrams while adding textualmaterial from other sources Book One lacks theopening diagram (though it has the surroundingtext) Also missing from Book One is the entirefourth chapter the start of the 983142983145fth chapter andportions of the ninth and tenth chapters In thebody of the ninth chapter of Book One materialis taken from Ibn Qutaybahrsquos Kitāb al-Anwāʾ the983142983145rst three entries of the ninth chapter as givenin other copies are written here in the margins

983093 The name as written here is possibly a variant of Maʿarratal-Nuʿmān (

ن

984615 1050181 984633 ة ا 984644 نر

984645) a well-known town in northern Syriaع Al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh identi983142983145es Muʿārat Ikhwān with the village of Martaḥwān in the environs of Aleppo (Yāqūt 18664487) but without evidence (Gharāʾib 2011 129 nt 1 and 2689nt 8)

In Book Two the second seventh and elev-enth chapters which contain only maps and notext are missing The eighth and ninth chaptersof Book Two are also missing as in all manu-scripts In 215 there are nine additional entriesfor mythical islands interspersed between theentries for Indian Ocean islands found in MS AThe manuscript also contains three additionallong books (maqālahs) on horses ( fī al-khayl ) in 983142983145ve chapters ( faṣl s) of which the 983142983145nal one ismissing on camels ( fī nūq) in nineteen faṣl s andon hunting and game ( fī ṣayd wa-al-qanaṣ) intwenty-one faṣl s

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle is given in the text on fol 2a1048628ndash1048629 as Gharāʾib

al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn On fol 1a a later handhas written Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ

al-ʿuyūn wa-fīhi min kull ʿilm wa-ṣinf ʿilm 9175011114109ة ه 984645ن ) 1048573نو

1050169 ن

ن91750111141099846451114109 و

1050169

984643 )

Physical description 201 leaves (folios 1andash201b) Thesize of the leaves is not known but there are13ndash15 lines per page The nature of the paper isunknown

Script The text is carefully written in a clearmedium-large Naskh script The text area hasbeen frame-ruled There are text stops and end-of-line 983142983145llers of three dots in a triangular for-mation There are catchwords and most of themarginalia appear to be in the hand of the copy-ist For the opening folio see Gharāʾib 2011 189For other examples of folios from the manuscriptsee 983142983145gs 06 08 and 014ndash019

Illustrations In Book One there is a single-pagediagram at the end of 11 constellation 983142983145guresformed of lines of dots have been added to thetext of 13 In 16 and 17 there are illustrations ofcomets and in 19 diagrams of lunar mansions Atthe end of 21 there is a crude rectangular sketch(repeated twice) aligning the cardinal directions with zodiacal signs Chapter 210 has two emptyrectangular frames with the title of the chapter(lsquoThe tenth chapter on the Western Seamdashiethe Syrian Seamdashand its harbours and islandsand anchoragesrsquo) written at the edge and in 217there are several empty circles suggestive of thelake diagrams in the earlier Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 The city of al-Mahdīyah (213) theisland of Cyprus (215) and the rivers Nile Tigrisand Oxus are represented by crude unlabelledsketches whose general signi983142983145cance is recogniz-able only when compared to the equivalent maps

10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150 5

in the earlier Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 See983142983145gs 06 08 011 012 and 014ndash019 for examples

Binding unknown Provenance The manuscript was formerly kept

in Aleppo as al-Maktabah al-Waqfīyah MS 957On the title page (fol 1a) there are several own-ersrsquo notes for the most part illegible or defacedand one prominent seven-line study note dated9801572ndash3 written by the copyist of the manu-script eight years after completing this copy Thenote indicates that this manuscript was the basisfor another copy prepared by the same copyistbut one that contained only the 983142983145rst book on theheavens The note reads

9175011114109984645ن هن

1114109 ة

9846451114109984644 و

ر

نآ

ا

ى

853572 ا

ل ه

و

ا

ن

984645 س ه

ا

ى

1050151 ا 984625ة

ة 984644 ن 984644 ها

ن

ة984644 984615 984643 ن

853543 ة

ا ان

1050183 ة

ى

ر

ن

ن

1114109 ن

984645 984627 984615 984643 ن و 853575 1050179 853543 ى853561 ا

د

و

853543 984615 1050181 853571 ن

هة

ل

و

1050151 هة ا

ل

853543 ة 984644 ا

853543 ة984644 ة 1050161 1050151 984648 ا

1050169و

853543 ة ن

984644 ا 984648 ط ه ة 984644 ه ا ل

853543984629 ة

اى

1050161 853543 ن

9175011114109

ا

984648ا 984627ش ر

ش ى

ل

ند

و

ة

9175011114109 984644 1050161 984648 ن ه ش 984645ن

هة

984615 1050181 984633 ة

و

نة

ن 853543

There are also three impressions of a small octag-onal ownerrsquos stamp (not legible) On folios 1band 201b there are impressions of a large round

stamp reading اد 1050161ن 984644ن 1114109ةة

1048573 و

984649 984644 ا 1114109نة

9846451114109

ا 984645ن

ن

1114109

984621ة

984649 984648 984645 984625 اة

ن

984644

984645 853543 ن

917501 1050157 ا ن 984648 984644 د ن را ن

ا

Editionsprintings The text of this manuscript hasbeen edited by al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh983094 Forthe purposes of our present edition we havemade use of scans of the Damascus manuscriptitself and on occasion present a di1048678ferent reading

Catalogue descriptions none

MS BmdashOxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 68

item 6

Date The copy was transcribed by al-faqīr Manṣūrbi-ism Shammās (the ordained deacon) inNovember of AD 1571 The date is given as themonth of Tishrīn II 1882 using the Alexandrian(or Seleucid) calendar which began 1 October 312BC The volume in which this item is bound con-tains nine treatises in either Arabic or Karshūnī(the Syriac script used by the Christians of Syriaand Mesopotamia for writing Arabic) all of themapparently copied in Syria See 983142983145g 01 for the col-ophon in the manuscript

983094 Gharāʾib 2011 195ndash512 and 2513ndash689

The folio following this item in the manuscript(fol 145b) has an eleven-line note in Karshūnī pre-senting a carefully written lineage of the copyist

ل

ن د

و

أ

ا نة

984645984648 853549 ر

ا 853543 ن اد ن

984621 أ

ا ل هة]

984627 =] ل هة

984645984627 ن

1114109 ة

9846451114109984644

ل ه

853575 1050179 984625ة ا

ن

ء 853543 ن 984644أ

ا ش

ش و

ا]ن

1050179 ]

ة

9175011114109984645 9175011114109 984645 نأ

ا

و

نة

ة1048573 853543 ن

ة984648 853549 ن أ

ا 1114109 984644ة

1050161 984648 984629 1114109984645ن

ة

ى

نأ

ا

و

ن

853543 ة

ى

نأ

ا 853543 ن 984625 ن

ل

ن د

و

أ

ا 853543 ن9175011114109 ة

9846451114109984645 853543984627 أ

ا نو

ن

ر

أ

1050151 ان

1114109 ة984644 984615 984643 ة

1050179 ا 853543 ن أ

ا

و

ا]ن

1050179 ] 984648ة853549 ن أ

1050151 1114109 984644ةة

984649 853549 ن او

ة

9175011114109 984645 ة9175011114109 ا

ܬܢܐ) (ܓ 853543 ن 853543 ش9175011114109 ة

9846451114109 ن

ة 853543984645و

ة

ى

نأ

ا ا]ن

1050179 ] ة

ن984621 853543

نأ

1050151 1050161 984648 984629 1114109984645ن

ر

1050165 853543 ن ة

ى

ن او

هة ة

9175011114109984645و

1050161 ة

984649 853549 ن أ

ا

و

984648 د

984645 ة

ى

أ

ا

و

1050161 984648 984629 س ه 1114109984645ن

853543 ن

1114109 ة

9846451114109

س

ة

853543 ة

ش984627 ه س

ا 853543 ن 984648 ن

أ

ا

و

ل ه

853543 ط

ة

ى

نا

و

ل ه

ا ر ن نة

ى

نا

و

ة ة

9175011114109 984644 ة

984649 853549 ن او

ه

س

اة

ى

أ

ن 984648 اأ

ة

984649

ن

984621 و

ة 853543 ن 984644 917501 1050157و 984648 853549 ن ا

1050161 أ

ل ه ا

و

ه

ل

ا ة

ن

1050161 1050161

ن

984621 و

984621ه و

1050161

ة

9175011114109 984645 ة

ه ل

ة ا

ة1048573

ن

984621 1050161 ن

984615 984643 853543 ن9175011114109853549 984648 ة ( (ܟܘة

984649 1050161 984648 853549 ن

984615 1050181 س ه ش

984648 ا

ة

984649 1050161 984648 853549 ن ة

984649

ن

984621

ن

9175011114109 ة1048573 و

984648 ة

984649 1050161 984648 ه 853549 ن

س

ا ة

ى

أ

ا

ه 1048573 984629 984615 1050181ة

ل ه شن

9175011114109 ة1048573 و

ة

1050183 984625ا ن

أ

Contents It is an incomplete copy of Book One Asin MS D it lacks the opening diagram (though ithas the surrounding text) the entire fourth andthe opening part of the 983142983145fth chapter It also lacksthe 983142983145nal chapters of Book One that is the eighthninth and tenth chapters Of Book Two it hasonly a partial copy of the 983142983145rst and third chaptersChapter three of Book Two contains additionalmaterial on each of the climes that is not foundin the other manuscripts

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle is given (in Syriac script) in the text onfol 109b983096 as Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ

al-ʿuyūn see 983142983145g 02 Physical description 46 leaves (folios 109bndash144a)

Dimensions 212 times 153 (text area 174 times c122) cm21ndash24 lines per page

Paper The sti1048678f biscuit paper has little evidenceof sizing and has turned darker near the edgesof the volume It has a thickness of 017minus019mm and an opaqueness factor of 4 with thinstraight vertical laid lines single chain lines and watermarks (an anchor in a circle () and a starover a crescent moon) There is some foxing anddamp-staining

Script There is no trace of frame-ruling and thespacing of lines is irregular The text is written in alarge Arabic and Karshūnī script using dark-brownink with prominent words formed with a broaderpen-stroke text-breaks or headings are indicatedby four small dots There are catchwords but nomarginalia are found in this portion of the vol-ume There is an illuminated heading in black inkand red opaque watercolours at the opening ofthe text (fol 109b) see 983142983145g 02

Page 5: An Eleventh-Century Egyptian Guide to the Universe

CONTENTS

List of Figures vii

Acknowledgements xi

Introduction 852017

Sigla 9830911048630

Facsimile of Oxford Bodleian MS Arab c 1048633852016

ARABIC EDITION

Book One On the Heavens 983091852018852018

Book Two On the Earth 8520171048633852016

TRANSLATION WITH COMMENTARY

Book One On the Heavens 983091852018983091

Book Two On the Earth 852020852017852021

Glossary of Star-Names 8520218520181048633

Bibliography 10486301048630983091

Index of Animals and Plants 10486308520231048633

Index of Astronomical and Astrological Terms 1048630852024983091

Index of Peoples and Tribes 1048630852024852020

Index of Place Names 1048630852024852021

General Index 10486301048633983091

LIST OF FIGURES

I9831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

10486241048625 The colophon of MS B transcribed by al-faqīr Manṣūr bi-ism

Shammās (the ordained deacon) in the month of Tishrīn II 1048625104863210486321048626

(November AD 1048625104862910486311048625) Oxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632

fol 104862510486281048628a 1048630

10486241048626 The opening of MS B Oxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632

fol 10486251048624852025b copied AD 1048625104862910486311048625 852023

10486241048627 The opening of MS G Forschungsbibliothek Gotha MS orient

A 10486261048624852022852022 fols 104862510486281048631bndash104862510486281048632a copied 10486251048625104862910486281048625104863110486281048625 852017852016

10486241048628 Stemma showing the probable relationships between preserved

copies 852017983091

10486241048629 Diagram in MS M illustrating retrograde motion of the 1048678983145ve lsquoerraticrsquo

planets at the end of Chapter One Book One Milan Biblioteca

Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fol 10486251048628b copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 8520171048630

1048624852022 Diagram in MS D illustrating retrograde motion of the 1048678983145ve lsquoerraticrsquo

planets at the end of Chapter One Book One Damascus Maktabat

al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fol 10486251048626a copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 8520171048630

10486241048631 Two diagrams in MS B illustrating retrograde motion one labelled

in Arabic script and the other in Syriac script from the end of

Chapter One Book One Oxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632

fols 104862510486251048629bndash10486251048625852022a copied 1048625104862910486311048625 852017852023

10486241048632 The constellations of Booumltes Corona Borealis Hercules Lyra

Cygnus and Cassiopeia from Chapter Three of Book One in MS D

Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 10486261048632bndash1048626852025a

copied in 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852017852024

1048624852025 The constellations Ursa Minor Ursa Major and Draco (with start of

text for Cepheus) from Chapter Three of Book One in MS B Bodleian

Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632 fol 104862510486261048628b copied 1048625104862910486311048625 8520171048633

104862410486251048624 The constellations Ursa Minor and Ursa Major (with start of

text for Draco) from Chapter Three of Book One in MS M Milan

Biblioteca Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fol 10486271048624b copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 852018852016

104862410486251048625 Eleven comets said to have been described by Ptolemy in Chapter

Six of Book One as illustrated in the earliest copy (MS A) compared

with the three later ones (D B and M) Bodleian MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486251048627bndash10486251048628b undated c 1048625104862610486241048624 Damascus Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 1048627852022andash1048627852025a copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 Oxford

Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632 fols 10486251048626852025bndash104862510486271048625a copied 1048625104862910486311048625 Milan

Biblioteca Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fols 10486281048624bndash10486281048628a copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 852018852017

104862410486251048626 The seven illustrated lsquostars with faint lancesrsquo attributed to Hermes

in Chapter Seven of Book One as illustrated in the earliest copy

(MS A) compared with the three later ones (D B and M) Bodleian

MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486251048629bndash1048625852022a undated c 1048625104862610486241048624 Damascus Maktabat

al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 10486281048627andash10486281048627b copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628

Oxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632 fols 104862510486271048627bndash104862510486271048628a copied

1048625104862910486311048625 Milan Biblioteca Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fols 10486281048632bndash1048628852025b

copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 852018852018

viii 9831481048681983155983156 983151852070 8520701048681983143983157983154983141983155

104862410486251048627 The opening of Chapter Nine Book One in MS M Milan

Biblioteca Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fols 1048629852025bndash8520221048624a copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 852018983091

104862410486251048628 Part of Chapter Nine Book One in MS D in which the text for

the 1048678983145rst three lunar mansions as given in MS A is transcribed in the

margins as a commentary (sharḥ) on the discussion of lunar mansions

taken from Kitāb al-Anwāʾ of Ibn Qutaybah (d c 1048626104863185202210486321048632852025) and placed

in the body of the text Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah

MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 10486291048627bndash10486291048628a copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852020

104862410486251048629 Rectilinear frames on consecutive pages in Chapter Ten of Book

Two in MS D They indicate space for a map of the Mediterranean

left blank except for the title written at the bottom of the 1048678983145rst frame

and continued at the top or the next lsquoThe tenth chapter on the

Western Seamdashie the Syrian Seamdashand its harbours and islands and

anchoragesrsquo Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625

fols 8520251048626a and 8520251048626b copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852021

10486241048625852022 Sketch map of al-Mahdīyah in Chapter Thirteen of Book Two

in MS D Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625

fols 8520251048632bndash852025852025a copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 8520181048630

104862410486251048631 Sketch map of Cyprus in Chapter Fifteen of Book Two in MS D

Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fol 104862510486241048629b

copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852023

104862410486251048632 Sketch for map of the River Nile Chapter Eighteen of Book Two in

MS D Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fol 10486251048625852025b

copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852023

10486241048625852025 Sketches for the River Tigris [or Euphrates] (right) and the River

Oxus (left) from Chapter Eighteen of Book Two in MS D Damascus

Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 104862510486261048624bndash104862510486261048625a copied

85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852024

B983151983151983147 O983150983141

10486251048625 Opening diagram of Book One a circular diagram of the skies

Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 1048626bndash1048627a 9830918520171048630

10486251048626 Closing diagram of Chapter One Book One ldquoDepiction of the arcs

of the lsquoerraticrsquo planets and their associations with the twelve signs of

the zodiacrdquo Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 1048629b 983091852016852017

10486251048627 Table in Chapter Four Book One lsquoOn thirty stars with occult

in1048684uencesrsquo Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 10486251048625b 8520181048630852023

10486251048628 Table in Chapter Five Book One lsquoOn the forms of the northern and

southern starsrsquo Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 10486251048626a 8520181048630852020

10486251048629 Continuation of the table in Chapter Five Book One Oxford

Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 10486251048626b 8520181048630852017

1048625852022 Comets illustrated in Chapter Six Book One Oxford Bodleian

Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486251048627bndash10486251048628b 8520188520201048630ndash852018852021852018

10486251048631 Comets illustrated in Chapter Seven Book One Oxford

Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486251048629bndash1048625852022a 8520189830911048630ndash852018983091852023

10486251048632 Maps of Lunar Mansions I through VII Chapter Nine Book One

Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486251048632andash1048625852025a 852018852017852020ndash852018852018852016

1048625852025 Maps of Lunar Mansions VIII through XIV Chapter Nine

Book One Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 1048625852025andash10486261048624a 8520188520161048633ndash852018852017983091

9831481048681983155983156 983151852070 8520701048681983143983157983154983141983155 ix

104862510486251048624 Maps of Lunar Mansions XV through XXI Chapter Nine

Book One Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486261048624andash10486261048624b 852018852016852020ndash8520188520161048633

104862510486251048625 Maps of Lunar Mansions XXII through XXVIII Chapter Nine

Book One Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486261048624bndash10486261048625a 852018852016852016ndash852018852016852020

104862510486251048626 Diagram in Chapter Ten Book One lsquoOn the blowing of winds

earthquakes and tremorsrsquo Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fol 10486261048625b 8520171048633852023

B983151983151983147 T983159983151

10486261048625 Rectangular World MapmdashEurope Oxford Bodleian Library

MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486261048627bndash10486261048628a 852017852024852020

10486261048626 Rectangular World MapmdashAfrica Oxford Bodleian Library

MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486261048627bndash10486261048628a 852017852024852018

10486261048627 Rectangular World MapmdashAsia Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fols 10486261048627bndash10486261048628a 8520178520231048633

10486261048628 Circular World Map Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486261048631bndash10486261048632a 8520171048630852017

10486261048629 Map of the Indian Ocean Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 1048626852025bndash10486271048624a 8520178520211048630

1048626852022 Map of the Mediterranean Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fols 10486271048624bndash10486271048625a 852017852021852018

10486261048631 Map of the Caspian Sea Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486271048625b 8520178520201048630

10486261048632 Map of Sicily Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486271048626bndash10486271048627a 852017983091852024

1048626852025 Map of al-Mahdīyah Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486271048628a 852017983091852016

104862610486251048624 Map of Tinnīs Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486271048629bndash1048627852022a 852017852017852023

104862610486251048625 Map of Cyprus Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 1048627852022b 852017852017852021

104862610486251048626 Diagram of the Bays of Byzantium Oxford Bodleian Library MS

Arab c 8520251048624 fol 10486271048632a 852017852016852020

104862610486251048627 Map of the Sources of the Nile Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fol 10486281048624a 10486331048630

104862610486251048628 Diagrams of Lakes Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048624b 1048633852021

104862610486251048629 Diagrams of Lakes continued Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fol 10486281048625a 1048633852020

10486261048625852022 Map of the Nile Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048626a 852024852024

104862610486251048631 Map of the Euphrates Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048626b 852024852021

104862610486251048632 Map of the Tigris Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048627a 852024983091

10486261048625852025 Map of the Indus Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048627b 852024852017

104862610486261048624 Map of the Oxus Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048628a 8520231048633

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A project extending over a decade and encompass-

ing the heavens as well as the Earth requires the

assistance of countless people who gave generously

of their time their knowledge and on occasion

their money We take this opportunity to express

our gratitude to all of them

The acquisition of The Book of Curiosities by the

Bodleian Library was made possible by a grant from

the Heritage Lottery Fund and generous donations

from the National Arts Collections Fund the Friends

of the Bodleian Saudi Aramco nine Oxford col-

leges (All Souls College Merton College New Col-

lege Nu9831421048678983145eld College St Antonyrsquos College St Cross

College St Johnrsquos College Wadham College and

Wolfson College) and private individuals These

grants and donations also provided funds for the

conservation pigment analysis and digitisation of

the manuscript the exhibition of the manuscript for

the general public and the preparation of a school

teacherrsquos pack based on portions of the manuscript

They also supported the creation in 2007 of a web-

site presenting an electronic high-quality repro-

duction of the original text and its illustrations

linked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition

(without full use of other copies) and a preliminary

English translation ( wwwbodleyoxacukbookof

curiosities) Moreover the monies (supplemented

by a grant from the Arts amp Humanities Research

Council) supported the preparation of a full study

of the treatise of which the present volume is the

major result

In the early stages of work on the Book of Curi-

osities the project manager was Lesley Forbes

then Keeper of Oriental Collections in the Bodleian

Library Conservation of the manuscript was carried

out by Alison McKay and Sabina Pugh in the con-

servation laboratories of the Bodleian Library This

project would have been impossible without their

expertise and support At the Bodleian we received

support and encouragement from many members

of sta983142f not least Colin Wake1048678983145eld Gillian Evison

and Samuel Fanous

Jeremy Johns Professor of the Art and Archae-

ology of the Islamic Mediterranean and Director

of the Khalili Research Centre for the Art amp Mate-

rial Culture of the Middle East served as project

research manager and worked extensively on the

interpretation of the chapter concerned with Sicily

The Khalili Research Centre part of the Orien-

tal Faculty of the University of Oxford provided a

home for the execution of the project

Many other colleagues and scholars gave gener-

ously of their time and expertise to answer numer-

ous queriesmdashnone more so than Professor Paul

Kunitzsch who patiently and meticulously read

through early drafts of chapters concerned with

star-names His assistance has been invaluable in

interpreting the material Because he was unable

to scrutinise the 1048678983145nal version of the translation

and edition he modestly refused to have his name

appear as a co-author There are no doubt errors

that remain in the readings and interpretations of

the star-names which would have been corrected

had he been able to examine the 1048678983145nal text

Here in Oxford we bene1048678983145ted from the unique

wide-ranging expertise of our colleagues at the

Oriental Institute and beyond Professors Geert

Jan van Gelder and Clive Holes helped with some

1048678983145ner points of Arabic poetry and syntax Dr Robert

Simpson gave invaluable help regarding the Cop-

tic vocabulary in the manuscript Nicholas Purcell

and Peregrine Horden helped us develop our ideas

regarding the representation of the Mediterranean

Dr James Howard-Johnston and Professor Elizabeth

Je983142freys provided a platform in which to test inter-

pretations during two Byzantine Studies seminars

here in Oxford and members of the seminar pro-

vided very useful suggestions particularly Peter Tho-

nemann Dimitri Korobeinikov Teresa Shawcross

and Mary Whitby Dr A10486789831451048678983145 al-Akiti Dr Adam Silver-

stein and Professor David Blackmann of the Centre

for the Study of Ancient Documents amongst many

others gave readily of their time and advice

For identi1048678983145cation of place-names in the Medi-

terranean we acknowledge the generous advice of

Professor Johannes Koder and his colleagues Klaus

Belke Friedrich Hild Andreas Kuumllzer and Peter

Soustal at the Tabula Imperii Byzantini project

based in Vienna who have been remarkably gen-

erous with their time and knowledge On the Ana-

tolian coasts we also consulted Raymond Descat

Ausonius Universiteacute de Bordeaux Dr Tassos Papa-

costas working on Prosopography of the Byzan-

tine World at Kingrsquos College London assisted with

xii 983137983139983147983150983151983159983148983141983140983143983141983149983141983150983156983155

our examination of Cyprus Dr Haris Koutelakis of

Athens kindly provided us with a copy of his study

of maps of the Aegean islands which included an

interpretation of the relevant chapter in the Book

of Curiosities Dr Alex Metcalfe University of Lan-

caster contributed invaluable 1048678983145nal comments

on the Sicilian toponyms Dr Yaacov Lev Depart-

ment of Middle Eastern History Bar Ilan Univer-

sity shared with us his knowledge of the Fatimid

Mediterranean

For identi1048678983145cation of place-names in the East-

ern Islamic world East Africa India and East Asia

we would like to thank the generous advice of Dr

Michal Biran of the Hebrew University Dr Emeri

van Donzel Oegstgeest the Netherlands Dr Roxani

Margariti Emory University Professor David W

Phillipson Director of the Museum of Archaeology

and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge

Professor Tansen Sen of Baruch College the City

University of New York Professor Andre Wink of

the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Drs Ronit

Yoeli-Tlalim and Anna Akasoy then with AHRC

Islam-Tibet Project at the Warburg Institute

Professor Len Berggren of Simon Fraser Uni-

versity provided guidance on mathematical mat-

ters Professor Julio Samsoacute University of Barcelona

similarly o983142fered advice on mathematical aspects of

astrology and astronomy

Professor Dr Andreas Kaplony of the Orien-

talisches Seminar and Institut fuumlr den Nahen und

Mittleren Osten Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaumlt

Muumlnchen and Tarek Kahlaoui of the University of

Pennsylvania helped us develop our ideas regarding

Islamic cartography Jean-Charles Ducegravene Senior

Lector Universiteacute Libre de Bruxelles has shared

with us his unique knowledge of the development

of geographical literature in medieval Islam

On the history of cartography in general and

maritime cartography in particular we have ben-

e1048678983145ted from the enthusiastic support of Professor

Richard Unger Department of History University

of British Columbia and the long-standing collabo-

ration of Evelyn Edson Professor Emeritus at Pied-

mont Virginia Community College

Dr Remke Kruk University of Leiden and Dr

Thomas Reimer Wiesbaden have read and com-

mented on the sections that deal with mirabilia

monsters and wondrous animals Dr Gerald Wick-

ens formerly of Kew Gardens has assisted with the

identi1048678983145cation of some of the wondrous plants

In 2008 al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh submitted to

the University of Jordan a masterrsquos thesis consisting

of an edition of the text based on the Bodleian copy

(then available through the website) and a later copy

now in Damascus the thesis was subsequently pub-

lished in Beirut in 2011 and has proved useful to us

at many points which will be noted Mr al-Rawadieh

has generously shared his research with us at vari-

ous stages and we would like to acknowledge his

scholarship and dedication which in many ways

complemented our e983142forts here Dr Lutfallah Gari

1048678983145rst drew our attention to the Damascus manu-

script and subsequently to his own publication

regarding the dating of the Book of Curiosities

Amongst the scores of others who have advised

us on aspects of this complex manuscript we would

like to make special mention of Charles Burnett of

the Warburg Institute our colleagues at Queen Mary

University of London in particular Professors Miri

Rubin and Jerry Brotton and Dr Alfred Hiatt Pro-

fessor Benjamin Kedar The Institute for Advanced

Study The Hebrew University of Jerusalem the

late Professor William Brice of the University of

Manchester Dr Bill Leadbetter of Edith Cowan

University Joondalup Western Australia Jonathan

M Bloom Norma Jean Calderwood University Pro-

fessor of Islamic and Asian Art Boston College Dr

Moya Carey curator in the Asian Department of

the VampA Museum and Dr Boris Rankov and Dr

Judith McKenzie both of the Department of Clas-

sics Royal Holloway University of London Others

who assisted on very speci1048678983145c points are gratefully

acknowledged within the commentary itself

At Brill we would like to thank our editors

Renee Otto Ingrid Heijckers-Velt Nienke Brienen-

Moolenaar and Kathy van Vliet for their patience

and support in seeing this volume through pro-

duction We also thank the Bodleian Library at

the University of Oxford the Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa1048692anīyah in Damascus the Biblioteca Ambro-

siana in Milan the Dār al-Kutub in Cairo and the

Forschungsbibliothek in Gotha for supplying copies

of manuscripts for study purposes and for granting

permission for the publication of select images

Finally for over a decade our families have

heard far more than they probably wished of puz-

zling place-names unidenti1048678983145able star-names maps

of unusual shapes comets that portend doom and

curious stories of exotic lands Without their sup-

port we could not have brought this project to its

conclusion

Yossef Rapoport London

Emilie Savage-Smith Oxford

INTRODUCTION

In June of 2002 the Bodleian Library University ofOxford acquired a highly illustrated manuscript ofa hitherto unknown Arabic cosmographical trea-tise This newly discovered manuscript containeda remarkable series of early maps and astronomi-cal diagrams most of which are unparalleled inany Greek Latin or Arabic material known to bepreserved today No less importantly both the illus-trations and the text preserve material gatheredfrom Muslim astronomers historians scholars andtravellers of the ninth to eleventh centuries whose works are now either lost or preserved only in frag-ments The manuscript now assigned the shelfmarkMS Arab c 90 is here reproduced in facsimileaccompanied by an edition of the Arabic text andan annotated English translation

The manuscript is a copy probably made inEgypt in the late twelfth or early thirteenth centuryof an anonymous work compiled in Egypt between AD 1020 and 1050 The rhyming title of the volume Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn looselytranslates as The Book of Curiosities of the Sciences

and Marvels for the Eyes For convenience the trea-tise is referred to simply as The Book of Curiosities

The treatise preserved in this early highly illus-trated manuscript was essentially unknown toscholars prior to its being o1048678fered for sale at auctionin London on 10 October 2000 (Christiersquos Islamic

Art amp Manuscripts lot 41) even though later it wasdiscovered that eight other copies of all or por-tions of the text (lacking most of the illustrations) were preserved in manuscripts of the sixteenthto nineteenth century that had lain unnoticed inother libraries At auction the manuscript was pur-chased by Sam Fogg a well-known London dealerin rare books and manuscripts Not long thereafterhe o1048678fered it to the Bodleian Library at a price wellunder the true market value In June of 2002 follow-ing an extensive fund-raising e1048678fort the Bodleianlibrary celebrated the acquisition of this remarkable Arabic manuscript

The treatise now designated as Bodleian LibraryMS Arab c 90 is divided into two parts (maqālahs)The 983142983145rst part or book on celestial matters is com-posed of ten chapters and begins with a descriptionof the heavens and their in852070983148uence upon events onEarth It contains a number of unique illustrations

and rare texts including an illustrated discourse oncomets and several pages depicting various promi-nent stars nearby the lsquolunar mansionsrsquo which arestar-groups near the ecliptic whose risings and set-tings were traditionally used to predict rain andother meteorological events The authorrsquos inter-est throughout the book is primarily astrologicaland divinatory and no mathematical astronomy ispresented

The second book on the Earth is divided intotwenty-983142983145ve chapters According to the author thissecond book is largely dependent upon the Geog-

raphy of Ptolemy In general however our authorrsquosinterest is descriptive and historical rather thanmathematical Along with geographical and histori-cal texts the manuscript contains two world mapsone rectangular and one circular The author thenfollows with maps of the great seas known to him which were the Indian Ocean the Mediterraneanand the Caspian The author was particularly inter-ested in depicting the shores of the Mediterraneanof which he probably had 983142983145rst-hand knowledgeBesides the detailed schematic map of the coastsand islands of the Mediterranean the treatise alsocontains unique maps of Sicily and Cyprus as wellas the strategic ports of al-Mahdīyah in North Africaand Tinnīs in Egypt The book also includes 983142983145veriver-maps (the Nile the Euphrates the Tigris theOxus and the Indus) The concluding 983142983145ve chaptersdescribe lsquocuriositiesrsquo such as monstrous animals and wondrous plants

In 2007 an electronic high-quality reproductionof the Bodleian manuscript and its illustrationslinked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition(without full use of other copies) and a preliminaryEnglish translation was made available at www bodleyoxacukbookofcuriosities The remarkablesigni983142983145cance of the treatise for the history of Islamiccartography and cosmology in particular and for thehistory of pre-modern cartography in general hasbeen recognized in several publications on speci983142983145cmaps and diagrams in the manuscript983089 The study of

983089 See amongst others Johns amp Savage-Smith 2003 Rapoportamp Savage-Smith 2004 Edson amp Savage-Smith 2004 Parry 2004Barber 2005 Horden amp Purcell 2006 Galician 2007 Bloom 2007Rapoport amp Savage-Smith 2008 Kahlaoui 2008 Kahlaoui 2008a

2 10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

some aspects of this treatise is still on-going espe-cially with regard to its contribution to the historyof astrology and astronomy its place in the geo-graphical and mirabilia traditions and its impacton our knowledge of the Fatimid caliphate and ofmaritime travel in the medieval Islamic world

Our purpose here is to present a full edition of thetreatise taking into account all the later manuscriptcopies In addition we provide here an Englishannotated translation and a facsimile reproductionof the entire manuscript The aim is to allow read-ers to examine the treatise as a whole in a way thatis not possible in an online edition and to consultan authoritative edition and translation that re852070983148ectsour decade-long study of the Bodleian manuscriptand other copies We open with the facsimile ofthe early Bodleian copy followed by the editionemploying all the copies of the entire Arabic textand all the map-and diagram-labels Following this we present an extensively annotated translation ofthe text and the labels concluding with an extendedglossary of star-names and thematic indexes

In the following pages of this Introduction welist and compare the known copies of the treatiseestablish the authorship and date of the treatiseand its component parts and explain our editorialconventions A full comprehensive study of thecontents of the treatise in the context of eleventh-century Fatimid society and learning must await aseparate publication But we hope this edition willgreatly enhance future research on the signi983142983145canceof this remarkable treatise for the history of cartog-raphy science and Islamic civilisation

I T983144983141 C9831519831521048681983141983155

MS A mdashOxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90

Date The copy is unsigned and undated Theappearance of the paper ink and script sug-gests a possible dating of the end of the twelfthcentury

Contents It is an incomplete copy missing part ofthe penultimate chapter and all of the last onein Book Two At the end of the volume in thegutter are narrow remnants of two folios thathave been cut from the volume corresponding

Kaplony 2008 Rapoport 2008 Savage-Smith 2009 Savage-Smith2010 Savage-Smith 2010a Rapoport 2011 Savage-Smith 2011aRapoport 2012

to the missing 983142983145nal chapters (part of 224 and allof 225) The eighth and ninth chapters of BookTwo are missing from the text as they are in allother copies

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle appears in the text on fol 1b10486251048625 as well as onthe title page (fol 1a) as Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn

wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn Beneath the title a laterowner has noted lsquoTo the author of this treatisethere belongs another book whose title is Muḥī983156 (Comprehensive) ⟨ ⟩ it is stated thus in theentry for the island of Sardiniarsquo

Physical description 48 leaves (folios 1andash48b)plus torn gutter strips from two missing leavesDimensions 324 times 245 cm (text area 291 times 226cm on folios without maps) 27 lines per page

Paper The lightly glossed biscuit-brown paper issturdy rather soft and relatively opaque Thepaper has thick slightly curved horizontal laidlines and there are rib shadows but no chainlines or watermarks are visible The thickness ofthe paper varies between 017 and 020 mm andmeasures 3 on the Sharp Scale of Opaquenessthe laid lines are 6ndash7 wirescm with the spacebetween lines less than the width of one line Thepaper appears to have been made using a grassmouldmdasha method used in Egypt and GreaterSyria in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries(greater precision is not possible)983090 The paperhas some damp-staining foxing and wormholesand there is considerable soiling and grime nearthe edges of the pages which have been trimmedfrom their original size with the loss in places oftext and marginalia Numerous repairs had beenmade to the paper at various times Conservationof the manuscript at the Bodleian was carried outby Alison McKay and Sabina Pugh in its conser- vation laboratories Multiple layers of old repairshad accumulated on the leaves causing particu-lar sti1048678fness in the spine area Sympathetic newrepairs replaced the old ones to reveal text andimages but some were left in place as they wereconsidered to be part of the cultural history ofthe manuscript

Script The text area has been frame-ruled Thetext is written in a medium-large Naskh script indense black ink with headings in warm-red ink

983090 For similar Islamic papers see Loveday 2001 and we thankHelen Loveday for examining and discussing with us the paperin this particular manuscript

10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150 3

Many diacritical dots are missing A sin is oftendistinguished from a shīn by a small haacuteček lessfrequently a haacuteček distinguishes the undotted(al-muhmalah) letters rāʾ or ṣad from the dottedforms A haacuteček occasionally is placed over a duc-tus that ought to have had two dots beneath indi-cating a yāʾ in a medial position A tāʾ marbū983156ah is often ligatured to a preceding rāʾ or dāl or dhāl a 983142983145nal letter ʿayn is occasionally ligatured to the983142983145rst letter of the following word A tāʾ marbū983156ah is very seldom dotted A small break occurs beforea medial or 983142983145nal 983156āʾ where the copyist lifted thepen when an unbroken connection with the pre-ceding letter would have been expected Textstops are indicated by a dot enclosed in a circleor by the symbol

ھ

(= intahaacute) There are somecatchwords The illustrations are labelled in asimilar but smaller hand Both hands are closerin many of their characteristics to those of copy-ists known to have worked in Greater Syria atthe end of the twelfth century or early thirteenthcentury than to the hands of securely dated andlocated products of the fourteenth century983091

Illustrations In Book One there is an opening dia-gram (double-page) immediately following theintroduction a single-page diagram at the end of11 and a half-page diagram in 110 There are alsocomet illustrations in 16 and 17 and diagramsof lunar mansions in 19 In Book Two there areseventeen maps or diagrams in chapters 21 2527 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 (two)218 (983142983145ve) The maps in Book Two use a stan-dard set of colours to convey the topographicalfeatures with green for salty seas and lakes andblue for fresh-water lakes and rivers The moun-tains are usually reddish-brown and town walls where depicted are darker brown-purple Reddots represent cities towns villages and anchor-age points The map of al-Mahdīyah has a multi-coloured depiction of the twin palaces of the city

983091 For example the script and paper are similar to a treatiseby the Egyptian scholar al-Dimyāṭī preserved in a copy (OxfordBodleian Library MS Marsh 592) completed 12 Jumādaacute II 592(13 May 1196) which displays many of the same orthographicfeatures including picking up the pen before writing the 983156āʾ (fol 98a1048625983095) for sample pages see Edson amp Savage-Smith 2004 19983142983145g 7 and King 2004 758 983142983145g 27 Other similarities of script andpaper can be observed in Gotha Forschungsbibliothek GothaMS orient A 1521 dated 5691173 Leiden MS Or 3101 cop-ied 5691173 Bodleian MS Huntington 202 copied in Syria inShaʿban 592July 1196 and Bodleian MS Marsh 379 fols 2andash87bmade between 5601165 and 6101213 (for the latter two exam-ples see Savage-Smith 2011 322ndash3 and plates xviiindashxx)

and the diagram of the sources of the Nile depictsa large crocodile The circular world map (at theend of 25) employs a slightly di1048678ferent paletteand is the only map in the volume to employcopper greens

