Catalogue of the Arabic Manuscripts in the Hellmut Ritter Microfilm Collection of the Uppsala University Libraryby Bernhard Lewin; Oscar Löfgren; Mikael Persenius

Catalogue of the Arabic Manuscripts in the Hellmut Ritter Microfilm Collection of theUppsala University Library by Bernhard Lewin; Oscar Löfgren; Mikael PerseniusReview by: Lawrence I. ConradJournal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 116, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1996), pp. 152-153Published by: American Oriental SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/606402 .

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Journal of the American Oriental Society 116.1 (1996) Journal of the American Oriental Society 116.1 (1996)

a rare example of the successful integration of theoretical science derived from early sources and popular contemporary practice and knowledge.

In his commentary in seven chapters which actually com-

prises the major part of the book (pp. 63-231), Varisco discusses the major subjects of the Rasulid almanacs in detail. These are: calendars, astronomy, meteorology, environment, agriculture, health, humors and sex, and finally navigation. This commentary contains a wealth of information on a wide range of subjects pro- viding much new data; it is especially valuable for Varisco's discussion of the technical terminology employed throughout the almanacs. Varisco gives us, for instance, a detailed account of the various medieval calendars, namely, the Julian reckoning, Him-

yaritic month names, the Islamic lunar calendar, the Coptic calendar, Persian and navigational Nayruz calendars, and religious holidays. His discussion of the Himyaritic month names pre- served in the medieval Yemeni dialects is an important addition to our present knowledge. In the chapter on agriculture, the dominant theme of the Rasulid almanacs, Varisco deals exten-

sively with taxes, agricultural cycle, cereal crops, fruits, veg- etables, legumes, and cultivated herbs. In chapter seven, on

navigation, Varisco discusses seventeen specific sailing periods mentioned in these almanacs.

Some remarks on the text itself: The information provided by the almanac and Varisco on the pollution of the water of the Nile by animals and plants (pp. 129-30) can be supplemented by that given by Maimonides (A.D. 1135-1204) in his Regimen of Health on its pollution caused by human activity. Mai- monides relates how the inhabitants of al-Fustat pollute its water by throwing the droppings of animals and their carrion into

it, and by letting the sewers of their latrine empty into it (see my "Maimonides on the Preservation of Health," JRAS 3 [1994]: 226). The festival celebrating the date harvest and called sabt al-subat (p. 157) is, Varisco remarks, "apparently derived from the Jewish holiday of the Festival of Weeks"; however, Moshe

Piamenta, Dictionary of Post-classical Yemeni Arabic, 1:212, remarks that this term means "Saturday of Saturdays, i.e., Yom

Kippur, Day of Atonement, .... falling in October and marking the beginning of winter... comes about the end of the date season."

Useful bibliographical information not mentioned by Var- isco is, for plants, crops, and fruits and their identification: A. Dietrich, Dioscurides Triumphans, 2 vols. (Gottingen, 1988); equally important is the Worterbuch der klassischen arabischen

Sprache (Wiesbaden, 1957ff.) (for instance, kam'a, "truffle"; Varisco, pp. 136-37; WKAS, 1:346-47); for dyes produced from wars (Memeceylon tinctorium), fuwwa (Rubia tinctorum), and nila (Indigofera sp.) (p. 157): Ahmad Y. al-Hasan and Donald

Hill, Islamic Technology [Cambridge, 1986], 174-76). This book is a most valuable and commendable addition to

our knowledge of learned and popular medieval science and its

application. It is relevant and important to areas far beyond its

a rare example of the successful integration of theoretical science derived from early sources and popular contemporary practice and knowledge.

In his commentary in seven chapters which actually com-

prises the major part of the book (pp. 63-231), Varisco discusses the major subjects of the Rasulid almanacs in detail. These are: calendars, astronomy, meteorology, environment, agriculture, health, humors and sex, and finally navigation. This commentary contains a wealth of information on a wide range of subjects pro- viding much new data; it is especially valuable for Varisco's discussion of the technical terminology employed throughout the almanacs. Varisco gives us, for instance, a detailed account of the various medieval calendars, namely, the Julian reckoning, Him-

yaritic month names, the Islamic lunar calendar, the Coptic calendar, Persian and navigational Nayruz calendars, and religious holidays. His discussion of the Himyaritic month names pre- served in the medieval Yemeni dialects is an important addition to our present knowledge. In the chapter on agriculture, the dominant theme of the Rasulid almanacs, Varisco deals exten-

sively with taxes, agricultural cycle, cereal crops, fruits, veg- etables, legumes, and cultivated herbs. In chapter seven, on

navigation, Varisco discusses seventeen specific sailing periods mentioned in these almanacs.

