An Outline of the History of Maghribī Zijes from the End of the Thirteenth Century

See e.g. King David A. , “An overview of the sources for the history of astronomy in the medieval Maghrib”, Deuxième Colloque Maghrébin sur l'Histoire des Mathématiques Arabes (Tunis, 1988), 125–57. See also a recent survey of this manuscript in Mestres A. , “Maghribī astronomy in the 13th century: A description of manuscript Hyderabad Andra Pradesh State Library 298”, in Casulleras J. Samsó J. (eds), From Baghdad to Barcelona: Studies in the Islamic exact sciences in honour of Prof. Juan Vernet (Barcelona, 1996), i, 383–443.

The canons were edited by Vernet J. , Contribución al estudio de la labor astronómica de Ibn al-Bannā’ (Tetuán, 1952). The solar tables were studied by Samsó J. Millás E. , “Ibn al-Bannā’, Ibn Ishāq and Ibn al-Zarqālluh's solar theory” in Samsó J. , Islamic astronomy and medieval Spain (Aldershot, 1994), no. X (35 pp). For the planetary tables see Samsó J. Millás E. , “The computation of planetary longitudes in the zīj of Ibn al-Bann'”, forthcoming in Arabic sciences and philosophy .

Kennedy E. S. , “The astronomical tables of Ibn al-Raqqām, a scientist of Granada”, Zeitschrift für Geschichte der Arabisch-Islamischen Wissenschaften , xi (1997), 35–72.

Kennedy E. S. King David A. , “Indian astronomy in fourteenth century Fez: The versified Zīj of al-Qusuntīnī”, Journal for the history of Arabic science , vi (1982), 3–45, reprinted in King D. A. , Islamic mathematical astronomy (London, 1986), no. VIII (2nd rev. edn, Aldershot, 1993).

Samsó J. , “Andalusian astronomy in 14th century Fez: al-Zīj al-Muwafiq of Ibn ^cAzzūz al-Qusantīnī”, Zeitschrift für Geschichte der Arabisch-Islamischen Wissenschaften , xi (1997), 73–110.

See her paper “Some new Maghribī sources dealing with trepidation”, presented at the XXth International Congress of History of Science (Liège, July 1997).

MS Escorial ar. 916, ff. 237v–264v. The significant passage on trepidation is in ff. 238r–242r. On this work see Vernet Juan , “Tradición e innovación en la ciencia medieval”, Oriente e occidente nel medioevo: Filosofia e scienze (Rome, 1971), 741–57, reprinted in Vernet, Estudios sobre historia de la ciencia medieval (Barcelona-Bellaterra, 1979), 173–89 (see pp. 188–9). Two other manuscripts of the same work (not seen) in Rabat Hasaniyya 826 and 5372: See Muhammad al^−cArabī al-Khaṭṭbī, Fāhāris al-Khizāna al-Hasaniyya , iii (Rabat, 1983), 430–1, nos 526 and 527.

See Kennedy King , “Indian astronomy” (ref. 4), 9; King , “An overview” (ref. 1), 131–2 and 144.

David King was the first to draw attention to this work — see Kennedy King , “Indian astronomy” (ref. 4), 9; King , “An overview” (ref. 1), 131–2 and 144 — which is extant in MSS Cairo K 4311 (ff. 2r–48r, copied in 1183/1769-70) and London British Library Or. 411 (ff. 21v–55r, copied in 1082/1670). He kindly provided photographs of these two manuscripts.

Mathematician and astronomer from Tlemcen who died in 867/1463: See Suter H. , Die Mathematiker und Astronomen der Araber und ihre Werke (Leipzig, 1900), no. 435, p. 177. See also King D. A. , A survey of the scientific manuscripts in the Egyptian National Library (Winona Lake, Indiana, 1986), 140, F28; and Lamrabet Driss , Introduction à l'histoire des mathématiques maghrébines (Rabat, 1994), 117, no. 445.

MS Cairo 4311, f. 36r; London, BL Or 411, f. 47v.