Some illustrations such as those depictingcomets or small islands have traces of gold orsilver sprinklings while other areas in the mapsmay have been over-painted or coated in a shinylacquer-like material that is now crackled andcrazed A preliminary analysis of the pigments was conducted by Dr Sandra Grantham a consul-tant paper conservator using optical microscopyin the conservation workshop of the BodleianLibrary A full analysis using Raman Spectros-copy was subsequently carried out by Dr TraceyChaplin at the Christopher Ingold LaboratoriesUniversity College London983092 Further examinationof the pigments was carried out by Sabina Pughin the conservation workshop of the BodleianLibrary who used optical microscopy to try todetermine which pigments belonged to the origi-nal paint layer and which were over-painting orre-touching Six pigments were identi983142983145ed in theillustrations cinnabar (red) orpiment (yellow)lazurite (blue) indigo carbon-based black andbasic lead carbonate (a lsquolead whitersquo) Four furtherpigments could not be identi983142983145ed a golden mate-rial a green pigment the purple pigment usedto depict city walls and the blue component ofthe dark green pigment mixture on certain foliosNo evidence of modern inks or pigments wasrevealed The results of the scienti983142983145c analyses arecompletely consistent with the suggested originand age of the manuscript

Binding When acquired by the Bodleian Librarythe volume was contained in an Ottoman bindingof possibly eighteenth- or nineteenth-centurydate the binding was too small for the manu-script and in extremely poor condition The 983142983145rstfolio of the manuscript has staining that indicatesan earlier binding included an envelope 852070983148ap Atpresent the volume is dis-bound with the bind-ing removed and stored separately it remainsdis-bound to allow for easier exhibition

Provenance The title page also has two impressionsof an undated Ottoman () stamp reading Saʿdīibn ʿĪsaacute al-faqīr al-mutawakkil ʿalaacute Allāh al-kabīr

983092 The results of the Raman spectroscopic analysis have beenpublished in Chaplin Clark et al 2006

4 10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

There are also two undated ownersrsquo signaturesthe upper signature reading lsquoIn the book collec-tion of the one in need of God Muṣṭafaacute knownas Koumlpruuml-zade may God forgive himrsquo and thelower one reading lsquoAmongst the property of Yaḥyaacute ibn Muḥammad al-Mallāḥ (the sailer thesalt-miner)rsquo Between the two signatures thereis also one completely defaced ownerrsquos note InChapter Five of Book Two there are two half-page paintings (a wāqwāq-tree and an inhabitedscrolling vine) added by a later owner probablyin the fourteenth or 983142983145fteenthth century

Editionsprintings In 2007 an electronic high-quality reproduction of the manuscript and itsillustrations linked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition (without full use of other copies)and a preliminary English translation was madeavailable at wwwbodleyoxacukbookofcuriosi-ties The bibliographic citation is Emilie Savage-Smith and Yossef Rapoport (eds) The Book of

Curiosities A critical edition World-Wide-Webpublication ( wwwbodleyoxacukbookofcuri-osities) (March 2007)

Catalogue descriptions none

MS DmdashDamascus Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa983156anīyah MS 16501

Date The copy was completed on the last Sun-day in the 983142983145rst ten days of Rabīʿ I of the year972 [= 9 Rabīʿ I 972 = 15 October 1564] by AbūBakr ibn Fakhr al-Dīn ibn Ḥamzah ibn al-shaykh

Muḥammad min qaryat Muʿārat Ikhwān (fromthe village of Muʿārat Ikhwān)983093 The colophon isgiven on fol 210b10486251048625ndash10486251048629

Contents It is an incomplete copy Compared toMS A this manuscript lacks many of the illustra-tions maps and diagrams while adding textualmaterial from other sources Book One lacks theopening diagram (though it has the surroundingtext) Also missing from Book One is the entirefourth chapter the start of the 983142983145fth chapter andportions of the ninth and tenth chapters In thebody of the ninth chapter of Book One materialis taken from Ibn Qutaybahrsquos Kitāb al-Anwāʾ the983142983145rst three entries of the ninth chapter as givenin other copies are written here in the margins

983093 The name as written here is possibly a variant of Maʿarratal-Nuʿmān (

ن

984615 1050181 984633 ة ا 984644 نر

984645) a well-known town in northern Syriaع Al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh identi983142983145es Muʿārat Ikhwān with the village of Martaḥwān in the environs of Aleppo (Yāqūt 18664487) but without evidence (Gharāʾib 2011 129 nt 1 and 2689nt 8)

In Book Two the second seventh and elev-enth chapters which contain only maps and notext are missing The eighth and ninth chaptersof Book Two are also missing as in all manu-scripts In 215 there are nine additional entriesfor mythical islands interspersed between theentries for Indian Ocean islands found in MS AThe manuscript also contains three additionallong books (maqālahs) on horses ( fī al-khayl ) in 983142983145ve chapters ( faṣl s) of which the 983142983145nal one ismissing on camels ( fī nūq) in nineteen faṣl s andon hunting and game ( fī ṣayd wa-al-qanaṣ) intwenty-one faṣl s

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle is given in the text on fol 2a1048628ndash1048629 as Gharāʾib

al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn On fol 1a a later handhas written Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ

al-ʿuyūn wa-fīhi min kull ʿilm wa-ṣinf ʿilm 9175011114109ة ه 984645ن ) 1048573نو

1050169 ن

ن91750111141099846451114109 و

1050169

984643 )

Physical description 201 leaves (folios 1andash201b) Thesize of the leaves is not known but there are13ndash15 lines per page The nature of the paper isunknown

Script The text is carefully written in a clearmedium-large Naskh script The text area hasbeen frame-ruled There are text stops and end-of-line 983142983145llers of three dots in a triangular for-mation There are catchwords and most of themarginalia appear to be in the hand of the copy-ist For the opening folio see Gharāʾib 2011 189For other examples of folios from the manuscriptsee 983142983145gs 06 08 and 014ndash019

Illustrations In Book One there is a single-pagediagram at the end of 11 constellation 983142983145guresformed of lines of dots have been added to thetext of 13 In 16 and 17 there are illustrations ofcomets and in 19 diagrams of lunar mansions Atthe end of 21 there is a crude rectangular sketch(repeated twice) aligning the cardinal directions with zodiacal signs Chapter 210 has two emptyrectangular frames with the title of the chapter(lsquoThe tenth chapter on the Western Seamdashiethe Syrian Seamdashand its harbours and islandsand anchoragesrsquo) written at the edge and in 217there are several empty circles suggestive of thelake diagrams in the earlier Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 The city of al-Mahdīyah (213) theisland of Cyprus (215) and the rivers Nile Tigrisand Oxus are represented by crude unlabelledsketches whose general signi983142983145cance is recogniz-able only when compared to the equivalent maps

10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150 5

in the earlier Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 See983142983145gs 06 08 011 012 and 014ndash019 for examples

Binding unknown Provenance The manuscript was formerly kept

in Aleppo as al-Maktabah al-Waqfīyah MS 957On the title page (fol 1a) there are several own-ersrsquo notes for the most part illegible or defacedand one prominent seven-line study note dated9801572ndash3 written by the copyist of the manu-script eight years after completing this copy Thenote indicates that this manuscript was the basisfor another copy prepared by the same copyistbut one that contained only the 983142983145rst book on theheavens The note reads

9175011114109984645ن هن

1114109 ة

9846451114109984644 و

ر

نآ

ا

ى

853572 ا

ل ه

و

ا

ن

984645 س ه

ا

ى

1050151 ا 984625ة

ة 984644 ن 984644 ها

ن

ة984644 984615 984643 ن

853543 ة

ا ان

1050183 ة

ى

ر

ن

ن

1114109 ن

984645 984627 984615 984643 ن و 853575 1050179 853543 ى853561 ا

د

و

853543 984615 1050181 853571 ن

هة

ل

و

1050151 هة ا

ل

853543 ة 984644 ا

853543 ة984644 ة 1050161 1050151 984648 ا

1050169و

853543 ة ن

984644 ا 984648 ط ه ة 984644 ه ا ل

853543984629 ة

اى

1050161 853543 ن

9175011114109

ا

984648ا 984627ش ر

ش ى

ل

ند

و

ة

9175011114109 984644 1050161 984648 ن ه ش 984645ن

هة

984615 1050181 984633 ة

و

نة

ن 853543

There are also three impressions of a small octag-onal ownerrsquos stamp (not legible) On folios 1band 201b there are impressions of a large round

stamp reading اد 1050161ن 984644ن 1114109ةة

1048573 و

984649 984644 ا 1114109نة

9846451114109

ا 984645ن

ن

1114109

984621ة

984649 984648 984645 984625 اة

ن

984644

984645 853543 ن

917501 1050157 ا ن 984648 984644 د ن را ن

ا

Editionsprintings The text of this manuscript hasbeen edited by al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh983094 Forthe purposes of our present edition we havemade use of scans of the Damascus manuscriptitself and on occasion present a di1048678ferent reading

Catalogue descriptions none

MS BmdashOxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 68

item 6

Date The copy was transcribed by al-faqīr Manṣūrbi-ism Shammās (the ordained deacon) inNovember of AD 1571 The date is given as themonth of Tishrīn II 1882 using the Alexandrian(or Seleucid) calendar which began 1 October 312BC The volume in which this item is bound con-tains nine treatises in either Arabic or Karshūnī(the Syriac script used by the Christians of Syriaand Mesopotamia for writing Arabic) all of themapparently copied in Syria See 983142983145g 01 for the col-ophon in the manuscript

983094 Gharāʾib 2011 195ndash512 and 2513ndash689

The folio following this item in the manuscript(fol 145b) has an eleven-line note in Karshūnī pre-senting a carefully written lineage of the copyist

ل

ن د

و

أ

ا نة

984645984648 853549 ر

ا 853543 ن اد ن

984621 أ

ا ل هة]

984627 =] ل هة

984645984627 ن

1114109 ة

9846451114109984644

ل ه

853575 1050179 984625ة ا

ن

ء 853543 ن 984644أ

ا ش

ش و

ا]ن

1050179 ]

ة

9175011114109984645 9175011114109 984645 نأ

ا

و

نة

ة1048573 853543 ن

ة984648 853549 ن أ

ا 1114109 984644ة

1050161 984648 984629 1114109984645ن

ة

ى

نأ

ا

و

ن

853543 ة

ى

نأ

ا 853543 ن 984625 ن

ل

ن د

و

أ

ا 853543 ن9175011114109 ة

9846451114109984645 853543984627 أ

ا نو

ن

ر

أ

1050151 ان

1114109 ة984644 984615 984643 ة

1050179 ا 853543 ن أ

ا

و

ا]ن

1050179 ] 984648ة853549 ن أ

1050151 1114109 984644ةة

984649 853549 ن او

ة

9175011114109 984645 ة9175011114109 ا

ܬܢܐ) (ܓ 853543 ن 853543 ش9175011114109 ة

9846451114109 ن

ة 853543984645و

ة

ى

نأ

ا ا]ن

1050179 ] ة

ن984621 853543

نأ

1050151 1050161 984648 984629 1114109984645ن

ر

1050165 853543 ن ة

ى

ن او

هة ة

9175011114109984645و

1050161 ة

984649 853549 ن أ

ا

و

984648 د

984645 ة

ى

أ

ا

و

1050161 984648 984629 س ه 1114109984645ن

853543 ن

1114109 ة

9846451114109

س

ة

853543 ة

ش984627 ه س

ا 853543 ن 984648 ن

أ

ا

و

ل ه

853543 ط

ة

ى

نا

و

ل ه

ا ر ن نة

ى

نا

و

ة ة

9175011114109 984644 ة

984649 853549 ن او

ه

س

اة

ى

أ

ن 984648 اأ

ة

984649

ن

984621 و

ة 853543 ن 984644 917501 1050157و 984648 853549 ن ا

1050161 أ

ل ه ا

و

ه

ل

ا ة

ن

1050161 1050161

ن

984621 و

984621ه و

1050161

ة

9175011114109 984645 ة

ه ل

ة ا

ة1048573

ن

984621 1050161 ن

984615 984643 853543 ن9175011114109853549 984648 ة ( (ܟܘة

984649 1050161 984648 853549 ن

984615 1050181 س ه ش

984648 ا

ة

984649 1050161 984648 853549 ن ة

984649

ن

984621

ن

9175011114109 ة1048573 و

984648 ة

984649 1050161 984648 ه 853549 ن

س

ا ة

ى

أ

ا

ه 1048573 984629 984615 1050181ة

ل ه شن

9175011114109 ة1048573 و

ة

1050183 984625ا ن

أ

Contents It is an incomplete copy of Book One Asin MS D it lacks the opening diagram (though ithas the surrounding text) the entire fourth andthe opening part of the 983142983145fth chapter It also lacksthe 983142983145nal chapters of Book One that is the eighthninth and tenth chapters Of Book Two it hasonly a partial copy of the 983142983145rst and third chaptersChapter three of Book Two contains additionalmaterial on each of the climes that is not foundin the other manuscripts

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle is given (in Syriac script) in the text onfol 109b983096 as Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ

al-ʿuyūn see 983142983145g 02 Physical description 46 leaves (folios 109bndash144a)

Dimensions 212 times 153 (text area 174 times c122) cm21ndash24 lines per page

Paper The sti1048678f biscuit paper has little evidenceof sizing and has turned darker near the edgesof the volume It has a thickness of 017minus019mm and an opaqueness factor of 4 with thinstraight vertical laid lines single chain lines and watermarks (an anchor in a circle () and a starover a crescent moon) There is some foxing anddamp-staining

Script There is no trace of frame-ruling and thespacing of lines is irregular The text is written in alarge Arabic and Karshūnī script using dark-brownink with prominent words formed with a broaderpen-stroke text-breaks or headings are indicatedby four small dots There are catchwords but nomarginalia are found in this portion of the vol-ume There is an illuminated heading in black inkand red opaque watercolours at the opening ofthe text (fol 109b) see 983142983145g 02

Page 6: An Eleventh-Century Egyptian Guide to the Universe

LIST OF FIGURES

I9831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

10486241048625 The colophon of MS B transcribed by al-faqīr Manṣūr bi-ism

Shammās (the ordained deacon) in the month of Tishrīn II 1048625104863210486321048626

(November AD 1048625104862910486311048625) Oxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632

fol 104862510486281048628a 1048630

10486241048626 The opening of MS B Oxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632

fol 10486251048624852025b copied AD 1048625104862910486311048625 852023

10486241048627 The opening of MS G Forschungsbibliothek Gotha MS orient

A 10486261048624852022852022 fols 104862510486281048631bndash104862510486281048632a copied 10486251048625104862910486281048625104863110486281048625 852017852016

10486241048628 Stemma showing the probable relationships between preserved

copies 852017983091

10486241048629 Diagram in MS M illustrating retrograde motion of the 1048678983145ve lsquoerraticrsquo

planets at the end of Chapter One Book One Milan Biblioteca

Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fol 10486251048628b copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 8520171048630

1048624852022 Diagram in MS D illustrating retrograde motion of the 1048678983145ve lsquoerraticrsquo

planets at the end of Chapter One Book One Damascus Maktabat

al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fol 10486251048626a copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 8520171048630

10486241048631 Two diagrams in MS B illustrating retrograde motion one labelled

in Arabic script and the other in Syriac script from the end of

Chapter One Book One Oxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632

fols 104862510486251048629bndash10486251048625852022a copied 1048625104862910486311048625 852017852023

10486241048632 The constellations of Booumltes Corona Borealis Hercules Lyra

Cygnus and Cassiopeia from Chapter Three of Book One in MS D

Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 10486261048632bndash1048626852025a

copied in 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852017852024

1048624852025 The constellations Ursa Minor Ursa Major and Draco (with start of

text for Cepheus) from Chapter Three of Book One in MS B Bodleian

Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632 fol 104862510486261048628b copied 1048625104862910486311048625 8520171048633

104862410486251048624 The constellations Ursa Minor and Ursa Major (with start of

text for Draco) from Chapter Three of Book One in MS M Milan

Biblioteca Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fol 10486271048624b copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 852018852016

104862410486251048625 Eleven comets said to have been described by Ptolemy in Chapter

Six of Book One as illustrated in the earliest copy (MS A) compared

with the three later ones (D B and M) Bodleian MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486251048627bndash10486251048628b undated c 1048625104862610486241048624 Damascus Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 1048627852022andash1048627852025a copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 Oxford

Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632 fols 10486251048626852025bndash104862510486271048625a copied 1048625104862910486311048625 Milan

Biblioteca Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fols 10486281048624bndash10486281048628a copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 852018852017

104862410486251048626 The seven illustrated lsquostars with faint lancesrsquo attributed to Hermes

in Chapter Seven of Book One as illustrated in the earliest copy

(MS A) compared with the three later ones (D B and M) Bodleian

MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486251048629bndash1048625852022a undated c 1048625104862610486241048624 Damascus Maktabat

al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 10486281048627andash10486281048627b copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628

Oxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 8520221048632 fols 104862510486271048627bndash104862510486271048628a copied

1048625104862910486311048625 Milan Biblioteca Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fols 10486281048632bndash1048628852025b

copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 852018852018

viii 9831481048681983155983156 983151852070 8520701048681983143983157983154983141983155

104862410486251048627 The opening of Chapter Nine Book One in MS M Milan

Biblioteca Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fols 1048629852025bndash8520221048624a copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 852018983091

104862410486251048628 Part of Chapter Nine Book One in MS D in which the text for

the 1048678983145rst three lunar mansions as given in MS A is transcribed in the

margins as a commentary (sharḥ) on the discussion of lunar mansions

taken from Kitāb al-Anwāʾ of Ibn Qutaybah (d c 1048626104863185202210486321048632852025) and placed

in the body of the text Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah

MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 10486291048627bndash10486291048628a copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852020

104862410486251048629 Rectilinear frames on consecutive pages in Chapter Ten of Book

Two in MS D They indicate space for a map of the Mediterranean

left blank except for the title written at the bottom of the 1048678983145rst frame

and continued at the top or the next lsquoThe tenth chapter on the

Western Seamdashie the Syrian Seamdashand its harbours and islands and

anchoragesrsquo Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625

fols 8520251048626a and 8520251048626b copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852021

10486241048625852022 Sketch map of al-Mahdīyah in Chapter Thirteen of Book Two

in MS D Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625

fols 8520251048632bndash852025852025a copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 8520181048630

104862410486251048631 Sketch map of Cyprus in Chapter Fifteen of Book Two in MS D

Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fol 104862510486241048629b

copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852023

104862410486251048632 Sketch for map of the River Nile Chapter Eighteen of Book Two in

MS D Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fol 10486251048625852025b

copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852023

10486241048625852025 Sketches for the River Tigris [or Euphrates] (right) and the River

Oxus (left) from Chapter Eighteen of Book Two in MS D Damascus

Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 104862510486261048624bndash104862510486261048625a copied

85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852024

B983151983151983147 O983150983141

10486251048625 Opening diagram of Book One a circular diagram of the skies

Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 1048626bndash1048627a 9830918520171048630

10486251048626 Closing diagram of Chapter One Book One ldquoDepiction of the arcs

of the lsquoerraticrsquo planets and their associations with the twelve signs of

the zodiacrdquo Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 1048629b 983091852016852017

10486251048627 Table in Chapter Four Book One lsquoOn thirty stars with occult

in1048684uencesrsquo Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 10486251048625b 8520181048630852023

10486251048628 Table in Chapter Five Book One lsquoOn the forms of the northern and

southern starsrsquo Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 10486251048626a 8520181048630852020

10486251048629 Continuation of the table in Chapter Five Book One Oxford

Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 10486251048626b 8520181048630852017

1048625852022 Comets illustrated in Chapter Six Book One Oxford Bodleian

Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486251048627bndash10486251048628b 8520188520201048630ndash852018852021852018

10486251048631 Comets illustrated in Chapter Seven Book One Oxford

Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486251048629bndash1048625852022a 8520189830911048630ndash852018983091852023

10486251048632 Maps of Lunar Mansions I through VII Chapter Nine Book One

Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486251048632andash1048625852025a 852018852017852020ndash852018852018852016

1048625852025 Maps of Lunar Mansions VIII through XIV Chapter Nine

Book One Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 1048625852025andash10486261048624a 8520188520161048633ndash852018852017983091

9831481048681983155983156 983151852070 8520701048681983143983157983154983141983155 ix

104862510486251048624 Maps of Lunar Mansions XV through XXI Chapter Nine

Book One Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486261048624andash10486261048624b 852018852016852020ndash8520188520161048633

104862510486251048625 Maps of Lunar Mansions XXII through XXVIII Chapter Nine

Book One Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486261048624bndash10486261048625a 852018852016852016ndash852018852016852020

104862510486251048626 Diagram in Chapter Ten Book One lsquoOn the blowing of winds

earthquakes and tremorsrsquo Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fol 10486261048625b 8520171048633852023

B983151983151983147 T983159983151

10486261048625 Rectangular World MapmdashEurope Oxford Bodleian Library

MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486261048627bndash10486261048628a 852017852024852020

10486261048626 Rectangular World MapmdashAfrica Oxford Bodleian Library

MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486261048627bndash10486261048628a 852017852024852018

10486261048627 Rectangular World MapmdashAsia Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fols 10486261048627bndash10486261048628a 8520178520231048633

10486261048628 Circular World Map Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486261048631bndash10486261048632a 8520171048630852017

10486261048629 Map of the Indian Ocean Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 1048626852025bndash10486271048624a 8520178520211048630

1048626852022 Map of the Mediterranean Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fols 10486271048624bndash10486271048625a 852017852021852018

10486261048631 Map of the Caspian Sea Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486271048625b 8520178520201048630

10486261048632 Map of Sicily Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486271048626bndash10486271048627a 852017983091852024

1048626852025 Map of al-Mahdīyah Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486271048628a 852017983091852016

104862610486251048624 Map of Tinnīs Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486271048629bndash1048627852022a 852017852017852023

104862610486251048625 Map of Cyprus Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 1048627852022b 852017852017852021

104862610486251048626 Diagram of the Bays of Byzantium Oxford Bodleian Library MS

Arab c 8520251048624 fol 10486271048632a 852017852016852020

104862610486251048627 Map of the Sources of the Nile Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fol 10486281048624a 10486331048630

104862610486251048628 Diagrams of Lakes Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048624b 1048633852021

104862610486251048629 Diagrams of Lakes continued Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fol 10486281048625a 1048633852020

10486261048625852022 Map of the Nile Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048626a 852024852024

104862610486251048631 Map of the Euphrates Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048626b 852024852021

104862610486251048632 Map of the Tigris Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048627a 852024983091

10486261048625852025 Map of the Indus Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048627b 852024852017

104862610486261048624 Map of the Oxus Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048628a 8520231048633

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A project extending over a decade and encompass-

ing the heavens as well as the Earth requires the

assistance of countless people who gave generously

of their time their knowledge and on occasion

their money We take this opportunity to express

our gratitude to all of them

The acquisition of The Book of Curiosities by the

Bodleian Library was made possible by a grant from

the Heritage Lottery Fund and generous donations

from the National Arts Collections Fund the Friends

of the Bodleian Saudi Aramco nine Oxford col-

leges (All Souls College Merton College New Col-

lege Nu9831421048678983145eld College St Antonyrsquos College St Cross

College St Johnrsquos College Wadham College and

Wolfson College) and private individuals These

grants and donations also provided funds for the

conservation pigment analysis and digitisation of

the manuscript the exhibition of the manuscript for

the general public and the preparation of a school

teacherrsquos pack based on portions of the manuscript

They also supported the creation in 2007 of a web-

site presenting an electronic high-quality repro-

duction of the original text and its illustrations

linked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition

(without full use of other copies) and a preliminary

English translation ( wwwbodleyoxacukbookof

curiosities) Moreover the monies (supplemented

by a grant from the Arts amp Humanities Research

Council) supported the preparation of a full study

of the treatise of which the present volume is the

major result

In the early stages of work on the Book of Curi-

osities the project manager was Lesley Forbes

then Keeper of Oriental Collections in the Bodleian

Library Conservation of the manuscript was carried

out by Alison McKay and Sabina Pugh in the con-

servation laboratories of the Bodleian Library This

project would have been impossible without their

expertise and support At the Bodleian we received

support and encouragement from many members

of sta983142f not least Colin Wake1048678983145eld Gillian Evison

and Samuel Fanous

Jeremy Johns Professor of the Art and Archae-

ology of the Islamic Mediterranean and Director

of the Khalili Research Centre for the Art amp Mate-

rial Culture of the Middle East served as project

research manager and worked extensively on the

interpretation of the chapter concerned with Sicily

The Khalili Research Centre part of the Orien-

tal Faculty of the University of Oxford provided a

home for the execution of the project

Many other colleagues and scholars gave gener-

ously of their time and expertise to answer numer-

ous queriesmdashnone more so than Professor Paul

Kunitzsch who patiently and meticulously read

through early drafts of chapters concerned with

star-names His assistance has been invaluable in

interpreting the material Because he was unable

to scrutinise the 1048678983145nal version of the translation

and edition he modestly refused to have his name

appear as a co-author There are no doubt errors

that remain in the readings and interpretations of

the star-names which would have been corrected

had he been able to examine the 1048678983145nal text

Here in Oxford we bene1048678983145ted from the unique

wide-ranging expertise of our colleagues at the

Oriental Institute and beyond Professors Geert

Jan van Gelder and Clive Holes helped with some

1048678983145ner points of Arabic poetry and syntax Dr Robert

Simpson gave invaluable help regarding the Cop-

tic vocabulary in the manuscript Nicholas Purcell

and Peregrine Horden helped us develop our ideas

regarding the representation of the Mediterranean

Dr James Howard-Johnston and Professor Elizabeth

Je983142freys provided a platform in which to test inter-

pretations during two Byzantine Studies seminars

here in Oxford and members of the seminar pro-

vided very useful suggestions particularly Peter Tho-

nemann Dimitri Korobeinikov Teresa Shawcross

and Mary Whitby Dr A10486789831451048678983145 al-Akiti Dr Adam Silver-

stein and Professor David Blackmann of the Centre

for the Study of Ancient Documents amongst many

others gave readily of their time and advice

For identi1048678983145cation of place-names in the Medi-

terranean we acknowledge the generous advice of

Professor Johannes Koder and his colleagues Klaus

Belke Friedrich Hild Andreas Kuumllzer and Peter

Soustal at the Tabula Imperii Byzantini project

based in Vienna who have been remarkably gen-

erous with their time and knowledge On the Ana-

tolian coasts we also consulted Raymond Descat

Ausonius Universiteacute de Bordeaux Dr Tassos Papa-

costas working on Prosopography of the Byzan-

tine World at Kingrsquos College London assisted with

xii 983137983139983147983150983151983159983148983141983140983143983141983149983141983150983156983155

our examination of Cyprus Dr Haris Koutelakis of

Athens kindly provided us with a copy of his study

of maps of the Aegean islands which included an

interpretation of the relevant chapter in the Book

of Curiosities Dr Alex Metcalfe University of Lan-

caster contributed invaluable 1048678983145nal comments

on the Sicilian toponyms Dr Yaacov Lev Depart-

ment of Middle Eastern History Bar Ilan Univer-

sity shared with us his knowledge of the Fatimid

Mediterranean

For identi1048678983145cation of place-names in the East-

ern Islamic world East Africa India and East Asia

we would like to thank the generous advice of Dr

Michal Biran of the Hebrew University Dr Emeri

van Donzel Oegstgeest the Netherlands Dr Roxani

Margariti Emory University Professor David W

Phillipson Director of the Museum of Archaeology

and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge

Professor Tansen Sen of Baruch College the City

University of New York Professor Andre Wink of

the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Drs Ronit

Yoeli-Tlalim and Anna Akasoy then with AHRC

Islam-Tibet Project at the Warburg Institute

Professor Len Berggren of Simon Fraser Uni-

versity provided guidance on mathematical mat-

ters Professor Julio Samsoacute University of Barcelona

similarly o983142fered advice on mathematical aspects of

astrology and astronomy

Professor Dr Andreas Kaplony of the Orien-

talisches Seminar and Institut fuumlr den Nahen und

Mittleren Osten Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaumlt

Muumlnchen and Tarek Kahlaoui of the University of

Pennsylvania helped us develop our ideas regarding

Islamic cartography Jean-Charles Ducegravene Senior

Lector Universiteacute Libre de Bruxelles has shared

with us his unique knowledge of the development

of geographical literature in medieval Islam

On the history of cartography in general and

maritime cartography in particular we have ben-

e1048678983145ted from the enthusiastic support of Professor

Richard Unger Department of History University

of British Columbia and the long-standing collabo-

ration of Evelyn Edson Professor Emeritus at Pied-

mont Virginia Community College

Dr Remke Kruk University of Leiden and Dr

Thomas Reimer Wiesbaden have read and com-

mented on the sections that deal with mirabilia

monsters and wondrous animals Dr Gerald Wick-

ens formerly of Kew Gardens has assisted with the

identi1048678983145cation of some of the wondrous plants

In 2008 al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh submitted to

the University of Jordan a masterrsquos thesis consisting

of an edition of the text based on the Bodleian copy

(then available through the website) and a later copy

now in Damascus the thesis was subsequently pub-

lished in Beirut in 2011 and has proved useful to us

at many points which will be noted Mr al-Rawadieh

has generously shared his research with us at vari-

ous stages and we would like to acknowledge his

scholarship and dedication which in many ways

complemented our e983142forts here Dr Lutfallah Gari

1048678983145rst drew our attention to the Damascus manu-

script and subsequently to his own publication

regarding the dating of the Book of Curiosities

Amongst the scores of others who have advised

us on aspects of this complex manuscript we would

like to make special mention of Charles Burnett of

the Warburg Institute our colleagues at Queen Mary

University of London in particular Professors Miri

Rubin and Jerry Brotton and Dr Alfred Hiatt Pro-

fessor Benjamin Kedar The Institute for Advanced

Study The Hebrew University of Jerusalem the

late Professor William Brice of the University of

Manchester Dr Bill Leadbetter of Edith Cowan

University Joondalup Western Australia Jonathan

M Bloom Norma Jean Calderwood University Pro-

fessor of Islamic and Asian Art Boston College Dr

Moya Carey curator in the Asian Department of

the VampA Museum and Dr Boris Rankov and Dr

Judith McKenzie both of the Department of Clas-

sics Royal Holloway University of London Others

who assisted on very speci1048678983145c points are gratefully

acknowledged within the commentary itself

At Brill we would like to thank our editors

Renee Otto Ingrid Heijckers-Velt Nienke Brienen-

Moolenaar and Kathy van Vliet for their patience

and support in seeing this volume through pro-

duction We also thank the Bodleian Library at

the University of Oxford the Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa1048692anīyah in Damascus the Biblioteca Ambro-

siana in Milan the Dār al-Kutub in Cairo and the

Forschungsbibliothek in Gotha for supplying copies

of manuscripts for study purposes and for granting

permission for the publication of select images

Finally for over a decade our families have

heard far more than they probably wished of puz-

zling place-names unidenti1048678983145able star-names maps

of unusual shapes comets that portend doom and

curious stories of exotic lands Without their sup-

port we could not have brought this project to its

conclusion

Yossef Rapoport London

Emilie Savage-Smith Oxford

INTRODUCTION

In June of 2002 the Bodleian Library University ofOxford acquired a highly illustrated manuscript ofa hitherto unknown Arabic cosmographical trea-tise This newly discovered manuscript containeda remarkable series of early maps and astronomi-cal diagrams most of which are unparalleled inany Greek Latin or Arabic material known to bepreserved today No less importantly both the illus-trations and the text preserve material gatheredfrom Muslim astronomers historians scholars andtravellers of the ninth to eleventh centuries whose works are now either lost or preserved only in frag-ments The manuscript now assigned the shelfmarkMS Arab c 90 is here reproduced in facsimileaccompanied by an edition of the Arabic text andan annotated English translation

The manuscript is a copy probably made inEgypt in the late twelfth or early thirteenth centuryof an anonymous work compiled in Egypt between AD 1020 and 1050 The rhyming title of the volume Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn looselytranslates as The Book of Curiosities of the Sciences

and Marvels for the Eyes For convenience the trea-tise is referred to simply as The Book of Curiosities

The treatise preserved in this early highly illus-trated manuscript was essentially unknown toscholars prior to its being o1048678fered for sale at auctionin London on 10 October 2000 (Christiersquos Islamic

Art amp Manuscripts lot 41) even though later it wasdiscovered that eight other copies of all or por-tions of the text (lacking most of the illustrations) were preserved in manuscripts of the sixteenthto nineteenth century that had lain unnoticed inother libraries At auction the manuscript was pur-chased by Sam Fogg a well-known London dealerin rare books and manuscripts Not long thereafterhe o1048678fered it to the Bodleian Library at a price wellunder the true market value In June of 2002 follow-ing an extensive fund-raising e1048678fort the Bodleianlibrary celebrated the acquisition of this remarkable Arabic manuscript

The treatise now designated as Bodleian LibraryMS Arab c 90 is divided into two parts (maqālahs)The 983142983145rst part or book on celestial matters is com-posed of ten chapters and begins with a descriptionof the heavens and their in852070983148uence upon events onEarth It contains a number of unique illustrations

and rare texts including an illustrated discourse oncomets and several pages depicting various promi-nent stars nearby the lsquolunar mansionsrsquo which arestar-groups near the ecliptic whose risings and set-tings were traditionally used to predict rain andother meteorological events The authorrsquos inter-est throughout the book is primarily astrologicaland divinatory and no mathematical astronomy ispresented

The second book on the Earth is divided intotwenty-983142983145ve chapters According to the author thissecond book is largely dependent upon the Geog-

raphy of Ptolemy In general however our authorrsquosinterest is descriptive and historical rather thanmathematical Along with geographical and histori-cal texts the manuscript contains two world mapsone rectangular and one circular The author thenfollows with maps of the great seas known to him which were the Indian Ocean the Mediterraneanand the Caspian The author was particularly inter-ested in depicting the shores of the Mediterraneanof which he probably had 983142983145rst-hand knowledgeBesides the detailed schematic map of the coastsand islands of the Mediterranean the treatise alsocontains unique maps of Sicily and Cyprus as wellas the strategic ports of al-Mahdīyah in North Africaand Tinnīs in Egypt The book also includes 983142983145veriver-maps (the Nile the Euphrates the Tigris theOxus and the Indus) The concluding 983142983145ve chaptersdescribe lsquocuriositiesrsquo such as monstrous animals and wondrous plants

In 2007 an electronic high-quality reproductionof the Bodleian manuscript and its illustrationslinked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition(without full use of other copies) and a preliminaryEnglish translation was made available at www bodleyoxacukbookofcuriosities The remarkablesigni983142983145cance of the treatise for the history of Islamiccartography and cosmology in particular and for thehistory of pre-modern cartography in general hasbeen recognized in several publications on speci983142983145cmaps and diagrams in the manuscript983089 The study of

983089 See amongst others Johns amp Savage-Smith 2003 Rapoportamp Savage-Smith 2004 Edson amp Savage-Smith 2004 Parry 2004Barber 2005 Horden amp Purcell 2006 Galician 2007 Bloom 2007Rapoport amp Savage-Smith 2008 Kahlaoui 2008 Kahlaoui 2008a

2 10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

some aspects of this treatise is still on-going espe-cially with regard to its contribution to the historyof astrology and astronomy its place in the geo-graphical and mirabilia traditions and its impacton our knowledge of the Fatimid caliphate and ofmaritime travel in the medieval Islamic world

Our purpose here is to present a full edition of thetreatise taking into account all the later manuscriptcopies In addition we provide here an Englishannotated translation and a facsimile reproductionof the entire manuscript The aim is to allow read-ers to examine the treatise as a whole in a way thatis not possible in an online edition and to consultan authoritative edition and translation that re852070983148ectsour decade-long study of the Bodleian manuscriptand other copies We open with the facsimile ofthe early Bodleian copy followed by the editionemploying all the copies of the entire Arabic textand all the map-and diagram-labels Following this we present an extensively annotated translation ofthe text and the labels concluding with an extendedglossary of star-names and thematic indexes

In the following pages of this Introduction welist and compare the known copies of the treatiseestablish the authorship and date of the treatiseand its component parts and explain our editorialconventions A full comprehensive study of thecontents of the treatise in the context of eleventh-century Fatimid society and learning must await aseparate publication But we hope this edition willgreatly enhance future research on the signi983142983145canceof this remarkable treatise for the history of cartog-raphy science and Islamic civilisation

I T983144983141 C9831519831521048681983141983155

MS A mdashOxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90

Date The copy is unsigned and undated Theappearance of the paper ink and script sug-gests a possible dating of the end of the twelfthcentury

Contents It is an incomplete copy missing part ofthe penultimate chapter and all of the last onein Book Two At the end of the volume in thegutter are narrow remnants of two folios thathave been cut from the volume corresponding

Kaplony 2008 Rapoport 2008 Savage-Smith 2009 Savage-Smith2010 Savage-Smith 2010a Rapoport 2011 Savage-Smith 2011aRapoport 2012

to the missing 983142983145nal chapters (part of 224 and allof 225) The eighth and ninth chapters of BookTwo are missing from the text as they are in allother copies

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle appears in the text on fol 1b10486251048625 as well as onthe title page (fol 1a) as Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn

wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn Beneath the title a laterowner has noted lsquoTo the author of this treatisethere belongs another book whose title is Muḥī983156 (Comprehensive) ⟨ ⟩ it is stated thus in theentry for the island of Sardiniarsquo

Physical description 48 leaves (folios 1andash48b)plus torn gutter strips from two missing leavesDimensions 324 times 245 cm (text area 291 times 226cm on folios without maps) 27 lines per page

Paper The lightly glossed biscuit-brown paper issturdy rather soft and relatively opaque Thepaper has thick slightly curved horizontal laidlines and there are rib shadows but no chainlines or watermarks are visible The thickness ofthe paper varies between 017 and 020 mm andmeasures 3 on the Sharp Scale of Opaquenessthe laid lines are 6ndash7 wirescm with the spacebetween lines less than the width of one line Thepaper appears to have been made using a grassmouldmdasha method used in Egypt and GreaterSyria in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries(greater precision is not possible)983090 The paperhas some damp-staining foxing and wormholesand there is considerable soiling and grime nearthe edges of the pages which have been trimmedfrom their original size with the loss in places oftext and marginalia Numerous repairs had beenmade to the paper at various times Conservationof the manuscript at the Bodleian was carried outby Alison McKay and Sabina Pugh in its conser- vation laboratories Multiple layers of old repairshad accumulated on the leaves causing particu-lar sti1048678fness in the spine area Sympathetic newrepairs replaced the old ones to reveal text andimages but some were left in place as they wereconsidered to be part of the cultural history ofthe manuscript

