Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 37, No. 3.pdf

5/19/2018 Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 37, No. 3.pdf

1/3

P.e Jernimo Lobo: Itinerrio e outros escritos inditos by M. Gonalves da CostaReview by: A. K. IrvineBulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 37, No. 3(1974), pp. 744-745Published by: Cambridge University Presson behalf of School of Oriental and African StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/613865.

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2/3

SHORT

NOTICES

EMIL

SCHORER The

history

of

the

Jewish

people

in

the

age

of

Jesus

Christ

(175

B.c.-A.D.

135).

A

new

English

ver-

sion revised and edited by Geza Vermes

and

Fergus

Millar. Vol.

I.

xvii,

614

pp.,

front.

Edinburgh:

T.

and

T.

Clark

Ltd.,

1973. ?10.

Schtirer's

Geschichtedes

jildischen

Volkes

imn

Zeitalter

Jesu

Christi

has

long

been the stan-

dard

work

presenting

the entire

evidence

in

terms

of

Jewish

history,

literature, institutions,

and

general

culture

as

they

evolved

during

the

inter-testamental

period.

The

original

German

text went

through

four

editions

(1874

to

1909),

and an

English

version

was

made

from

the

second edition and published between 1885 and

1891.

The idea

of

a new

'Schtirer'

was first

mooted

by

the late

and

much

lamented

Pro-

fessor

H.

H.

Rowley

of Manchester

University,

but

the

practical

initiation of

the

project

is

owed to

Professor Matthew

IBlack

of

St.

Andrews University. The

actual execution of

this monumental task was entrusted

to

Geza

Vermes,

Reader

in

Jewish

Studies,

and

Fergus

Millar,

Fellow

and

Tutor

in

Ancient

History

at

the

Queen's

College.

It

would have

been

difficult to

think of a more successful and better

qualified

team than

these

two

Oxford

scholars

who

had the

additional benefit

of the

literary

and

stylistic

services

of

Mrs.

Pamela

Vermes.

Their

task,

however,

was not

principally

one

of

translation

but

of

revision

(deletion,

correc-

tion as well as

addition),

including

the

moderni-

zation and

up-dating

of all

references,

quota-

tions,

bibliographical

material,

etc. The resul-

tant work

now embodies

all

the latest classical

as well as

Hebrew-Aramaic evidence

as

derived

from

new

archaeological, epigraphic,

numis-

matic,

etc.,

sources

and,

above

all,

from the

Dead Sea scrolls and Bar Kokhba documents.

Even a

cursory glance

at this

first

volume

(two

further

instalments

are

to

follow)

reveals the

vast

apparatus

of

learning

which the editors

have

mastered

and set out

for

the reader's

instruction.

The detailed introduction

of

122

pp.

explains

the

scope

of

the

work,

describes the

nature of

the

auxiliary disciplines

(such

as

archaeology,

geography,

numismatics,

etc.),

and

sketches

the sources

on which the

narrative

is

based.

Apart

from the obvious

evidence furnished

by

such works as the books of the Maccabees,

Josephus,

Greek

and Latin

authors,

Rabbinical

writings,

and

Qumrin

documents,

we are also

introduced

to

'

non-extant

sources

',

i.e.

a

large

variety

of

mainly

Greek

works

which are

known to

us

only

in the form of

fragments

or

quotations.

The

two main

parts

of the

book deal

with the

Maccabaean

rising

and the

age

of

independence

(175-63

B.C.)

and the

Roman-Herodian

era

(63

B.C.

A.D.

135).

They

are buttressed

by

ample

bibliographies

and

eight

appendixes

on

such

subjects

as

Hebrew

coins,

the Jewish

calendar,

etc.

It

would

be difficult

to overstate the useful-

ness and

importance

of

this

learned

com-

pendium. By

their

truly

self-sacrificing

labour

Drs.

Vermes and Millar have

given

their

grateful

readers the

key

with

which

they

may

gain

access

to

an

understanding

of

one of the

most

significant periods

in human

history.