MS Cairo K4311, f. 5r. I have been unable to find this reference in the London MS.

Vallicrosa Millás J. M. , Las tablas astronómicas del Rey Don Pedro el Ceremonioso (Madrid and Barcelona, 1962); Chabás J. , “Astronomía andalusí en Cataluña: Las tablas de Barcelona”, From Baghdad to Barcelona (ref. 1), i, 477–525.

Brockelmann Carl , Geschichte der Arabischen Literatur (2 vols, Leiden, 1943, 1949; 3 vols of supplements, Leiden, 1937, 1938 and 1942), Sii, 217; Renaud H. P. J. , “Additions et corrections à Suter”, Isis , xviii (1932), 179–80 (no. 535); Lamrabet , Introduction (ref. 10), 144, no. 511.

King , Survey (ref. 10), 142, F43; King , Fihris al-makhṭṭt al^−cilmiyya al-maḥfūza bi-Dār al-Kutub al-Misriyya , i (Cairo, 1981), 352.

K7584, ff. 122v, 124r and v. The value 30;15° for the latitude of Tārudānt (modern value 30;31°) does not appear in any source quoted by Kennedy E. S. Kennedy M. H. , Geographical coordinates of localities from Islamic sources (Frankfurt, 1987), 335. See also f. 139v.

I have not been able to identify him. The implication seems to be the famous Ibn Yūnus (d. 958–59), who was also called Abū ‘l-Hasan ^cAlī. King D. A. (“Ibn Yūnus”, Dictionary of scientific biography , xiv, 574–80, p. 578) states that there are numerous later zijes compiled in Egypt, Persia and Yemen that use materials derived from Ibn Yūnus's Ḥākimī Zīj.

MS K7584, f. 119r.

MS K4311, f. 13r and v; MS BL Or 411, f. 27v. See also K4311, f. 15v and BL Or, ff. 28v–29r.

MS K4311, f. 13r calls him Ibn Shāhir; MS BL Or 411, f. 27v has Ibn Shāṭir. Ibn al-Shāṭir uses an obliquity of 23;31° in his al-Zīj al-Jadīd: cf. Kennedy E. S. , “A survey of Islamic astronomical tables”, Transactions of the American Philosophical Society , n.s., xlvi (1956), 123–75, see p. 163.

MS K4311, f. 13r calls him Abū ^cAbd Allah al-Raqqām b. Abū ‘l^−cAbbās Ahmad known as al-Mazzān; MS BL Or 411, f. 27v has Abū ^cAbd Allāh Muhammad b. Abū ‘l^−cAbbas Ahmad known as al-Mizzī. See Suter, Mathematiker (ref. 10), no. 406, p. 165; King , Survey (ref. 10), 63–64, C34.

Mestres , “Maghribī astronomy” (ref. 1), 418, Table 54. Ibn al-Muftī, the author of the Qatf, claims that Ibn Isḥāq obtained 23;33° through observation and that Ibn al-Banna’ also used this parameter in the Minhāj: K7584, f. 120r.

Comes M. , “A propos de l'influence d'al-Zarqālluh en Afrique du Nord: L'apogée solaire et l'obliquité de l'écliptique dans le zīdj d'Ibn Isḥāq”, Actas del II Coloquio Hispano-Marroquí de Ciencias Históricas (Madrid, 1992), 147–59.

On Sanjūfīnī's zij see Kennedy E. S. , “Eclipse predictions in Arabic astronomical tables prepared for the Mongol Viceroy of Tibet”, Zeitschrift für Geschichte der Arabisch-Islamischen Wissenschaften , iv (1987–88), 60–88; Kennedy E. S. Hogendijk J. P. , “Two tables from an Arabic astronomical handbook for the Mongol Viceroy of Tibet”, A scientific humanist: Studies in memory of Abraham Sachs (Philadelphia, 1988), 233–4.