Script The text area has been frame-ruled Thetext is written in a medium-large Naskh script indense black ink with headings in warm-red ink

983090 For similar Islamic papers see Loveday 2001 and we thankHelen Loveday for examining and discussing with us the paperin this particular manuscript

10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150 3

Many diacritical dots are missing A sin is oftendistinguished from a shīn by a small haacuteček lessfrequently a haacuteček distinguishes the undotted(al-muhmalah) letters rāʾ or ṣad from the dottedforms A haacuteček occasionally is placed over a duc-tus that ought to have had two dots beneath indi-cating a yāʾ in a medial position A tāʾ marbū983156ah is often ligatured to a preceding rāʾ or dāl or dhāl a 983142983145nal letter ʿayn is occasionally ligatured to the983142983145rst letter of the following word A tāʾ marbū983156ah is very seldom dotted A small break occurs beforea medial or 983142983145nal 983156āʾ where the copyist lifted thepen when an unbroken connection with the pre-ceding letter would have been expected Textstops are indicated by a dot enclosed in a circleor by the symbol

ھ

(= intahaacute) There are somecatchwords The illustrations are labelled in asimilar but smaller hand Both hands are closerin many of their characteristics to those of copy-ists known to have worked in Greater Syria atthe end of the twelfth century or early thirteenthcentury than to the hands of securely dated andlocated products of the fourteenth century983091

Illustrations In Book One there is an opening dia-gram (double-page) immediately following theintroduction a single-page diagram at the end of11 and a half-page diagram in 110 There are alsocomet illustrations in 16 and 17 and diagramsof lunar mansions in 19 In Book Two there areseventeen maps or diagrams in chapters 21 2527 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 (two)218 (983142983145ve) The maps in Book Two use a stan-dard set of colours to convey the topographicalfeatures with green for salty seas and lakes andblue for fresh-water lakes and rivers The moun-tains are usually reddish-brown and town walls where depicted are darker brown-purple Reddots represent cities towns villages and anchor-age points The map of al-Mahdīyah has a multi-coloured depiction of the twin palaces of the city

983091 For example the script and paper are similar to a treatiseby the Egyptian scholar al-Dimyāṭī preserved in a copy (OxfordBodleian Library MS Marsh 592) completed 12 Jumādaacute II 592(13 May 1196) which displays many of the same orthographicfeatures including picking up the pen before writing the 983156āʾ (fol 98a1048625983095) for sample pages see Edson amp Savage-Smith 2004 19983142983145g 7 and King 2004 758 983142983145g 27 Other similarities of script andpaper can be observed in Gotha Forschungsbibliothek GothaMS orient A 1521 dated 5691173 Leiden MS Or 3101 cop-ied 5691173 Bodleian MS Huntington 202 copied in Syria inShaʿban 592July 1196 and Bodleian MS Marsh 379 fols 2andash87bmade between 5601165 and 6101213 (for the latter two exam-ples see Savage-Smith 2011 322ndash3 and plates xviiindashxx)

and the diagram of the sources of the Nile depictsa large crocodile The circular world map (at theend of 25) employs a slightly di1048678ferent paletteand is the only map in the volume to employcopper greens

Some illustrations such as those depictingcomets or small islands have traces of gold orsilver sprinklings while other areas in the mapsmay have been over-painted or coated in a shinylacquer-like material that is now crackled andcrazed A preliminary analysis of the pigments was conducted by Dr Sandra Grantham a consul-tant paper conservator using optical microscopyin the conservation workshop of the BodleianLibrary A full analysis using Raman Spectros-copy was subsequently carried out by Dr TraceyChaplin at the Christopher Ingold LaboratoriesUniversity College London983092 Further examinationof the pigments was carried out by Sabina Pughin the conservation workshop of the BodleianLibrary who used optical microscopy to try todetermine which pigments belonged to the origi-nal paint layer and which were over-painting orre-touching Six pigments were identi983142983145ed in theillustrations cinnabar (red) orpiment (yellow)lazurite (blue) indigo carbon-based black andbasic lead carbonate (a lsquolead whitersquo) Four furtherpigments could not be identi983142983145ed a golden mate-rial a green pigment the purple pigment usedto depict city walls and the blue component ofthe dark green pigment mixture on certain foliosNo evidence of modern inks or pigments wasrevealed The results of the scienti983142983145c analyses arecompletely consistent with the suggested originand age of the manuscript

Binding When acquired by the Bodleian Librarythe volume was contained in an Ottoman bindingof possibly eighteenth- or nineteenth-centurydate the binding was too small for the manu-script and in extremely poor condition The 983142983145rstfolio of the manuscript has staining that indicatesan earlier binding included an envelope 852070983148ap Atpresent the volume is dis-bound with the bind-ing removed and stored separately it remainsdis-bound to allow for easier exhibition

Provenance The title page also has two impressionsof an undated Ottoman () stamp reading Saʿdīibn ʿĪsaacute al-faqīr al-mutawakkil ʿalaacute Allāh al-kabīr

983092 The results of the Raman spectroscopic analysis have beenpublished in Chaplin Clark et al 2006

4 10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

There are also two undated ownersrsquo signaturesthe upper signature reading lsquoIn the book collec-tion of the one in need of God Muṣṭafaacute knownas Koumlpruuml-zade may God forgive himrsquo and thelower one reading lsquoAmongst the property of Yaḥyaacute ibn Muḥammad al-Mallāḥ (the sailer thesalt-miner)rsquo Between the two signatures thereis also one completely defaced ownerrsquos note InChapter Five of Book Two there are two half-page paintings (a wāqwāq-tree and an inhabitedscrolling vine) added by a later owner probablyin the fourteenth or 983142983145fteenthth century

Editionsprintings In 2007 an electronic high-quality reproduction of the manuscript and itsillustrations linked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition (without full use of other copies)and a preliminary English translation was madeavailable at wwwbodleyoxacukbookofcuriosi-ties The bibliographic citation is Emilie Savage-Smith and Yossef Rapoport (eds) The Book of

Curiosities A critical edition World-Wide-Webpublication ( wwwbodleyoxacukbookofcuri-osities) (March 2007)

Catalogue descriptions none

MS DmdashDamascus Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa983156anīyah MS 16501

Date The copy was completed on the last Sun-day in the 983142983145rst ten days of Rabīʿ I of the year972 [= 9 Rabīʿ I 972 = 15 October 1564] by AbūBakr ibn Fakhr al-Dīn ibn Ḥamzah ibn al-shaykh

Muḥammad min qaryat Muʿārat Ikhwān (fromthe village of Muʿārat Ikhwān)983093 The colophon isgiven on fol 210b10486251048625ndash10486251048629

Contents It is an incomplete copy Compared toMS A this manuscript lacks many of the illustra-tions maps and diagrams while adding textualmaterial from other sources Book One lacks theopening diagram (though it has the surroundingtext) Also missing from Book One is the entirefourth chapter the start of the 983142983145fth chapter andportions of the ninth and tenth chapters In thebody of the ninth chapter of Book One materialis taken from Ibn Qutaybahrsquos Kitāb al-Anwāʾ the983142983145rst three entries of the ninth chapter as givenin other copies are written here in the margins

983093 The name as written here is possibly a variant of Maʿarratal-Nuʿmān (

ن

984615 1050181 984633 ة ا 984644 نر

984645) a well-known town in northern Syriaع Al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh identi983142983145es Muʿārat Ikhwān with the village of Martaḥwān in the environs of Aleppo (Yāqūt 18664487) but without evidence (Gharāʾib 2011 129 nt 1 and 2689nt 8)

In Book Two the second seventh and elev-enth chapters which contain only maps and notext are missing The eighth and ninth chaptersof Book Two are also missing as in all manu-scripts In 215 there are nine additional entriesfor mythical islands interspersed between theentries for Indian Ocean islands found in MS AThe manuscript also contains three additionallong books (maqālahs) on horses ( fī al-khayl ) in 983142983145ve chapters ( faṣl s) of which the 983142983145nal one ismissing on camels ( fī nūq) in nineteen faṣl s andon hunting and game ( fī ṣayd wa-al-qanaṣ) intwenty-one faṣl s

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle is given in the text on fol 2a1048628ndash1048629 as Gharāʾib

al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn On fol 1a a later handhas written Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ

al-ʿuyūn wa-fīhi min kull ʿilm wa-ṣinf ʿilm 9175011114109ة ه 984645ن ) 1048573نو

1050169 ن

ن91750111141099846451114109 و

1050169

984643 )

Physical description 201 leaves (folios 1andash201b) Thesize of the leaves is not known but there are13ndash15 lines per page The nature of the paper isunknown

Script The text is carefully written in a clearmedium-large Naskh script The text area hasbeen frame-ruled There are text stops and end-of-line 983142983145llers of three dots in a triangular for-mation There are catchwords and most of themarginalia appear to be in the hand of the copy-ist For the opening folio see Gharāʾib 2011 189For other examples of folios from the manuscriptsee 983142983145gs 06 08 and 014ndash019

Illustrations In Book One there is a single-pagediagram at the end of 11 constellation 983142983145guresformed of lines of dots have been added to thetext of 13 In 16 and 17 there are illustrations ofcomets and in 19 diagrams of lunar mansions Atthe end of 21 there is a crude rectangular sketch(repeated twice) aligning the cardinal directions with zodiacal signs Chapter 210 has two emptyrectangular frames with the title of the chapter(lsquoThe tenth chapter on the Western Seamdashiethe Syrian Seamdashand its harbours and islandsand anchoragesrsquo) written at the edge and in 217there are several empty circles suggestive of thelake diagrams in the earlier Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 The city of al-Mahdīyah (213) theisland of Cyprus (215) and the rivers Nile Tigrisand Oxus are represented by crude unlabelledsketches whose general signi983142983145cance is recogniz-able only when compared to the equivalent maps

10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150 5

in the earlier Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 See983142983145gs 06 08 011 012 and 014ndash019 for examples

Binding unknown Provenance The manuscript was formerly kept

in Aleppo as al-Maktabah al-Waqfīyah MS 957On the title page (fol 1a) there are several own-ersrsquo notes for the most part illegible or defacedand one prominent seven-line study note dated9801572ndash3 written by the copyist of the manu-script eight years after completing this copy Thenote indicates that this manuscript was the basisfor another copy prepared by the same copyistbut one that contained only the 983142983145rst book on theheavens The note reads

9175011114109984645ن هن

1114109 ة

9846451114109984644 و

ر

نآ

ا

ى

853572 ا

ل ه

و

ا

ن

984645 س ه

ا

ى

1050151 ا 984625ة

ة 984644 ن 984644 ها

ن

ة984644 984615 984643 ن

853543 ة

ا ان

1050183 ة

ى

ر

ن

ن

1114109 ن

984645 984627 984615 984643 ن و 853575 1050179 853543 ى853561 ا

د

و

853543 984615 1050181 853571 ن

هة

ل

و

1050151 هة ا

ل

853543 ة 984644 ا

853543 ة984644 ة 1050161 1050151 984648 ا

1050169و

853543 ة ن

984644 ا 984648 ط ه ة 984644 ه ا ل

853543984629 ة

اى

1050161 853543 ن

9175011114109

ا

984648ا 984627ش ر

ش ى

ل

ند

و

ة

9175011114109 984644 1050161 984648 ن ه ش 984645ن

هة

984615 1050181 984633 ة

و

نة

ن 853543

There are also three impressions of a small octag-onal ownerrsquos stamp (not legible) On folios 1band 201b there are impressions of a large round

stamp reading اد 1050161ن 984644ن 1114109ةة

1048573 و

984649 984644 ا 1114109نة

9846451114109

ا 984645ن

ن

1114109

984621ة

984649 984648 984645 984625 اة

ن

984644

984645 853543 ن

917501 1050157 ا ن 984648 984644 د ن را ن

ا

Editionsprintings The text of this manuscript hasbeen edited by al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh983094 Forthe purposes of our present edition we havemade use of scans of the Damascus manuscriptitself and on occasion present a di1048678ferent reading

Catalogue descriptions none

MS BmdashOxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 68

item 6

Date The copy was transcribed by al-faqīr Manṣūrbi-ism Shammās (the ordained deacon) inNovember of AD 1571 The date is given as themonth of Tishrīn II 1882 using the Alexandrian(or Seleucid) calendar which began 1 October 312BC The volume in which this item is bound con-tains nine treatises in either Arabic or Karshūnī(the Syriac script used by the Christians of Syriaand Mesopotamia for writing Arabic) all of themapparently copied in Syria See 983142983145g 01 for the col-ophon in the manuscript

983094 Gharāʾib 2011 195ndash512 and 2513ndash689

The folio following this item in the manuscript(fol 145b) has an eleven-line note in Karshūnī pre-senting a carefully written lineage of the copyist

ل

ن د

و

أ

ا نة

984645984648 853549 ر

ا 853543 ن اد ن

984621 أ

ا ل هة]

984627 =] ل هة

984645984627 ن

1114109 ة

9846451114109984644

ل ه

853575 1050179 984625ة ا

ن

ء 853543 ن 984644أ

ا ش

ش و

ا]ن

1050179 ]

ة

9175011114109984645 9175011114109 984645 نأ

ا

و

نة

ة1048573 853543 ن

ة984648 853549 ن أ

ا 1114109 984644ة

1050161 984648 984629 1114109984645ن

ة

ى

نأ

ا

و

ن

853543 ة

ى

نأ

ا 853543 ن 984625 ن

ل

ن د

و

أ

ا 853543 ن9175011114109 ة

9846451114109984645 853543984627 أ

ا نو

ن

ر

أ

1050151 ان

1114109 ة984644 984615 984643 ة

1050179 ا 853543 ن أ

ا

و

ا]ن

1050179 ] 984648ة853549 ن أ

1050151 1114109 984644ةة

984649 853549 ن او

ة

9175011114109 984645 ة9175011114109 ا

ܬܢܐ) (ܓ 853543 ن 853543 ش9175011114109 ة

9846451114109 ن

ة 853543984645و

ة

ى

نأ

ا ا]ن

1050179 ] ة

ن984621 853543

نأ

1050151 1050161 984648 984629 1114109984645ن

ر

1050165 853543 ن ة

ى

ن او

هة ة

9175011114109984645و

1050161 ة

984649 853549 ن أ

ا

و

984648 د

984645 ة

ى

أ

ا

و

1050161 984648 984629 س ه 1114109984645ن

853543 ن

1114109 ة

9846451114109

س

ة

853543 ة

ش984627 ه س

ا 853543 ن 984648 ن

أ

ا

و

ل ه

853543 ط

ة

ى

نا

و

ل ه

ا ر ن نة

ى

نا

و

ة ة

9175011114109 984644 ة

984649 853549 ن او

ه

س

اة

ى

أ

ن 984648 اأ

ة

984649

ن

984621 و

ة 853543 ن 984644 917501 1050157و 984648 853549 ن ا

1050161 أ

ل ه ا

و

ه

ل

ا ة

ن

1050161 1050161

ن

984621 و

984621ه و

1050161

ة

9175011114109 984645 ة

ه ل

ة ا

ة1048573

ن

984621 1050161 ن

984615 984643 853543 ن9175011114109853549 984648 ة ( (ܟܘة

984649 1050161 984648 853549 ن

984615 1050181 س ه ش

984648 ا

ة

984649 1050161 984648 853549 ن ة

984649

ن

984621

ن

9175011114109 ة1048573 و

984648 ة

984649 1050161 984648 ه 853549 ن

س

ا ة

ى

أ

ا

ه 1048573 984629 984615 1050181ة

ل ه شن

9175011114109 ة1048573 و

ة

1050183 984625ا ن

أ

Contents It is an incomplete copy of Book One Asin MS D it lacks the opening diagram (though ithas the surrounding text) the entire fourth andthe opening part of the 983142983145fth chapter It also lacksthe 983142983145nal chapters of Book One that is the eighthninth and tenth chapters Of Book Two it hasonly a partial copy of the 983142983145rst and third chaptersChapter three of Book Two contains additionalmaterial on each of the climes that is not foundin the other manuscripts

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle is given (in Syriac script) in the text onfol 109b983096 as Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ

al-ʿuyūn see 983142983145g 02 Physical description 46 leaves (folios 109bndash144a)

Dimensions 212 times 153 (text area 174 times c122) cm21ndash24 lines per page

Paper The sti1048678f biscuit paper has little evidenceof sizing and has turned darker near the edgesof the volume It has a thickness of 017minus019mm and an opaqueness factor of 4 with thinstraight vertical laid lines single chain lines and watermarks (an anchor in a circle () and a starover a crescent moon) There is some foxing anddamp-staining

Script There is no trace of frame-ruling and thespacing of lines is irregular The text is written in alarge Arabic and Karshūnī script using dark-brownink with prominent words formed with a broaderpen-stroke text-breaks or headings are indicatedby four small dots There are catchwords but nomarginalia are found in this portion of the vol-ume There is an illuminated heading in black inkand red opaque watercolours at the opening ofthe text (fol 109b) see 983142983145g 02

Page 7: An Eleventh-Century Egyptian Guide to the Universe

viii 9831481048681983155983156 983151852070 8520701048681983143983157983154983141983155

104862410486251048627 The opening of Chapter Nine Book One in MS M Milan

Biblioteca Ambrosiana MS amp 1048631852022 sup fols 1048629852025bndash8520221048624a copied c1048625104862910486241048624s 852018983091

104862410486251048628 Part of Chapter Nine Book One in MS D in which the text for

the 1048678983145rst three lunar mansions as given in MS A is transcribed in the

margins as a commentary (sharḥ) on the discussion of lunar mansions

taken from Kitāb al-Anwāʾ of Ibn Qutaybah (d c 1048626104863185202210486321048632852025) and placed

in the body of the text Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah

MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 10486291048627bndash10486291048628a copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852020

104862410486251048629 Rectilinear frames on consecutive pages in Chapter Ten of Book

Two in MS D They indicate space for a map of the Mediterranean

left blank except for the title written at the bottom of the 1048678983145rst frame

and continued at the top or the next lsquoThe tenth chapter on the

Western Seamdashie the Syrian Seamdashand its harbours and islands and

anchoragesrsquo Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625

fols 8520251048626a and 8520251048626b copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852021

10486241048625852022 Sketch map of al-Mahdīyah in Chapter Thirteen of Book Two

in MS D Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625

fols 8520251048632bndash852025852025a copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 8520181048630

104862410486251048631 Sketch map of Cyprus in Chapter Fifteen of Book Two in MS D

Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fol 104862510486241048629b

copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852023

104862410486251048632 Sketch for map of the River Nile Chapter Eighteen of Book Two in

MS D Damascus Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fol 10486251048625852025b

copied 85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852023

10486241048625852025 Sketches for the River Tigris [or Euphrates] (right) and the River

Oxus (left) from Chapter Eighteen of Book Two in MS D Damascus

Maktabat al-Assad al-Wa1048692anīyah MS 1048625852022104862910486241048625 fols 104862510486261048624bndash104862510486261048625a copied

85202510486311048626104862510486298520221048628 852018852024

B983151983151983147 O983150983141

10486251048625 Opening diagram of Book One a circular diagram of the skies

Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 1048626bndash1048627a 9830918520171048630

10486251048626 Closing diagram of Chapter One Book One ldquoDepiction of the arcs

of the lsquoerraticrsquo planets and their associations with the twelve signs of

the zodiacrdquo Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 1048629b 983091852016852017

10486251048627 Table in Chapter Four Book One lsquoOn thirty stars with occult

in1048684uencesrsquo Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 10486251048625b 8520181048630852023

10486251048628 Table in Chapter Five Book One lsquoOn the forms of the northern and

southern starsrsquo Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 10486251048626a 8520181048630852020

10486251048629 Continuation of the table in Chapter Five Book One Oxford

Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 10486251048626b 8520181048630852017

1048625852022 Comets illustrated in Chapter Six Book One Oxford Bodleian

Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486251048627bndash10486251048628b 8520188520201048630ndash852018852021852018

10486251048631 Comets illustrated in Chapter Seven Book One Oxford

Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486251048629bndash1048625852022a 8520189830911048630ndash852018983091852023

10486251048632 Maps of Lunar Mansions I through VII Chapter Nine Book One

Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486251048632andash1048625852025a 852018852017852020ndash852018852018852016

1048625852025 Maps of Lunar Mansions VIII through XIV Chapter Nine

Book One Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 1048625852025andash10486261048624a 8520188520161048633ndash852018852017983091

9831481048681983155983156 983151852070 8520701048681983143983157983154983141983155 ix

104862510486251048624 Maps of Lunar Mansions XV through XXI Chapter Nine

Book One Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486261048624andash10486261048624b 852018852016852020ndash8520188520161048633

104862510486251048625 Maps of Lunar Mansions XXII through XXVIII Chapter Nine

Book One Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486261048624bndash10486261048625a 852018852016852016ndash852018852016852020

104862510486251048626 Diagram in Chapter Ten Book One lsquoOn the blowing of winds

earthquakes and tremorsrsquo Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fol 10486261048625b 8520171048633852023

B983151983151983147 T983159983151

10486261048625 Rectangular World MapmdashEurope Oxford Bodleian Library

MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486261048627bndash10486261048628a 852017852024852020

10486261048626 Rectangular World MapmdashAfrica Oxford Bodleian Library

MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486261048627bndash10486261048628a 852017852024852018

10486261048627 Rectangular World MapmdashAsia Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fols 10486261048627bndash10486261048628a 8520178520231048633

10486261048628 Circular World Map Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486261048631bndash10486261048632a 8520171048630852017

10486261048629 Map of the Indian Ocean Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 1048626852025bndash10486271048624a 8520178520211048630

1048626852022 Map of the Mediterranean Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fols 10486271048624bndash10486271048625a 852017852021852018

10486261048631 Map of the Caspian Sea Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486271048625b 8520178520201048630

10486261048632 Map of Sicily Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486271048626bndash10486271048627a 852017983091852024

1048626852025 Map of al-Mahdīyah Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486271048628a 852017983091852016

104862610486251048624 Map of Tinnīs Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486271048629bndash1048627852022a 852017852017852023

104862610486251048625 Map of Cyprus Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 1048627852022b 852017852017852021

104862610486251048626 Diagram of the Bays of Byzantium Oxford Bodleian Library MS

Arab c 8520251048624 fol 10486271048632a 852017852016852020

104862610486251048627 Map of the Sources of the Nile Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fol 10486281048624a 10486331048630

104862610486251048628 Diagrams of Lakes Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048624b 1048633852021

104862610486251048629 Diagrams of Lakes continued Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fol 10486281048625a 1048633852020

10486261048625852022 Map of the Nile Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048626a 852024852024

104862610486251048631 Map of the Euphrates Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048626b 852024852021

104862610486251048632 Map of the Tigris Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048627a 852024983091

10486261048625852025 Map of the Indus Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048627b 852024852017

104862610486261048624 Map of the Oxus Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048628a 8520231048633

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A project extending over a decade and encompass-

ing the heavens as well as the Earth requires the

assistance of countless people who gave generously

of their time their knowledge and on occasion

their money We take this opportunity to express

our gratitude to all of them

The acquisition of The Book of Curiosities by the

Bodleian Library was made possible by a grant from

the Heritage Lottery Fund and generous donations

from the National Arts Collections Fund the Friends

of the Bodleian Saudi Aramco nine Oxford col-

leges (All Souls College Merton College New Col-

lege Nu9831421048678983145eld College St Antonyrsquos College St Cross

College St Johnrsquos College Wadham College and

Wolfson College) and private individuals These

grants and donations also provided funds for the

conservation pigment analysis and digitisation of

the manuscript the exhibition of the manuscript for

the general public and the preparation of a school

teacherrsquos pack based on portions of the manuscript

They also supported the creation in 2007 of a web-

site presenting an electronic high-quality repro-

duction of the original text and its illustrations

linked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition

(without full use of other copies) and a preliminary

English translation ( wwwbodleyoxacukbookof

curiosities) Moreover the monies (supplemented

by a grant from the Arts amp Humanities Research

Council) supported the preparation of a full study

of the treatise of which the present volume is the

major result

In the early stages of work on the Book of Curi-

osities the project manager was Lesley Forbes

then Keeper of Oriental Collections in the Bodleian

Library Conservation of the manuscript was carried

out by Alison McKay and Sabina Pugh in the con-

servation laboratories of the Bodleian Library This

project would have been impossible without their

expertise and support At the Bodleian we received

support and encouragement from many members

of sta983142f not least Colin Wake1048678983145eld Gillian Evison

and Samuel Fanous

Jeremy Johns Professor of the Art and Archae-

ology of the Islamic Mediterranean and Director

of the Khalili Research Centre for the Art amp Mate-

rial Culture of the Middle East served as project

research manager and worked extensively on the

interpretation of the chapter concerned with Sicily

The Khalili Research Centre part of the Orien-

tal Faculty of the University of Oxford provided a

home for the execution of the project

Many other colleagues and scholars gave gener-

ously of their time and expertise to answer numer-

ous queriesmdashnone more so than Professor Paul

Kunitzsch who patiently and meticulously read

through early drafts of chapters concerned with

star-names His assistance has been invaluable in

interpreting the material Because he was unable

to scrutinise the 1048678983145nal version of the translation

and edition he modestly refused to have his name

appear as a co-author There are no doubt errors

that remain in the readings and interpretations of

the star-names which would have been corrected

had he been able to examine the 1048678983145nal text

Here in Oxford we bene1048678983145ted from the unique

wide-ranging expertise of our colleagues at the

Oriental Institute and beyond Professors Geert

Jan van Gelder and Clive Holes helped with some

1048678983145ner points of Arabic poetry and syntax Dr Robert

Simpson gave invaluable help regarding the Cop-

tic vocabulary in the manuscript Nicholas Purcell

and Peregrine Horden helped us develop our ideas

regarding the representation of the Mediterranean

Dr James Howard-Johnston and Professor Elizabeth

Je983142freys provided a platform in which to test inter-

pretations during two Byzantine Studies seminars

here in Oxford and members of the seminar pro-

vided very useful suggestions particularly Peter Tho-

nemann Dimitri Korobeinikov Teresa Shawcross

and Mary Whitby Dr A10486789831451048678983145 al-Akiti Dr Adam Silver-

stein and Professor David Blackmann of the Centre

for the Study of Ancient Documents amongst many

others gave readily of their time and advice

For identi1048678983145cation of place-names in the Medi-

terranean we acknowledge the generous advice of

Professor Johannes Koder and his colleagues Klaus

Belke Friedrich Hild Andreas Kuumllzer and Peter

Soustal at the Tabula Imperii Byzantini project

based in Vienna who have been remarkably gen-

erous with their time and knowledge On the Ana-

tolian coasts we also consulted Raymond Descat

Ausonius Universiteacute de Bordeaux Dr Tassos Papa-

costas working on Prosopography of the Byzan-

tine World at Kingrsquos College London assisted with

xii 983137983139983147983150983151983159983148983141983140983143983141983149983141983150983156983155

our examination of Cyprus Dr Haris Koutelakis of

Athens kindly provided us with a copy of his study

of maps of the Aegean islands which included an

interpretation of the relevant chapter in the Book

of Curiosities Dr Alex Metcalfe University of Lan-

caster contributed invaluable 1048678983145nal comments

on the Sicilian toponyms Dr Yaacov Lev Depart-

ment of Middle Eastern History Bar Ilan Univer-

sity shared with us his knowledge of the Fatimid

Mediterranean

For identi1048678983145cation of place-names in the East-

ern Islamic world East Africa India and East Asia

we would like to thank the generous advice of Dr

Michal Biran of the Hebrew University Dr Emeri

van Donzel Oegstgeest the Netherlands Dr Roxani

Margariti Emory University Professor David W

Phillipson Director of the Museum of Archaeology

and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge

Professor Tansen Sen of Baruch College the City

University of New York Professor Andre Wink of

the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Drs Ronit

Yoeli-Tlalim and Anna Akasoy then with AHRC

Islam-Tibet Project at the Warburg Institute

Professor Len Berggren of Simon Fraser Uni-

versity provided guidance on mathematical mat-

ters Professor Julio Samsoacute University of Barcelona

similarly o983142fered advice on mathematical aspects of

astrology and astronomy

Professor Dr Andreas Kaplony of the Orien-

talisches Seminar and Institut fuumlr den Nahen und

Mittleren Osten Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaumlt

Muumlnchen and Tarek Kahlaoui of the University of

Pennsylvania helped us develop our ideas regarding

Islamic cartography Jean-Charles Ducegravene Senior

Lector Universiteacute Libre de Bruxelles has shared

with us his unique knowledge of the development

of geographical literature in medieval Islam

On the history of cartography in general and

maritime cartography in particular we have ben-

e1048678983145ted from the enthusiastic support of Professor

Richard Unger Department of History University

of British Columbia and the long-standing collabo-

ration of Evelyn Edson Professor Emeritus at Pied-

mont Virginia Community College

Dr Remke Kruk University of Leiden and Dr

Thomas Reimer Wiesbaden have read and com-

mented on the sections that deal with mirabilia

monsters and wondrous animals Dr Gerald Wick-

ens formerly of Kew Gardens has assisted with the

identi1048678983145cation of some of the wondrous plants

In 2008 al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh submitted to

the University of Jordan a masterrsquos thesis consisting

of an edition of the text based on the Bodleian copy

(then available through the website) and a later copy

now in Damascus the thesis was subsequently pub-

lished in Beirut in 2011 and has proved useful to us

at many points which will be noted Mr al-Rawadieh

has generously shared his research with us at vari-

ous stages and we would like to acknowledge his

scholarship and dedication which in many ways

complemented our e983142forts here Dr Lutfallah Gari

1048678983145rst drew our attention to the Damascus manu-

script and subsequently to his own publication

regarding the dating of the Book of Curiosities

Amongst the scores of others who have advised

us on aspects of this complex manuscript we would

like to make special mention of Charles Burnett of

the Warburg Institute our colleagues at Queen Mary

University of London in particular Professors Miri

Rubin and Jerry Brotton and Dr Alfred Hiatt Pro-

fessor Benjamin Kedar The Institute for Advanced

Study The Hebrew University of Jerusalem the

late Professor William Brice of the University of

Manchester Dr Bill Leadbetter of Edith Cowan

University Joondalup Western Australia Jonathan

M Bloom Norma Jean Calderwood University Pro-

fessor of Islamic and Asian Art Boston College Dr

Moya Carey curator in the Asian Department of

the VampA Museum and Dr Boris Rankov and Dr

Judith McKenzie both of the Department of Clas-

sics Royal Holloway University of London Others

who assisted on very speci1048678983145c points are gratefully

acknowledged within the commentary itself

At Brill we would like to thank our editors

Renee Otto Ingrid Heijckers-Velt Nienke Brienen-

Moolenaar and Kathy van Vliet for their patience

and support in seeing this volume through pro-

duction We also thank the Bodleian Library at

the University of Oxford the Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa1048692anīyah in Damascus the Biblioteca Ambro-

siana in Milan the Dār al-Kutub in Cairo and the

Forschungsbibliothek in Gotha for supplying copies

of manuscripts for study purposes and for granting

permission for the publication of select images

Finally for over a decade our families have

heard far more than they probably wished of puz-

zling place-names unidenti1048678983145able star-names maps

of unusual shapes comets that portend doom and

curious stories of exotic lands Without their sup-

port we could not have brought this project to its

conclusion

Yossef Rapoport London

Emilie Savage-Smith Oxford

INTRODUCTION

In June of 2002 the Bodleian Library University ofOxford acquired a highly illustrated manuscript ofa hitherto unknown Arabic cosmographical trea-tise This newly discovered manuscript containeda remarkable series of early maps and astronomi-cal diagrams most of which are unparalleled inany Greek Latin or Arabic material known to bepreserved today No less importantly both the illus-trations and the text preserve material gatheredfrom Muslim astronomers historians scholars andtravellers of the ninth to eleventh centuries whose works are now either lost or preserved only in frag-ments The manuscript now assigned the shelfmarkMS Arab c 90 is here reproduced in facsimileaccompanied by an edition of the Arabic text andan annotated English translation

The manuscript is a copy probably made inEgypt in the late twelfth or early thirteenth centuryof an anonymous work compiled in Egypt between AD 1020 and 1050 The rhyming title of the volume Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn looselytranslates as The Book of Curiosities of the Sciences

and Marvels for the Eyes For convenience the trea-tise is referred to simply as The Book of Curiosities

The treatise preserved in this early highly illus-trated manuscript was essentially unknown toscholars prior to its being o1048678fered for sale at auctionin London on 10 October 2000 (Christiersquos Islamic

Art amp Manuscripts lot 41) even though later it wasdiscovered that eight other copies of all or por-tions of the text (lacking most of the illustrations) were preserved in manuscripts of the sixteenthto nineteenth century that had lain unnoticed inother libraries At auction the manuscript was pur-chased by Sam Fogg a well-known London dealerin rare books and manuscripts Not long thereafterhe o1048678fered it to the Bodleian Library at a price wellunder the true market value In June of 2002 follow-ing an extensive fund-raising e1048678fort the Bodleianlibrary celebrated the acquisition of this remarkable Arabic manuscript

The treatise now designated as Bodleian LibraryMS Arab c 90 is divided into two parts (maqālahs)The 983142983145rst part or book on celestial matters is com-posed of ten chapters and begins with a descriptionof the heavens and their in852070983148uence upon events onEarth It contains a number of unique illustrations

and rare texts including an illustrated discourse oncomets and several pages depicting various promi-nent stars nearby the lsquolunar mansionsrsquo which arestar-groups near the ecliptic whose risings and set-tings were traditionally used to predict rain andother meteorological events The authorrsquos inter-est throughout the book is primarily astrologicaland divinatory and no mathematical astronomy ispresented

The second book on the Earth is divided intotwenty-983142983145ve chapters According to the author thissecond book is largely dependent upon the Geog-

raphy of Ptolemy In general however our authorrsquosinterest is descriptive and historical rather thanmathematical Along with geographical and histori-cal texts the manuscript contains two world mapsone rectangular and one circular The author thenfollows with maps of the great seas known to him which were the Indian Ocean the Mediterraneanand the Caspian The author was particularly inter-ested in depicting the shores of the Mediterraneanof which he probably had 983142983145rst-hand knowledgeBesides the detailed schematic map of the coastsand islands of the Mediterranean the treatise alsocontains unique maps of Sicily and Cyprus as wellas the strategic ports of al-Mahdīyah in North Africaand Tinnīs in Egypt The book also includes 983142983145veriver-maps (the Nile the Euphrates the Tigris theOxus and the Indus) The concluding 983142983145ve chaptersdescribe lsquocuriositiesrsquo such as monstrous animals and wondrous plants

In 2007 an electronic high-quality reproductionof the Bodleian manuscript and its illustrationslinked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition(without full use of other copies) and a preliminaryEnglish translation was made available at www bodleyoxacukbookofcuriosities The remarkablesigni983142983145cance of the treatise for the history of Islamiccartography and cosmology in particular and for thehistory of pre-modern cartography in general hasbeen recognized in several publications on speci983142983145cmaps and diagrams in the manuscript983089 The study of

983089 See amongst others Johns amp Savage-Smith 2003 Rapoportamp Savage-Smith 2004 Edson amp Savage-Smith 2004 Parry 2004Barber 2005 Horden amp Purcell 2006 Galician 2007 Bloom 2007Rapoport amp Savage-Smith 2008 Kahlaoui 2008 Kahlaoui 2008a

2 10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

some aspects of this treatise is still on-going espe-cially with regard to its contribution to the historyof astrology and astronomy its place in the geo-graphical and mirabilia traditions and its impacton our knowledge of the Fatimid caliphate and ofmaritime travel in the medieval Islamic world

Our purpose here is to present a full edition of thetreatise taking into account all the later manuscriptcopies In addition we provide here an Englishannotated translation and a facsimile reproductionof the entire manuscript The aim is to allow read-ers to examine the treatise as a whole in a way thatis not possible in an online edition and to consultan authoritative edition and translation that re852070983148ectsour decade-long study of the Bodleian manuscriptand other copies We open with the facsimile ofthe early Bodleian copy followed by the editionemploying all the copies of the entire Arabic textand all the map-and diagram-labels Following this we present an extensively annotated translation ofthe text and the labels concluding with an extendedglossary of star-names and thematic indexes

In the following pages of this Introduction welist and compare the known copies of the treatiseestablish the authorship and date of the treatiseand its component parts and explain our editorialconventions A full comprehensive study of thecontents of the treatise in the context of eleventh-century Fatimid society and learning must await aseparate publication But we hope this edition willgreatly enhance future research on the signi983142983145canceof this remarkable treatise for the history of cartog-raphy science and Islamic civilisation

I T983144983141 C9831519831521048681983141983155

MS A mdashOxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90

Date The copy is unsigned and undated Theappearance of the paper ink and script sug-gests a possible dating of the end of the twelfthcentury

Contents It is an incomplete copy missing part ofthe penultimate chapter and all of the last onein Book Two At the end of the volume in thegutter are narrow remnants of two folios thathave been cut from the volume corresponding

Kaplony 2008 Rapoport 2008 Savage-Smith 2009 Savage-Smith2010 Savage-Smith 2010a Rapoport 2011 Savage-Smith 2011aRapoport 2012

to the missing 983142983145nal chapters (part of 224 and allof 225) The eighth and ninth chapters of BookTwo are missing from the text as they are in allother copies

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle appears in the text on fol 1b10486251048625 as well as onthe title page (fol 1a) as Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn

wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn Beneath the title a laterowner has noted lsquoTo the author of this treatisethere belongs another book whose title is Muḥī983156 (Comprehensive) ⟨ ⟩ it is stated thus in theentry for the island of Sardiniarsquo

Physical description 48 leaves (folios 1andash48b)plus torn gutter strips from two missing leavesDimensions 324 times 245 cm (text area 291 times 226cm on folios without maps) 27 lines per page

Paper The lightly glossed biscuit-brown paper issturdy rather soft and relatively opaque Thepaper has thick slightly curved horizontal laidlines and there are rib shadows but no chainlines or watermarks are visible The thickness ofthe paper varies between 017 and 020 mm andmeasures 3 on the Sharp Scale of Opaquenessthe laid lines are 6ndash7 wirescm with the spacebetween lines less than the width of one line Thepaper appears to have been made using a grassmouldmdasha method used in Egypt and GreaterSyria in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries(greater precision is not possible)983090 The paperhas some damp-staining foxing and wormholesand there is considerable soiling and grime nearthe edges of the pages which have been trimmedfrom their original size with the loss in places oftext and marginalia Numerous repairs had beenmade to the paper at various times Conservationof the manuscript at the Bodleian was carried outby Alison McKay and Sabina Pugh in its conser- vation laboratories Multiple layers of old repairshad accumulated on the leaves causing particu-lar sti1048678fness in the spine area Sympathetic newrepairs replaced the old ones to reveal text andimages but some were left in place as they wereconsidered to be part of the cultural history ofthe manuscript