EDWARD

ULLENDORFF

M1.

GONQALVES

DA

COSTA

(ed.):

P.

Jer6nimo

Lobo

Itinercirio

e

outros

escritos

ineditos.

(Biblioteca

Hist6rica

(de

Portugal

e

Brasil.

Shrie

Ultra-

marina.)

xxviii,

832

pp.,

front.,

16

plates.

[Barcelos]:

Livraria

Civi-

liza?aIo,

1971].

Jer6nimo

Lobo

(1595-1678)

is

probably

best

known

in this

country

from

Dr.

Johnson's

A

voyage

to

Abyssinia (London, 1735),

a

hack-

translation turned out in

the

poverty-stricken

youth

of the

eminent

litterateur.

It

was

in

its

turn

an

abridgement

of

Le

Grand's

French

translation of Lobo's

personal

account of his

travels from Lisbon

to

Goa and

Ethiopia

as

a

Jesuit

missionary.

Apparently

never

printed

in

Portugal,

the MS

of

the

Itinerdrio

disap-

peared

in

the

great earthquake

at

Lisbon

in

1755

and

its

existence was

known

only

from

scattered

references

in

a number of

contem-

porary

writers.

Since Lobo

emerges

as

an

acute and

intelligent

observer of the

natural

phenomena of Ethiopia as well as a tolerant

and

sympathetic

chronicler

of

the

political

and

religious

milieu

of

the

Jesuit

mission,

it was

good

news

indeed when

in

1947

a

MS

of

the

original

Itinerdrio

came

to

light

in the Biblio-

teca Publica at

Braga.

Translations

are

never

quite

satisfactory

and

da

Costa

has done a fine

service to

scholarship

by

publishing

the

new-

found

text in

this attractive edition.

He dates

it

to 1668

and

posits

an

original,

definitive

version,

now

lost

but datable

to 1639-40.

A

lengthy

introduction

(pp.

3-136)

analyses

the

historical background and life of Lobo, his

personality,

the new

MS,

translations

and

editions of the

Itinerdrio

(surprisingly

few),

and

the

problems

of

publication

of

the

text.

This

is

presented

on

pp.

139-659

in a somewhat

modernized

orthography

and

is

followed

by

several

shorter

opuscula

of

Lobo,

complemen-

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3/3

UDo

STEINBACH:

D t

al-Himma : kul-

turgeschichtliche

Untersuchungen

zu

einem arabischen Volksroman. (Frei-

burger

Islamstudien,

Bd.

Iv.)

151

pp.

Wiesbaden:

Franz Steiner

Verlag

GmbH,

1972.

DM 46.

English

readers

are

perhaps

most familiar

with

some of

the

content of

the

romance of

Dhat

al-Himrma,

from the

pages

of Lane's

Manners and

customs

of

the modern

Egyptians.

In

ch. xxiii of that

masterpiece

Lane

outlines

the

Egyptian public

reciters' elaborations of

the

Sirat

al-M1ujhidirn, among

which

a

very

debased

form of

the

tale known as

the DhFi

'l-Himma

is

abridged

and summarized.

Udo

Steinbach's

monograph

is an

exhaustive

survey

of the whole

Volksroman,

ts

origins,

its

evolution, content,

and

Byzantine

connexions,

more

particularly

with a sister

work

Digenis

Akritas.

Within

the

scope

of his

study

the

significance

of the

jihid

in romance

literature

of

the

Islamic

Middle

East,

the role

of

the

Caliphate

in such

literature,

'asabqya

versus

loyalty

to

Islamic

ideology,

the

relationship

of this

story

to other

pseudo-maghdzi

litera-

ture-each is discussed and

analysed

with

great

clarity and skill. There is a comprehensive

index

and

an excellent

bibliography

on

a wide

range

of

Arabic

romance literature.

The

bibliography

alone

justifies

the

purchase

of

the

monograph.