Some remarks on the text itself: The information provided by the almanac and Varisco on the pollution of the water of the Nile by animals and plants (pp. 129-30) can be supplemented by that given by Maimonides (A.D. 1135-1204) in his Regimen of Health on its pollution caused by human activity. Mai- monides relates how the inhabitants of al-Fustat pollute its water by throwing the droppings of animals and their carrion into

it, and by letting the sewers of their latrine empty into it (see my "Maimonides on the Preservation of Health," JRAS 3 [1994]: 226). The festival celebrating the date harvest and called sabt al-subat (p. 157) is, Varisco remarks, "apparently derived from the Jewish holiday of the Festival of Weeks"; however, Moshe

Piamenta, Dictionary of Post-classical Yemeni Arabic, 1:212, remarks that this term means "Saturday of Saturdays, i.e., Yom

Kippur, Day of Atonement, .... falling in October and marking the beginning of winter... comes about the end of the date season."

Useful bibliographical information not mentioned by Var- isco is, for plants, crops, and fruits and their identification: A. Dietrich, Dioscurides Triumphans, 2 vols. (Gottingen, 1988); equally important is the Worterbuch der klassischen arabischen

Sprache (Wiesbaden, 1957ff.) (for instance, kam'a, "truffle"; Varisco, pp. 136-37; WKAS, 1:346-47); for dyes produced from wars (Memeceylon tinctorium), fuwwa (Rubia tinctorum), and nila (Indigofera sp.) (p. 157): Ahmad Y. al-Hasan and Donald

Hill, Islamic Technology [Cambridge, 1986], 174-76). This book is a most valuable and commendable addition to

our knowledge of learned and popular medieval science and its

application. It is relevant and important to areas far beyond its

immediate subject. We are looking forward to further publica- tions from this very talented scholar.

GERRIT Bos WELLCOME INSTITUTE FOR THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE

Catalogue of the Arabic Manuscripts in the Hellmut Ritter

Microfilm Collection of the Uppsala University Library. Compiled by BERNHARD LEWIN and OSCAR LOFGREN. Edited

by MIKAEL PERSENIUS. Preface by TRYGGVE KRONHOLM. Actae Bibliothecae R. Universitatis Upsaliensis, vol. 30. Stock- holm: ALMQVIST AND WIKSELL INTERNATIONAL, 1993. Pp. 332. SK 228.

Of the various German scholars who were able to explore the riches of Istanbul's Islamic manuscript collections in the early decades of this century, Hellmut Ritter was undoubtedly the most productive. More than a score of articles published be- tween 1928 and 1953 were required to report his findings, and over the years he assembled a collection of more than 600 mi- crofilms of important texts. In 1951 this microfilm collection was acquired by the University Library of Uppsala, where a card index was prepared by Bernhard Lewin. This was subsequently made available to Oscar L6fgren to serve as a basis for a cata-

logue, but this project was not completed by Lofgren himself. Prior to publication, his manuscript was thoroughly checked, re-

vised, and provided with indices by Mikael Persenius, a research assistant in the Department of Semitic Languages.

Ritter's collection covers over 1200 titles. Most are from libraries in Istanbul, with texts from Aya Sofya being especially dominant. There are also copies of MSS from collections in An- kara (12), Bursa (7), Kaiseri (2), Manisa (2), and Konya (1), one from the Dar al-Kutub in Cairo, and incidental items (18) from libraries in Europe and North America. There are many texts on Sufi topics, including works by numerous lesser known authors.

Poetry is also well represented, and covers authors from pre- Islamic times to the ninth/fourteenth century. Works in Graeco- Arabica are similarly prominent, and include texts in medicine,

philosophy, mathematics, and the natural sciences. There are also many essays by renowned litterateurs, philological works, and a number of important books in history and geography.