Script The text area has been frame-ruled Thetext is written in a medium-large Naskh script indense black ink with headings in warm-red ink

983090 For similar Islamic papers see Loveday 2001 and we thankHelen Loveday for examining and discussing with us the paperin this particular manuscript

10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150 3

Many diacritical dots are missing A sin is oftendistinguished from a shīn by a small haacuteček lessfrequently a haacuteček distinguishes the undotted(al-muhmalah) letters rāʾ or ṣad from the dottedforms A haacuteček occasionally is placed over a duc-tus that ought to have had two dots beneath indi-cating a yāʾ in a medial position A tāʾ marbū983156ah is often ligatured to a preceding rāʾ or dāl or dhāl a 983142983145nal letter ʿayn is occasionally ligatured to the983142983145rst letter of the following word A tāʾ marbū983156ah is very seldom dotted A small break occurs beforea medial or 983142983145nal 983156āʾ where the copyist lifted thepen when an unbroken connection with the pre-ceding letter would have been expected Textstops are indicated by a dot enclosed in a circleor by the symbol

ھ

(= intahaacute) There are somecatchwords The illustrations are labelled in asimilar but smaller hand Both hands are closerin many of their characteristics to those of copy-ists known to have worked in Greater Syria atthe end of the twelfth century or early thirteenthcentury than to the hands of securely dated andlocated products of the fourteenth century983091

Illustrations In Book One there is an opening dia-gram (double-page) immediately following theintroduction a single-page diagram at the end of11 and a half-page diagram in 110 There are alsocomet illustrations in 16 and 17 and diagramsof lunar mansions in 19 In Book Two there areseventeen maps or diagrams in chapters 21 2527 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 (two)218 (983142983145ve) The maps in Book Two use a stan-dard set of colours to convey the topographicalfeatures with green for salty seas and lakes andblue for fresh-water lakes and rivers The moun-tains are usually reddish-brown and town walls where depicted are darker brown-purple Reddots represent cities towns villages and anchor-age points The map of al-Mahdīyah has a multi-coloured depiction of the twin palaces of the city

983091 For example the script and paper are similar to a treatiseby the Egyptian scholar al-Dimyāṭī preserved in a copy (OxfordBodleian Library MS Marsh 592) completed 12 Jumādaacute II 592(13 May 1196) which displays many of the same orthographicfeatures including picking up the pen before writing the 983156āʾ (fol 98a1048625983095) for sample pages see Edson amp Savage-Smith 2004 19983142983145g 7 and King 2004 758 983142983145g 27 Other similarities of script andpaper can be observed in Gotha Forschungsbibliothek GothaMS orient A 1521 dated 5691173 Leiden MS Or 3101 cop-ied 5691173 Bodleian MS Huntington 202 copied in Syria inShaʿban 592July 1196 and Bodleian MS Marsh 379 fols 2andash87bmade between 5601165 and 6101213 (for the latter two exam-ples see Savage-Smith 2011 322ndash3 and plates xviiindashxx)

and the diagram of the sources of the Nile depictsa large crocodile The circular world map (at theend of 25) employs a slightly di1048678ferent paletteand is the only map in the volume to employcopper greens

Some illustrations such as those depictingcomets or small islands have traces of gold orsilver sprinklings while other areas in the mapsmay have been over-painted or coated in a shinylacquer-like material that is now crackled andcrazed A preliminary analysis of the pigments was conducted by Dr Sandra Grantham a consul-tant paper conservator using optical microscopyin the conservation workshop of the BodleianLibrary A full analysis using Raman Spectros-copy was subsequently carried out by Dr TraceyChaplin at the Christopher Ingold LaboratoriesUniversity College London983092 Further examinationof the pigments was carried out by Sabina Pughin the conservation workshop of the BodleianLibrary who used optical microscopy to try todetermine which pigments belonged to the origi-nal paint layer and which were over-painting orre-touching Six pigments were identi983142983145ed in theillustrations cinnabar (red) orpiment (yellow)lazurite (blue) indigo carbon-based black andbasic lead carbonate (a lsquolead whitersquo) Four furtherpigments could not be identi983142983145ed a golden mate-rial a green pigment the purple pigment usedto depict city walls and the blue component ofthe dark green pigment mixture on certain foliosNo evidence of modern inks or pigments wasrevealed The results of the scienti983142983145c analyses arecompletely consistent with the suggested originand age of the manuscript

Binding When acquired by the Bodleian Librarythe volume was contained in an Ottoman bindingof possibly eighteenth- or nineteenth-centurydate the binding was too small for the manu-script and in extremely poor condition The 983142983145rstfolio of the manuscript has staining that indicatesan earlier binding included an envelope 852070983148ap Atpresent the volume is dis-bound with the bind-ing removed and stored separately it remainsdis-bound to allow for easier exhibition

Provenance The title page also has two impressionsof an undated Ottoman () stamp reading Saʿdīibn ʿĪsaacute al-faqīr al-mutawakkil ʿalaacute Allāh al-kabīr

983092 The results of the Raman spectroscopic analysis have beenpublished in Chaplin Clark et al 2006

4 10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

There are also two undated ownersrsquo signaturesthe upper signature reading lsquoIn the book collec-tion of the one in need of God Muṣṭafaacute knownas Koumlpruuml-zade may God forgive himrsquo and thelower one reading lsquoAmongst the property of Yaḥyaacute ibn Muḥammad al-Mallāḥ (the sailer thesalt-miner)rsquo Between the two signatures thereis also one completely defaced ownerrsquos note InChapter Five of Book Two there are two half-page paintings (a wāqwāq-tree and an inhabitedscrolling vine) added by a later owner probablyin the fourteenth or 983142983145fteenthth century

Editionsprintings In 2007 an electronic high-quality reproduction of the manuscript and itsillustrations linked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition (without full use of other copies)and a preliminary English translation was madeavailable at wwwbodleyoxacukbookofcuriosi-ties The bibliographic citation is Emilie Savage-Smith and Yossef Rapoport (eds) The Book of

Curiosities A critical edition World-Wide-Webpublication ( wwwbodleyoxacukbookofcuri-osities) (March 2007)

Catalogue descriptions none

MS DmdashDamascus Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa983156anīyah MS 16501

Date The copy was completed on the last Sun-day in the 983142983145rst ten days of Rabīʿ I of the year972 [= 9 Rabīʿ I 972 = 15 October 1564] by AbūBakr ibn Fakhr al-Dīn ibn Ḥamzah ibn al-shaykh

Muḥammad min qaryat Muʿārat Ikhwān (fromthe village of Muʿārat Ikhwān)983093 The colophon isgiven on fol 210b10486251048625ndash10486251048629

Contents It is an incomplete copy Compared toMS A this manuscript lacks many of the illustra-tions maps and diagrams while adding textualmaterial from other sources Book One lacks theopening diagram (though it has the surroundingtext) Also missing from Book One is the entirefourth chapter the start of the 983142983145fth chapter andportions of the ninth and tenth chapters In thebody of the ninth chapter of Book One materialis taken from Ibn Qutaybahrsquos Kitāb al-Anwāʾ the983142983145rst three entries of the ninth chapter as givenin other copies are written here in the margins

983093 The name as written here is possibly a variant of Maʿarratal-Nuʿmān (

ن

984615 1050181 984633 ة ا 984644 نر

984645) a well-known town in northern Syriaع Al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh identi983142983145es Muʿārat Ikhwān with the village of Martaḥwān in the environs of Aleppo (Yāqūt 18664487) but without evidence (Gharāʾib 2011 129 nt 1 and 2689nt 8)

In Book Two the second seventh and elev-enth chapters which contain only maps and notext are missing The eighth and ninth chaptersof Book Two are also missing as in all manu-scripts In 215 there are nine additional entriesfor mythical islands interspersed between theentries for Indian Ocean islands found in MS AThe manuscript also contains three additionallong books (maqālahs) on horses ( fī al-khayl ) in 983142983145ve chapters ( faṣl s) of which the 983142983145nal one ismissing on camels ( fī nūq) in nineteen faṣl s andon hunting and game ( fī ṣayd wa-al-qanaṣ) intwenty-one faṣl s

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle is given in the text on fol 2a1048628ndash1048629 as Gharāʾib

al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn On fol 1a a later handhas written Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ

al-ʿuyūn wa-fīhi min kull ʿilm wa-ṣinf ʿilm 9175011114109ة ه 984645ن ) 1048573نو

1050169 ن

ن91750111141099846451114109 و

1050169

984643 )

Physical description 201 leaves (folios 1andash201b) Thesize of the leaves is not known but there are13ndash15 lines per page The nature of the paper isunknown

Script The text is carefully written in a clearmedium-large Naskh script The text area hasbeen frame-ruled There are text stops and end-of-line 983142983145llers of three dots in a triangular for-mation There are catchwords and most of themarginalia appear to be in the hand of the copy-ist For the opening folio see Gharāʾib 2011 189For other examples of folios from the manuscriptsee 983142983145gs 06 08 and 014ndash019

Illustrations In Book One there is a single-pagediagram at the end of 11 constellation 983142983145guresformed of lines of dots have been added to thetext of 13 In 16 and 17 there are illustrations ofcomets and in 19 diagrams of lunar mansions Atthe end of 21 there is a crude rectangular sketch(repeated twice) aligning the cardinal directions with zodiacal signs Chapter 210 has two emptyrectangular frames with the title of the chapter(lsquoThe tenth chapter on the Western Seamdashiethe Syrian Seamdashand its harbours and islandsand anchoragesrsquo) written at the edge and in 217there are several empty circles suggestive of thelake diagrams in the earlier Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 The city of al-Mahdīyah (213) theisland of Cyprus (215) and the rivers Nile Tigrisand Oxus are represented by crude unlabelledsketches whose general signi983142983145cance is recogniz-able only when compared to the equivalent maps

10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150 5

in the earlier Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 See983142983145gs 06 08 011 012 and 014ndash019 for examples

Binding unknown Provenance The manuscript was formerly kept

in Aleppo as al-Maktabah al-Waqfīyah MS 957On the title page (fol 1a) there are several own-ersrsquo notes for the most part illegible or defacedand one prominent seven-line study note dated9801572ndash3 written by the copyist of the manu-script eight years after completing this copy Thenote indicates that this manuscript was the basisfor another copy prepared by the same copyistbut one that contained only the 983142983145rst book on theheavens The note reads

9175011114109984645ن هن

1114109 ة

9846451114109984644 و

ر

نآ

ا

ى

853572 ا

ل ه

و

ا

ن

984645 س ه

ا

ى

1050151 ا 984625ة

ة 984644 ن 984644 ها

ن

ة984644 984615 984643 ن

853543 ة

ا ان

1050183 ة

ى

ر

ن

ن

1114109 ن

984645 984627 984615 984643 ن و 853575 1050179 853543 ى853561 ا

د

و

853543 984615 1050181 853571 ن

هة

ل

و

1050151 هة ا

ل

853543 ة 984644 ا

853543 ة984644 ة 1050161 1050151 984648 ا

1050169و

853543 ة ن

984644 ا 984648 ط ه ة 984644 ه ا ل

853543984629 ة

اى

1050161 853543 ن

9175011114109

ا

984648ا 984627ش ر

ش ى

ل

ند

و

ة

9175011114109 984644 1050161 984648 ن ه ش 984645ن

هة

984615 1050181 984633 ة

و

نة

ن 853543

There are also three impressions of a small octag-onal ownerrsquos stamp (not legible) On folios 1band 201b there are impressions of a large round

stamp reading اد 1050161ن 984644ن 1114109ةة

1048573 و

984649 984644 ا 1114109نة

9846451114109

ا 984645ن

ن

1114109

984621ة

984649 984648 984645 984625 اة

ن

984644

984645 853543 ن

917501 1050157 ا ن 984648 984644 د ن را ن

ا

Editionsprintings The text of this manuscript hasbeen edited by al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh983094 Forthe purposes of our present edition we havemade use of scans of the Damascus manuscriptitself and on occasion present a di1048678ferent reading

Catalogue descriptions none

MS BmdashOxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 68

item 6

Date The copy was transcribed by al-faqīr Manṣūrbi-ism Shammās (the ordained deacon) inNovember of AD 1571 The date is given as themonth of Tishrīn II 1882 using the Alexandrian(or Seleucid) calendar which began 1 October 312BC The volume in which this item is bound con-tains nine treatises in either Arabic or Karshūnī(the Syriac script used by the Christians of Syriaand Mesopotamia for writing Arabic) all of themapparently copied in Syria See 983142983145g 01 for the col-ophon in the manuscript

983094 Gharāʾib 2011 195ndash512 and 2513ndash689

The folio following this item in the manuscript(fol 145b) has an eleven-line note in Karshūnī pre-senting a carefully written lineage of the copyist

ل

ن د

و

أ

ا نة

984645984648 853549 ر

ا 853543 ن اد ن

984621 أ

ا ل هة]

984627 =] ل هة

984645984627 ن

1114109 ة

9846451114109984644

ل ه

853575 1050179 984625ة ا

ن

ء 853543 ن 984644أ

ا ش

ش و

ا]ن

1050179 ]

ة

9175011114109984645 9175011114109 984645 نأ

ا

و

نة

ة1048573 853543 ن

ة984648 853549 ن أ

ا 1114109 984644ة

1050161 984648 984629 1114109984645ن

ة

ى

نأ

ا

و

ن

853543 ة

ى

نأ

ا 853543 ن 984625 ن

ل

ن د

و

أ

ا 853543 ن9175011114109 ة

9846451114109984645 853543984627 أ

ا نو

ن

ر

أ

1050151 ان

1114109 ة984644 984615 984643 ة

1050179 ا 853543 ن أ

ا

و

ا]ن

1050179 ] 984648ة853549 ن أ

1050151 1114109 984644ةة

984649 853549 ن او

ة

9175011114109 984645 ة9175011114109 ا

ܬܢܐ) (ܓ 853543 ن 853543 ش9175011114109 ة

9846451114109 ن

ة 853543984645و

ة

ى

نأ

ا ا]ن

1050179 ] ة

ن984621 853543

نأ

1050151 1050161 984648 984629 1114109984645ن

ر

1050165 853543 ن ة

ى

ن او

هة ة

9175011114109984645و

1050161 ة

984649 853549 ن أ

ا

و

984648 د

984645 ة

ى

أ

ا

و

1050161 984648 984629 س ه 1114109984645ن

853543 ن

1114109 ة

9846451114109

س

ة

853543 ة

ش984627 ه س

ا 853543 ن 984648 ن

أ

ا

و

ل ه

853543 ط

ة

ى

نا

و

ل ه

ا ر ن نة

ى

نا

و

ة ة

9175011114109 984644 ة

984649 853549 ن او

ه

س

اة

ى

أ

ن 984648 اأ

ة

984649

ن

984621 و

ة 853543 ن 984644 917501 1050157و 984648 853549 ن ا

1050161 أ

ل ه ا

و

ه

ل

ا ة

ن

1050161 1050161

ن

984621 و

984621ه و

1050161

ة

9175011114109 984645 ة

ه ل

ة ا

ة1048573

ن

984621 1050161 ن

984615 984643 853543 ن9175011114109853549 984648 ة ( (ܟܘة

984649 1050161 984648 853549 ن

984615 1050181 س ه ش

984648 ا

ة

984649 1050161 984648 853549 ن ة

984649

ن

984621

ن

9175011114109 ة1048573 و

984648 ة

984649 1050161 984648 ه 853549 ن

س

ا ة

ى

أ

ا

ه 1048573 984629 984615 1050181ة

ل ه شن

9175011114109 ة1048573 و

ة

1050183 984625ا ن

أ

Contents It is an incomplete copy of Book One Asin MS D it lacks the opening diagram (though ithas the surrounding text) the entire fourth andthe opening part of the 983142983145fth chapter It also lacksthe 983142983145nal chapters of Book One that is the eighthninth and tenth chapters Of Book Two it hasonly a partial copy of the 983142983145rst and third chaptersChapter three of Book Two contains additionalmaterial on each of the climes that is not foundin the other manuscripts

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle is given (in Syriac script) in the text onfol 109b983096 as Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ

al-ʿuyūn see 983142983145g 02 Physical description 46 leaves (folios 109bndash144a)

Dimensions 212 times 153 (text area 174 times c122) cm21ndash24 lines per page

Paper The sti1048678f biscuit paper has little evidenceof sizing and has turned darker near the edgesof the volume It has a thickness of 017minus019mm and an opaqueness factor of 4 with thinstraight vertical laid lines single chain lines and watermarks (an anchor in a circle () and a starover a crescent moon) There is some foxing anddamp-staining

Script There is no trace of frame-ruling and thespacing of lines is irregular The text is written in alarge Arabic and Karshūnī script using dark-brownink with prominent words formed with a broaderpen-stroke text-breaks or headings are indicatedby four small dots There are catchwords but nomarginalia are found in this portion of the vol-ume There is an illuminated heading in black inkand red opaque watercolours at the opening ofthe text (fol 109b) see 983142983145g 02

Page 8: An Eleventh-Century Egyptian Guide to the Universe

9831481048681983155983156 983151852070 8520701048681983143983157983154983141983155 ix

104862510486251048624 Maps of Lunar Mansions XV through XXI Chapter Nine

Book One Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486261048624andash10486261048624b 852018852016852020ndash8520188520161048633

104862510486251048625 Maps of Lunar Mansions XXII through XXVIII Chapter Nine

Book One Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486261048624bndash10486261048625a 852018852016852016ndash852018852016852020

104862510486251048626 Diagram in Chapter Ten Book One lsquoOn the blowing of winds

earthquakes and tremorsrsquo Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fol 10486261048625b 8520171048633852023

B983151983151983147 T983159983151

10486261048625 Rectangular World MapmdashEurope Oxford Bodleian Library

MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486261048627bndash10486261048628a 852017852024852020

10486261048626 Rectangular World MapmdashAfrica Oxford Bodleian Library

MS Arab c 8520251048624 fols 10486261048627bndash10486261048628a 852017852024852018

10486261048627 Rectangular World MapmdashAsia Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fols 10486261048627bndash10486261048628a 8520178520231048633

10486261048628 Circular World Map Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486261048631bndash10486261048632a 8520171048630852017

10486261048629 Map of the Indian Ocean Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 1048626852025bndash10486271048624a 8520178520211048630

1048626852022 Map of the Mediterranean Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fols 10486271048624bndash10486271048625a 852017852021852018

10486261048631 Map of the Caspian Sea Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486271048625b 8520178520201048630

10486261048632 Map of Sicily Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486271048626bndash10486271048627a 852017983091852024

1048626852025 Map of al-Mahdīyah Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486271048628a 852017983091852016

104862610486251048624 Map of Tinnīs Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fols 10486271048629bndash1048627852022a 852017852017852023

104862610486251048625 Map of Cyprus Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624 fol 1048627852022b 852017852017852021

104862610486251048626 Diagram of the Bays of Byzantium Oxford Bodleian Library MS

Arab c 8520251048624 fol 10486271048632a 852017852016852020

104862610486251048627 Map of the Sources of the Nile Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fol 10486281048624a 10486331048630

104862610486251048628 Diagrams of Lakes Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048624b 1048633852021

104862610486251048629 Diagrams of Lakes continued Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab

c 8520251048624 fol 10486281048625a 1048633852020

10486261048625852022 Map of the Nile Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048626a 852024852024

104862610486251048631 Map of the Euphrates Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048626b 852024852021

104862610486251048632 Map of the Tigris Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048627a 852024983091

10486261048625852025 Map of the Indus Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048627b 852024852017

104862610486261048624 Map of the Oxus Oxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 8520251048624

fol 10486281048628a 8520231048633

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A project extending over a decade and encompass-

ing the heavens as well as the Earth requires the

assistance of countless people who gave generously

of their time their knowledge and on occasion

their money We take this opportunity to express

our gratitude to all of them

The acquisition of The Book of Curiosities by the

Bodleian Library was made possible by a grant from

the Heritage Lottery Fund and generous donations

from the National Arts Collections Fund the Friends

of the Bodleian Saudi Aramco nine Oxford col-

leges (All Souls College Merton College New Col-

lege Nu9831421048678983145eld College St Antonyrsquos College St Cross

College St Johnrsquos College Wadham College and

Wolfson College) and private individuals These

grants and donations also provided funds for the

conservation pigment analysis and digitisation of

the manuscript the exhibition of the manuscript for

the general public and the preparation of a school

teacherrsquos pack based on portions of the manuscript

They also supported the creation in 2007 of a web-

site presenting an electronic high-quality repro-

duction of the original text and its illustrations

linked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition

(without full use of other copies) and a preliminary

English translation ( wwwbodleyoxacukbookof

curiosities) Moreover the monies (supplemented

by a grant from the Arts amp Humanities Research

Council) supported the preparation of a full study

of the treatise of which the present volume is the

major result

In the early stages of work on the Book of Curi-

osities the project manager was Lesley Forbes

then Keeper of Oriental Collections in the Bodleian

Library Conservation of the manuscript was carried

out by Alison McKay and Sabina Pugh in the con-

servation laboratories of the Bodleian Library This

project would have been impossible without their

expertise and support At the Bodleian we received

support and encouragement from many members

of sta983142f not least Colin Wake1048678983145eld Gillian Evison

and Samuel Fanous

Jeremy Johns Professor of the Art and Archae-

ology of the Islamic Mediterranean and Director

of the Khalili Research Centre for the Art amp Mate-

rial Culture of the Middle East served as project

research manager and worked extensively on the

interpretation of the chapter concerned with Sicily

The Khalili Research Centre part of the Orien-

tal Faculty of the University of Oxford provided a

home for the execution of the project

Many other colleagues and scholars gave gener-

ously of their time and expertise to answer numer-

ous queriesmdashnone more so than Professor Paul

Kunitzsch who patiently and meticulously read

through early drafts of chapters concerned with

star-names His assistance has been invaluable in

interpreting the material Because he was unable

to scrutinise the 1048678983145nal version of the translation

and edition he modestly refused to have his name

appear as a co-author There are no doubt errors

that remain in the readings and interpretations of

the star-names which would have been corrected

had he been able to examine the 1048678983145nal text

Here in Oxford we bene1048678983145ted from the unique

wide-ranging expertise of our colleagues at the

Oriental Institute and beyond Professors Geert

Jan van Gelder and Clive Holes helped with some

1048678983145ner points of Arabic poetry and syntax Dr Robert

Simpson gave invaluable help regarding the Cop-

tic vocabulary in the manuscript Nicholas Purcell

and Peregrine Horden helped us develop our ideas

regarding the representation of the Mediterranean

Dr James Howard-Johnston and Professor Elizabeth

Je983142freys provided a platform in which to test inter-

pretations during two Byzantine Studies seminars

here in Oxford and members of the seminar pro-

vided very useful suggestions particularly Peter Tho-

nemann Dimitri Korobeinikov Teresa Shawcross

and Mary Whitby Dr A10486789831451048678983145 al-Akiti Dr Adam Silver-

stein and Professor David Blackmann of the Centre

for the Study of Ancient Documents amongst many

others gave readily of their time and advice

For identi1048678983145cation of place-names in the Medi-

terranean we acknowledge the generous advice of

Professor Johannes Koder and his colleagues Klaus

Belke Friedrich Hild Andreas Kuumllzer and Peter

Soustal at the Tabula Imperii Byzantini project

based in Vienna who have been remarkably gen-

erous with their time and knowledge On the Ana-

tolian coasts we also consulted Raymond Descat

Ausonius Universiteacute de Bordeaux Dr Tassos Papa-

costas working on Prosopography of the Byzan-

tine World at Kingrsquos College London assisted with

xii 983137983139983147983150983151983159983148983141983140983143983141983149983141983150983156983155

our examination of Cyprus Dr Haris Koutelakis of

Athens kindly provided us with a copy of his study

of maps of the Aegean islands which included an

interpretation of the relevant chapter in the Book

of Curiosities Dr Alex Metcalfe University of Lan-

caster contributed invaluable 1048678983145nal comments

on the Sicilian toponyms Dr Yaacov Lev Depart-

ment of Middle Eastern History Bar Ilan Univer-

sity shared with us his knowledge of the Fatimid

Mediterranean

For identi1048678983145cation of place-names in the East-

ern Islamic world East Africa India and East Asia

we would like to thank the generous advice of Dr

Michal Biran of the Hebrew University Dr Emeri

van Donzel Oegstgeest the Netherlands Dr Roxani

Margariti Emory University Professor David W

Phillipson Director of the Museum of Archaeology

and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge

Professor Tansen Sen of Baruch College the City

University of New York Professor Andre Wink of

the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Drs Ronit

Yoeli-Tlalim and Anna Akasoy then with AHRC

Islam-Tibet Project at the Warburg Institute

Professor Len Berggren of Simon Fraser Uni-

versity provided guidance on mathematical mat-

ters Professor Julio Samsoacute University of Barcelona

similarly o983142fered advice on mathematical aspects of

astrology and astronomy

Professor Dr Andreas Kaplony of the Orien-

talisches Seminar and Institut fuumlr den Nahen und

Mittleren Osten Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaumlt

Muumlnchen and Tarek Kahlaoui of the University of

Pennsylvania helped us develop our ideas regarding

Islamic cartography Jean-Charles Ducegravene Senior

Lector Universiteacute Libre de Bruxelles has shared

with us his unique knowledge of the development

of geographical literature in medieval Islam

On the history of cartography in general and

maritime cartography in particular we have ben-

e1048678983145ted from the enthusiastic support of Professor

Richard Unger Department of History University

of British Columbia and the long-standing collabo-

ration of Evelyn Edson Professor Emeritus at Pied-

mont Virginia Community College

Dr Remke Kruk University of Leiden and Dr

Thomas Reimer Wiesbaden have read and com-

mented on the sections that deal with mirabilia

monsters and wondrous animals Dr Gerald Wick-

ens formerly of Kew Gardens has assisted with the

identi1048678983145cation of some of the wondrous plants

In 2008 al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh submitted to

the University of Jordan a masterrsquos thesis consisting

of an edition of the text based on the Bodleian copy

(then available through the website) and a later copy

now in Damascus the thesis was subsequently pub-

lished in Beirut in 2011 and has proved useful to us

at many points which will be noted Mr al-Rawadieh

has generously shared his research with us at vari-

ous stages and we would like to acknowledge his

scholarship and dedication which in many ways

complemented our e983142forts here Dr Lutfallah Gari

1048678983145rst drew our attention to the Damascus manu-

script and subsequently to his own publication

regarding the dating of the Book of Curiosities

Amongst the scores of others who have advised

us on aspects of this complex manuscript we would

like to make special mention of Charles Burnett of

the Warburg Institute our colleagues at Queen Mary

University of London in particular Professors Miri

Rubin and Jerry Brotton and Dr Alfred Hiatt Pro-

fessor Benjamin Kedar The Institute for Advanced

Study The Hebrew University of Jerusalem the

late Professor William Brice of the University of

Manchester Dr Bill Leadbetter of Edith Cowan

University Joondalup Western Australia Jonathan

M Bloom Norma Jean Calderwood University Pro-

fessor of Islamic and Asian Art Boston College Dr

Moya Carey curator in the Asian Department of

the VampA Museum and Dr Boris Rankov and Dr

Judith McKenzie both of the Department of Clas-

sics Royal Holloway University of London Others

who assisted on very speci1048678983145c points are gratefully

acknowledged within the commentary itself

At Brill we would like to thank our editors

Renee Otto Ingrid Heijckers-Velt Nienke Brienen-

Moolenaar and Kathy van Vliet for their patience

and support in seeing this volume through pro-

duction We also thank the Bodleian Library at

the University of Oxford the Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa1048692anīyah in Damascus the Biblioteca Ambro-

siana in Milan the Dār al-Kutub in Cairo and the

Forschungsbibliothek in Gotha for supplying copies

of manuscripts for study purposes and for granting

permission for the publication of select images

Finally for over a decade our families have

heard far more than they probably wished of puz-

zling place-names unidenti1048678983145able star-names maps

of unusual shapes comets that portend doom and

curious stories of exotic lands Without their sup-

port we could not have brought this project to its

conclusion

Yossef Rapoport London

Emilie Savage-Smith Oxford

INTRODUCTION

In June of 2002 the Bodleian Library University ofOxford acquired a highly illustrated manuscript ofa hitherto unknown Arabic cosmographical trea-tise This newly discovered manuscript containeda remarkable series of early maps and astronomi-cal diagrams most of which are unparalleled inany Greek Latin or Arabic material known to bepreserved today No less importantly both the illus-trations and the text preserve material gatheredfrom Muslim astronomers historians scholars andtravellers of the ninth to eleventh centuries whose works are now either lost or preserved only in frag-ments The manuscript now assigned the shelfmarkMS Arab c 90 is here reproduced in facsimileaccompanied by an edition of the Arabic text andan annotated English translation

The manuscript is a copy probably made inEgypt in the late twelfth or early thirteenth centuryof an anonymous work compiled in Egypt between AD 1020 and 1050 The rhyming title of the volume Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn looselytranslates as The Book of Curiosities of the Sciences

and Marvels for the Eyes For convenience the trea-tise is referred to simply as The Book of Curiosities

The treatise preserved in this early highly illus-trated manuscript was essentially unknown toscholars prior to its being o1048678fered for sale at auctionin London on 10 October 2000 (Christiersquos Islamic

Art amp Manuscripts lot 41) even though later it wasdiscovered that eight other copies of all or por-tions of the text (lacking most of the illustrations) were preserved in manuscripts of the sixteenthto nineteenth century that had lain unnoticed inother libraries At auction the manuscript was pur-chased by Sam Fogg a well-known London dealerin rare books and manuscripts Not long thereafterhe o1048678fered it to the Bodleian Library at a price wellunder the true market value In June of 2002 follow-ing an extensive fund-raising e1048678fort the Bodleianlibrary celebrated the acquisition of this remarkable Arabic manuscript

The treatise now designated as Bodleian LibraryMS Arab c 90 is divided into two parts (maqālahs)The 983142983145rst part or book on celestial matters is com-posed of ten chapters and begins with a descriptionof the heavens and their in852070983148uence upon events onEarth It contains a number of unique illustrations

and rare texts including an illustrated discourse oncomets and several pages depicting various promi-nent stars nearby the lsquolunar mansionsrsquo which arestar-groups near the ecliptic whose risings and set-tings were traditionally used to predict rain andother meteorological events The authorrsquos inter-est throughout the book is primarily astrologicaland divinatory and no mathematical astronomy ispresented

The second book on the Earth is divided intotwenty-983142983145ve chapters According to the author thissecond book is largely dependent upon the Geog-

raphy of Ptolemy In general however our authorrsquosinterest is descriptive and historical rather thanmathematical Along with geographical and histori-cal texts the manuscript contains two world mapsone rectangular and one circular The author thenfollows with maps of the great seas known to him which were the Indian Ocean the Mediterraneanand the Caspian The author was particularly inter-ested in depicting the shores of the Mediterraneanof which he probably had 983142983145rst-hand knowledgeBesides the detailed schematic map of the coastsand islands of the Mediterranean the treatise alsocontains unique maps of Sicily and Cyprus as wellas the strategic ports of al-Mahdīyah in North Africaand Tinnīs in Egypt The book also includes 983142983145veriver-maps (the Nile the Euphrates the Tigris theOxus and the Indus) The concluding 983142983145ve chaptersdescribe lsquocuriositiesrsquo such as monstrous animals and wondrous plants

In 2007 an electronic high-quality reproductionof the Bodleian manuscript and its illustrationslinked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition(without full use of other copies) and a preliminaryEnglish translation was made available at www bodleyoxacukbookofcuriosities The remarkablesigni983142983145cance of the treatise for the history of Islamiccartography and cosmology in particular and for thehistory of pre-modern cartography in general hasbeen recognized in several publications on speci983142983145cmaps and diagrams in the manuscript983089 The study of

983089 See amongst others Johns amp Savage-Smith 2003 Rapoportamp Savage-Smith 2004 Edson amp Savage-Smith 2004 Parry 2004Barber 2005 Horden amp Purcell 2006 Galician 2007 Bloom 2007Rapoport amp Savage-Smith 2008 Kahlaoui 2008 Kahlaoui 2008a

2 10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

some aspects of this treatise is still on-going espe-cially with regard to its contribution to the historyof astrology and astronomy its place in the geo-graphical and mirabilia traditions and its impacton our knowledge of the Fatimid caliphate and ofmaritime travel in the medieval Islamic world

Our purpose here is to present a full edition of thetreatise taking into account all the later manuscriptcopies In addition we provide here an Englishannotated translation and a facsimile reproductionof the entire manuscript The aim is to allow read-ers to examine the treatise as a whole in a way thatis not possible in an online edition and to consultan authoritative edition and translation that re852070983148ectsour decade-long study of the Bodleian manuscriptand other copies We open with the facsimile ofthe early Bodleian copy followed by the editionemploying all the copies of the entire Arabic textand all the map-and diagram-labels Following this we present an extensively annotated translation ofthe text and the labels concluding with an extendedglossary of star-names and thematic indexes

In the following pages of this Introduction welist and compare the known copies of the treatiseestablish the authorship and date of the treatiseand its component parts and explain our editorialconventions A full comprehensive study of thecontents of the treatise in the context of eleventh-century Fatimid society and learning must await aseparate publication But we hope this edition willgreatly enhance future research on the signi983142983145canceof this remarkable treatise for the history of cartog-raphy science and Islamic civilisation

I T983144983141 C9831519831521048681983141983155

MS A mdashOxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90

Date The copy is unsigned and undated Theappearance of the paper ink and script sug-gests a possible dating of the end of the twelfthcentury

Contents It is an incomplete copy missing part ofthe penultimate chapter and all of the last onein Book Two At the end of the volume in thegutter are narrow remnants of two folios thathave been cut from the volume corresponding

Kaplony 2008 Rapoport 2008 Savage-Smith 2009 Savage-Smith2010 Savage-Smith 2010a Rapoport 2011 Savage-Smith 2011aRapoport 2012

to the missing 983142983145nal chapters (part of 224 and allof 225) The eighth and ninth chapters of BookTwo are missing from the text as they are in allother copies

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle appears in the text on fol 1b10486251048625 as well as onthe title page (fol 1a) as Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn

wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn Beneath the title a laterowner has noted lsquoTo the author of this treatisethere belongs another book whose title is Muḥī983156 (Comprehensive) ⟨ ⟩ it is stated thus in theentry for the island of Sardiniarsquo

Physical description 48 leaves (folios 1andash48b)plus torn gutter strips from two missing leavesDimensions 324 times 245 cm (text area 291 times 226cm on folios without maps) 27 lines per page

Paper The lightly glossed biscuit-brown paper issturdy rather soft and relatively opaque Thepaper has thick slightly curved horizontal laidlines and there are rib shadows but no chainlines or watermarks are visible The thickness ofthe paper varies between 017 and 020 mm andmeasures 3 on the Sharp Scale of Opaquenessthe laid lines are 6ndash7 wirescm with the spacebetween lines less than the width of one line Thepaper appears to have been made using a grassmouldmdasha method used in Egypt and GreaterSyria in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries(greater precision is not possible)983090 The paperhas some damp-staining foxing and wormholesand there is considerable soiling and grime nearthe edges of the pages which have been trimmedfrom their original size with the loss in places oftext and marginalia Numerous repairs had beenmade to the paper at various times Conservationof the manuscript at the Bodleian was carried outby Alison McKay and Sabina Pugh in its conser- vation laboratories Multiple layers of old repairshad accumulated on the leaves causing particu-lar sti1048678fness in the spine area Sympathetic newrepairs replaced the old ones to reveal text andimages but some were left in place as they wereconsidered to be part of the cultural history ofthe manuscript

Script The text area has been frame-ruled Thetext is written in a medium-large Naskh script indense black ink with headings in warm-red ink

983090 For similar Islamic papers see Loveday 2001 and we thankHelen Loveday for examining and discussing with us the paperin this particular manuscript

10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150 3

Many diacritical dots are missing A sin is oftendistinguished from a shīn by a small haacuteček lessfrequently a haacuteček distinguishes the undotted(al-muhmalah) letters rāʾ or ṣad from the dottedforms A haacuteček occasionally is placed over a duc-tus that ought to have had two dots beneath indi-cating a yāʾ in a medial position A tāʾ marbū983156ah is often ligatured to a preceding rāʾ or dāl or dhāl a 983142983145nal letter ʿayn is occasionally ligatured to the983142983145rst letter of the following word A tāʾ marbū983156ah is very seldom dotted A small break occurs beforea medial or 983142983145nal 983156āʾ where the copyist lifted thepen when an unbroken connection with the pre-ceding letter would have been expected Textstops are indicated by a dot enclosed in a circleor by the symbol

ھ

(= intahaacute) There are somecatchwords The illustrations are labelled in asimilar but smaller hand Both hands are closerin many of their characteristics to those of copy-ists known to have worked in Greater Syria atthe end of the twelfth century or early thirteenthcentury than to the hands of securely dated andlocated products of the fourteenth century983091

Illustrations In Book One there is an opening dia-gram (double-page) immediately following theintroduction a single-page diagram at the end of11 and a half-page diagram in 110 There are alsocomet illustrations in 16 and 17 and diagramsof lunar mansions in 19 In Book Two there areseventeen maps or diagrams in chapters 21 2527 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 (two)218 (983142983145ve) The maps in Book Two use a stan-dard set of colours to convey the topographicalfeatures with green for salty seas and lakes andblue for fresh-water lakes and rivers The moun-tains are usually reddish-brown and town walls where depicted are darker brown-purple Reddots represent cities towns villages and anchor-age points The map of al-Mahdīyah has a multi-coloured depiction of the twin palaces of the city

983091 For example the script and paper are similar to a treatiseby the Egyptian scholar al-Dimyāṭī preserved in a copy (OxfordBodleian Library MS Marsh 592) completed 12 Jumādaacute II 592(13 May 1196) which displays many of the same orthographicfeatures including picking up the pen before writing the 983156āʾ (fol 98a1048625983095) for sample pages see Edson amp Savage-Smith 2004 19983142983145g 7 and King 2004 758 983142983145g 27 Other similarities of script andpaper can be observed in Gotha Forschungsbibliothek GothaMS orient A 1521 dated 5691173 Leiden MS Or 3101 cop-ied 5691173 Bodleian MS Huntington 202 copied in Syria inShaʿban 592July 1196 and Bodleian MS Marsh 379 fols 2andash87bmade between 5601165 and 6101213 (for the latter two exam-ples see Savage-Smith 2011 322ndash3 and plates xviiindashxx)

and the diagram of the sources of the Nile depictsa large crocodile The circular world map (at theend of 25) employs a slightly di1048678ferent paletteand is the only map in the volume to employcopper greens