This is

an

outstanding

study

of its

kind,

in-

corporating

the

pioneer

work

of

others,

contri-

buting

new

material and new

perspectives,

and

clearly indicating

the

palimpsest

of tales

and

themes which have

contributed to

the deve-

loped

forms of this

romance.

Highly

recom-

mended

to

Islamists,

and for those whose

interests embrace the cultural interchange of

ideas

between

Byzantium

and the Muslim

world.

H.

T. N.

SHORT

NOTICES

745

tary

to

the

Itinerdrio

and

published

from

MSS

in the

possession

of

the

Royal Society

in

London and various

Portuguese

libraries.

The

standards of

editing

and

comment

are

high,

as we might expect, and the historical intro-

duction

is

very

helpful

to an

understanding

of

the

period

in

general.

Since hitherto

only

a

few

relatively

minor

documents of Lobo's

have

been

available

in the

works of

Beccari,

one

feels that full

justice

has

at

last been

done

to

a

remarkable

dthiopisant.

A. K. IRVINE

YAHYA

HAQQI:

The

saint's

lamp,

and

other

stories.

Translated

...

by

M.

M.

Badawi.

(Arabic

Translation Series

of the

Journal

of

Arabic

Literature,

Vol.

2.)

xiii,

90

pp.

Leiden:

E. J.

Brill,

1973. Guilders

16.

The second volume in the translation series

sponsored

by

the Journal

of

Arabic Literature

presents

to the

non-Arabic-reading

public

an

outstanding

example

of

modern

Arabic

prose,

sympathetically

rendered

into

English by

one

whose command

of the two

languages

can

only

be

described as

masterful.

The

translator

has

chosen

an author

the

quality

of

whose work

is

in

inverse

proportion

to

his

relatively

restricted

output,

and

the

theme

of the main

story

in this

collection,

Qindil

Umm ilishim,

is

one which

has

been central

to

much of

the

Arabic

litera-

ture

written in the

twentieth

century.

The

hero

Ismi'il,

after

completing

his medical

studies

in

England,

returned as an

eye

surgeon

to

the

poverty-stricken

area

in

Cairo

where he

had

grown

up.

The drama of

the

story

turns

on how

IsmR'il'

econciles his scientific

training

with

the

seeming

lack of

sophistication

and the

apparent religious

superstition

of the

people

from

whom

he

came,

and his

discovery

that

both

parts

of his formation

have

to coexist

if

he

is to

practise

successfully.

Although

the

theme is

commonplace,

IHaqqi's

version

is most

exceptional,

avoiding

the

pitfalls

of didacticism

or superficial conclusions which have often

surrounded

this

topic.

The

translator's

preface

is

relevant

and in-

formative.

Students

wishing

to

read further

might

care

to

consult

Mutaffi

Badawi's

longer

study

on the

same

work,

Journal

of

Arabic

Literature,

r,

1970,

145-61.

R.

C.

OSTLE

Y. LINANT

DE

BELLEFONDS:

Traite

de

droit

musulman

compare.

III.

(Maison

des Sciences de

l'Homme.

Recherches

M4tditerraneennes.

]Ztudes,

ix.)

467

pp.

Paris,

La

Haye:

Mouton

Co.,

1973.

Fr.

96.

The

first two volumes

of this

treatise on com

-

parative

Islamic

law,

published

in

1965 and

now out of

print,

were noticed in

BSOAS,

xxix, 3, 1966,

670.

In the

present

volume the

author deals with two

major topics.

The first

is

filiation,

with

which

are

grouped

related

matters of maintenance

and the

guardianship

of minors and others lacking legal capacity.

The second

topic

is

tabarru'St,

comprising

gifts

inter

vivos and loans. The

examination of

the

kindred

subject

of

waqf

is

deferred to

a later

volume,

which will be awaited with interest.

The

preliminary chapter

on

the

sociological

context

of filiation is most

illuminating

on the

different

preconceptions

and

attitudes

of

Western

and Muslim

jurists respectively

about

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Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 37, No. 3.pdf