Identified by King (“An overview” (ref. 1), 131–2) with Abū ^cAbd Allāh Muhammad ibn Hil¯l who lived in Ceuta in the first half of the fourteenth century. See also Lamrabet, Introduction (ref. 10), 98, no. 393.

This value for the latitude of Marrakesh is not to be found in any of the sources quoted by Kennedy Kennedy , Geographical coordinates (ref. 16), 218. The modern value is 31;49°.

Goldstein B. R. , “On the theory of trepidation according to Thābit b. Qurra and al-Zarqāllu and its implications for homocentric planetary theory”, Centaurus , x (1964), 232–47; Samsó J. , “Sobre el modelo de Azarquiel para determinar la oblicuidad de la eclíptica” in Samsó, Islamic astronomy (ref. 2), no. IX.

See Comes Mercè , “The accession and recession theory in al-Andalus and the north of Africa”, From Baghdad to Barcelona (ref. 1), i, 349–64.

23;30° is also used by Ibn al-Muftī, the author of the Qatf: K7584, f. 119v and 120r. Al-Baqqār, in his Kitāb al-adwār (f. 241r) mentions 23;30° (Ibn Abū ‘l-Shukr) and 23;31°, which he attributes to one of the unnamed zijes made in Damascus (probably Ibn al-Shatir).

Almagest I, 12. See Toomer G. J. , Ptolemy's Almagest (New York, 1984), 62–63.

According to the Natā ‘ij al-afkār, this zij is based on the observations made by this astronomer in Damascus in 657/1259 (Cairo K 4311, f. 4v). This date agrees with the statement we find in the text of the canons of the Tāj (MS Escorial 932, f. 22r–22v; MS Ar. Dept. of the University of Barcelona — on which see below — ff. 15v–16r): The star table is calculated for the first year of the reign of Hulāwūn (= Hulagu) which is 627 Yazdijird/ 1259. See Saliba G. , “An observational notebook of a thirteenth-century astronomer”, Isis , lxxiv (1983), 388–401 (reprinted in Saliba, A history of Arabic astronomy: Planetary theories during the golden age of Islam (New York and London, 1994)). On p. 167 of the reprint Saliba conjectures that Ibn Abū ‘l-Shukr served the Ayyubid ruler al-Malik al-Nāir of Damascus (1250–60) till at least 1257.

This is the author of the Risalat al-Sayb fī ^camal al-jayb, extant in MS Escorial ar. 918: See King, Survey (ref. 10), 66, no. C46. The original work was written in Cairo in 795/1393 and contains a precession table copied from the Tāj (f. 91r). The risāla is the subject of a doctoral dissertation by Maravillas Aguiar, La Laguna, 1996: See “Las aplicaciones del cuadrante de senos en agrimensura a través de un tratado árabe oriental del siglo XIV”, in de Morales Alvarez C. (ed.), Ciencias de la naturaleza en al-Andalus: Textos y estudios , iv (Granada, 1996), 93–113.

Cairo K 4311, f. 4v.

The mean motion tables have their uṣūl calculated for the beginning of the Hijra in Damascus but, in the case of the Sun, two interlinear notes give the asl for Tunis (f. 71v) and Cairo (f. 80v).

It was probably bought in Morocco by the late Professor J. M. Millás Vallicrosa. The manuscript has no title and does not mention the name of the author: It was identified by Dr M. Comes.

King D. A. , “Ibn al-Shāṭir”, Dictionary of scientific biography , xii, 357–64, p. 362b.

King , “An overview” (ref. 1), 133. The recension for Algiers is extant in MS Cairo DM 533 (c. 1150/1737): See King , Survey (ref. 10), 62, no. C30, and 145, no. F66.