Some illustrations such as those depictingcomets or small islands have traces of gold orsilver sprinklings while other areas in the mapsmay have been over-painted or coated in a shinylacquer-like material that is now crackled andcrazed A preliminary analysis of the pigments was conducted by Dr Sandra Grantham a consul-tant paper conservator using optical microscopyin the conservation workshop of the BodleianLibrary A full analysis using Raman Spectros-copy was subsequently carried out by Dr TraceyChaplin at the Christopher Ingold LaboratoriesUniversity College London983092 Further examinationof the pigments was carried out by Sabina Pughin the conservation workshop of the BodleianLibrary who used optical microscopy to try todetermine which pigments belonged to the origi-nal paint layer and which were over-painting orre-touching Six pigments were identi983142983145ed in theillustrations cinnabar (red) orpiment (yellow)lazurite (blue) indigo carbon-based black andbasic lead carbonate (a lsquolead whitersquo) Four furtherpigments could not be identi983142983145ed a golden mate-rial a green pigment the purple pigment usedto depict city walls and the blue component ofthe dark green pigment mixture on certain foliosNo evidence of modern inks or pigments wasrevealed The results of the scienti983142983145c analyses arecompletely consistent with the suggested originand age of the manuscript

Binding When acquired by the Bodleian Librarythe volume was contained in an Ottoman bindingof possibly eighteenth- or nineteenth-centurydate the binding was too small for the manu-script and in extremely poor condition The 983142983145rstfolio of the manuscript has staining that indicatesan earlier binding included an envelope 852070983148ap Atpresent the volume is dis-bound with the bind-ing removed and stored separately it remainsdis-bound to allow for easier exhibition

Provenance The title page also has two impressionsof an undated Ottoman () stamp reading Saʿdīibn ʿĪsaacute al-faqīr al-mutawakkil ʿalaacute Allāh al-kabīr

983092 The results of the Raman spectroscopic analysis have beenpublished in Chaplin Clark et al 2006

4 10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

There are also two undated ownersrsquo signaturesthe upper signature reading lsquoIn the book collec-tion of the one in need of God Muṣṭafaacute knownas Koumlpruuml-zade may God forgive himrsquo and thelower one reading lsquoAmongst the property of Yaḥyaacute ibn Muḥammad al-Mallāḥ (the sailer thesalt-miner)rsquo Between the two signatures thereis also one completely defaced ownerrsquos note InChapter Five of Book Two there are two half-page paintings (a wāqwāq-tree and an inhabitedscrolling vine) added by a later owner probablyin the fourteenth or 983142983145fteenthth century

Editionsprintings In 2007 an electronic high-quality reproduction of the manuscript and itsillustrations linked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition (without full use of other copies)and a preliminary English translation was madeavailable at wwwbodleyoxacukbookofcuriosi-ties The bibliographic citation is Emilie Savage-Smith and Yossef Rapoport (eds) The Book of

Curiosities A critical edition World-Wide-Webpublication ( wwwbodleyoxacukbookofcuri-osities) (March 2007)

Catalogue descriptions none

MS DmdashDamascus Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa983156anīyah MS 16501

Date The copy was completed on the last Sun-day in the 983142983145rst ten days of Rabīʿ I of the year972 [= 9 Rabīʿ I 972 = 15 October 1564] by AbūBakr ibn Fakhr al-Dīn ibn Ḥamzah ibn al-shaykh

Muḥammad min qaryat Muʿārat Ikhwān (fromthe village of Muʿārat Ikhwān)983093 The colophon isgiven on fol 210b10486251048625ndash10486251048629

Contents It is an incomplete copy Compared toMS A this manuscript lacks many of the illustra-tions maps and diagrams while adding textualmaterial from other sources Book One lacks theopening diagram (though it has the surroundingtext) Also missing from Book One is the entirefourth chapter the start of the 983142983145fth chapter andportions of the ninth and tenth chapters In thebody of the ninth chapter of Book One materialis taken from Ibn Qutaybahrsquos Kitāb al-Anwāʾ the983142983145rst three entries of the ninth chapter as givenin other copies are written here in the margins

983093 The name as written here is possibly a variant of Maʿarratal-Nuʿmān (

ن

984615 1050181 984633 ة ا 984644 نر

984645) a well-known town in northern Syriaع Al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh identi983142983145es Muʿārat Ikhwān with the village of Martaḥwān in the environs of Aleppo (Yāqūt 18664487) but without evidence (Gharāʾib 2011 129 nt 1 and 2689nt 8)

In Book Two the second seventh and elev-enth chapters which contain only maps and notext are missing The eighth and ninth chaptersof Book Two are also missing as in all manu-scripts In 215 there are nine additional entriesfor mythical islands interspersed between theentries for Indian Ocean islands found in MS AThe manuscript also contains three additionallong books (maqālahs) on horses ( fī al-khayl ) in 983142983145ve chapters ( faṣl s) of which the 983142983145nal one ismissing on camels ( fī nūq) in nineteen faṣl s andon hunting and game ( fī ṣayd wa-al-qanaṣ) intwenty-one faṣl s

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle is given in the text on fol 2a1048628ndash1048629 as Gharāʾib

al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn On fol 1a a later handhas written Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ

al-ʿuyūn wa-fīhi min kull ʿilm wa-ṣinf ʿilm 9175011114109ة ه 984645ن ) 1048573نو

1050169 ن

ن91750111141099846451114109 و

1050169

984643 )

Physical description 201 leaves (folios 1andash201b) Thesize of the leaves is not known but there are13ndash15 lines per page The nature of the paper isunknown

Script The text is carefully written in a clearmedium-large Naskh script The text area hasbeen frame-ruled There are text stops and end-of-line 983142983145llers of three dots in a triangular for-mation There are catchwords and most of themarginalia appear to be in the hand of the copy-ist For the opening folio see Gharāʾib 2011 189For other examples of folios from the manuscriptsee 983142983145gs 06 08 and 014ndash019

Illustrations In Book One there is a single-pagediagram at the end of 11 constellation 983142983145guresformed of lines of dots have been added to thetext of 13 In 16 and 17 there are illustrations ofcomets and in 19 diagrams of lunar mansions Atthe end of 21 there is a crude rectangular sketch(repeated twice) aligning the cardinal directions with zodiacal signs Chapter 210 has two emptyrectangular frames with the title of the chapter(lsquoThe tenth chapter on the Western Seamdashiethe Syrian Seamdashand its harbours and islandsand anchoragesrsquo) written at the edge and in 217there are several empty circles suggestive of thelake diagrams in the earlier Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 The city of al-Mahdīyah (213) theisland of Cyprus (215) and the rivers Nile Tigrisand Oxus are represented by crude unlabelledsketches whose general signi983142983145cance is recogniz-able only when compared to the equivalent maps

10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150 5

in the earlier Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 See983142983145gs 06 08 011 012 and 014ndash019 for examples

Binding unknown Provenance The manuscript was formerly kept

in Aleppo as al-Maktabah al-Waqfīyah MS 957On the title page (fol 1a) there are several own-ersrsquo notes for the most part illegible or defacedand one prominent seven-line study note dated9801572ndash3 written by the copyist of the manu-script eight years after completing this copy Thenote indicates that this manuscript was the basisfor another copy prepared by the same copyistbut one that contained only the 983142983145rst book on theheavens The note reads

9175011114109984645ن هن

1114109 ة

9846451114109984644 و

ر

نآ

ا

ى

853572 ا

ل ه

و

ا

ن

984645 س ه

ا

ى

1050151 ا 984625ة

ة 984644 ن 984644 ها

ن

ة984644 984615 984643 ن

853543 ة

ا ان

1050183 ة

ى

ر

ن

ن

1114109 ن

984645 984627 984615 984643 ن و 853575 1050179 853543 ى853561 ا

د

و

853543 984615 1050181 853571 ن

هة

ل

و

1050151 هة ا

ل

853543 ة 984644 ا

853543 ة984644 ة 1050161 1050151 984648 ا

1050169و

853543 ة ن

984644 ا 984648 ط ه ة 984644 ه ا ل

853543984629 ة

اى

1050161 853543 ن

9175011114109

ا

984648ا 984627ش ر

ش ى

ل

ند

و

ة

9175011114109 984644 1050161 984648 ن ه ش 984645ن

هة

984615 1050181 984633 ة

و

نة

ن 853543

There are also three impressions of a small octag-onal ownerrsquos stamp (not legible) On folios 1band 201b there are impressions of a large round

stamp reading اد 1050161ن 984644ن 1114109ةة

1048573 و

984649 984644 ا 1114109نة

9846451114109

ا 984645ن

ن

1114109

984621ة

984649 984648 984645 984625 اة

ن

984644

984645 853543 ن

917501 1050157 ا ن 984648 984644 د ن را ن

ا

Editionsprintings The text of this manuscript hasbeen edited by al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh983094 Forthe purposes of our present edition we havemade use of scans of the Damascus manuscriptitself and on occasion present a di1048678ferent reading

Catalogue descriptions none

MS BmdashOxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 68

item 6

Date The copy was transcribed by al-faqīr Manṣūrbi-ism Shammās (the ordained deacon) inNovember of AD 1571 The date is given as themonth of Tishrīn II 1882 using the Alexandrian(or Seleucid) calendar which began 1 October 312BC The volume in which this item is bound con-tains nine treatises in either Arabic or Karshūnī(the Syriac script used by the Christians of Syriaand Mesopotamia for writing Arabic) all of themapparently copied in Syria See 983142983145g 01 for the col-ophon in the manuscript

983094 Gharāʾib 2011 195ndash512 and 2513ndash689

The folio following this item in the manuscript(fol 145b) has an eleven-line note in Karshūnī pre-senting a carefully written lineage of the copyist

ل

ن د

و

أ

ا نة

984645984648 853549 ر

ا 853543 ن اد ن

984621 أ

ا ل هة]

984627 =] ل هة

984645984627 ن

1114109 ة

9846451114109984644

ل ه

853575 1050179 984625ة ا

ن

ء 853543 ن 984644أ

ا ش

ش و

ا]ن

1050179 ]

ة

9175011114109984645 9175011114109 984645 نأ

ا

و

نة

ة1048573 853543 ن

ة984648 853549 ن أ

ا 1114109 984644ة

1050161 984648 984629 1114109984645ن

ة

ى

نأ

ا

و

ن

853543 ة

ى

نأ

ا 853543 ن 984625 ن

ل

ن د

و

أ

ا 853543 ن9175011114109 ة

9846451114109984645 853543984627 أ

ا نو

ن

ر

أ

1050151 ان

1114109 ة984644 984615 984643 ة

1050179 ا 853543 ن أ

ا

و

ا]ن

1050179 ] 984648ة853549 ن أ

1050151 1114109 984644ةة

984649 853549 ن او

ة

9175011114109 984645 ة9175011114109 ا

ܬܢܐ) (ܓ 853543 ن 853543 ش9175011114109 ة

9846451114109 ن

ة 853543984645و

ة

ى

نأ

ا ا]ن

1050179 ] ة

ن984621 853543

نأ

1050151 1050161 984648 984629 1114109984645ن

ر

1050165 853543 ن ة

ى

ن او

هة ة

9175011114109984645و

1050161 ة

984649 853549 ن أ

ا

و

984648 د

984645 ة

ى

أ

ا

و

1050161 984648 984629 س ه 1114109984645ن

853543 ن

1114109 ة

9846451114109

س

ة

853543 ة

ش984627 ه س

ا 853543 ن 984648 ن

أ

ا

و

ل ه

853543 ط

ة

ى

نا

و

ل ه

ا ر ن نة

ى

نا

و

ة ة

9175011114109 984644 ة

984649 853549 ن او

ه

س

اة

ى

أ

ن 984648 اأ

ة

984649

ن

984621 و

ة 853543 ن 984644 917501 1050157و 984648 853549 ن ا

1050161 أ

ل ه ا

و

ه

ل

ا ة

ن

1050161 1050161

ن

984621 و

984621ه و

1050161

ة

9175011114109 984645 ة

ه ل

ة ا

ة1048573

ن

984621 1050161 ن

984615 984643 853543 ن9175011114109853549 984648 ة ( (ܟܘة

984649 1050161 984648 853549 ن

984615 1050181 س ه ش

984648 ا

ة

984649 1050161 984648 853549 ن ة

984649

ن

984621

ن

9175011114109 ة1048573 و

984648 ة

984649 1050161 984648 ه 853549 ن

س

ا ة

ى

أ

ا

ه 1048573 984629 984615 1050181ة

ل ه شن

9175011114109 ة1048573 و

ة

1050183 984625ا ن

أ

Contents It is an incomplete copy of Book One Asin MS D it lacks the opening diagram (though ithas the surrounding text) the entire fourth andthe opening part of the 983142983145fth chapter It also lacksthe 983142983145nal chapters of Book One that is the eighthninth and tenth chapters Of Book Two it hasonly a partial copy of the 983142983145rst and third chaptersChapter three of Book Two contains additionalmaterial on each of the climes that is not foundin the other manuscripts

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle is given (in Syriac script) in the text onfol 109b983096 as Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ

al-ʿuyūn see 983142983145g 02 Physical description 46 leaves (folios 109bndash144a)

Dimensions 212 times 153 (text area 174 times c122) cm21ndash24 lines per page

Paper The sti1048678f biscuit paper has little evidenceof sizing and has turned darker near the edgesof the volume It has a thickness of 017minus019mm and an opaqueness factor of 4 with thinstraight vertical laid lines single chain lines and watermarks (an anchor in a circle () and a starover a crescent moon) There is some foxing anddamp-staining

Script There is no trace of frame-ruling and thespacing of lines is irregular The text is written in alarge Arabic and Karshūnī script using dark-brownink with prominent words formed with a broaderpen-stroke text-breaks or headings are indicatedby four small dots There are catchwords but nomarginalia are found in this portion of the vol-ume There is an illuminated heading in black inkand red opaque watercolours at the opening ofthe text (fol 109b) see 983142983145g 02

Page 9: An Eleventh-Century Egyptian Guide to the Universe

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A project extending over a decade and encompass-

ing the heavens as well as the Earth requires the

assistance of countless people who gave generously

of their time their knowledge and on occasion

their money We take this opportunity to express

our gratitude to all of them

The acquisition of The Book of Curiosities by the

Bodleian Library was made possible by a grant from

the Heritage Lottery Fund and generous donations

from the National Arts Collections Fund the Friends

of the Bodleian Saudi Aramco nine Oxford col-

leges (All Souls College Merton College New Col-

lege Nu9831421048678983145eld College St Antonyrsquos College St Cross

College St Johnrsquos College Wadham College and

Wolfson College) and private individuals These

grants and donations also provided funds for the

conservation pigment analysis and digitisation of

the manuscript the exhibition of the manuscript for

the general public and the preparation of a school

teacherrsquos pack based on portions of the manuscript

They also supported the creation in 2007 of a web-

site presenting an electronic high-quality repro-

duction of the original text and its illustrations

linked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition

(without full use of other copies) and a preliminary

English translation ( wwwbodleyoxacukbookof

curiosities) Moreover the monies (supplemented

by a grant from the Arts amp Humanities Research

Council) supported the preparation of a full study

of the treatise of which the present volume is the

major result

In the early stages of work on the Book of Curi-

osities the project manager was Lesley Forbes

then Keeper of Oriental Collections in the Bodleian

Library Conservation of the manuscript was carried

out by Alison McKay and Sabina Pugh in the con-

servation laboratories of the Bodleian Library This

project would have been impossible without their

expertise and support At the Bodleian we received

support and encouragement from many members

of sta983142f not least Colin Wake1048678983145eld Gillian Evison

and Samuel Fanous

Jeremy Johns Professor of the Art and Archae-

ology of the Islamic Mediterranean and Director

of the Khalili Research Centre for the Art amp Mate-

rial Culture of the Middle East served as project

research manager and worked extensively on the

interpretation of the chapter concerned with Sicily

The Khalili Research Centre part of the Orien-

tal Faculty of the University of Oxford provided a

home for the execution of the project

Many other colleagues and scholars gave gener-

ously of their time and expertise to answer numer-

ous queriesmdashnone more so than Professor Paul

Kunitzsch who patiently and meticulously read

through early drafts of chapters concerned with

star-names His assistance has been invaluable in

interpreting the material Because he was unable

to scrutinise the 1048678983145nal version of the translation

and edition he modestly refused to have his name

appear as a co-author There are no doubt errors

that remain in the readings and interpretations of

the star-names which would have been corrected

had he been able to examine the 1048678983145nal text

Here in Oxford we bene1048678983145ted from the unique

wide-ranging expertise of our colleagues at the

Oriental Institute and beyond Professors Geert

Jan van Gelder and Clive Holes helped with some

1048678983145ner points of Arabic poetry and syntax Dr Robert

Simpson gave invaluable help regarding the Cop-

tic vocabulary in the manuscript Nicholas Purcell

and Peregrine Horden helped us develop our ideas

regarding the representation of the Mediterranean

Dr James Howard-Johnston and Professor Elizabeth

Je983142freys provided a platform in which to test inter-

pretations during two Byzantine Studies seminars

here in Oxford and members of the seminar pro-

vided very useful suggestions particularly Peter Tho-

nemann Dimitri Korobeinikov Teresa Shawcross

and Mary Whitby Dr A10486789831451048678983145 al-Akiti Dr Adam Silver-

stein and Professor David Blackmann of the Centre

for the Study of Ancient Documents amongst many

others gave readily of their time and advice

For identi1048678983145cation of place-names in the Medi-

terranean we acknowledge the generous advice of

Professor Johannes Koder and his colleagues Klaus

Belke Friedrich Hild Andreas Kuumllzer and Peter

Soustal at the Tabula Imperii Byzantini project

based in Vienna who have been remarkably gen-

erous with their time and knowledge On the Ana-

tolian coasts we also consulted Raymond Descat

Ausonius Universiteacute de Bordeaux Dr Tassos Papa-

costas working on Prosopography of the Byzan-

tine World at Kingrsquos College London assisted with

xii 983137983139983147983150983151983159983148983141983140983143983141983149983141983150983156983155

our examination of Cyprus Dr Haris Koutelakis of

Athens kindly provided us with a copy of his study

of maps of the Aegean islands which included an

interpretation of the relevant chapter in the Book

of Curiosities Dr Alex Metcalfe University of Lan-

caster contributed invaluable 1048678983145nal comments

on the Sicilian toponyms Dr Yaacov Lev Depart-

ment of Middle Eastern History Bar Ilan Univer-

sity shared with us his knowledge of the Fatimid

Mediterranean

For identi1048678983145cation of place-names in the East-

ern Islamic world East Africa India and East Asia

we would like to thank the generous advice of Dr

Michal Biran of the Hebrew University Dr Emeri

van Donzel Oegstgeest the Netherlands Dr Roxani

Margariti Emory University Professor David W

Phillipson Director of the Museum of Archaeology

and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge

Professor Tansen Sen of Baruch College the City

University of New York Professor Andre Wink of

the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Drs Ronit

Yoeli-Tlalim and Anna Akasoy then with AHRC

Islam-Tibet Project at the Warburg Institute

Professor Len Berggren of Simon Fraser Uni-

versity provided guidance on mathematical mat-

ters Professor Julio Samsoacute University of Barcelona

similarly o983142fered advice on mathematical aspects of

astrology and astronomy

Professor Dr Andreas Kaplony of the Orien-

talisches Seminar and Institut fuumlr den Nahen und

Mittleren Osten Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaumlt

Muumlnchen and Tarek Kahlaoui of the University of

Pennsylvania helped us develop our ideas regarding

Islamic cartography Jean-Charles Ducegravene Senior

Lector Universiteacute Libre de Bruxelles has shared

with us his unique knowledge of the development

of geographical literature in medieval Islam

On the history of cartography in general and

maritime cartography in particular we have ben-

e1048678983145ted from the enthusiastic support of Professor

Richard Unger Department of History University

of British Columbia and the long-standing collabo-

ration of Evelyn Edson Professor Emeritus at Pied-

mont Virginia Community College

Dr Remke Kruk University of Leiden and Dr

Thomas Reimer Wiesbaden have read and com-

mented on the sections that deal with mirabilia

monsters and wondrous animals Dr Gerald Wick-

ens formerly of Kew Gardens has assisted with the

identi1048678983145cation of some of the wondrous plants

In 2008 al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh submitted to

the University of Jordan a masterrsquos thesis consisting

of an edition of the text based on the Bodleian copy

(then available through the website) and a later copy

now in Damascus the thesis was subsequently pub-

lished in Beirut in 2011 and has proved useful to us

at many points which will be noted Mr al-Rawadieh

has generously shared his research with us at vari-

ous stages and we would like to acknowledge his

scholarship and dedication which in many ways

complemented our e983142forts here Dr Lutfallah Gari

1048678983145rst drew our attention to the Damascus manu-

script and subsequently to his own publication

regarding the dating of the Book of Curiosities

Amongst the scores of others who have advised

us on aspects of this complex manuscript we would

like to make special mention of Charles Burnett of

the Warburg Institute our colleagues at Queen Mary

University of London in particular Professors Miri

Rubin and Jerry Brotton and Dr Alfred Hiatt Pro-

fessor Benjamin Kedar The Institute for Advanced

Study The Hebrew University of Jerusalem the

late Professor William Brice of the University of

Manchester Dr Bill Leadbetter of Edith Cowan

University Joondalup Western Australia Jonathan

M Bloom Norma Jean Calderwood University Pro-

fessor of Islamic and Asian Art Boston College Dr

Moya Carey curator in the Asian Department of

the VampA Museum and Dr Boris Rankov and Dr

Judith McKenzie both of the Department of Clas-

sics Royal Holloway University of London Others

who assisted on very speci1048678983145c points are gratefully

acknowledged within the commentary itself

At Brill we would like to thank our editors

Renee Otto Ingrid Heijckers-Velt Nienke Brienen-

Moolenaar and Kathy van Vliet for their patience

and support in seeing this volume through pro-

duction We also thank the Bodleian Library at

the University of Oxford the Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa1048692anīyah in Damascus the Biblioteca Ambro-

siana in Milan the Dār al-Kutub in Cairo and the

Forschungsbibliothek in Gotha for supplying copies

of manuscripts for study purposes and for granting

permission for the publication of select images

Finally for over a decade our families have

heard far more than they probably wished of puz-

zling place-names unidenti1048678983145able star-names maps

of unusual shapes comets that portend doom and

curious stories of exotic lands Without their sup-

port we could not have brought this project to its

conclusion

Yossef Rapoport London

Emilie Savage-Smith Oxford

INTRODUCTION

In June of 2002 the Bodleian Library University ofOxford acquired a highly illustrated manuscript ofa hitherto unknown Arabic cosmographical trea-tise This newly discovered manuscript containeda remarkable series of early maps and astronomi-cal diagrams most of which are unparalleled inany Greek Latin or Arabic material known to bepreserved today No less importantly both the illus-trations and the text preserve material gatheredfrom Muslim astronomers historians scholars andtravellers of the ninth to eleventh centuries whose works are now either lost or preserved only in frag-ments The manuscript now assigned the shelfmarkMS Arab c 90 is here reproduced in facsimileaccompanied by an edition of the Arabic text andan annotated English translation

The manuscript is a copy probably made inEgypt in the late twelfth or early thirteenth centuryof an anonymous work compiled in Egypt between AD 1020 and 1050 The rhyming title of the volume Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn looselytranslates as The Book of Curiosities of the Sciences

and Marvels for the Eyes For convenience the trea-tise is referred to simply as The Book of Curiosities

The treatise preserved in this early highly illus-trated manuscript was essentially unknown toscholars prior to its being o1048678fered for sale at auctionin London on 10 October 2000 (Christiersquos Islamic

Art amp Manuscripts lot 41) even though later it wasdiscovered that eight other copies of all or por-tions of the text (lacking most of the illustrations) were preserved in manuscripts of the sixteenthto nineteenth century that had lain unnoticed inother libraries At auction the manuscript was pur-chased by Sam Fogg a well-known London dealerin rare books and manuscripts Not long thereafterhe o1048678fered it to the Bodleian Library at a price wellunder the true market value In June of 2002 follow-ing an extensive fund-raising e1048678fort the Bodleianlibrary celebrated the acquisition of this remarkable Arabic manuscript

The treatise now designated as Bodleian LibraryMS Arab c 90 is divided into two parts (maqālahs)The 983142983145rst part or book on celestial matters is com-posed of ten chapters and begins with a descriptionof the heavens and their in852070983148uence upon events onEarth It contains a number of unique illustrations

and rare texts including an illustrated discourse oncomets and several pages depicting various promi-nent stars nearby the lsquolunar mansionsrsquo which arestar-groups near the ecliptic whose risings and set-tings were traditionally used to predict rain andother meteorological events The authorrsquos inter-est throughout the book is primarily astrologicaland divinatory and no mathematical astronomy ispresented

The second book on the Earth is divided intotwenty-983142983145ve chapters According to the author thissecond book is largely dependent upon the Geog-

raphy of Ptolemy In general however our authorrsquosinterest is descriptive and historical rather thanmathematical Along with geographical and histori-cal texts the manuscript contains two world mapsone rectangular and one circular The author thenfollows with maps of the great seas known to him which were the Indian Ocean the Mediterraneanand the Caspian The author was particularly inter-ested in depicting the shores of the Mediterraneanof which he probably had 983142983145rst-hand knowledgeBesides the detailed schematic map of the coastsand islands of the Mediterranean the treatise alsocontains unique maps of Sicily and Cyprus as wellas the strategic ports of al-Mahdīyah in North Africaand Tinnīs in Egypt The book also includes 983142983145veriver-maps (the Nile the Euphrates the Tigris theOxus and the Indus) The concluding 983142983145ve chaptersdescribe lsquocuriositiesrsquo such as monstrous animals and wondrous plants

In 2007 an electronic high-quality reproductionof the Bodleian manuscript and its illustrationslinked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition(without full use of other copies) and a preliminaryEnglish translation was made available at www bodleyoxacukbookofcuriosities The remarkablesigni983142983145cance of the treatise for the history of Islamiccartography and cosmology in particular and for thehistory of pre-modern cartography in general hasbeen recognized in several publications on speci983142983145cmaps and diagrams in the manuscript983089 The study of

983089 See amongst others Johns amp Savage-Smith 2003 Rapoportamp Savage-Smith 2004 Edson amp Savage-Smith 2004 Parry 2004Barber 2005 Horden amp Purcell 2006 Galician 2007 Bloom 2007Rapoport amp Savage-Smith 2008 Kahlaoui 2008 Kahlaoui 2008a

2 10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

some aspects of this treatise is still on-going espe-cially with regard to its contribution to the historyof astrology and astronomy its place in the geo-graphical and mirabilia traditions and its impacton our knowledge of the Fatimid caliphate and ofmaritime travel in the medieval Islamic world

Our purpose here is to present a full edition of thetreatise taking into account all the later manuscriptcopies In addition we provide here an Englishannotated translation and a facsimile reproductionof the entire manuscript The aim is to allow read-ers to examine the treatise as a whole in a way thatis not possible in an online edition and to consultan authoritative edition and translation that re852070983148ectsour decade-long study of the Bodleian manuscriptand other copies We open with the facsimile ofthe early Bodleian copy followed by the editionemploying all the copies of the entire Arabic textand all the map-and diagram-labels Following this we present an extensively annotated translation ofthe text and the labels concluding with an extendedglossary of star-names and thematic indexes

In the following pages of this Introduction welist and compare the known copies of the treatiseestablish the authorship and date of the treatiseand its component parts and explain our editorialconventions A full comprehensive study of thecontents of the treatise in the context of eleventh-century Fatimid society and learning must await aseparate publication But we hope this edition willgreatly enhance future research on the signi983142983145canceof this remarkable treatise for the history of cartog-raphy science and Islamic civilisation

I T983144983141 C9831519831521048681983141983155

MS A mdashOxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90

Date The copy is unsigned and undated Theappearance of the paper ink and script sug-gests a possible dating of the end of the twelfthcentury

Contents It is an incomplete copy missing part ofthe penultimate chapter and all of the last onein Book Two At the end of the volume in thegutter are narrow remnants of two folios thathave been cut from the volume corresponding

Kaplony 2008 Rapoport 2008 Savage-Smith 2009 Savage-Smith2010 Savage-Smith 2010a Rapoport 2011 Savage-Smith 2011aRapoport 2012

to the missing 983142983145nal chapters (part of 224 and allof 225) The eighth and ninth chapters of BookTwo are missing from the text as they are in allother copies

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle appears in the text on fol 1b10486251048625 as well as onthe title page (fol 1a) as Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn

wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn Beneath the title a laterowner has noted lsquoTo the author of this treatisethere belongs another book whose title is Muḥī983156 (Comprehensive) ⟨ ⟩ it is stated thus in theentry for the island of Sardiniarsquo

Physical description 48 leaves (folios 1andash48b)plus torn gutter strips from two missing leavesDimensions 324 times 245 cm (text area 291 times 226cm on folios without maps) 27 lines per page

Paper The lightly glossed biscuit-brown paper issturdy rather soft and relatively opaque Thepaper has thick slightly curved horizontal laidlines and there are rib shadows but no chainlines or watermarks are visible The thickness ofthe paper varies between 017 and 020 mm andmeasures 3 on the Sharp Scale of Opaquenessthe laid lines are 6ndash7 wirescm with the spacebetween lines less than the width of one line Thepaper appears to have been made using a grassmouldmdasha method used in Egypt and GreaterSyria in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries(greater precision is not possible)983090 The paperhas some damp-staining foxing and wormholesand there is considerable soiling and grime nearthe edges of the pages which have been trimmedfrom their original size with the loss in places oftext and marginalia Numerous repairs had beenmade to the paper at various times Conservationof the manuscript at the Bodleian was carried outby Alison McKay and Sabina Pugh in its conser- vation laboratories Multiple layers of old repairshad accumulated on the leaves causing particu-lar sti1048678fness in the spine area Sympathetic newrepairs replaced the old ones to reveal text andimages but some were left in place as they wereconsidered to be part of the cultural history ofthe manuscript

Script The text area has been frame-ruled Thetext is written in a medium-large Naskh script indense black ink with headings in warm-red ink

983090 For similar Islamic papers see Loveday 2001 and we thankHelen Loveday for examining and discussing with us the paperin this particular manuscript

10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150 3

Many diacritical dots are missing A sin is oftendistinguished from a shīn by a small haacuteček lessfrequently a haacuteček distinguishes the undotted(al-muhmalah) letters rāʾ or ṣad from the dottedforms A haacuteček occasionally is placed over a duc-tus that ought to have had two dots beneath indi-cating a yāʾ in a medial position A tāʾ marbū983156ah is often ligatured to a preceding rāʾ or dāl or dhāl a 983142983145nal letter ʿayn is occasionally ligatured to the983142983145rst letter of the following word A tāʾ marbū983156ah is very seldom dotted A small break occurs beforea medial or 983142983145nal 983156āʾ where the copyist lifted thepen when an unbroken connection with the pre-ceding letter would have been expected Textstops are indicated by a dot enclosed in a circleor by the symbol

ھ

(= intahaacute) There are somecatchwords The illustrations are labelled in asimilar but smaller hand Both hands are closerin many of their characteristics to those of copy-ists known to have worked in Greater Syria atthe end of the twelfth century or early thirteenthcentury than to the hands of securely dated andlocated products of the fourteenth century983091

Illustrations In Book One there is an opening dia-gram (double-page) immediately following theintroduction a single-page diagram at the end of11 and a half-page diagram in 110 There are alsocomet illustrations in 16 and 17 and diagramsof lunar mansions in 19 In Book Two there areseventeen maps or diagrams in chapters 21 2527 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 (two)218 (983142983145ve) The maps in Book Two use a stan-dard set of colours to convey the topographicalfeatures with green for salty seas and lakes andblue for fresh-water lakes and rivers The moun-tains are usually reddish-brown and town walls where depicted are darker brown-purple Reddots represent cities towns villages and anchor-age points The map of al-Mahdīyah has a multi-coloured depiction of the twin palaces of the city

983091 For example the script and paper are similar to a treatiseby the Egyptian scholar al-Dimyāṭī preserved in a copy (OxfordBodleian Library MS Marsh 592) completed 12 Jumādaacute II 592(13 May 1196) which displays many of the same orthographicfeatures including picking up the pen before writing the 983156āʾ (fol 98a1048625983095) for sample pages see Edson amp Savage-Smith 2004 19983142983145g 7 and King 2004 758 983142983145g 27 Other similarities of script andpaper can be observed in Gotha Forschungsbibliothek GothaMS orient A 1521 dated 5691173 Leiden MS Or 3101 cop-ied 5691173 Bodleian MS Huntington 202 copied in Syria inShaʿban 592July 1196 and Bodleian MS Marsh 379 fols 2andash87bmade between 5601165 and 6101213 (for the latter two exam-ples see Savage-Smith 2011 322ndash3 and plates xviiindashxx)

and the diagram of the sources of the Nile depictsa large crocodile The circular world map (at theend of 25) employs a slightly di1048678ferent paletteand is the only map in the volume to employcopper greens

Some illustrations such as those depictingcomets or small islands have traces of gold orsilver sprinklings while other areas in the mapsmay have been over-painted or coated in a shinylacquer-like material that is now crackled andcrazed A preliminary analysis of the pigments was conducted by Dr Sandra Grantham a consul-tant paper conservator using optical microscopyin the conservation workshop of the BodleianLibrary A full analysis using Raman Spectros-copy was subsequently carried out by Dr TraceyChaplin at the Christopher Ingold LaboratoriesUniversity College London983092 Further examinationof the pigments was carried out by Sabina Pughin the conservation workshop of the BodleianLibrary who used optical microscopy to try todetermine which pigments belonged to the origi-nal paint layer and which were over-painting orre-touching Six pigments were identi983142983145ed in theillustrations cinnabar (red) orpiment (yellow)lazurite (blue) indigo carbon-based black andbasic lead carbonate (a lsquolead whitersquo) Four furtherpigments could not be identi983142983145ed a golden mate-rial a green pigment the purple pigment usedto depict city walls and the blue component ofthe dark green pigment mixture on certain foliosNo evidence of modern inks or pigments wasrevealed The results of the scienti983142983145c analyses arecompletely consistent with the suggested originand age of the manuscript

Binding When acquired by the Bodleian Librarythe volume was contained in an Ottoman bindingof possibly eighteenth- or nineteenth-centurydate the binding was too small for the manu-script and in extremely poor condition The 983142983145rstfolio of the manuscript has staining that indicatesan earlier binding included an envelope 852070983148ap Atpresent the volume is dis-bound with the bind-ing removed and stored separately it remainsdis-bound to allow for easier exhibition

Provenance The title page also has two impressionsof an undated Ottoman () stamp reading Saʿdīibn ʿĪsaacute al-faqīr al-mutawakkil ʿalaacute Allāh al-kabīr

983092 The results of the Raman spectroscopic analysis have beenpublished in Chaplin Clark et al 2006

4 10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

There are also two undated ownersrsquo signaturesthe upper signature reading lsquoIn the book collec-tion of the one in need of God Muṣṭafaacute knownas Koumlpruuml-zade may God forgive himrsquo and thelower one reading lsquoAmongst the property of Yaḥyaacute ibn Muḥammad al-Mallāḥ (the sailer thesalt-miner)rsquo Between the two signatures thereis also one completely defaced ownerrsquos note InChapter Five of Book Two there are two half-page paintings (a wāqwāq-tree and an inhabitedscrolling vine) added by a later owner probablyin the fourteenth or 983142983145fteenthth century

Editionsprintings In 2007 an electronic high-quality reproduction of the manuscript and itsillustrations linked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition (without full use of other copies)and a preliminary English translation was madeavailable at wwwbodleyoxacukbookofcuriosi-ties The bibliographic citation is Emilie Savage-Smith and Yossef Rapoport (eds) The Book of

Curiosities A critical edition World-Wide-Webpublication ( wwwbodleyoxacukbookofcuri-osities) (March 2007)

Catalogue descriptions none

MS DmdashDamascus Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa983156anīyah MS 16501

Date The copy was completed on the last Sun-day in the 983142983145rst ten days of Rabīʿ I of the year972 [= 9 Rabīʿ I 972 = 15 October 1564] by AbūBakr ibn Fakhr al-Dīn ibn Ḥamzah ibn al-shaykh

Muḥammad min qaryat Muʿārat Ikhwān (fromthe village of Muʿārat Ikhwān)983093 The colophon isgiven on fol 210b10486251048625ndash10486251048629

Contents It is an incomplete copy Compared toMS A this manuscript lacks many of the illustra-tions maps and diagrams while adding textualmaterial from other sources Book One lacks theopening diagram (though it has the surroundingtext) Also missing from Book One is the entirefourth chapter the start of the 983142983145fth chapter andportions of the ninth and tenth chapters In thebody of the ninth chapter of Book One materialis taken from Ibn Qutaybahrsquos Kitāb al-Anwāʾ the983142983145rst three entries of the ninth chapter as givenin other copies are written here in the margins

983093 The name as written here is possibly a variant of Maʿarratal-Nuʿmān (

ن

984615 1050181 984633 ة ا 984644 نر

984645) a well-known town in northern Syriaع Al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh identi983142983145es Muʿārat Ikhwān with the village of Martaḥwān in the environs of Aleppo (Yāqūt 18664487) but without evidence (Gharāʾib 2011 129 nt 1 and 2689nt 8)

In Book Two the second seventh and elev-enth chapters which contain only maps and notext are missing The eighth and ninth chaptersof Book Two are also missing as in all manu-scripts In 215 there are nine additional entriesfor mythical islands interspersed between theentries for Indian Ocean islands found in MS AThe manuscript also contains three additionallong books (maqālahs) on horses ( fī al-khayl ) in 983142983145ve chapters ( faṣl s) of which the 983142983145nal one ismissing on camels ( fī nūq) in nineteen faṣl s andon hunting and game ( fī ṣayd wa-al-qanaṣ) intwenty-one faṣl s

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle is given in the text on fol 2a1048628ndash1048629 as Gharāʾib

al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn On fol 1a a later handhas written Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ

al-ʿuyūn wa-fīhi min kull ʿilm wa-ṣinf ʿilm 9175011114109ة ه 984645ن ) 1048573نو

1050169 ن

ن91750111141099846451114109 و

1050169

984643 )