Opening the catalogue at random will suffice to confirm the

importance of this collection, which, given its origins, one ex-

pects in any case. The preface by Tryggve Kronholm alerts the reader to some of the unique MSS and autographs (some of the ex-

amples he cites, however, are only partial or fragmentary), and to this it must be added that Ritter obviously selected numerous

MSS for their antiquity. Dated fourth-century MSS of books by such third-century authors as Abu Macshar, Ibn al-MuCtazz, and

immediate subject. We are looking forward to further publica- tions from this very talented scholar.

GERRIT Bos WELLCOME INSTITUTE FOR THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE

Catalogue of the Arabic Manuscripts in the Hellmut Ritter

Microfilm Collection of the Uppsala University Library. Compiled by BERNHARD LEWIN and OSCAR LOFGREN. Edited

by MIKAEL PERSENIUS. Preface by TRYGGVE KRONHOLM. Actae Bibliothecae R. Universitatis Upsaliensis, vol. 30. Stock- holm: ALMQVIST AND WIKSELL INTERNATIONAL, 1993. Pp. 332. SK 228.

Of the various German scholars who were able to explore the riches of Istanbul's Islamic manuscript collections in the early decades of this century, Hellmut Ritter was undoubtedly the most productive. More than a score of articles published be- tween 1928 and 1953 were required to report his findings, and over the years he assembled a collection of more than 600 mi- crofilms of important texts. In 1951 this microfilm collection was acquired by the University Library of Uppsala, where a card index was prepared by Bernhard Lewin. This was subsequently made available to Oscar L6fgren to serve as a basis for a cata-

logue, but this project was not completed by Lofgren himself. Prior to publication, his manuscript was thoroughly checked, re-

vised, and provided with indices by Mikael Persenius, a research assistant in the Department of Semitic Languages.

Ritter's collection covers over 1200 titles. Most are from libraries in Istanbul, with texts from Aya Sofya being especially dominant. There are also copies of MSS from collections in An- kara (12), Bursa (7), Kaiseri (2), Manisa (2), and Konya (1), one from the Dar al-Kutub in Cairo, and incidental items (18) from libraries in Europe and North America. There are many texts on Sufi topics, including works by numerous lesser known authors.

Poetry is also well represented, and covers authors from pre- Islamic times to the ninth/fourteenth century. Works in Graeco- Arabica are similarly prominent, and include texts in medicine,

philosophy, mathematics, and the natural sciences. There are also many essays by renowned litterateurs, philological works, and a number of important books in history and geography.

Opening the catalogue at random will suffice to confirm the

importance of this collection, which, given its origins, one ex-

pects in any case. The preface by Tryggve Kronholm alerts the reader to some of the unique MSS and autographs (some of the ex-

amples he cites, however, are only partial or fragmentary), and to this it must be added that Ritter obviously selected numerous

MSS for their antiquity. Dated fourth-century MSS of books by such third-century authors as Abu Macshar, Ibn al-MuCtazz, and

152 152



Reviews of Books Reviews of Books

al-Mubarrad are included, and these also represent several fourth-

century authors, e.g., a copy of al-Sirfifi's Akhbar al-nahwiyin al-basriyin, copied in 376/986, only eight years after his death. A film of Aya Sofya 4832 provides fifth-century texts of over 60

philosophical and scientific essays, primarily by al-Kindi. Other films cover MSS recognized for their crucial textual importance- for example, the Diamad 949 MS of the Rasadil of al-Jahiz and the Kopriilii MSS of his Kitab al-hayawan. This list could be contin- ued at considerable length.

The foregoing having been said, however, it must be ob- served that this book is a handlist rather than a proper cata-

logue. There are no divisions according to subject, and titles are instead simply strung together in alphabetical order; one can therefore only guess at what al-CAskari, for example, discussed in his Risala ild bacd ashdbihi that was sufficiently significant to draw Ritter's attention to the essay. Entries provide the au- thor's name and death date, the title, MS number and number of folios, specified or approximate date of copying, and references to Brockelmann, Sezgin, and other secondary literature. But in-

cipits and explicits are not included, and it is often difficult to discern whether or not a given text is complete. Various indices

help one find authors or specific Mss, but again, never particular subjects.

But it is certainly not an unprofitable exercise simply to read through this work to discover the treasures it reveals. The collection itself is a fitting memorial to the erudition of Hellmut Ritter, and all who use it will be grateful to those whose labors have made it accessible to a broader scholarly audience.