See King , Survey (ref. 10), 65, no. C41. This work, entitled Kitāb al-Lum^ca fī hall al-sab^ca, is extant in an undated Maghribī manuscript of the library of the late scholar Hasan Husnī ^cAbd al-Wahhāb, now in the National Library in Tunis: ^cAbd al-Ḥafīẓ Manṣūr, al-Fihris al^−cāmm li ‘l-makhṭūṭāt. I. Raṣīd maktabat Hasan Husnī ^cAbd al-Wahhab (Tunis, 1975), MS 18158 (pp. 393, 398). The Hasaniyya Library in Rabat possesses an undated Maghribī manuscript entitled Nuzhat al-khāṭir fī talkhīs Zīj Ibn al-Shāṭir (MS 2723) which Khaṭṭ¯bī ( Fāhāris (ref. 7), 382–3, no. 467) also attributes to al-Kawm al-Rīshī.

al-Rawḍ al^−cĀtir fī Talkhīṣ Zīj Ibn al-Šmc;ṭir. On this author see Suter , Mathematiker (ref. 10), 173, no. 426; Brockelmann , op. cit. (ref. 14), ii, 157. This work seems to have been quite popular in the Maghrib but the dated MSS were copied in the nineteenth century: See, for example, Rabat General Library 1347D; Rabat Hasaniyya 1576, dated in 1255/1839 (Khaṭ̣ābī, dated in 1255/1839Fāhāris (ref. 7), 273–6, no. 334); Rabat Hasaniyya 6292, undated (Khaṭ̣ābī, Fāhāris , 276–7, no. 335); Rabat Hasaniyya 5366, dated in 1265/1848 (Khaṭ̣ābī, Fāhāris , 277, no. 336); Rabat Hasaniyya 2802, dated in 1262/1845 (Khaṭ̣ābī, Fāhāris, 277–8, no. 337). Another Maghribī copy in Cairo TR 235,1 ( King , Survey (ref. 10), 87, C116).

Rabat Hasaniyya 981, undated (Khaṭ̣ābī, Fāhāris (ref. 7), 167, no. 195).

Rabat Hasaniyya 8873, dated in 1214/1799 (Khaṭ̣ābī, Fāhāris (ref. 7), 223–4, no. 261). Other tabular materials derived from Ibn Abū ‘l-Shukr, Ibn al-Shatir and other authors can be found in an anonymous and undated compilation extant in Rabat Hasaniyya 1433 (Khaṭ̣ābī, Fāhāris , 407–8, no. 496).

Khaṭ̣ābī, Fāhāris (ref. 7), 193–5, no. 227; see also King , Survey (ref. 10), 164, G99.

MS Cairo DM814 is a copy of this recension dated in 1325/1907-8: cf. King , Survey (ref. 10), 142, F46. A third (?), anonymous, Tunisian recension is preserved in two MSS of the Hasaniyya Library in Rabat: 2650 (undated) and 2148 (dated 1218/1803). See Khaṭ̣ābī, Fāhāris (ref. 7), 335–8, nos. 406–8.

Copy dated 1242/1826. Mercè Comes obtained a microfilm of this manuscript and drew my attention to it.

MS 18104 of the library of Hasan Husnī ^cAbd al-Wahhab: ^cA.H. Manṣūr, Fihris (ref. 38), 398.

See also King , Survey (ref. 10), 143, F53; King also lists other manuscripts of the same work.

King , Survey (ref. 10), 143–4, F53, F54, F55. One of these commentaries, by Ahmad b. Muhammad Bū Daydah al-Qādirī al-Qayrawānī, is also extant in Tunis, H. H. ^cAbd al-Wahhāb Collection, no. 18104, dated 1301/1883-84: See ^cA. H. Manṣūr, Fihris (ref. 38), 397.

Kennedy Kennedy , Geographical coordinates (ref. 16), 362–3.

King D. A. , “A double argument table for the lunar equation attributed to Ibn Yūnus”, Centaurus , xviii (1974), 129–46, reprinted in King , Islamic mathematical astronomy (ref. 4), no. V.

See a similar table in the Zīj al-Sharīf, f. 31v.

Chabás J. Goldstein B. R. , “Andalusian astronomy: al-Zīj al-Muqtabis of Ibn al-Kammād”, Archive for history of exact sciences , xlviii (1994), 1–41 (see pp. 14 and 23).