Physical description 201 leaves (folios 1andash201b) Thesize of the leaves is not known but there are13ndash15 lines per page The nature of the paper isunknown

Script The text is carefully written in a clearmedium-large Naskh script The text area hasbeen frame-ruled There are text stops and end-of-line 983142983145llers of three dots in a triangular for-mation There are catchwords and most of themarginalia appear to be in the hand of the copy-ist For the opening folio see Gharāʾib 2011 189For other examples of folios from the manuscriptsee 983142983145gs 06 08 and 014ndash019

Illustrations In Book One there is a single-pagediagram at the end of 11 constellation 983142983145guresformed of lines of dots have been added to thetext of 13 In 16 and 17 there are illustrations ofcomets and in 19 diagrams of lunar mansions Atthe end of 21 there is a crude rectangular sketch(repeated twice) aligning the cardinal directions with zodiacal signs Chapter 210 has two emptyrectangular frames with the title of the chapter(lsquoThe tenth chapter on the Western Seamdashiethe Syrian Seamdashand its harbours and islandsand anchoragesrsquo) written at the edge and in 217there are several empty circles suggestive of thelake diagrams in the earlier Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 The city of al-Mahdīyah (213) theisland of Cyprus (215) and the rivers Nile Tigrisand Oxus are represented by crude unlabelledsketches whose general signi983142983145cance is recogniz-able only when compared to the equivalent maps

10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150 5

in the earlier Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 See983142983145gs 06 08 011 012 and 014ndash019 for examples

Binding unknown Provenance The manuscript was formerly kept

in Aleppo as al-Maktabah al-Waqfīyah MS 957On the title page (fol 1a) there are several own-ersrsquo notes for the most part illegible or defacedand one prominent seven-line study note dated9801572ndash3 written by the copyist of the manu-script eight years after completing this copy Thenote indicates that this manuscript was the basisfor another copy prepared by the same copyistbut one that contained only the 983142983145rst book on theheavens The note reads

9175011114109984645ن هن

1114109 ة

9846451114109984644 و

ر

نآ

ا

ى

853572 ا

ل ه

و

ا

ن

984645 س ه

ا

ى

1050151 ا 984625ة

ة 984644 ن 984644 ها

ن

ة984644 984615 984643 ن

853543 ة

ا ان

1050183 ة

ى

ر

ن

ن

1114109 ن

984645 984627 984615 984643 ن و 853575 1050179 853543 ى853561 ا

د

و

853543 984615 1050181 853571 ن

هة

ل

و

1050151 هة ا

ل

853543 ة 984644 ا

853543 ة984644 ة 1050161 1050151 984648 ا

1050169و

853543 ة ن

984644 ا 984648 ط ه ة 984644 ه ا ل

853543984629 ة

اى

1050161 853543 ن

9175011114109

ا

984648ا 984627ش ر

ش ى

ل

ند

و

ة

9175011114109 984644 1050161 984648 ن ه ش 984645ن

هة

984615 1050181 984633 ة

و

نة

ن 853543

There are also three impressions of a small octag-onal ownerrsquos stamp (not legible) On folios 1band 201b there are impressions of a large round

stamp reading اد 1050161ن 984644ن 1114109ةة

1048573 و

984649 984644 ا 1114109نة

9846451114109

ا 984645ن

ن

1114109

984621ة

984649 984648 984645 984625 اة

ن

984644

984645 853543 ن

917501 1050157 ا ن 984648 984644 د ن را ن

ا

Editionsprintings The text of this manuscript hasbeen edited by al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh983094 Forthe purposes of our present edition we havemade use of scans of the Damascus manuscriptitself and on occasion present a di1048678ferent reading

Catalogue descriptions none

MS BmdashOxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 68

item 6

Date The copy was transcribed by al-faqīr Manṣūrbi-ism Shammās (the ordained deacon) inNovember of AD 1571 The date is given as themonth of Tishrīn II 1882 using the Alexandrian(or Seleucid) calendar which began 1 October 312BC The volume in which this item is bound con-tains nine treatises in either Arabic or Karshūnī(the Syriac script used by the Christians of Syriaand Mesopotamia for writing Arabic) all of themapparently copied in Syria See 983142983145g 01 for the col-ophon in the manuscript

983094 Gharāʾib 2011 195ndash512 and 2513ndash689

The folio following this item in the manuscript(fol 145b) has an eleven-line note in Karshūnī pre-senting a carefully written lineage of the copyist

ل

ن د

و

أ

ا نة

984645984648 853549 ر

ا 853543 ن اد ن

984621 أ

ا ل هة]

984627 =] ل هة

984645984627 ن

1114109 ة

9846451114109984644

ل ه

853575 1050179 984625ة ا

ن

ء 853543 ن 984644أ

ا ش

ش و

ا]ن

1050179 ]

ة

9175011114109984645 9175011114109 984645 نأ

ا

و

نة

ة1048573 853543 ن

ة984648 853549 ن أ

ا 1114109 984644ة

1050161 984648 984629 1114109984645ن

ة

ى

نأ

ا

و

ن

853543 ة

ى

نأ

ا 853543 ن 984625 ن

ل

ن د

و

أ

ا 853543 ن9175011114109 ة

9846451114109984645 853543984627 أ

ا نو

ن

ر

أ

1050151 ان

1114109 ة984644 984615 984643 ة

1050179 ا 853543 ن أ

ا

و

ا]ن

1050179 ] 984648ة853549 ن أ

1050151 1114109 984644ةة

984649 853549 ن او

ة

9175011114109 984645 ة9175011114109 ا

ܬܢܐ) (ܓ 853543 ن 853543 ش9175011114109 ة

9846451114109 ن

ة 853543984645و

ة

ى

نأ

ا ا]ن

1050179 ] ة

ن984621 853543

نأ

1050151 1050161 984648 984629 1114109984645ن

ر

1050165 853543 ن ة

ى

ن او

هة ة

9175011114109984645و

1050161 ة

984649 853549 ن أ

ا

و

984648 د

984645 ة

ى

أ

ا

و

1050161 984648 984629 س ه 1114109984645ن

853543 ن

1114109 ة

9846451114109

س

ة

853543 ة

ش984627 ه س

ا 853543 ن 984648 ن

أ

ا

و

ل ه

853543 ط

ة

ى

نا

و

ل ه

ا ر ن نة

ى

نا

و

ة ة

9175011114109 984644 ة

984649 853549 ن او

ه

س

اة

ى

أ

ن 984648 اأ

ة

984649

ن

984621 و

ة 853543 ن 984644 917501 1050157و 984648 853549 ن ا

1050161 أ

ل ه ا

و

ه

ل

ا ة

ن

1050161 1050161

ن

984621 و

984621ه و

1050161

ة

9175011114109 984645 ة

ه ل

ة ا

ة1048573

ن

984621 1050161 ن

984615 984643 853543 ن9175011114109853549 984648 ة ( (ܟܘة

984649 1050161 984648 853549 ن

984615 1050181 س ه ش

984648 ا

ة

984649 1050161 984648 853549 ن ة

984649

ن

984621

ن

9175011114109 ة1048573 و

984648 ة

984649 1050161 984648 ه 853549 ن

س

ا ة

ى

أ

ا

ه 1048573 984629 984615 1050181ة

ل ه شن

9175011114109 ة1048573 و

ة

1050183 984625ا ن

أ

Contents It is an incomplete copy of Book One Asin MS D it lacks the opening diagram (though ithas the surrounding text) the entire fourth andthe opening part of the 983142983145fth chapter It also lacksthe 983142983145nal chapters of Book One that is the eighthninth and tenth chapters Of Book Two it hasonly a partial copy of the 983142983145rst and third chaptersChapter three of Book Two contains additionalmaterial on each of the climes that is not foundin the other manuscripts

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle is given (in Syriac script) in the text onfol 109b983096 as Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ

al-ʿuyūn see 983142983145g 02 Physical description 46 leaves (folios 109bndash144a)

Dimensions 212 times 153 (text area 174 times c122) cm21ndash24 lines per page

Paper The sti1048678f biscuit paper has little evidenceof sizing and has turned darker near the edgesof the volume It has a thickness of 017minus019mm and an opaqueness factor of 4 with thinstraight vertical laid lines single chain lines and watermarks (an anchor in a circle () and a starover a crescent moon) There is some foxing anddamp-staining

Script There is no trace of frame-ruling and thespacing of lines is irregular The text is written in alarge Arabic and Karshūnī script using dark-brownink with prominent words formed with a broaderpen-stroke text-breaks or headings are indicatedby four small dots There are catchwords but nomarginalia are found in this portion of the vol-ume There is an illuminated heading in black inkand red opaque watercolours at the opening ofthe text (fol 109b) see 983142983145g 02

Page 10: An Eleventh-Century Egyptian Guide to the Universe

xii 983137983139983147983150983151983159983148983141983140983143983141983149983141983150983156983155

our examination of Cyprus Dr Haris Koutelakis of

Athens kindly provided us with a copy of his study

of maps of the Aegean islands which included an

interpretation of the relevant chapter in the Book

of Curiosities Dr Alex Metcalfe University of Lan-

caster contributed invaluable 1048678983145nal comments

on the Sicilian toponyms Dr Yaacov Lev Depart-

ment of Middle Eastern History Bar Ilan Univer-

sity shared with us his knowledge of the Fatimid

Mediterranean

For identi1048678983145cation of place-names in the East-

ern Islamic world East Africa India and East Asia

we would like to thank the generous advice of Dr

Michal Biran of the Hebrew University Dr Emeri

van Donzel Oegstgeest the Netherlands Dr Roxani

Margariti Emory University Professor David W

Phillipson Director of the Museum of Archaeology

and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge

Professor Tansen Sen of Baruch College the City

University of New York Professor Andre Wink of

the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Drs Ronit

Yoeli-Tlalim and Anna Akasoy then with AHRC

Islam-Tibet Project at the Warburg Institute

Professor Len Berggren of Simon Fraser Uni-

versity provided guidance on mathematical mat-

ters Professor Julio Samsoacute University of Barcelona

similarly o983142fered advice on mathematical aspects of

astrology and astronomy

Professor Dr Andreas Kaplony of the Orien-

talisches Seminar and Institut fuumlr den Nahen und

Mittleren Osten Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaumlt

Muumlnchen and Tarek Kahlaoui of the University of

Pennsylvania helped us develop our ideas regarding

Islamic cartography Jean-Charles Ducegravene Senior

Lector Universiteacute Libre de Bruxelles has shared

with us his unique knowledge of the development

of geographical literature in medieval Islam

On the history of cartography in general and

maritime cartography in particular we have ben-

e1048678983145ted from the enthusiastic support of Professor

Richard Unger Department of History University

of British Columbia and the long-standing collabo-

ration of Evelyn Edson Professor Emeritus at Pied-

mont Virginia Community College

Dr Remke Kruk University of Leiden and Dr

Thomas Reimer Wiesbaden have read and com-

mented on the sections that deal with mirabilia

monsters and wondrous animals Dr Gerald Wick-

ens formerly of Kew Gardens has assisted with the

identi1048678983145cation of some of the wondrous plants

In 2008 al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh submitted to

the University of Jordan a masterrsquos thesis consisting

of an edition of the text based on the Bodleian copy

(then available through the website) and a later copy

now in Damascus the thesis was subsequently pub-

lished in Beirut in 2011 and has proved useful to us

at many points which will be noted Mr al-Rawadieh

has generously shared his research with us at vari-

ous stages and we would like to acknowledge his

scholarship and dedication which in many ways

complemented our e983142forts here Dr Lutfallah Gari

1048678983145rst drew our attention to the Damascus manu-

script and subsequently to his own publication

regarding the dating of the Book of Curiosities

Amongst the scores of others who have advised

us on aspects of this complex manuscript we would

like to make special mention of Charles Burnett of

the Warburg Institute our colleagues at Queen Mary

University of London in particular Professors Miri

Rubin and Jerry Brotton and Dr Alfred Hiatt Pro-

fessor Benjamin Kedar The Institute for Advanced

Study The Hebrew University of Jerusalem the

late Professor William Brice of the University of

Manchester Dr Bill Leadbetter of Edith Cowan

University Joondalup Western Australia Jonathan

M Bloom Norma Jean Calderwood University Pro-

fessor of Islamic and Asian Art Boston College Dr

Moya Carey curator in the Asian Department of

the VampA Museum and Dr Boris Rankov and Dr

Judith McKenzie both of the Department of Clas-

sics Royal Holloway University of London Others

who assisted on very speci1048678983145c points are gratefully

acknowledged within the commentary itself

At Brill we would like to thank our editors

Renee Otto Ingrid Heijckers-Velt Nienke Brienen-

Moolenaar and Kathy van Vliet for their patience

and support in seeing this volume through pro-

duction We also thank the Bodleian Library at

the University of Oxford the Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa1048692anīyah in Damascus the Biblioteca Ambro-

siana in Milan the Dār al-Kutub in Cairo and the

Forschungsbibliothek in Gotha for supplying copies

of manuscripts for study purposes and for granting

permission for the publication of select images

Finally for over a decade our families have

heard far more than they probably wished of puz-

zling place-names unidenti1048678983145able star-names maps

of unusual shapes comets that portend doom and

curious stories of exotic lands Without their sup-

port we could not have brought this project to its

conclusion

Yossef Rapoport London

Emilie Savage-Smith Oxford

INTRODUCTION

In June of 2002 the Bodleian Library University ofOxford acquired a highly illustrated manuscript ofa hitherto unknown Arabic cosmographical trea-tise This newly discovered manuscript containeda remarkable series of early maps and astronomi-cal diagrams most of which are unparalleled inany Greek Latin or Arabic material known to bepreserved today No less importantly both the illus-trations and the text preserve material gatheredfrom Muslim astronomers historians scholars andtravellers of the ninth to eleventh centuries whose works are now either lost or preserved only in frag-ments The manuscript now assigned the shelfmarkMS Arab c 90 is here reproduced in facsimileaccompanied by an edition of the Arabic text andan annotated English translation

The manuscript is a copy probably made inEgypt in the late twelfth or early thirteenth centuryof an anonymous work compiled in Egypt between AD 1020 and 1050 The rhyming title of the volume Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn looselytranslates as The Book of Curiosities of the Sciences

and Marvels for the Eyes For convenience the trea-tise is referred to simply as The Book of Curiosities

The treatise preserved in this early highly illus-trated manuscript was essentially unknown toscholars prior to its being o1048678fered for sale at auctionin London on 10 October 2000 (Christiersquos Islamic

Art amp Manuscripts lot 41) even though later it wasdiscovered that eight other copies of all or por-tions of the text (lacking most of the illustrations) were preserved in manuscripts of the sixteenthto nineteenth century that had lain unnoticed inother libraries At auction the manuscript was pur-chased by Sam Fogg a well-known London dealerin rare books and manuscripts Not long thereafterhe o1048678fered it to the Bodleian Library at a price wellunder the true market value In June of 2002 follow-ing an extensive fund-raising e1048678fort the Bodleianlibrary celebrated the acquisition of this remarkable Arabic manuscript

The treatise now designated as Bodleian LibraryMS Arab c 90 is divided into two parts (maqālahs)The 983142983145rst part or book on celestial matters is com-posed of ten chapters and begins with a descriptionof the heavens and their in852070983148uence upon events onEarth It contains a number of unique illustrations

and rare texts including an illustrated discourse oncomets and several pages depicting various promi-nent stars nearby the lsquolunar mansionsrsquo which arestar-groups near the ecliptic whose risings and set-tings were traditionally used to predict rain andother meteorological events The authorrsquos inter-est throughout the book is primarily astrologicaland divinatory and no mathematical astronomy ispresented

The second book on the Earth is divided intotwenty-983142983145ve chapters According to the author thissecond book is largely dependent upon the Geog-

raphy of Ptolemy In general however our authorrsquosinterest is descriptive and historical rather thanmathematical Along with geographical and histori-cal texts the manuscript contains two world mapsone rectangular and one circular The author thenfollows with maps of the great seas known to him which were the Indian Ocean the Mediterraneanand the Caspian The author was particularly inter-ested in depicting the shores of the Mediterraneanof which he probably had 983142983145rst-hand knowledgeBesides the detailed schematic map of the coastsand islands of the Mediterranean the treatise alsocontains unique maps of Sicily and Cyprus as wellas the strategic ports of al-Mahdīyah in North Africaand Tinnīs in Egypt The book also includes 983142983145veriver-maps (the Nile the Euphrates the Tigris theOxus and the Indus) The concluding 983142983145ve chaptersdescribe lsquocuriositiesrsquo such as monstrous animals and wondrous plants

In 2007 an electronic high-quality reproductionof the Bodleian manuscript and its illustrationslinked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition(without full use of other copies) and a preliminaryEnglish translation was made available at www bodleyoxacukbookofcuriosities The remarkablesigni983142983145cance of the treatise for the history of Islamiccartography and cosmology in particular and for thehistory of pre-modern cartography in general hasbeen recognized in several publications on speci983142983145cmaps and diagrams in the manuscript983089 The study of

983089 See amongst others Johns amp Savage-Smith 2003 Rapoportamp Savage-Smith 2004 Edson amp Savage-Smith 2004 Parry 2004Barber 2005 Horden amp Purcell 2006 Galician 2007 Bloom 2007Rapoport amp Savage-Smith 2008 Kahlaoui 2008 Kahlaoui 2008a

2 10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

some aspects of this treatise is still on-going espe-cially with regard to its contribution to the historyof astrology and astronomy its place in the geo-graphical and mirabilia traditions and its impacton our knowledge of the Fatimid caliphate and ofmaritime travel in the medieval Islamic world

Our purpose here is to present a full edition of thetreatise taking into account all the later manuscriptcopies In addition we provide here an Englishannotated translation and a facsimile reproductionof the entire manuscript The aim is to allow read-ers to examine the treatise as a whole in a way thatis not possible in an online edition and to consultan authoritative edition and translation that re852070983148ectsour decade-long study of the Bodleian manuscriptand other copies We open with the facsimile ofthe early Bodleian copy followed by the editionemploying all the copies of the entire Arabic textand all the map-and diagram-labels Following this we present an extensively annotated translation ofthe text and the labels concluding with an extendedglossary of star-names and thematic indexes

In the following pages of this Introduction welist and compare the known copies of the treatiseestablish the authorship and date of the treatiseand its component parts and explain our editorialconventions A full comprehensive study of thecontents of the treatise in the context of eleventh-century Fatimid society and learning must await aseparate publication But we hope this edition willgreatly enhance future research on the signi983142983145canceof this remarkable treatise for the history of cartog-raphy science and Islamic civilisation

I T983144983141 C9831519831521048681983141983155

MS A mdashOxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90

Date The copy is unsigned and undated Theappearance of the paper ink and script sug-gests a possible dating of the end of the twelfthcentury

Contents It is an incomplete copy missing part ofthe penultimate chapter and all of the last onein Book Two At the end of the volume in thegutter are narrow remnants of two folios thathave been cut from the volume corresponding

Kaplony 2008 Rapoport 2008 Savage-Smith 2009 Savage-Smith2010 Savage-Smith 2010a Rapoport 2011 Savage-Smith 2011aRapoport 2012

to the missing 983142983145nal chapters (part of 224 and allof 225) The eighth and ninth chapters of BookTwo are missing from the text as they are in allother copies

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle appears in the text on fol 1b10486251048625 as well as onthe title page (fol 1a) as Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn

wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn Beneath the title a laterowner has noted lsquoTo the author of this treatisethere belongs another book whose title is Muḥī983156 (Comprehensive) ⟨ ⟩ it is stated thus in theentry for the island of Sardiniarsquo

Physical description 48 leaves (folios 1andash48b)plus torn gutter strips from two missing leavesDimensions 324 times 245 cm (text area 291 times 226cm on folios without maps) 27 lines per page

Paper The lightly glossed biscuit-brown paper issturdy rather soft and relatively opaque Thepaper has thick slightly curved horizontal laidlines and there are rib shadows but no chainlines or watermarks are visible The thickness ofthe paper varies between 017 and 020 mm andmeasures 3 on the Sharp Scale of Opaquenessthe laid lines are 6ndash7 wirescm with the spacebetween lines less than the width of one line Thepaper appears to have been made using a grassmouldmdasha method used in Egypt and GreaterSyria in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries(greater precision is not possible)983090 The paperhas some damp-staining foxing and wormholesand there is considerable soiling and grime nearthe edges of the pages which have been trimmedfrom their original size with the loss in places oftext and marginalia Numerous repairs had beenmade to the paper at various times Conservationof the manuscript at the Bodleian was carried outby Alison McKay and Sabina Pugh in its conser- vation laboratories Multiple layers of old repairshad accumulated on the leaves causing particu-lar sti1048678fness in the spine area Sympathetic newrepairs replaced the old ones to reveal text andimages but some were left in place as they wereconsidered to be part of the cultural history ofthe manuscript

Script The text area has been frame-ruled Thetext is written in a medium-large Naskh script indense black ink with headings in warm-red ink

983090 For similar Islamic papers see Loveday 2001 and we thankHelen Loveday for examining and discussing with us the paperin this particular manuscript

10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150 3

Many diacritical dots are missing A sin is oftendistinguished from a shīn by a small haacuteček lessfrequently a haacuteček distinguishes the undotted(al-muhmalah) letters rāʾ or ṣad from the dottedforms A haacuteček occasionally is placed over a duc-tus that ought to have had two dots beneath indi-cating a yāʾ in a medial position A tāʾ marbū983156ah is often ligatured to a preceding rāʾ or dāl or dhāl a 983142983145nal letter ʿayn is occasionally ligatured to the983142983145rst letter of the following word A tāʾ marbū983156ah is very seldom dotted A small break occurs beforea medial or 983142983145nal 983156āʾ where the copyist lifted thepen when an unbroken connection with the pre-ceding letter would have been expected Textstops are indicated by a dot enclosed in a circleor by the symbol

ھ

(= intahaacute) There are somecatchwords The illustrations are labelled in asimilar but smaller hand Both hands are closerin many of their characteristics to those of copy-ists known to have worked in Greater Syria atthe end of the twelfth century or early thirteenthcentury than to the hands of securely dated andlocated products of the fourteenth century983091

Illustrations In Book One there is an opening dia-gram (double-page) immediately following theintroduction a single-page diagram at the end of11 and a half-page diagram in 110 There are alsocomet illustrations in 16 and 17 and diagramsof lunar mansions in 19 In Book Two there areseventeen maps or diagrams in chapters 21 2527 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 (two)218 (983142983145ve) The maps in Book Two use a stan-dard set of colours to convey the topographicalfeatures with green for salty seas and lakes andblue for fresh-water lakes and rivers The moun-tains are usually reddish-brown and town walls where depicted are darker brown-purple Reddots represent cities towns villages and anchor-age points The map of al-Mahdīyah has a multi-coloured depiction of the twin palaces of the city

983091 For example the script and paper are similar to a treatiseby the Egyptian scholar al-Dimyāṭī preserved in a copy (OxfordBodleian Library MS Marsh 592) completed 12 Jumādaacute II 592(13 May 1196) which displays many of the same orthographicfeatures including picking up the pen before writing the 983156āʾ (fol 98a1048625983095) for sample pages see Edson amp Savage-Smith 2004 19983142983145g 7 and King 2004 758 983142983145g 27 Other similarities of script andpaper can be observed in Gotha Forschungsbibliothek GothaMS orient A 1521 dated 5691173 Leiden MS Or 3101 cop-ied 5691173 Bodleian MS Huntington 202 copied in Syria inShaʿban 592July 1196 and Bodleian MS Marsh 379 fols 2andash87bmade between 5601165 and 6101213 (for the latter two exam-ples see Savage-Smith 2011 322ndash3 and plates xviiindashxx)

and the diagram of the sources of the Nile depictsa large crocodile The circular world map (at theend of 25) employs a slightly di1048678ferent paletteand is the only map in the volume to employcopper greens

Some illustrations such as those depictingcomets or small islands have traces of gold orsilver sprinklings while other areas in the mapsmay have been over-painted or coated in a shinylacquer-like material that is now crackled andcrazed A preliminary analysis of the pigments was conducted by Dr Sandra Grantham a consul-tant paper conservator using optical microscopyin the conservation workshop of the BodleianLibrary A full analysis using Raman Spectros-copy was subsequently carried out by Dr TraceyChaplin at the Christopher Ingold LaboratoriesUniversity College London983092 Further examinationof the pigments was carried out by Sabina Pughin the conservation workshop of the BodleianLibrary who used optical microscopy to try todetermine which pigments belonged to the origi-nal paint layer and which were over-painting orre-touching Six pigments were identi983142983145ed in theillustrations cinnabar (red) orpiment (yellow)lazurite (blue) indigo carbon-based black andbasic lead carbonate (a lsquolead whitersquo) Four furtherpigments could not be identi983142983145ed a golden mate-rial a green pigment the purple pigment usedto depict city walls and the blue component ofthe dark green pigment mixture on certain foliosNo evidence of modern inks or pigments wasrevealed The results of the scienti983142983145c analyses arecompletely consistent with the suggested originand age of the manuscript

Binding When acquired by the Bodleian Librarythe volume was contained in an Ottoman bindingof possibly eighteenth- or nineteenth-centurydate the binding was too small for the manu-script and in extremely poor condition The 983142983145rstfolio of the manuscript has staining that indicatesan earlier binding included an envelope 852070983148ap Atpresent the volume is dis-bound with the bind-ing removed and stored separately it remainsdis-bound to allow for easier exhibition

Provenance The title page also has two impressionsof an undated Ottoman () stamp reading Saʿdīibn ʿĪsaacute al-faqīr al-mutawakkil ʿalaacute Allāh al-kabīr

983092 The results of the Raman spectroscopic analysis have beenpublished in Chaplin Clark et al 2006

4 10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

There are also two undated ownersrsquo signaturesthe upper signature reading lsquoIn the book collec-tion of the one in need of God Muṣṭafaacute knownas Koumlpruuml-zade may God forgive himrsquo and thelower one reading lsquoAmongst the property of Yaḥyaacute ibn Muḥammad al-Mallāḥ (the sailer thesalt-miner)rsquo Between the two signatures thereis also one completely defaced ownerrsquos note InChapter Five of Book Two there are two half-page paintings (a wāqwāq-tree and an inhabitedscrolling vine) added by a later owner probablyin the fourteenth or 983142983145fteenthth century

Editionsprintings In 2007 an electronic high-quality reproduction of the manuscript and itsillustrations linked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition (without full use of other copies)and a preliminary English translation was madeavailable at wwwbodleyoxacukbookofcuriosi-ties The bibliographic citation is Emilie Savage-Smith and Yossef Rapoport (eds) The Book of

Curiosities A critical edition World-Wide-Webpublication ( wwwbodleyoxacukbookofcuri-osities) (March 2007)

Catalogue descriptions none

MS DmdashDamascus Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa983156anīyah MS 16501

Date The copy was completed on the last Sun-day in the 983142983145rst ten days of Rabīʿ I of the year972 [= 9 Rabīʿ I 972 = 15 October 1564] by AbūBakr ibn Fakhr al-Dīn ibn Ḥamzah ibn al-shaykh

Muḥammad min qaryat Muʿārat Ikhwān (fromthe village of Muʿārat Ikhwān)983093 The colophon isgiven on fol 210b10486251048625ndash10486251048629

Contents It is an incomplete copy Compared toMS A this manuscript lacks many of the illustra-tions maps and diagrams while adding textualmaterial from other sources Book One lacks theopening diagram (though it has the surroundingtext) Also missing from Book One is the entirefourth chapter the start of the 983142983145fth chapter andportions of the ninth and tenth chapters In thebody of the ninth chapter of Book One materialis taken from Ibn Qutaybahrsquos Kitāb al-Anwāʾ the983142983145rst three entries of the ninth chapter as givenin other copies are written here in the margins

983093 The name as written here is possibly a variant of Maʿarratal-Nuʿmān (

ن

984615 1050181 984633 ة ا 984644 نر

984645) a well-known town in northern Syriaع Al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh identi983142983145es Muʿārat Ikhwān with the village of Martaḥwān in the environs of Aleppo (Yāqūt 18664487) but without evidence (Gharāʾib 2011 129 nt 1 and 2689nt 8)

In Book Two the second seventh and elev-enth chapters which contain only maps and notext are missing The eighth and ninth chaptersof Book Two are also missing as in all manu-scripts In 215 there are nine additional entriesfor mythical islands interspersed between theentries for Indian Ocean islands found in MS AThe manuscript also contains three additionallong books (maqālahs) on horses ( fī al-khayl ) in 983142983145ve chapters ( faṣl s) of which the 983142983145nal one ismissing on camels ( fī nūq) in nineteen faṣl s andon hunting and game ( fī ṣayd wa-al-qanaṣ) intwenty-one faṣl s

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle is given in the text on fol 2a1048628ndash1048629 as Gharāʾib

al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn On fol 1a a later handhas written Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ

al-ʿuyūn wa-fīhi min kull ʿilm wa-ṣinf ʿilm 9175011114109ة ه 984645ن ) 1048573نو

1050169 ن

ن91750111141099846451114109 و

1050169

984643 )

Physical description 201 leaves (folios 1andash201b) Thesize of the leaves is not known but there are13ndash15 lines per page The nature of the paper isunknown

Script The text is carefully written in a clearmedium-large Naskh script The text area hasbeen frame-ruled There are text stops and end-of-line 983142983145llers of three dots in a triangular for-mation There are catchwords and most of themarginalia appear to be in the hand of the copy-ist For the opening folio see Gharāʾib 2011 189For other examples of folios from the manuscriptsee 983142983145gs 06 08 and 014ndash019

Illustrations In Book One there is a single-pagediagram at the end of 11 constellation 983142983145guresformed of lines of dots have been added to thetext of 13 In 16 and 17 there are illustrations ofcomets and in 19 diagrams of lunar mansions Atthe end of 21 there is a crude rectangular sketch(repeated twice) aligning the cardinal directions with zodiacal signs Chapter 210 has two emptyrectangular frames with the title of the chapter(lsquoThe tenth chapter on the Western Seamdashiethe Syrian Seamdashand its harbours and islandsand anchoragesrsquo) written at the edge and in 217there are several empty circles suggestive of thelake diagrams in the earlier Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 The city of al-Mahdīyah (213) theisland of Cyprus (215) and the rivers Nile Tigrisand Oxus are represented by crude unlabelledsketches whose general signi983142983145cance is recogniz-able only when compared to the equivalent maps

10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150 5

in the earlier Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 See983142983145gs 06 08 011 012 and 014ndash019 for examples

Binding unknown Provenance The manuscript was formerly kept

in Aleppo as al-Maktabah al-Waqfīyah MS 957On the title page (fol 1a) there are several own-ersrsquo notes for the most part illegible or defacedand one prominent seven-line study note dated9801572ndash3 written by the copyist of the manu-script eight years after completing this copy Thenote indicates that this manuscript was the basisfor another copy prepared by the same copyistbut one that contained only the 983142983145rst book on theheavens The note reads

9175011114109984645ن هن

1114109 ة

9846451114109984644 و

ر

نآ

ا

ى

853572 ا

ل ه

و

ا

ن

984645 س ه

ا

ى

1050151 ا 984625ة

ة 984644 ن 984644 ها

ن

ة984644 984615 984643 ن

853543 ة

ا ان

1050183 ة

ى

ر

ن

ن

1114109 ن

984645 984627 984615 984643 ن و 853575 1050179 853543 ى853561 ا

د

و

853543 984615 1050181 853571 ن

هة

ل

و

1050151 هة ا

ل

853543 ة 984644 ا

853543 ة984644 ة 1050161 1050151 984648 ا

1050169و

853543 ة ن

984644 ا 984648 ط ه ة 984644 ه ا ل

853543984629 ة

اى

1050161 853543 ن

9175011114109

ا

984648ا 984627ش ر

ش ى

ل

ند

و

ة

9175011114109 984644 1050161 984648 ن ه ش 984645ن

هة

984615 1050181 984633 ة

و

نة

ن 853543

There are also three impressions of a small octag-onal ownerrsquos stamp (not legible) On folios 1band 201b there are impressions of a large round

stamp reading اد 1050161ن 984644ن 1114109ةة

1048573 و

984649 984644 ا 1114109نة

9846451114109

ا 984645ن

ن

1114109

984621ة

984649 984648 984645 984625 اة

ن

984644

984645 853543 ن

917501 1050157 ا ن 984648 984644 د ن را ن

ا

Editionsprintings The text of this manuscript hasbeen edited by al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh983094 Forthe purposes of our present edition we havemade use of scans of the Damascus manuscriptitself and on occasion present a di1048678ferent reading

Catalogue descriptions none

MS BmdashOxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 68

item 6

Date The copy was transcribed by al-faqīr Manṣūrbi-ism Shammās (the ordained deacon) inNovember of AD 1571 The date is given as themonth of Tishrīn II 1882 using the Alexandrian(or Seleucid) calendar which began 1 October 312BC The volume in which this item is bound con-tains nine treatises in either Arabic or Karshūnī(the Syriac script used by the Christians of Syriaand Mesopotamia for writing Arabic) all of themapparently copied in Syria See 983142983145g 01 for the col-ophon in the manuscript

983094 Gharāʾib 2011 195ndash512 and 2513ndash689

The folio following this item in the manuscript(fol 145b) has an eleven-line note in Karshūnī pre-senting a carefully written lineage of the copyist

ل

ن د

و

أ

ا نة

984645984648 853549 ر

ا 853543 ن اد ن

984621 أ

ا ل هة]

984627 =] ل هة

984645984627 ن

1114109 ة

9846451114109984644

ل ه

853575 1050179 984625ة ا

ن

ء 853543 ن 984644أ

ا ش

ش و

ا]ن

1050179 ]

ة

9175011114109984645 9175011114109 984645 نأ

ا

و

نة

ة1048573 853543 ن

ة984648 853549 ن أ

ا 1114109 984644ة

1050161 984648 984629 1114109984645ن

ة

ى

نأ

ا

و

ن

853543 ة

ى

نأ

ا 853543 ن 984625 ن

ل

ن د

و

أ

ا 853543 ن9175011114109 ة

9846451114109984645 853543984627 أ

ا نو

ن

ر

أ

1050151 ان

1114109 ة984644 984615 984643 ة

1050179 ا 853543 ن أ

ا

و

ا]ن

1050179 ] 984648ة853549 ن أ

1050151 1114109 984644ةة

984649 853549 ن او

ة

9175011114109 984645 ة9175011114109 ا

ܬܢܐ) (ܓ 853543 ن 853543 ش9175011114109 ة

9846451114109 ن

ة 853543984645و

ة

ى

نأ

ا ا]ن

1050179 ] ة

ن984621 853543

نأ

1050151 1050161 984648 984629 1114109984645ن

ر

1050165 853543 ن ة

ى

ن او

هة ة

9175011114109984645و

1050161 ة

984649 853549 ن أ

ا

و

984648 د

984645 ة

ى

أ

ا

و

1050161 984648 984629 س ه 1114109984645ن

853543 ن

1114109 ة

9846451114109

س

ة

853543 ة

ش984627 ه س

ا 853543 ن 984648 ن

أ

ا

و

ل ه

853543 ط

ة

ى

نا

و

ل ه

ا ر ن نة

ى

نا

و

ة ة

9175011114109 984644 ة

984649 853549 ن او

ه

س

اة

ى

أ

ن 984648 اأ

ة

984649

ن

984621 و

ة 853543 ن 984644 917501 1050157و 984648 853549 ن ا

1050161 أ

ل ه ا

و

ه

ل

ا ة

ن

1050161 1050161

ن

984621 و

984621ه و

1050161

ة

9175011114109 984645 ة

ه ل

ة ا

ة1048573

ن

984621 1050161 ن

984615 984643 853543 ن9175011114109853549 984648 ة ( (ܟܘة

984649 1050161 984648 853549 ن

984615 1050181 س ه ش

984648 ا

ة

984649 1050161 984648 853549 ن ة

984649

ن

984621

ن

9175011114109 ة1048573 و

984648 ة

984649 1050161 984648 ه 853549 ن

س

ا ة

ى

أ

ا

ه 1048573 984629 984615 1050181ة

ل ه شن

9175011114109 ة1048573 و

ة

1050183 984625ا ن

أ

Contents It is an incomplete copy of Book One Asin MS D it lacks the opening diagram (though ithas the surrounding text) the entire fourth andthe opening part of the 983142983145fth chapter It also lacksthe 983142983145nal chapters of Book One that is the eighthninth and tenth chapters Of Book Two it hasonly a partial copy of the 983142983145rst and third chaptersChapter three of Book Two contains additionalmaterial on each of the climes that is not foundin the other manuscripts

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle is given (in Syriac script) in the text onfol 109b983096 as Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ

al-ʿuyūn see 983142983145g 02 Physical description 46 leaves (folios 109bndash144a)

Dimensions 212 times 153 (text area 174 times c122) cm21ndash24 lines per page

Paper The sti1048678f biscuit paper has little evidenceof sizing and has turned darker near the edgesof the volume It has a thickness of 017minus019mm and an opaqueness factor of 4 with thinstraight vertical laid lines single chain lines and watermarks (an anchor in a circle () and a starover a crescent moon) There is some foxing anddamp-staining

Script There is no trace of frame-ruling and thespacing of lines is irregular The text is written in alarge Arabic and Karshūnī script using dark-brownink with prominent words formed with a broaderpen-stroke text-breaks or headings are indicatedby four small dots There are catchwords but nomarginalia are found in this portion of the vol-ume There is an illuminated heading in black inkand red opaque watercolours at the opening ofthe text (fol 109b) see 983142983145g 02

Page 11: An Eleventh-Century Egyptian Guide to the Universe

INTRODUCTION

In June of 2002 the Bodleian Library University ofOxford acquired a highly illustrated manuscript ofa hitherto unknown Arabic cosmographical trea-tise This newly discovered manuscript containeda remarkable series of early maps and astronomi-cal diagrams most of which are unparalleled inany Greek Latin or Arabic material known to bepreserved today No less importantly both the illus-trations and the text preserve material gatheredfrom Muslim astronomers historians scholars andtravellers of the ninth to eleventh centuries whose works are now either lost or preserved only in frag-ments The manuscript now assigned the shelfmarkMS Arab c 90 is here reproduced in facsimileaccompanied by an edition of the Arabic text andan annotated English translation

The manuscript is a copy probably made inEgypt in the late twelfth or early thirteenth centuryof an anonymous work compiled in Egypt between AD 1020 and 1050 The rhyming title of the volume Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn looselytranslates as The Book of Curiosities of the Sciences

and Marvels for the Eyes For convenience the trea-tise is referred to simply as The Book of Curiosities