LAWRENCE I. CONRAD WELLCOME INSTITUTE FOR THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE

Arabic Legal and Administrative Documents in the Cambridge Genizah Collections. By GEOFFREY KHAN. Cambridge Uni- versity Library Genizah Series, 10. Cambridge: CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1993. Pp. xviii + 567, 24 plates. ?100, $175.

The importance of documentary evidence to the study of medieval Islamic law, administration, fiscal policy, and chancery practice has been acknowledged on all sides for decades, but the integration of this material into moder scholarship has long been impeded by the lack of proper catalogues and editions. The pioneering efforts of Adolf Grohmann and S. M. Stern have more recently been pursued in valuable research by such scholars as Werner Diem, Heinz Halm, Raif-Georges Khoury, Donald Little, D. S. Richards, and perhaps most important, Geoffrey Khan, whose work has covered several collections of papyri and various parts of the Cambridge Genizah collections.

al-Mubarrad are included, and these also represent several fourth-

century authors, e.g., a copy of al-Sirfifi's Akhbar al-nahwiyin al-basriyin, copied in 376/986, only eight years after his death. A film of Aya Sofya 4832 provides fifth-century texts of over 60

philosophical and scientific essays, primarily by al-Kindi. Other films cover MSS recognized for their crucial textual importance- for example, the Diamad 949 MS of the Rasadil of al-Jahiz and the Kopriilii MSS of his Kitab al-hayawan. This list could be contin- ued at considerable length.

The foregoing having been said, however, it must be ob- served that this book is a handlist rather than a proper cata-

logue. There are no divisions according to subject, and titles are instead simply strung together in alphabetical order; one can therefore only guess at what al-CAskari, for example, discussed in his Risala ild bacd ashdbihi that was sufficiently significant to draw Ritter's attention to the essay. Entries provide the au- thor's name and death date, the title, MS number and number of folios, specified or approximate date of copying, and references to Brockelmann, Sezgin, and other secondary literature. But in-

cipits and explicits are not included, and it is often difficult to discern whether or not a given text is complete. Various indices

help one find authors or specific Mss, but again, never particular subjects.

But it is certainly not an unprofitable exercise simply to read through this work to discover the treasures it reveals. The collection itself is a fitting memorial to the erudition of Hellmut Ritter, and all who use it will be grateful to those whose labors have made it accessible to a broader scholarly audience.

LAWRENCE I. CONRAD WELLCOME INSTITUTE FOR THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE

Arabic Legal and Administrative Documents in the Cambridge Genizah Collections. By GEOFFREY KHAN. Cambridge Uni- versity Library Genizah Series, 10. Cambridge: CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1993. Pp. xviii + 567, 24 plates. ?100, $175.

The importance of documentary evidence to the study of medieval Islamic law, administration, fiscal policy, and chancery practice has been acknowledged on all sides for decades, but the integration of this material into moder scholarship has long been impeded by the lack of proper catalogues and editions. The pioneering efforts of Adolf Grohmann and S. M. Stern have more recently been pursued in valuable research by such scholars as Werner Diem, Heinz Halm, Raif-Georges Khoury, Donald Little, D. S. Richards, and perhaps most important, Geoffrey Khan, whose work has covered several collections of papyri and various parts of the Cambridge Genizah collections.

The book under review here publishes the Arabic legal and administrative documents in the Genizah collections at Cam-

bridge University Library. A total of 159 texts are included: 69 legal documents and 90 administrative, all but one in Arabic

script.1 For each document Khan provides a physical descrip- tion, an edition of the text, textual notes on questions of ortho-

graphy, syntax, and various mistakes and anomalies, an English translation, and a commentary dealing with matters of historical

interpretation. There are twenty-four plates illustrating some of the documents, and access to the material is facilitated by indices of Genizah documents, subjects, Arabic, Hebrew, and Coptic personal names, place names (not only of countries, pro- vinces, and towns, but also including streets, offices, and build-

ings), titles and professions, and miscellaneous Arabic words. The briefest glance at the plates and the corresponding edi-