The treatise preserved in this early highly illus-trated manuscript was essentially unknown toscholars prior to its being o1048678fered for sale at auctionin London on 10 October 2000 (Christiersquos Islamic

Art amp Manuscripts lot 41) even though later it wasdiscovered that eight other copies of all or por-tions of the text (lacking most of the illustrations) were preserved in manuscripts of the sixteenthto nineteenth century that had lain unnoticed inother libraries At auction the manuscript was pur-chased by Sam Fogg a well-known London dealerin rare books and manuscripts Not long thereafterhe o1048678fered it to the Bodleian Library at a price wellunder the true market value In June of 2002 follow-ing an extensive fund-raising e1048678fort the Bodleianlibrary celebrated the acquisition of this remarkable Arabic manuscript

The treatise now designated as Bodleian LibraryMS Arab c 90 is divided into two parts (maqālahs)The 983142983145rst part or book on celestial matters is com-posed of ten chapters and begins with a descriptionof the heavens and their in852070983148uence upon events onEarth It contains a number of unique illustrations

and rare texts including an illustrated discourse oncomets and several pages depicting various promi-nent stars nearby the lsquolunar mansionsrsquo which arestar-groups near the ecliptic whose risings and set-tings were traditionally used to predict rain andother meteorological events The authorrsquos inter-est throughout the book is primarily astrologicaland divinatory and no mathematical astronomy ispresented

The second book on the Earth is divided intotwenty-983142983145ve chapters According to the author thissecond book is largely dependent upon the Geog-

raphy of Ptolemy In general however our authorrsquosinterest is descriptive and historical rather thanmathematical Along with geographical and histori-cal texts the manuscript contains two world mapsone rectangular and one circular The author thenfollows with maps of the great seas known to him which were the Indian Ocean the Mediterraneanand the Caspian The author was particularly inter-ested in depicting the shores of the Mediterraneanof which he probably had 983142983145rst-hand knowledgeBesides the detailed schematic map of the coastsand islands of the Mediterranean the treatise alsocontains unique maps of Sicily and Cyprus as wellas the strategic ports of al-Mahdīyah in North Africaand Tinnīs in Egypt The book also includes 983142983145veriver-maps (the Nile the Euphrates the Tigris theOxus and the Indus) The concluding 983142983145ve chaptersdescribe lsquocuriositiesrsquo such as monstrous animals and wondrous plants

In 2007 an electronic high-quality reproductionof the Bodleian manuscript and its illustrationslinked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition(without full use of other copies) and a preliminaryEnglish translation was made available at www bodleyoxacukbookofcuriosities The remarkablesigni983142983145cance of the treatise for the history of Islamiccartography and cosmology in particular and for thehistory of pre-modern cartography in general hasbeen recognized in several publications on speci983142983145cmaps and diagrams in the manuscript983089 The study of

983089 See amongst others Johns amp Savage-Smith 2003 Rapoportamp Savage-Smith 2004 Edson amp Savage-Smith 2004 Parry 2004Barber 2005 Horden amp Purcell 2006 Galician 2007 Bloom 2007Rapoport amp Savage-Smith 2008 Kahlaoui 2008 Kahlaoui 2008a

2 10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

some aspects of this treatise is still on-going espe-cially with regard to its contribution to the historyof astrology and astronomy its place in the geo-graphical and mirabilia traditions and its impacton our knowledge of the Fatimid caliphate and ofmaritime travel in the medieval Islamic world

Our purpose here is to present a full edition of thetreatise taking into account all the later manuscriptcopies In addition we provide here an Englishannotated translation and a facsimile reproductionof the entire manuscript The aim is to allow read-ers to examine the treatise as a whole in a way thatis not possible in an online edition and to consultan authoritative edition and translation that re852070983148ectsour decade-long study of the Bodleian manuscriptand other copies We open with the facsimile ofthe early Bodleian copy followed by the editionemploying all the copies of the entire Arabic textand all the map-and diagram-labels Following this we present an extensively annotated translation ofthe text and the labels concluding with an extendedglossary of star-names and thematic indexes

In the following pages of this Introduction welist and compare the known copies of the treatiseestablish the authorship and date of the treatiseand its component parts and explain our editorialconventions A full comprehensive study of thecontents of the treatise in the context of eleventh-century Fatimid society and learning must await aseparate publication But we hope this edition willgreatly enhance future research on the signi983142983145canceof this remarkable treatise for the history of cartog-raphy science and Islamic civilisation

I T983144983141 C9831519831521048681983141983155

MS A mdashOxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90

Date The copy is unsigned and undated Theappearance of the paper ink and script sug-gests a possible dating of the end of the twelfthcentury

Contents It is an incomplete copy missing part ofthe penultimate chapter and all of the last onein Book Two At the end of the volume in thegutter are narrow remnants of two folios thathave been cut from the volume corresponding

Kaplony 2008 Rapoport 2008 Savage-Smith 2009 Savage-Smith2010 Savage-Smith 2010a Rapoport 2011 Savage-Smith 2011aRapoport 2012

to the missing 983142983145nal chapters (part of 224 and allof 225) The eighth and ninth chapters of BookTwo are missing from the text as they are in allother copies

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle appears in the text on fol 1b10486251048625 as well as onthe title page (fol 1a) as Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn

wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn Beneath the title a laterowner has noted lsquoTo the author of this treatisethere belongs another book whose title is Muḥī983156 (Comprehensive) ⟨ ⟩ it is stated thus in theentry for the island of Sardiniarsquo

Physical description 48 leaves (folios 1andash48b)plus torn gutter strips from two missing leavesDimensions 324 times 245 cm (text area 291 times 226cm on folios without maps) 27 lines per page

Paper The lightly glossed biscuit-brown paper issturdy rather soft and relatively opaque Thepaper has thick slightly curved horizontal laidlines and there are rib shadows but no chainlines or watermarks are visible The thickness ofthe paper varies between 017 and 020 mm andmeasures 3 on the Sharp Scale of Opaquenessthe laid lines are 6ndash7 wirescm with the spacebetween lines less than the width of one line Thepaper appears to have been made using a grassmouldmdasha method used in Egypt and GreaterSyria in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries(greater precision is not possible)983090 The paperhas some damp-staining foxing and wormholesand there is considerable soiling and grime nearthe edges of the pages which have been trimmedfrom their original size with the loss in places oftext and marginalia Numerous repairs had beenmade to the paper at various times Conservationof the manuscript at the Bodleian was carried outby Alison McKay and Sabina Pugh in its conser- vation laboratories Multiple layers of old repairshad accumulated on the leaves causing particu-lar sti1048678fness in the spine area Sympathetic newrepairs replaced the old ones to reveal text andimages but some were left in place as they wereconsidered to be part of the cultural history ofthe manuscript

Script The text area has been frame-ruled Thetext is written in a medium-large Naskh script indense black ink with headings in warm-red ink

983090 For similar Islamic papers see Loveday 2001 and we thankHelen Loveday for examining and discussing with us the paperin this particular manuscript

10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150 3

Many diacritical dots are missing A sin is oftendistinguished from a shīn by a small haacuteček lessfrequently a haacuteček distinguishes the undotted(al-muhmalah) letters rāʾ or ṣad from the dottedforms A haacuteček occasionally is placed over a duc-tus that ought to have had two dots beneath indi-cating a yāʾ in a medial position A tāʾ marbū983156ah is often ligatured to a preceding rāʾ or dāl or dhāl a 983142983145nal letter ʿayn is occasionally ligatured to the983142983145rst letter of the following word A tāʾ marbū983156ah is very seldom dotted A small break occurs beforea medial or 983142983145nal 983156āʾ where the copyist lifted thepen when an unbroken connection with the pre-ceding letter would have been expected Textstops are indicated by a dot enclosed in a circleor by the symbol

ھ

(= intahaacute) There are somecatchwords The illustrations are labelled in asimilar but smaller hand Both hands are closerin many of their characteristics to those of copy-ists known to have worked in Greater Syria atthe end of the twelfth century or early thirteenthcentury than to the hands of securely dated andlocated products of the fourteenth century983091

Illustrations In Book One there is an opening dia-gram (double-page) immediately following theintroduction a single-page diagram at the end of11 and a half-page diagram in 110 There are alsocomet illustrations in 16 and 17 and diagramsof lunar mansions in 19 In Book Two there areseventeen maps or diagrams in chapters 21 2527 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 (two)218 (983142983145ve) The maps in Book Two use a stan-dard set of colours to convey the topographicalfeatures with green for salty seas and lakes andblue for fresh-water lakes and rivers The moun-tains are usually reddish-brown and town walls where depicted are darker brown-purple Reddots represent cities towns villages and anchor-age points The map of al-Mahdīyah has a multi-coloured depiction of the twin palaces of the city

983091 For example the script and paper are similar to a treatiseby the Egyptian scholar al-Dimyāṭī preserved in a copy (OxfordBodleian Library MS Marsh 592) completed 12 Jumādaacute II 592(13 May 1196) which displays many of the same orthographicfeatures including picking up the pen before writing the 983156āʾ (fol 98a1048625983095) for sample pages see Edson amp Savage-Smith 2004 19983142983145g 7 and King 2004 758 983142983145g 27 Other similarities of script andpaper can be observed in Gotha Forschungsbibliothek GothaMS orient A 1521 dated 5691173 Leiden MS Or 3101 cop-ied 5691173 Bodleian MS Huntington 202 copied in Syria inShaʿban 592July 1196 and Bodleian MS Marsh 379 fols 2andash87bmade between 5601165 and 6101213 (for the latter two exam-ples see Savage-Smith 2011 322ndash3 and plates xviiindashxx)

and the diagram of the sources of the Nile depictsa large crocodile The circular world map (at theend of 25) employs a slightly di1048678ferent paletteand is the only map in the volume to employcopper greens

Some illustrations such as those depictingcomets or small islands have traces of gold orsilver sprinklings while other areas in the mapsmay have been over-painted or coated in a shinylacquer-like material that is now crackled andcrazed A preliminary analysis of the pigments was conducted by Dr Sandra Grantham a consul-tant paper conservator using optical microscopyin the conservation workshop of the BodleianLibrary A full analysis using Raman Spectros-copy was subsequently carried out by Dr TraceyChaplin at the Christopher Ingold LaboratoriesUniversity College London983092 Further examinationof the pigments was carried out by Sabina Pughin the conservation workshop of the BodleianLibrary who used optical microscopy to try todetermine which pigments belonged to the origi-nal paint layer and which were over-painting orre-touching Six pigments were identi983142983145ed in theillustrations cinnabar (red) orpiment (yellow)lazurite (blue) indigo carbon-based black andbasic lead carbonate (a lsquolead whitersquo) Four furtherpigments could not be identi983142983145ed a golden mate-rial a green pigment the purple pigment usedto depict city walls and the blue component ofthe dark green pigment mixture on certain foliosNo evidence of modern inks or pigments wasrevealed The results of the scienti983142983145c analyses arecompletely consistent with the suggested originand age of the manuscript

Binding When acquired by the Bodleian Librarythe volume was contained in an Ottoman bindingof possibly eighteenth- or nineteenth-centurydate the binding was too small for the manu-script and in extremely poor condition The 983142983145rstfolio of the manuscript has staining that indicatesan earlier binding included an envelope 852070983148ap Atpresent the volume is dis-bound with the bind-ing removed and stored separately it remainsdis-bound to allow for easier exhibition

Provenance The title page also has two impressionsof an undated Ottoman () stamp reading Saʿdīibn ʿĪsaacute al-faqīr al-mutawakkil ʿalaacute Allāh al-kabīr

983092 The results of the Raman spectroscopic analysis have beenpublished in Chaplin Clark et al 2006

4 10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

There are also two undated ownersrsquo signaturesthe upper signature reading lsquoIn the book collec-tion of the one in need of God Muṣṭafaacute knownas Koumlpruuml-zade may God forgive himrsquo and thelower one reading lsquoAmongst the property of Yaḥyaacute ibn Muḥammad al-Mallāḥ (the sailer thesalt-miner)rsquo Between the two signatures thereis also one completely defaced ownerrsquos note InChapter Five of Book Two there are two half-page paintings (a wāqwāq-tree and an inhabitedscrolling vine) added by a later owner probablyin the fourteenth or 983142983145fteenthth century

Editionsprintings In 2007 an electronic high-quality reproduction of the manuscript and itsillustrations linked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition (without full use of other copies)and a preliminary English translation was madeavailable at wwwbodleyoxacukbookofcuriosi-ties The bibliographic citation is Emilie Savage-Smith and Yossef Rapoport (eds) The Book of

Curiosities A critical edition World-Wide-Webpublication ( wwwbodleyoxacukbookofcuri-osities) (March 2007)

Catalogue descriptions none

MS DmdashDamascus Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa983156anīyah MS 16501

Date The copy was completed on the last Sun-day in the 983142983145rst ten days of Rabīʿ I of the year972 [= 9 Rabīʿ I 972 = 15 October 1564] by AbūBakr ibn Fakhr al-Dīn ibn Ḥamzah ibn al-shaykh

Muḥammad min qaryat Muʿārat Ikhwān (fromthe village of Muʿārat Ikhwān)983093 The colophon isgiven on fol 210b10486251048625ndash10486251048629

Contents It is an incomplete copy Compared toMS A this manuscript lacks many of the illustra-tions maps and diagrams while adding textualmaterial from other sources Book One lacks theopening diagram (though it has the surroundingtext) Also missing from Book One is the entirefourth chapter the start of the 983142983145fth chapter andportions of the ninth and tenth chapters In thebody of the ninth chapter of Book One materialis taken from Ibn Qutaybahrsquos Kitāb al-Anwāʾ the983142983145rst three entries of the ninth chapter as givenin other copies are written here in the margins

983093 The name as written here is possibly a variant of Maʿarratal-Nuʿmān (

ن

984615 1050181 984633 ة ا 984644 نر

984645) a well-known town in northern Syriaع Al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh identi983142983145es Muʿārat Ikhwān with the village of Martaḥwān in the environs of Aleppo (Yāqūt 18664487) but without evidence (Gharāʾib 2011 129 nt 1 and 2689nt 8)

In Book Two the second seventh and elev-enth chapters which contain only maps and notext are missing The eighth and ninth chaptersof Book Two are also missing as in all manu-scripts In 215 there are nine additional entriesfor mythical islands interspersed between theentries for Indian Ocean islands found in MS AThe manuscript also contains three additionallong books (maqālahs) on horses ( fī al-khayl ) in 983142983145ve chapters ( faṣl s) of which the 983142983145nal one ismissing on camels ( fī nūq) in nineteen faṣl s andon hunting and game ( fī ṣayd wa-al-qanaṣ) intwenty-one faṣl s

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle is given in the text on fol 2a1048628ndash1048629 as Gharāʾib

al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn On fol 1a a later handhas written Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ

al-ʿuyūn wa-fīhi min kull ʿilm wa-ṣinf ʿilm 9175011114109ة ه 984645ن ) 1048573نو

1050169 ن

ن91750111141099846451114109 و

1050169

984643 )

Physical description 201 leaves (folios 1andash201b) Thesize of the leaves is not known but there are13ndash15 lines per page The nature of the paper isunknown

Script The text is carefully written in a clearmedium-large Naskh script The text area hasbeen frame-ruled There are text stops and end-of-line 983142983145llers of three dots in a triangular for-mation There are catchwords and most of themarginalia appear to be in the hand of the copy-ist For the opening folio see Gharāʾib 2011 189For other examples of folios from the manuscriptsee 983142983145gs 06 08 and 014ndash019

Illustrations In Book One there is a single-pagediagram at the end of 11 constellation 983142983145guresformed of lines of dots have been added to thetext of 13 In 16 and 17 there are illustrations ofcomets and in 19 diagrams of lunar mansions Atthe end of 21 there is a crude rectangular sketch(repeated twice) aligning the cardinal directions with zodiacal signs Chapter 210 has two emptyrectangular frames with the title of the chapter(lsquoThe tenth chapter on the Western Seamdashiethe Syrian Seamdashand its harbours and islandsand anchoragesrsquo) written at the edge and in 217there are several empty circles suggestive of thelake diagrams in the earlier Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 The city of al-Mahdīyah (213) theisland of Cyprus (215) and the rivers Nile Tigrisand Oxus are represented by crude unlabelledsketches whose general signi983142983145cance is recogniz-able only when compared to the equivalent maps

10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150 5

in the earlier Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 See983142983145gs 06 08 011 012 and 014ndash019 for examples

Binding unknown Provenance The manuscript was formerly kept

in Aleppo as al-Maktabah al-Waqfīyah MS 957On the title page (fol 1a) there are several own-ersrsquo notes for the most part illegible or defacedand one prominent seven-line study note dated9801572ndash3 written by the copyist of the manu-script eight years after completing this copy Thenote indicates that this manuscript was the basisfor another copy prepared by the same copyistbut one that contained only the 983142983145rst book on theheavens The note reads

9175011114109984645ن هن

1114109 ة

9846451114109984644 و

ر

نآ

ا

ى

853572 ا

ل ه

و

ا

ن

984645 س ه

ا

ى

1050151 ا 984625ة

ة 984644 ن 984644 ها

ن

ة984644 984615 984643 ن

853543 ة

ا ان

1050183 ة

ى

ر

ن

ن

1114109 ن

984645 984627 984615 984643 ن و 853575 1050179 853543 ى853561 ا

د

و

853543 984615 1050181 853571 ن

هة

ل

و

1050151 هة ا

ل

853543 ة 984644 ا

853543 ة984644 ة 1050161 1050151 984648 ا

1050169و

853543 ة ن

984644 ا 984648 ط ه ة 984644 ه ا ل

853543984629 ة

اى

1050161 853543 ن

9175011114109

ا

984648ا 984627ش ر

ش ى

ل

ند

و

ة

9175011114109 984644 1050161 984648 ن ه ش 984645ن

هة

984615 1050181 984633 ة

و

نة

ن 853543

There are also three impressions of a small octag-onal ownerrsquos stamp (not legible) On folios 1band 201b there are impressions of a large round

stamp reading اد 1050161ن 984644ن 1114109ةة

1048573 و

984649 984644 ا 1114109نة

9846451114109

ا 984645ن

ن

1114109

984621ة

984649 984648 984645 984625 اة

ن

984644

984645 853543 ن

917501 1050157 ا ن 984648 984644 د ن را ن

ا

Editionsprintings The text of this manuscript hasbeen edited by al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh983094 Forthe purposes of our present edition we havemade use of scans of the Damascus manuscriptitself and on occasion present a di1048678ferent reading

Catalogue descriptions none

MS BmdashOxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 68

item 6

Date The copy was transcribed by al-faqīr Manṣūrbi-ism Shammās (the ordained deacon) inNovember of AD 1571 The date is given as themonth of Tishrīn II 1882 using the Alexandrian(or Seleucid) calendar which began 1 October 312BC The volume in which this item is bound con-tains nine treatises in either Arabic or Karshūnī(the Syriac script used by the Christians of Syriaand Mesopotamia for writing Arabic) all of themapparently copied in Syria See 983142983145g 01 for the col-ophon in the manuscript

983094 Gharāʾib 2011 195ndash512 and 2513ndash689

The folio following this item in the manuscript(fol 145b) has an eleven-line note in Karshūnī pre-senting a carefully written lineage of the copyist

ل

ن د

و

أ

ا نة

984645984648 853549 ر

ا 853543 ن اد ن

984621 أ

ا ل هة]

984627 =] ل هة

984645984627 ن

1114109 ة

9846451114109984644

ل ه

853575 1050179 984625ة ا

ن

ء 853543 ن 984644أ

ا ش

ش و

ا]ن

1050179 ]

ة

9175011114109984645 9175011114109 984645 نأ

ا

و

نة

ة1048573 853543 ن

ة984648 853549 ن أ

ا 1114109 984644ة

1050161 984648 984629 1114109984645ن

ة

ى

نأ

ا

و

ن

853543 ة

ى

نأ

ا 853543 ن 984625 ن

ل

ن د

و

أ

ا 853543 ن9175011114109 ة

9846451114109984645 853543984627 أ

ا نو

ن

ر

أ

1050151 ان

1114109 ة984644 984615 984643 ة

1050179 ا 853543 ن أ

ا

و

ا]ن

1050179 ] 984648ة853549 ن أ

1050151 1114109 984644ةة

984649 853549 ن او

ة

9175011114109 984645 ة9175011114109 ا

ܬܢܐ) (ܓ 853543 ن 853543 ش9175011114109 ة

9846451114109 ن

ة 853543984645و

ة

ى

نأ

ا ا]ن

1050179 ] ة

ن984621 853543

نأ

1050151 1050161 984648 984629 1114109984645ن

ر

1050165 853543 ن ة

ى

ن او

هة ة

9175011114109984645و

1050161 ة

984649 853549 ن أ

ا

و

984648 د

984645 ة

ى

أ

ا

و

1050161 984648 984629 س ه 1114109984645ن

853543 ن

1114109 ة

9846451114109

س

ة

853543 ة

ش984627 ه س

ا 853543 ن 984648 ن

أ

ا

و

ل ه

853543 ط

ة

ى

نا

و

ل ه

ا ر ن نة

ى

نا

و

ة ة

9175011114109 984644 ة

984649 853549 ن او

ه

س

اة

ى

أ

ن 984648 اأ

ة

984649

ن

984621 و

ة 853543 ن 984644 917501 1050157و 984648 853549 ن ا

1050161 أ

ل ه ا

و

ه

ل

ا ة

ن

1050161 1050161

ن

984621 و

984621ه و

1050161

ة

9175011114109 984645 ة

ه ل

ة ا

ة1048573

ن

984621 1050161 ن

984615 984643 853543 ن9175011114109853549 984648 ة ( (ܟܘة

984649 1050161 984648 853549 ن

984615 1050181 س ه ش

984648 ا

ة

984649 1050161 984648 853549 ن ة

984649

ن

984621

ن

9175011114109 ة1048573 و

984648 ة

984649 1050161 984648 ه 853549 ن

س

ا ة

ى

أ

ا

ه 1048573 984629 984615 1050181ة

ل ه شن

9175011114109 ة1048573 و

ة

1050183 984625ا ن

أ

Contents It is an incomplete copy of Book One Asin MS D it lacks the opening diagram (though ithas the surrounding text) the entire fourth andthe opening part of the 983142983145fth chapter It also lacksthe 983142983145nal chapters of Book One that is the eighthninth and tenth chapters Of Book Two it hasonly a partial copy of the 983142983145rst and third chaptersChapter three of Book Two contains additionalmaterial on each of the climes that is not foundin the other manuscripts

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle is given (in Syriac script) in the text onfol 109b983096 as Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ

al-ʿuyūn see 983142983145g 02 Physical description 46 leaves (folios 109bndash144a)

Dimensions 212 times 153 (text area 174 times c122) cm21ndash24 lines per page

Paper The sti1048678f biscuit paper has little evidenceof sizing and has turned darker near the edgesof the volume It has a thickness of 017minus019mm and an opaqueness factor of 4 with thinstraight vertical laid lines single chain lines and watermarks (an anchor in a circle () and a starover a crescent moon) There is some foxing anddamp-staining

Script There is no trace of frame-ruling and thespacing of lines is irregular The text is written in alarge Arabic and Karshūnī script using dark-brownink with prominent words formed with a broaderpen-stroke text-breaks or headings are indicatedby four small dots There are catchwords but nomarginalia are found in this portion of the vol-ume There is an illuminated heading in black inkand red opaque watercolours at the opening ofthe text (fol 109b) see 983142983145g 02

Page 12: An Eleventh-Century Egyptian Guide to the Universe

2 10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

some aspects of this treatise is still on-going espe-cially with regard to its contribution to the historyof astrology and astronomy its place in the geo-graphical and mirabilia traditions and its impacton our knowledge of the Fatimid caliphate and ofmaritime travel in the medieval Islamic world

Our purpose here is to present a full edition of thetreatise taking into account all the later manuscriptcopies In addition we provide here an Englishannotated translation and a facsimile reproductionof the entire manuscript The aim is to allow read-ers to examine the treatise as a whole in a way thatis not possible in an online edition and to consultan authoritative edition and translation that re852070983148ectsour decade-long study of the Bodleian manuscriptand other copies We open with the facsimile ofthe early Bodleian copy followed by the editionemploying all the copies of the entire Arabic textand all the map-and diagram-labels Following this we present an extensively annotated translation ofthe text and the labels concluding with an extendedglossary of star-names and thematic indexes

In the following pages of this Introduction welist and compare the known copies of the treatiseestablish the authorship and date of the treatiseand its component parts and explain our editorialconventions A full comprehensive study of thecontents of the treatise in the context of eleventh-century Fatimid society and learning must await aseparate publication But we hope this edition willgreatly enhance future research on the signi983142983145canceof this remarkable treatise for the history of cartog-raphy science and Islamic civilisation

I T983144983141 C9831519831521048681983141983155

MS A mdashOxford Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90

Date The copy is unsigned and undated Theappearance of the paper ink and script sug-gests a possible dating of the end of the twelfthcentury

Contents It is an incomplete copy missing part ofthe penultimate chapter and all of the last onein Book Two At the end of the volume in thegutter are narrow remnants of two folios thathave been cut from the volume corresponding

Kaplony 2008 Rapoport 2008 Savage-Smith 2009 Savage-Smith2010 Savage-Smith 2010a Rapoport 2011 Savage-Smith 2011aRapoport 2012

to the missing 983142983145nal chapters (part of 224 and allof 225) The eighth and ninth chapters of BookTwo are missing from the text as they are in allother copies

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle appears in the text on fol 1b10486251048625 as well as onthe title page (fol 1a) as Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn

wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn Beneath the title a laterowner has noted lsquoTo the author of this treatisethere belongs another book whose title is Muḥī983156 (Comprehensive) ⟨ ⟩ it is stated thus in theentry for the island of Sardiniarsquo

Physical description 48 leaves (folios 1andash48b)plus torn gutter strips from two missing leavesDimensions 324 times 245 cm (text area 291 times 226cm on folios without maps) 27 lines per page

Paper The lightly glossed biscuit-brown paper issturdy rather soft and relatively opaque Thepaper has thick slightly curved horizontal laidlines and there are rib shadows but no chainlines or watermarks are visible The thickness ofthe paper varies between 017 and 020 mm andmeasures 3 on the Sharp Scale of Opaquenessthe laid lines are 6ndash7 wirescm with the spacebetween lines less than the width of one line Thepaper appears to have been made using a grassmouldmdasha method used in Egypt and GreaterSyria in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries(greater precision is not possible)983090 The paperhas some damp-staining foxing and wormholesand there is considerable soiling and grime nearthe edges of the pages which have been trimmedfrom their original size with the loss in places oftext and marginalia Numerous repairs had beenmade to the paper at various times Conservationof the manuscript at the Bodleian was carried outby Alison McKay and Sabina Pugh in its conser- vation laboratories Multiple layers of old repairshad accumulated on the leaves causing particu-lar sti1048678fness in the spine area Sympathetic newrepairs replaced the old ones to reveal text andimages but some were left in place as they wereconsidered to be part of the cultural history ofthe manuscript

Script The text area has been frame-ruled Thetext is written in a medium-large Naskh script indense black ink with headings in warm-red ink

983090 For similar Islamic papers see Loveday 2001 and we thankHelen Loveday for examining and discussing with us the paperin this particular manuscript

10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150 3

Many diacritical dots are missing A sin is oftendistinguished from a shīn by a small haacuteček lessfrequently a haacuteček distinguishes the undotted(al-muhmalah) letters rāʾ or ṣad from the dottedforms A haacuteček occasionally is placed over a duc-tus that ought to have had two dots beneath indi-cating a yāʾ in a medial position A tāʾ marbū983156ah is often ligatured to a preceding rāʾ or dāl or dhāl a 983142983145nal letter ʿayn is occasionally ligatured to the983142983145rst letter of the following word A tāʾ marbū983156ah is very seldom dotted A small break occurs beforea medial or 983142983145nal 983156āʾ where the copyist lifted thepen when an unbroken connection with the pre-ceding letter would have been expected Textstops are indicated by a dot enclosed in a circleor by the symbol

ھ

(= intahaacute) There are somecatchwords The illustrations are labelled in asimilar but smaller hand Both hands are closerin many of their characteristics to those of copy-ists known to have worked in Greater Syria atthe end of the twelfth century or early thirteenthcentury than to the hands of securely dated andlocated products of the fourteenth century983091

Illustrations In Book One there is an opening dia-gram (double-page) immediately following theintroduction a single-page diagram at the end of11 and a half-page diagram in 110 There are alsocomet illustrations in 16 and 17 and diagramsof lunar mansions in 19 In Book Two there areseventeen maps or diagrams in chapters 21 2527 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 (two)218 (983142983145ve) The maps in Book Two use a stan-dard set of colours to convey the topographicalfeatures with green for salty seas and lakes andblue for fresh-water lakes and rivers The moun-tains are usually reddish-brown and town walls where depicted are darker brown-purple Reddots represent cities towns villages and anchor-age points The map of al-Mahdīyah has a multi-coloured depiction of the twin palaces of the city

983091 For example the script and paper are similar to a treatiseby the Egyptian scholar al-Dimyāṭī preserved in a copy (OxfordBodleian Library MS Marsh 592) completed 12 Jumādaacute II 592(13 May 1196) which displays many of the same orthographicfeatures including picking up the pen before writing the 983156āʾ (fol 98a1048625983095) for sample pages see Edson amp Savage-Smith 2004 19983142983145g 7 and King 2004 758 983142983145g 27 Other similarities of script andpaper can be observed in Gotha Forschungsbibliothek GothaMS orient A 1521 dated 5691173 Leiden MS Or 3101 cop-ied 5691173 Bodleian MS Huntington 202 copied in Syria inShaʿban 592July 1196 and Bodleian MS Marsh 379 fols 2andash87bmade between 5601165 and 6101213 (for the latter two exam-ples see Savage-Smith 2011 322ndash3 and plates xviiindashxx)

and the diagram of the sources of the Nile depictsa large crocodile The circular world map (at theend of 25) employs a slightly di1048678ferent paletteand is the only map in the volume to employcopper greens

Some illustrations such as those depictingcomets or small islands have traces of gold orsilver sprinklings while other areas in the mapsmay have been over-painted or coated in a shinylacquer-like material that is now crackled andcrazed A preliminary analysis of the pigments was conducted by Dr Sandra Grantham a consul-tant paper conservator using optical microscopyin the conservation workshop of the BodleianLibrary A full analysis using Raman Spectros-copy was subsequently carried out by Dr TraceyChaplin at the Christopher Ingold LaboratoriesUniversity College London983092 Further examinationof the pigments was carried out by Sabina Pughin the conservation workshop of the BodleianLibrary who used optical microscopy to try todetermine which pigments belonged to the origi-nal paint layer and which were over-painting orre-touching Six pigments were identi983142983145ed in theillustrations cinnabar (red) orpiment (yellow)lazurite (blue) indigo carbon-based black andbasic lead carbonate (a lsquolead whitersquo) Four furtherpigments could not be identi983142983145ed a golden mate-rial a green pigment the purple pigment usedto depict city walls and the blue component ofthe dark green pigment mixture on certain foliosNo evidence of modern inks or pigments wasrevealed The results of the scienti983142983145c analyses arecompletely consistent with the suggested originand age of the manuscript

Binding When acquired by the Bodleian Librarythe volume was contained in an Ottoman bindingof possibly eighteenth- or nineteenth-centurydate the binding was too small for the manu-script and in extremely poor condition The 983142983145rstfolio of the manuscript has staining that indicatesan earlier binding included an envelope 852070983148ap Atpresent the volume is dis-bound with the bind-ing removed and stored separately it remainsdis-bound to allow for easier exhibition

Provenance The title page also has two impressionsof an undated Ottoman () stamp reading Saʿdīibn ʿĪsaacute al-faqīr al-mutawakkil ʿalaacute Allāh al-kabīr

983092 The results of the Raman spectroscopic analysis have beenpublished in Chaplin Clark et al 2006

4 10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

There are also two undated ownersrsquo signaturesthe upper signature reading lsquoIn the book collec-tion of the one in need of God Muṣṭafaacute knownas Koumlpruuml-zade may God forgive himrsquo and thelower one reading lsquoAmongst the property of Yaḥyaacute ibn Muḥammad al-Mallāḥ (the sailer thesalt-miner)rsquo Between the two signatures thereis also one completely defaced ownerrsquos note InChapter Five of Book Two there are two half-page paintings (a wāqwāq-tree and an inhabitedscrolling vine) added by a later owner probablyin the fourteenth or 983142983145fteenthth century

Editionsprintings In 2007 an electronic high-quality reproduction of the manuscript and itsillustrations linked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition (without full use of other copies)and a preliminary English translation was madeavailable at wwwbodleyoxacukbookofcuriosi-ties The bibliographic citation is Emilie Savage-Smith and Yossef Rapoport (eds) The Book of

Curiosities A critical edition World-Wide-Webpublication ( wwwbodleyoxacukbookofcuri-osities) (March 2007)

Catalogue descriptions none

MS DmdashDamascus Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa983156anīyah MS 16501

Date The copy was completed on the last Sun-day in the 983142983145rst ten days of Rabīʿ I of the year972 [= 9 Rabīʿ I 972 = 15 October 1564] by AbūBakr ibn Fakhr al-Dīn ibn Ḥamzah ibn al-shaykh

Muḥammad min qaryat Muʿārat Ikhwān (fromthe village of Muʿārat Ikhwān)983093 The colophon isgiven on fol 210b10486251048625ndash10486251048629

Contents It is an incomplete copy Compared toMS A this manuscript lacks many of the illustra-tions maps and diagrams while adding textualmaterial from other sources Book One lacks theopening diagram (though it has the surroundingtext) Also missing from Book One is the entirefourth chapter the start of the 983142983145fth chapter andportions of the ninth and tenth chapters In thebody of the ninth chapter of Book One materialis taken from Ibn Qutaybahrsquos Kitāb al-Anwāʾ the983142983145rst three entries of the ninth chapter as givenin other copies are written here in the margins

983093 The name as written here is possibly a variant of Maʿarratal-Nuʿmān (

ن

984615 1050181 984633 ة ا 984644 نر

984645) a well-known town in northern Syriaع Al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh identi983142983145es Muʿārat Ikhwān with the village of Martaḥwān in the environs of Aleppo (Yāqūt 18664487) but without evidence (Gharāʾib 2011 129 nt 1 and 2689nt 8)

In Book Two the second seventh and elev-enth chapters which contain only maps and notext are missing The eighth and ninth chaptersof Book Two are also missing as in all manu-scripts In 215 there are nine additional entriesfor mythical islands interspersed between theentries for Indian Ocean islands found in MS AThe manuscript also contains three additionallong books (maqālahs) on horses ( fī al-khayl ) in 983142983145ve chapters ( faṣl s) of which the 983142983145nal one ismissing on camels ( fī nūq) in nineteen faṣl s andon hunting and game ( fī ṣayd wa-al-qanaṣ) intwenty-one faṣl s

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle is given in the text on fol 2a1048628ndash1048629 as Gharāʾib

al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn On fol 1a a later handhas written Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ

al-ʿuyūn wa-fīhi min kull ʿilm wa-ṣinf ʿilm 9175011114109ة ه 984645ن ) 1048573نو

1050169 ن

ن91750111141099846451114109 و

1050169

984643 )

Physical description 201 leaves (folios 1andash201b) Thesize of the leaves is not known but there are13ndash15 lines per page The nature of the paper isunknown

Script The text is carefully written in a clearmedium-large Naskh script The text area hasbeen frame-ruled There are text stops and end-of-line 983142983145llers of three dots in a triangular for-mation There are catchwords and most of themarginalia appear to be in the hand of the copy-ist For the opening folio see Gharāʾib 2011 189For other examples of folios from the manuscriptsee 983142983145gs 06 08 and 014ndash019

Illustrations In Book One there is a single-pagediagram at the end of 11 constellation 983142983145guresformed of lines of dots have been added to thetext of 13 In 16 and 17 there are illustrations ofcomets and in 19 diagrams of lunar mansions Atthe end of 21 there is a crude rectangular sketch(repeated twice) aligning the cardinal directions with zodiacal signs Chapter 210 has two emptyrectangular frames with the title of the chapter(lsquoThe tenth chapter on the Western Seamdashiethe Syrian Seamdashand its harbours and islandsand anchoragesrsquo) written at the edge and in 217there are several empty circles suggestive of thelake diagrams in the earlier Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 The city of al-Mahdīyah (213) theisland of Cyprus (215) and the rivers Nile Tigrisand Oxus are represented by crude unlabelledsketches whose general signi983142983145cance is recogniz-able only when compared to the equivalent maps

10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150 5

in the earlier Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 See983142983145gs 06 08 011 012 and 014ndash019 for examples

Binding unknown Provenance The manuscript was formerly kept

in Aleppo as al-Maktabah al-Waqfīyah MS 957On the title page (fol 1a) there are several own-ersrsquo notes for the most part illegible or defacedand one prominent seven-line study note dated9801572ndash3 written by the copyist of the manu-script eight years after completing this copy Thenote indicates that this manuscript was the basisfor another copy prepared by the same copyistbut one that contained only the 983142983145rst book on theheavens The note reads

9175011114109984645ن هن

1114109 ة

9846451114109984644 و

ر

نآ

ا

ى

853572 ا

ل ه

و

ا

ن

984645 س ه

ا

ى

1050151 ا 984625ة

ة 984644 ن 984644 ها

ن

ة984644 984615 984643 ن

853543 ة

ا ان

1050183 ة

ى

ر

ن

ن

1114109 ن

984645 984627 984615 984643 ن و 853575 1050179 853543 ى853561 ا

د

و

853543 984615 1050181 853571 ن

هة

ل

و

1050151 هة ا

ل

853543 ة 984644 ا

853543 ة984644 ة 1050161 1050151 984648 ا

1050169و

853543 ة ن

984644 ا 984648 ط ه ة 984644 ه ا ل

853543984629 ة

اى

1050161 853543 ن

9175011114109

ا

984648ا 984627ش ر

ش ى

ل

ند

و

ة

9175011114109 984644 1050161 984648 ن ه ش 984645ن

هة

984615 1050181 984633 ة

و

نة

ن 853543

There are also three impressions of a small octag-onal ownerrsquos stamp (not legible) On folios 1band 201b there are impressions of a large round

stamp reading اد 1050161ن 984644ن 1114109ةة

1048573 و

984649 984644 ا 1114109نة

9846451114109

ا 984645ن

ن

1114109

984621ة

984649 984648 984645 984625 اة

ن

984644

984645 853543 ن

917501 1050157 ا ن 984648 984644 د ن را ن

ا

Editionsprintings The text of this manuscript hasbeen edited by al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh983094 Forthe purposes of our present edition we havemade use of scans of the Damascus manuscriptitself and on occasion present a di1048678ferent reading

Catalogue descriptions none

MS BmdashOxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 68

item 6

Date The copy was transcribed by al-faqīr Manṣūrbi-ism Shammās (the ordained deacon) inNovember of AD 1571 The date is given as themonth of Tishrīn II 1882 using the Alexandrian(or Seleucid) calendar which began 1 October 312BC The volume in which this item is bound con-tains nine treatises in either Arabic or Karshūnī(the Syriac script used by the Christians of Syriaand Mesopotamia for writing Arabic) all of themapparently copied in Syria See 983142983145g 01 for the col-ophon in the manuscript

983094 Gharāʾib 2011 195ndash512 and 2513ndash689

The folio following this item in the manuscript(fol 145b) has an eleven-line note in Karshūnī pre-senting a carefully written lineage of the copyist

ل

ن د

و

أ

ا نة

984645984648 853549 ر

ا 853543 ن اد ن

984621 أ

ا ل هة]

984627 =] ل هة

984645984627 ن

1114109 ة

9846451114109984644

ل ه

853575 1050179 984625ة ا

ن

ء 853543 ن 984644أ

ا ش

ش و

ا]ن

1050179 ]

ة

9175011114109984645 9175011114109 984645 نأ

ا

و

نة

ة1048573 853543 ن

ة984648 853549 ن أ

ا 1114109 984644ة

1050161 984648 984629 1114109984645ن

ة

ى

نأ

ا

و

ن

853543 ة

ى

نأ

ا 853543 ن 984625 ن

ل

ن د

و

أ

ا 853543 ن9175011114109 ة

9846451114109984645 853543984627 أ

ا نو

ن

ر

أ

1050151 ان

1114109 ة984644 984615 984643 ة

1050179 ا 853543 ن أ

ا

و

ا]ن

1050179 ] 984648ة853549 ن أ

1050151 1114109 984644ةة

984649 853549 ن او

ة

9175011114109 984645 ة9175011114109 ا

ܬܢܐ) (ܓ 853543 ن 853543 ش9175011114109 ة

9846451114109 ن

ة 853543984645و

ة

ى

نأ

ا ا]ن

1050179 ] ة

ن984621 853543

نأ

1050151 1050161 984648 984629 1114109984645ن

ر

1050165 853543 ن ة

ى

ن او

هة ة

9175011114109984645و

1050161 ة

984649 853549 ن أ

ا

و

984648 د

984645 ة

ى

أ

ا

و

1050161 984648 984629 س ه 1114109984645ن

853543 ن

1114109 ة

9846451114109

س

ة

853543 ة

ش984627 ه س

ا 853543 ن 984648 ن

أ

ا

و

ل ه

853543 ط

ة

ى

نا

و

ل ه

ا ر ن نة

ى

نا

و

ة ة

9175011114109 984644 ة

984649 853549 ن او

ه

س

اة

ى

أ

ن 984648 اأ

ة

984649

ن

984621 و

ة 853543 ن 984644 917501 1050157و 984648 853549 ن ا

1050161 أ

ل ه ا

و

ه

ل

ا ة

ن

1050161 1050161

ن

984621 و

984621ه و

1050161

ة

9175011114109 984645 ة

ه ل

ة ا

ة1048573

ن

984621 1050161 ن

984615 984643 853543 ن9175011114109853549 984648 ة ( (ܟܘة

984649 1050161 984648 853549 ن

984615 1050181 س ه ش

984648 ا

ة

984649 1050161 984648 853549 ن ة

984649

ن

984621

ن

9175011114109 ة1048573 و

984648 ة

984649 1050161 984648 ه 853549 ن

س

ا ة

ى

أ

ا

ه 1048573 984629 984615 1050181ة

ل ه شن

9175011114109 ة1048573 و

ة

1050183 984625ا ن

أ

Contents It is an incomplete copy of Book One Asin MS D it lacks the opening diagram (though ithas the surrounding text) the entire fourth andthe opening part of the 983142983145fth chapter It also lacksthe 983142983145nal chapters of Book One that is the eighthninth and tenth chapters Of Book Two it hasonly a partial copy of the 983142983145rst and third chaptersChapter three of Book Two contains additionalmaterial on each of the climes that is not foundin the other manuscripts

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle is given (in Syriac script) in the text onfol 109b983096 as Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ

al-ʿuyūn see 983142983145g 02 Physical description 46 leaves (folios 109bndash144a)

Dimensions 212 times 153 (text area 174 times c122) cm21ndash24 lines per page

Paper The sti1048678f biscuit paper has little evidenceof sizing and has turned darker near the edgesof the volume It has a thickness of 017minus019mm and an opaqueness factor of 4 with thinstraight vertical laid lines single chain lines and watermarks (an anchor in a circle () and a starover a crescent moon) There is some foxing anddamp-staining

Script There is no trace of frame-ruling and thespacing of lines is irregular The text is written in alarge Arabic and Karshūnī script using dark-brownink with prominent words formed with a broaderpen-stroke text-breaks or headings are indicatedby four small dots There are catchwords but nomarginalia are found in this portion of the vol-ume There is an illuminated heading in black inkand red opaque watercolours at the opening ofthe text (fol 109b) see 983142983145g 02

Page 13: An Eleventh-Century Egyptian Guide to the Universe

10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150 3

Many diacritical dots are missing A sin is oftendistinguished from a shīn by a small haacuteček lessfrequently a haacuteček distinguishes the undotted(al-muhmalah) letters rāʾ or ṣad from the dottedforms A haacuteček occasionally is placed over a duc-tus that ought to have had two dots beneath indi-cating a yāʾ in a medial position A tāʾ marbū983156ah is often ligatured to a preceding rāʾ or dāl or dhāl a 983142983145nal letter ʿayn is occasionally ligatured to the983142983145rst letter of the following word A tāʾ marbū983156ah is very seldom dotted A small break occurs beforea medial or 983142983145nal 983156āʾ where the copyist lifted thepen when an unbroken connection with the pre-ceding letter would have been expected Textstops are indicated by a dot enclosed in a circleor by the symbol

ھ

(= intahaacute) There are somecatchwords The illustrations are labelled in asimilar but smaller hand Both hands are closerin many of their characteristics to those of copy-ists known to have worked in Greater Syria atthe end of the twelfth century or early thirteenthcentury than to the hands of securely dated andlocated products of the fourteenth century983091

Illustrations In Book One there is an opening dia-gram (double-page) immediately following theintroduction a single-page diagram at the end of11 and a half-page diagram in 110 There are alsocomet illustrations in 16 and 17 and diagramsof lunar mansions in 19 In Book Two there areseventeen maps or diagrams in chapters 21 2527 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 (two)218 (983142983145ve) The maps in Book Two use a stan-dard set of colours to convey the topographicalfeatures with green for salty seas and lakes andblue for fresh-water lakes and rivers The moun-tains are usually reddish-brown and town walls where depicted are darker brown-purple Reddots represent cities towns villages and anchor-age points The map of al-Mahdīyah has a multi-coloured depiction of the twin palaces of the city

983091 For example the script and paper are similar to a treatiseby the Egyptian scholar al-Dimyāṭī preserved in a copy (OxfordBodleian Library MS Marsh 592) completed 12 Jumādaacute II 592(13 May 1196) which displays many of the same orthographicfeatures including picking up the pen before writing the 983156āʾ (fol 98a1048625983095) for sample pages see Edson amp Savage-Smith 2004 19983142983145g 7 and King 2004 758 983142983145g 27 Other similarities of script andpaper can be observed in Gotha Forschungsbibliothek GothaMS orient A 1521 dated 5691173 Leiden MS Or 3101 cop-ied 5691173 Bodleian MS Huntington 202 copied in Syria inShaʿban 592July 1196 and Bodleian MS Marsh 379 fols 2andash87bmade between 5601165 and 6101213 (for the latter two exam-ples see Savage-Smith 2011 322ndash3 and plates xviiindashxx)

and the diagram of the sources of the Nile depictsa large crocodile The circular world map (at theend of 25) employs a slightly di1048678ferent paletteand is the only map in the volume to employcopper greens

Some illustrations such as those depictingcomets or small islands have traces of gold orsilver sprinklings while other areas in the mapsmay have been over-painted or coated in a shinylacquer-like material that is now crackled andcrazed A preliminary analysis of the pigments was conducted by Dr Sandra Grantham a consul-tant paper conservator using optical microscopyin the conservation workshop of the BodleianLibrary A full analysis using Raman Spectros-copy was subsequently carried out by Dr TraceyChaplin at the Christopher Ingold LaboratoriesUniversity College London983092 Further examinationof the pigments was carried out by Sabina Pughin the conservation workshop of the BodleianLibrary who used optical microscopy to try todetermine which pigments belonged to the origi-nal paint layer and which were over-painting orre-touching Six pigments were identi983142983145ed in theillustrations cinnabar (red) orpiment (yellow)lazurite (blue) indigo carbon-based black andbasic lead carbonate (a lsquolead whitersquo) Four furtherpigments could not be identi983142983145ed a golden mate-rial a green pigment the purple pigment usedto depict city walls and the blue component ofthe dark green pigment mixture on certain foliosNo evidence of modern inks or pigments wasrevealed The results of the scienti983142983145c analyses arecompletely consistent with the suggested originand age of the manuscript

Binding When acquired by the Bodleian Librarythe volume was contained in an Ottoman bindingof possibly eighteenth- or nineteenth-centurydate the binding was too small for the manu-script and in extremely poor condition The 983142983145rstfolio of the manuscript has staining that indicatesan earlier binding included an envelope 852070983148ap Atpresent the volume is dis-bound with the bind-ing removed and stored separately it remainsdis-bound to allow for easier exhibition

Provenance The title page also has two impressionsof an undated Ottoman () stamp reading Saʿdīibn ʿĪsaacute al-faqīr al-mutawakkil ʿalaacute Allāh al-kabīr

983092 The results of the Raman spectroscopic analysis have beenpublished in Chaplin Clark et al 2006

4 10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

There are also two undated ownersrsquo signaturesthe upper signature reading lsquoIn the book collec-tion of the one in need of God Muṣṭafaacute knownas Koumlpruuml-zade may God forgive himrsquo and thelower one reading lsquoAmongst the property of Yaḥyaacute ibn Muḥammad al-Mallāḥ (the sailer thesalt-miner)rsquo Between the two signatures thereis also one completely defaced ownerrsquos note InChapter Five of Book Two there are two half-page paintings (a wāqwāq-tree and an inhabitedscrolling vine) added by a later owner probablyin the fourteenth or 983142983145fteenthth century

Editionsprintings In 2007 an electronic high-quality reproduction of the manuscript and itsillustrations linked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition (without full use of other copies)and a preliminary English translation was madeavailable at wwwbodleyoxacukbookofcuriosi-ties The bibliographic citation is Emilie Savage-Smith and Yossef Rapoport (eds) The Book of

Curiosities A critical edition World-Wide-Webpublication ( wwwbodleyoxacukbookofcuri-osities) (March 2007)

Catalogue descriptions none

MS DmdashDamascus Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa983156anīyah MS 16501

Date The copy was completed on the last Sun-day in the 983142983145rst ten days of Rabīʿ I of the year972 [= 9 Rabīʿ I 972 = 15 October 1564] by AbūBakr ibn Fakhr al-Dīn ibn Ḥamzah ibn al-shaykh

Muḥammad min qaryat Muʿārat Ikhwān (fromthe village of Muʿārat Ikhwān)983093 The colophon isgiven on fol 210b10486251048625ndash10486251048629

Contents It is an incomplete copy Compared toMS A this manuscript lacks many of the illustra-tions maps and diagrams while adding textualmaterial from other sources Book One lacks theopening diagram (though it has the surroundingtext) Also missing from Book One is the entirefourth chapter the start of the 983142983145fth chapter andportions of the ninth and tenth chapters In thebody of the ninth chapter of Book One materialis taken from Ibn Qutaybahrsquos Kitāb al-Anwāʾ the983142983145rst three entries of the ninth chapter as givenin other copies are written here in the margins

983093 The name as written here is possibly a variant of Maʿarratal-Nuʿmān (

ن

984615 1050181 984633 ة ا 984644 نر

984645) a well-known town in northern Syriaع Al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh identi983142983145es Muʿārat Ikhwān with the village of Martaḥwān in the environs of Aleppo (Yāqūt 18664487) but without evidence (Gharāʾib 2011 129 nt 1 and 2689nt 8)

In Book Two the second seventh and elev-enth chapters which contain only maps and notext are missing The eighth and ninth chaptersof Book Two are also missing as in all manu-scripts In 215 there are nine additional entriesfor mythical islands interspersed between theentries for Indian Ocean islands found in MS AThe manuscript also contains three additionallong books (maqālahs) on horses ( fī al-khayl ) in 983142983145ve chapters ( faṣl s) of which the 983142983145nal one ismissing on camels ( fī nūq) in nineteen faṣl s andon hunting and game ( fī ṣayd wa-al-qanaṣ) intwenty-one faṣl s

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle is given in the text on fol 2a1048628ndash1048629 as Gharāʾib

al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn On fol 1a a later handhas written Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ

al-ʿuyūn wa-fīhi min kull ʿilm wa-ṣinf ʿilm 9175011114109ة ه 984645ن ) 1048573نو

1050169 ن

ن91750111141099846451114109 و

1050169

984643 )

Physical description 201 leaves (folios 1andash201b) Thesize of the leaves is not known but there are13ndash15 lines per page The nature of the paper isunknown

Script The text is carefully written in a clearmedium-large Naskh script The text area hasbeen frame-ruled There are text stops and end-of-line 983142983145llers of three dots in a triangular for-mation There are catchwords and most of themarginalia appear to be in the hand of the copy-ist For the opening folio see Gharāʾib 2011 189For other examples of folios from the manuscriptsee 983142983145gs 06 08 and 014ndash019

Illustrations In Book One there is a single-pagediagram at the end of 11 constellation 983142983145guresformed of lines of dots have been added to thetext of 13 In 16 and 17 there are illustrations ofcomets and in 19 diagrams of lunar mansions Atthe end of 21 there is a crude rectangular sketch(repeated twice) aligning the cardinal directions with zodiacal signs Chapter 210 has two emptyrectangular frames with the title of the chapter(lsquoThe tenth chapter on the Western Seamdashiethe Syrian Seamdashand its harbours and islandsand anchoragesrsquo) written at the edge and in 217there are several empty circles suggestive of thelake diagrams in the earlier Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 The city of al-Mahdīyah (213) theisland of Cyprus (215) and the rivers Nile Tigrisand Oxus are represented by crude unlabelledsketches whose general signi983142983145cance is recogniz-able only when compared to the equivalent maps

10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150 5

in the earlier Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 See983142983145gs 06 08 011 012 and 014ndash019 for examples

Binding unknown Provenance The manuscript was formerly kept

in Aleppo as al-Maktabah al-Waqfīyah MS 957On the title page (fol 1a) there are several own-ersrsquo notes for the most part illegible or defacedand one prominent seven-line study note dated9801572ndash3 written by the copyist of the manu-script eight years after completing this copy Thenote indicates that this manuscript was the basisfor another copy prepared by the same copyistbut one that contained only the 983142983145rst book on theheavens The note reads

9175011114109984645ن هن

1114109 ة

9846451114109984644 و

ر

نآ

ا

ى

853572 ا

ل ه

و

ا

ن

984645 س ه

ا

ى

1050151 ا 984625ة

ة 984644 ن 984644 ها

ن

ة984644 984615 984643 ن

853543 ة

ا ان

1050183 ة

ى

ر

ن

ن

1114109 ن

984645 984627 984615 984643 ن و 853575 1050179 853543 ى853561 ا

د

و

853543 984615 1050181 853571 ن

هة

ل

و

1050151 هة ا

ل

853543 ة 984644 ا

853543 ة984644 ة 1050161 1050151 984648 ا

1050169و

853543 ة ن

984644 ا 984648 ط ه ة 984644 ه ا ل

853543984629 ة

اى

1050161 853543 ن

9175011114109

ا

984648ا 984627ش ر

ش ى

ل

ند

و

ة

9175011114109 984644 1050161 984648 ن ه ش 984645ن

هة

984615 1050181 984633 ة

و

نة

ن 853543

There are also three impressions of a small octag-onal ownerrsquos stamp (not legible) On folios 1band 201b there are impressions of a large round

stamp reading اد 1050161ن 984644ن 1114109ةة

1048573 و

984649 984644 ا 1114109نة

9846451114109

ا 984645ن

ن

1114109

984621ة

984649 984648 984645 984625 اة

ن

984644

984645 853543 ن

917501 1050157 ا ن 984648 984644 د ن را ن

ا

Editionsprintings The text of this manuscript hasbeen edited by al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh983094 Forthe purposes of our present edition we havemade use of scans of the Damascus manuscriptitself and on occasion present a di1048678ferent reading

Catalogue descriptions none

MS BmdashOxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 68

item 6

Date The copy was transcribed by al-faqīr Manṣūrbi-ism Shammās (the ordained deacon) inNovember of AD 1571 The date is given as themonth of Tishrīn II 1882 using the Alexandrian(or Seleucid) calendar which began 1 October 312BC The volume in which this item is bound con-tains nine treatises in either Arabic or Karshūnī(the Syriac script used by the Christians of Syriaand Mesopotamia for writing Arabic) all of themapparently copied in Syria See 983142983145g 01 for the col-ophon in the manuscript

983094 Gharāʾib 2011 195ndash512 and 2513ndash689

The folio following this item in the manuscript(fol 145b) has an eleven-line note in Karshūnī pre-senting a carefully written lineage of the copyist

ل

ن د

و

أ

ا نة

984645984648 853549 ر

ا 853543 ن اد ن

984621 أ

ا ل هة]

984627 =] ل هة

984645984627 ن

1114109 ة

9846451114109984644

ل ه

853575 1050179 984625ة ا

ن

ء 853543 ن 984644أ

ا ش

ش و

ا]ن

1050179 ]

ة

9175011114109984645 9175011114109 984645 نأ

ا

و

نة

ة1048573 853543 ن

ة984648 853549 ن أ

ا 1114109 984644ة

1050161 984648 984629 1114109984645ن

ة

ى

نأ

ا

و

ن

853543 ة

ى

نأ

ا 853543 ن 984625 ن

ل

ن د

و

أ

ا 853543 ن9175011114109 ة

9846451114109984645 853543984627 أ

ا نو

ن

ر

أ

1050151 ان

1114109 ة984644 984615 984643 ة

1050179 ا 853543 ن أ

ا

و

ا]ن

1050179 ] 984648ة853549 ن أ

1050151 1114109 984644ةة

984649 853549 ن او

ة

9175011114109 984645 ة9175011114109 ا

ܬܢܐ) (ܓ 853543 ن 853543 ش9175011114109 ة

9846451114109 ن

ة 853543984645و

ة

ى

نأ

ا ا]ن

1050179 ] ة

ن984621 853543

نأ

1050151 1050161 984648 984629 1114109984645ن

ر

1050165 853543 ن ة

ى

ن او

هة ة

9175011114109984645و

1050161 ة

984649 853549 ن أ

ا

و

984648 د

984645 ة

ى

أ

ا

و

1050161 984648 984629 س ه 1114109984645ن

853543 ن

1114109 ة

9846451114109

س

ة

853543 ة

ش984627 ه س

ا 853543 ن 984648 ن

أ

ا

و

ل ه

853543 ط

ة

ى

نا

و

ل ه

ا ر ن نة

ى

نا

و

ة ة

9175011114109 984644 ة

984649 853549 ن او

ه

س

اة

ى

أ

ن 984648 اأ

ة

984649

ن

984621 و

ة 853543 ن 984644 917501 1050157و 984648 853549 ن ا

1050161 أ

ل ه ا

و

ه

ل

ا ة

ن

1050161 1050161

ن

984621 و

984621ه و

1050161

ة

9175011114109 984645 ة

ه ل

ة ا

ة1048573

ن

984621 1050161 ن

984615 984643 853543 ن9175011114109853549 984648 ة ( (ܟܘة

984649 1050161 984648 853549 ن

984615 1050181 س ه ش

984648 ا

ة

984649 1050161 984648 853549 ن ة

984649

ن

984621

ن

9175011114109 ة1048573 و

984648 ة

984649 1050161 984648 ه 853549 ن

س

ا ة

ى

أ

ا

ه 1048573 984629 984615 1050181ة

ل ه شن

9175011114109 ة1048573 و

ة

1050183 984625ا ن

أ

Contents It is an incomplete copy of Book One Asin MS D it lacks the opening diagram (though ithas the surrounding text) the entire fourth andthe opening part of the 983142983145fth chapter It also lacksthe 983142983145nal chapters of Book One that is the eighthninth and tenth chapters Of Book Two it hasonly a partial copy of the 983142983145rst and third chaptersChapter three of Book Two contains additionalmaterial on each of the climes that is not foundin the other manuscripts

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle is given (in Syriac script) in the text onfol 109b983096 as Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ

al-ʿuyūn see 983142983145g 02 Physical description 46 leaves (folios 109bndash144a)

Dimensions 212 times 153 (text area 174 times c122) cm21ndash24 lines per page

Paper The sti1048678f biscuit paper has little evidenceof sizing and has turned darker near the edgesof the volume It has a thickness of 017minus019mm and an opaqueness factor of 4 with thinstraight vertical laid lines single chain lines and watermarks (an anchor in a circle () and a starover a crescent moon) There is some foxing anddamp-staining

Script There is no trace of frame-ruling and thespacing of lines is irregular The text is written in alarge Arabic and Karshūnī script using dark-brownink with prominent words formed with a broaderpen-stroke text-breaks or headings are indicatedby four small dots There are catchwords but nomarginalia are found in this portion of the vol-ume There is an illuminated heading in black inkand red opaque watercolours at the opening ofthe text (fol 109b) see 983142983145g 02

Page 14: An Eleventh-Century Egyptian Guide to the Universe

4 10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150

There are also two undated ownersrsquo signaturesthe upper signature reading lsquoIn the book collec-tion of the one in need of God Muṣṭafaacute knownas Koumlpruuml-zade may God forgive himrsquo and thelower one reading lsquoAmongst the property of Yaḥyaacute ibn Muḥammad al-Mallāḥ (the sailer thesalt-miner)rsquo Between the two signatures thereis also one completely defaced ownerrsquos note InChapter Five of Book Two there are two half-page paintings (a wāqwāq-tree and an inhabitedscrolling vine) added by a later owner probablyin the fourteenth or 983142983145fteenthth century

Editionsprintings In 2007 an electronic high-quality reproduction of the manuscript and itsillustrations linked by mouse-overs to a modern Arabic edition (without full use of other copies)and a preliminary English translation was madeavailable at wwwbodleyoxacukbookofcuriosi-ties The bibliographic citation is Emilie Savage-Smith and Yossef Rapoport (eds) The Book of

Curiosities A critical edition World-Wide-Webpublication ( wwwbodleyoxacukbookofcuri-osities) (March 2007)

Catalogue descriptions none

MS DmdashDamascus Maktabat al-Assad

al-Wa983156anīyah MS 16501

Date The copy was completed on the last Sun-day in the 983142983145rst ten days of Rabīʿ I of the year972 [= 9 Rabīʿ I 972 = 15 October 1564] by AbūBakr ibn Fakhr al-Dīn ibn Ḥamzah ibn al-shaykh

Muḥammad min qaryat Muʿārat Ikhwān (fromthe village of Muʿārat Ikhwān)983093 The colophon isgiven on fol 210b10486251048625ndash10486251048629

Contents It is an incomplete copy Compared toMS A this manuscript lacks many of the illustra-tions maps and diagrams while adding textualmaterial from other sources Book One lacks theopening diagram (though it has the surroundingtext) Also missing from Book One is the entirefourth chapter the start of the 983142983145fth chapter andportions of the ninth and tenth chapters In thebody of the ninth chapter of Book One materialis taken from Ibn Qutaybahrsquos Kitāb al-Anwāʾ the983142983145rst three entries of the ninth chapter as givenin other copies are written here in the margins

983093 The name as written here is possibly a variant of Maʿarratal-Nuʿmān (

ن

984615 1050181 984633 ة ا 984644 نر

984645) a well-known town in northern Syriaع Al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh identi983142983145es Muʿārat Ikhwān with the village of Martaḥwān in the environs of Aleppo (Yāqūt 18664487) but without evidence (Gharāʾib 2011 129 nt 1 and 2689nt 8)

In Book Two the second seventh and elev-enth chapters which contain only maps and notext are missing The eighth and ninth chaptersof Book Two are also missing as in all manu-scripts In 215 there are nine additional entriesfor mythical islands interspersed between theentries for Indian Ocean islands found in MS AThe manuscript also contains three additionallong books (maqālahs) on horses ( fī al-khayl ) in 983142983145ve chapters ( faṣl s) of which the 983142983145nal one ismissing on camels ( fī nūq) in nineteen faṣl s andon hunting and game ( fī ṣayd wa-al-qanaṣ) intwenty-one faṣl s

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle is given in the text on fol 2a1048628ndash1048629 as Gharāʾib

al-funūn wa-mulaḥ al-ʿuyūn On fol 1a a later handhas written Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ

al-ʿuyūn wa-fīhi min kull ʿilm wa-ṣinf ʿilm 9175011114109ة ه 984645ن ) 1048573نو

1050169 ن

ن91750111141099846451114109 و

1050169

984643 )

Physical description 201 leaves (folios 1andash201b) Thesize of the leaves is not known but there are13ndash15 lines per page The nature of the paper isunknown

Script The text is carefully written in a clearmedium-large Naskh script The text area hasbeen frame-ruled There are text stops and end-of-line 983142983145llers of three dots in a triangular for-mation There are catchwords and most of themarginalia appear to be in the hand of the copy-ist For the opening folio see Gharāʾib 2011 189For other examples of folios from the manuscriptsee 983142983145gs 06 08 and 014ndash019

Illustrations In Book One there is a single-pagediagram at the end of 11 constellation 983142983145guresformed of lines of dots have been added to thetext of 13 In 16 and 17 there are illustrations ofcomets and in 19 diagrams of lunar mansions Atthe end of 21 there is a crude rectangular sketch(repeated twice) aligning the cardinal directions with zodiacal signs Chapter 210 has two emptyrectangular frames with the title of the chapter(lsquoThe tenth chapter on the Western Seamdashiethe Syrian Seamdashand its harbours and islandsand anchoragesrsquo) written at the edge and in 217there are several empty circles suggestive of thelake diagrams in the earlier Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 The city of al-Mahdīyah (213) theisland of Cyprus (215) and the rivers Nile Tigrisand Oxus are represented by crude unlabelledsketches whose general signi983142983145cance is recogniz-able only when compared to the equivalent maps

10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150 5

in the earlier Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 See983142983145gs 06 08 011 012 and 014ndash019 for examples

Binding unknown Provenance The manuscript was formerly kept

in Aleppo as al-Maktabah al-Waqfīyah MS 957On the title page (fol 1a) there are several own-ersrsquo notes for the most part illegible or defacedand one prominent seven-line study note dated9801572ndash3 written by the copyist of the manu-script eight years after completing this copy Thenote indicates that this manuscript was the basisfor another copy prepared by the same copyistbut one that contained only the 983142983145rst book on theheavens The note reads

9175011114109984645ن هن

1114109 ة

9846451114109984644 و

ر

نآ

ا

ى

853572 ا

ل ه

و

ا

ن

984645 س ه

ا

ى

1050151 ا 984625ة

ة 984644 ن 984644 ها

ن

ة984644 984615 984643 ن

853543 ة

ا ان

1050183 ة

ى

ر

ن

ن

1114109 ن

984645 984627 984615 984643 ن و 853575 1050179 853543 ى853561 ا

د

و

853543 984615 1050181 853571 ن

هة

ل

و

1050151 هة ا

ل

853543 ة 984644 ا

853543 ة984644 ة 1050161 1050151 984648 ا

1050169و

853543 ة ن

984644 ا 984648 ط ه ة 984644 ه ا ل

853543984629 ة

اى

1050161 853543 ن

9175011114109

ا

984648ا 984627ش ر

ش ى

ل

ند

و

ة

9175011114109 984644 1050161 984648 ن ه ش 984645ن

هة

984615 1050181 984633 ة

و

نة

ن 853543

There are also three impressions of a small octag-onal ownerrsquos stamp (not legible) On folios 1band 201b there are impressions of a large round

stamp reading اد 1050161ن 984644ن 1114109ةة

1048573 و

984649 984644 ا 1114109نة

9846451114109

ا 984645ن

ن

1114109

984621ة

984649 984648 984645 984625 اة

ن

984644

984645 853543 ن

917501 1050157 ا ن 984648 984644 د ن را ن

ا

Editionsprintings The text of this manuscript hasbeen edited by al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh983094 Forthe purposes of our present edition we havemade use of scans of the Damascus manuscriptitself and on occasion present a di1048678ferent reading

Catalogue descriptions none

MS BmdashOxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 68

item 6

Date The copy was transcribed by al-faqīr Manṣūrbi-ism Shammās (the ordained deacon) inNovember of AD 1571 The date is given as themonth of Tishrīn II 1882 using the Alexandrian(or Seleucid) calendar which began 1 October 312BC The volume in which this item is bound con-tains nine treatises in either Arabic or Karshūnī(the Syriac script used by the Christians of Syriaand Mesopotamia for writing Arabic) all of themapparently copied in Syria See 983142983145g 01 for the col-ophon in the manuscript

983094 Gharāʾib 2011 195ndash512 and 2513ndash689

The folio following this item in the manuscript(fol 145b) has an eleven-line note in Karshūnī pre-senting a carefully written lineage of the copyist

ل

ن د

و

أ

ا نة

984645984648 853549 ر

ا 853543 ن اد ن

984621 أ

ا ل هة]

984627 =] ل هة

984645984627 ن

1114109 ة

9846451114109984644

ل ه

853575 1050179 984625ة ا

ن

ء 853543 ن 984644أ

ا ش

ش و

ا]ن

1050179 ]

ة

9175011114109984645 9175011114109 984645 نأ

ا

و

نة

ة1048573 853543 ن

ة984648 853549 ن أ

ا 1114109 984644ة

1050161 984648 984629 1114109984645ن

ة

ى

نأ

ا

و

ن

853543 ة

ى

نأ

ا 853543 ن 984625 ن

ل

ن د

و

أ

ا 853543 ن9175011114109 ة

9846451114109984645 853543984627 أ

ا نو

ن

ر

أ

1050151 ان

1114109 ة984644 984615 984643 ة

1050179 ا 853543 ن أ

ا

و

ا]ن

1050179 ] 984648ة853549 ن أ

1050151 1114109 984644ةة

984649 853549 ن او

ة

9175011114109 984645 ة9175011114109 ا

ܬܢܐ) (ܓ 853543 ن 853543 ش9175011114109 ة

9846451114109 ن

ة 853543984645و

ة

ى

نأ

ا ا]ن

1050179 ] ة

ن984621 853543

نأ

1050151 1050161 984648 984629 1114109984645ن

ر

1050165 853543 ن ة

ى

ن او

هة ة

9175011114109984645و

1050161 ة

984649 853549 ن أ

ا

و

984648 د

984645 ة

ى

أ

ا

و

1050161 984648 984629 س ه 1114109984645ن

853543 ن

1114109 ة

9846451114109

س

ة

853543 ة

ش984627 ه س

ا 853543 ن 984648 ن

أ

ا

و

ل ه

853543 ط

ة

ى

نا

و

ل ه

ا ر ن نة

ى

نا

و

ة ة

9175011114109 984644 ة

984649 853549 ن او

ه

س

اة

ى

أ

ن 984648 اأ

ة

984649

ن

984621 و

ة 853543 ن 984644 917501 1050157و 984648 853549 ن ا

1050161 أ

ل ه ا

و

ه

ل

ا ة

ن

1050161 1050161

ن

984621 و

984621ه و

1050161

ة

9175011114109 984645 ة

ه ل

ة ا

ة1048573

ن

984621 1050161 ن

984615 984643 853543 ن9175011114109853549 984648 ة ( (ܟܘة

984649 1050161 984648 853549 ن

984615 1050181 س ه ش

984648 ا

ة

984649 1050161 984648 853549 ن ة

984649

ن

984621

ن

9175011114109 ة1048573 و

984648 ة

984649 1050161 984648 ه 853549 ن

س

ا ة

ى

أ

ا

ه 1048573 984629 984615 1050181ة

ل ه شن

9175011114109 ة1048573 و

ة

1050183 984625ا ن

أ

Contents It is an incomplete copy of Book One Asin MS D it lacks the opening diagram (though ithas the surrounding text) the entire fourth andthe opening part of the 983142983145fth chapter It also lacksthe 983142983145nal chapters of Book One that is the eighthninth and tenth chapters Of Book Two it hasonly a partial copy of the 983142983145rst and third chaptersChapter three of Book Two contains additionalmaterial on each of the climes that is not foundin the other manuscripts

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle is given (in Syriac script) in the text onfol 109b983096 as Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ

al-ʿuyūn see 983142983145g 02 Physical description 46 leaves (folios 109bndash144a)

Dimensions 212 times 153 (text area 174 times c122) cm21ndash24 lines per page

Paper The sti1048678f biscuit paper has little evidenceof sizing and has turned darker near the edgesof the volume It has a thickness of 017minus019mm and an opaqueness factor of 4 with thinstraight vertical laid lines single chain lines and watermarks (an anchor in a circle () and a starover a crescent moon) There is some foxing anddamp-staining

Script There is no trace of frame-ruling and thespacing of lines is irregular The text is written in alarge Arabic and Karshūnī script using dark-brownink with prominent words formed with a broaderpen-stroke text-breaks or headings are indicatedby four small dots There are catchwords but nomarginalia are found in this portion of the vol-ume There is an illuminated heading in black inkand red opaque watercolours at the opening ofthe text (fol 109b) see 983142983145g 02

Page 15: An Eleventh-Century Egyptian Guide to the Universe

10486819831509831569831549831519831409831579831399831561048681983151983150 5

in the earlier Bodleian Library MS Arab c 90 See983142983145gs 06 08 011 012 and 014ndash019 for examples

Binding unknown Provenance The manuscript was formerly kept

in Aleppo as al-Maktabah al-Waqfīyah MS 957On the title page (fol 1a) there are several own-ersrsquo notes for the most part illegible or defacedand one prominent seven-line study note dated9801572ndash3 written by the copyist of the manu-script eight years after completing this copy Thenote indicates that this manuscript was the basisfor another copy prepared by the same copyistbut one that contained only the 983142983145rst book on theheavens The note reads

9175011114109984645ن هن

1114109 ة

9846451114109984644 و

ر

نآ

ا

ى

853572 ا

ل ه

و

ا

ن

984645 س ه

ا

ى

1050151 ا 984625ة

ة 984644 ن 984644 ها

ن

ة984644 984615 984643 ن

853543 ة

ا ان

1050183 ة

ى

ر

ن

ن

1114109 ن

984645 984627 984615 984643 ن و 853575 1050179 853543 ى853561 ا

د

و

853543 984615 1050181 853571 ن

هة

ل

و

1050151 هة ا

ل

853543 ة 984644 ا

853543 ة984644 ة 1050161 1050151 984648 ا

1050169و

853543 ة ن

984644 ا 984648 ط ه ة 984644 ه ا ل

853543984629 ة

اى

1050161 853543 ن

9175011114109

ا

984648ا 984627ش ر

ش ى

ل

ند

و

ة

9175011114109 984644 1050161 984648 ن ه ش 984645ن

هة

984615 1050181 984633 ة

و

نة

ن 853543

There are also three impressions of a small octag-onal ownerrsquos stamp (not legible) On folios 1band 201b there are impressions of a large round

stamp reading اد 1050161ن 984644ن 1114109ةة

1048573 و

984649 984644 ا 1114109نة

9846451114109

ا 984645ن

ن

1114109

984621ة

984649 984648 984645 984625 اة

ن

984644

984645 853543 ن

917501 1050157 ا ن 984648 984644 د ن را ن

ا

Editionsprintings The text of this manuscript hasbeen edited by al-Mahdi Eid al-Rawadieh983094 Forthe purposes of our present edition we havemade use of scans of the Damascus manuscriptitself and on occasion present a di1048678ferent reading

Catalogue descriptions none

MS BmdashOxford Bodleian Library MS Bodl Or 68

item 6

Date The copy was transcribed by al-faqīr Manṣūrbi-ism Shammās (the ordained deacon) inNovember of AD 1571 The date is given as themonth of Tishrīn II 1882 using the Alexandrian(or Seleucid) calendar which began 1 October 312BC The volume in which this item is bound con-tains nine treatises in either Arabic or Karshūnī(the Syriac script used by the Christians of Syriaand Mesopotamia for writing Arabic) all of themapparently copied in Syria See 983142983145g 01 for the col-ophon in the manuscript

983094 Gharāʾib 2011 195ndash512 and 2513ndash689

The folio following this item in the manuscript(fol 145b) has an eleven-line note in Karshūnī pre-senting a carefully written lineage of the copyist

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Contents It is an incomplete copy of Book One Asin MS D it lacks the opening diagram (though ithas the surrounding text) the entire fourth andthe opening part of the 983142983145fth chapter It also lacksthe 983142983145nal chapters of Book One that is the eighthninth and tenth chapters Of Book Two it hasonly a partial copy of the 983142983145rst and third chaptersChapter three of Book Two contains additionalmaterial on each of the climes that is not foundin the other manuscripts

Attribution and title The author is not given Thetitle is given (in Syriac script) in the text onfol 109b983096 as Kitāb Gharāʾib al-funūn wa-mulaḥ

al-ʿuyūn see 983142983145g 02 Physical description 46 leaves (folios 109bndash144a)

Dimensions 212 times 153 (text area 174 times c122) cm21ndash24 lines per page

Paper The sti1048678f biscuit paper has little evidenceof sizing and has turned darker near the edgesof the volume It has a thickness of 017minus019mm and an opaqueness factor of 4 with thinstraight vertical laid lines single chain lines and watermarks (an anchor in a circle () and a starover a crescent moon) There is some foxing anddamp-staining

Script There is no trace of frame-ruling and thespacing of lines is irregular The text is written in alarge Arabic and Karshūnī script using dark-brownink with prominent words formed with a broaderpen-stroke text-breaks or headings are indicatedby four small dots There are catchwords but nomarginalia are found in this portion of the vol-ume There is an illuminated heading in black inkand red opaque watercolours at the opening ofthe text (fol 109b) see 983142983145g 02