tions will suffice to confirm the scale of Khan's achievement in this book. The standard of the editions and translation is very high, and the notes and commentaries are clear and extremely in- formative. In the eleven cases (nos. 50, 52, 65, 73-74, 77, 85, 88, 103-4, and 109) where documents have previously been edited by other scholars, variant readings are always clearly stated; Khan's readings almost invariably seem preferable, though the fact that none of these documents is included in the plates means that the reader cannot check this for himself. A formidable array of parallel textual evidence and secondary literature is brought to bear throughout, and serves to resolve many questions of reading and interpretation. Of particular significance are the detailed in- troductions provided for the most important types of material. A long discussion of sales contracts (pp. 7-55), for example, es- tablishes that the structure of the Fatimid Genizah documents can be traced to the direct influence of al-Tahawi (d. 321/933), whose formulary was taken up in the fourth century A.H. and then expanded in the fifth.2

The range of the corpus is quite broad. The legal materials include documents of sale, lease, and endowment (31), mar- riage contracts (3), iqrar texts (13), testimonies, declarations, and depositions (9), court records and powers of attorney (6), one tax-farmer's contract, and questions put to fuqaha' (6). In the administrative sphere, there are petitions to officials and dig- nitaries and documents relating to their processing (38), a vari- ety of dispositions (10) and reports of death (7), and documents on fiscal affairs (29). Especially rich is the data that these texts

1 The exception is no. 79, which consists of two Judaeo- Arabic drafts of a petition to a wazir concerning impounded property.

2 This valuable essay serves to confirm and expand upon the work of Jeanette Wakin, which is cited frequently in this book. See her Function of Documents in Islamic Law: The Chapters on Sales from al-Tahawi's Kitab al-Shuruit al-Kabir (Albany: State Univ. of New York Press, 1971), 1-70.

The book under review here publishes the Arabic legal and administrative documents in the Genizah collections at Cam-

bridge University Library. A total of 159 texts are included: 69 legal documents and 90 administrative, all but one in Arabic

script.1 For each document Khan provides a physical descrip- tion, an edition of the text, textual notes on questions of ortho-

graphy, syntax, and various mistakes and anomalies, an English translation, and a commentary dealing with matters of historical

interpretation. There are twenty-four plates illustrating some of the documents, and access to the material is facilitated by indices of Genizah documents, subjects, Arabic, Hebrew, and Coptic personal names, place names (not only of countries, pro- vinces, and towns, but also including streets, offices, and build-

ings), titles and professions, and miscellaneous Arabic words. The briefest glance at the plates and the corresponding edi-

tions will suffice to confirm the scale of Khan's achievement in this book. The standard of the editions and translation is very high, and the notes and commentaries are clear and extremely in- formative. In the eleven cases (nos. 50, 52, 65, 73-74, 77, 85, 88, 103-4, and 109) where documents have previously been edited by other scholars, variant readings are always clearly stated; Khan's readings almost invariably seem preferable, though the fact that none of these documents is included in the plates means that the reader cannot check this for himself. A formidable array of parallel textual evidence and secondary literature is brought to bear throughout, and serves to resolve many questions of reading and interpretation. Of particular significance are the detailed in- troductions provided for the most important types of material. A long discussion of sales contracts (pp. 7-55), for example, es- tablishes that the structure of the Fatimid Genizah documents can be traced to the direct influence of al-Tahawi (d. 321/933), whose formulary was taken up in the fourth century A.H. and then expanded in the fifth.2

The range of the corpus is quite broad. The legal materials include documents of sale, lease, and endowment (31), mar- riage contracts (3), iqrar texts (13), testimonies, declarations, and depositions (9), court records and powers of attorney (6), one tax-farmer's contract, and questions put to fuqaha' (6). In the administrative sphere, there are petitions to officials and dig- nitaries and documents relating to their processing (38), a vari- ety of dispositions (10) and reports of death (7), and documents on fiscal affairs (29). Especially rich is the data that these texts

1 The exception is no. 79, which consists of two Judaeo- Arabic drafts of a petition to a wazir concerning impounded property.

2 This valuable essay serves to confirm and expand upon the work of Jeanette Wakin, which is cited frequently in this book. See her Function of Documents in Islamic Law: The Chapters on Sales from al-Tahawi's Kitab al-Shuruit al-Kabir (Albany: State Univ. of New York Press, 1971), 1-70.

153 153

