The short Latin treatise De curis puerorum is the translation of a lost Arabic original attributed (perhaps mistakenly) to the famous al-Rāzī (Rhazes); one of the rare texts on pediatrics circulating in the Middle Ages, it was so popular that it was soon re-translated into Hebrew, not once but three times! Gerrit Bos and Michael McVaugh have edited the Latin and Hebrew texts, accompanying them with an English translation and a full commentary situating the original Arabic against the medical writings available to tenth-century Islam. The contents of the work range remarkably widely, covering skin diseases, eye and ear infections, teething, vomiting and diarrhea, constipation, worms, and bladder stones, among other things, outlining their causes, symptoms, and possible treatments.
The short Latin treatise De curis puerorum is the translation of a lost Arabic original attributed (perhaps mistakenly) to the famous al-Rāzī (Rhazes); one of the rare texts on pediatrics circulating in the Middle Ages, it was so popular that it was soon re-translated into Hebrew, not once but three times! Gerrit Bos and Michael McVaugh have edited the Latin and Hebrew texts, accompanying them with an English translation and a full commentary situating the original Arabic against the medical writings available to tenth-century Islam. The contents of the work range remarkably widely, covering skin diseases, eye and ear infections, teething, vomiting and diarrhea, constipation, worms, and bladder stones, among other things, outlining their causes, symptoms, and possible treatments.
Antonio da Rho’s Three Dialogues against Lactantius (1445) followed the lead of Jerome and Augustine yet went well beyond patristic concerns. During the Middle Ages Lactantius’ works, while largely neglected, had enjoyed moments of intense interest and study. From the death of Lactantius (325) to his broad Quattrocento recovery, many profound cultural and intellectual shifts had transpired. Consequently, Rho’s dialogues engage topics arising from scholastic and other debates in jurisprudence, cosmology, astrology, geography, philosophy, and theology. He was convinced that insights from these fields would elucidate errors of Lactantius that his readers had overlooked. This reveals much about the cultural and intellectual developments that shaped readers’ efforts to recover, comprehend, and define Lactantius as an author. Significantly, the list of Lactantius’ errors discussed in the dialogues was printed with nearly every edition of Lactantius through the sixteenth century and beyond.
Antonio da Rho’s Three Dialogues against Lactantius (1445) followed the lead of Jerome and Augustine yet went well beyond patristic concerns. During the Middle Ages Lactantius’ works, while largely neglected, had enjoyed moments of intense interest and study. From the death of Lactantius (325) to his broad Quattrocento recovery, many profound cultural and intellectual shifts had transpired. Consequently, Rho’s dialogues engage topics arising from scholastic and other debates in jurisprudence, cosmology, astrology, geography, philosophy, and theology. He was convinced that insights from these fields would elucidate errors of Lactantius that his readers had overlooked. This reveals much about the cultural and intellectual developments that shaped readers’ efforts to recover, comprehend, and define Lactantius as an author. Significantly, the list of Lactantius’ errors discussed in the dialogues was printed with nearly every edition of Lactantius through the sixteenth century and beyond.
The sermons here published for the first time are attributed to an otherwise unknown friar referred to simply as Frater Petrus. The collection provides evidence of actual preaching in a normal setting from fourteenth-century Germany, between the beginnings of the Franciscan order and the Observant reform movement, not by a major light of the order, but a regular member who may have held status as an intermediate-level teacher, to judge by the care with which the manuscripts were prepared. Theologically competent and gracefully presented in the conventional sermon style of the period, the collection, edited and translated by Daniel Nodes, offers scholars and students a reliable new resource in an area of sermon studies that is still in short supply.
The sermons here published for the first time are attributed to an otherwise unknown friar referred to simply as Frater Petrus. The collection provides evidence of actual preaching in a normal setting from fourteenth-century Germany, between the beginnings of the Franciscan order and the Observant reform movement, not by a major light of the order, but a regular member who may have held status as an intermediate-level teacher, to judge by the care with which the manuscripts were prepared. Theologically competent and gracefully presented in the conventional sermon style of the period, the collection, edited and translated by Daniel Nodes, offers scholars and students a reliable new resource in an area of sermon studies that is still in short supply.
The “Letter of Love and Concord” is a unique source, which allows us a glimpse into the political and religious aspirations of the Armenian Cilician elite at the end of the twelfth century, alluding to its hopes and expectations from the Crusades and the Church of Rome, as well as its uneasy relationship with the Byzantine Empire. The “Letter” is especially valuable for the wealth of information it contains on the royal ideology nurtured within the highest circles of the ruling Rubenid dynasty. The study provides an analysis of the sources used by its anonymous author, placing them within a historical context. Moreover, this marks the first time that a text based on the study of surviving sixty nine manuscripts along with its English translation has been made available for scholars.
The “Letter of Love and Concord” is a unique source, which allows us a glimpse into the political and religious aspirations of the Armenian Cilician elite at the end of the twelfth century, alluding to its hopes and expectations from the Crusades and the Church of Rome, as well as its uneasy relationship with the Byzantine Empire. The “Letter” is especially valuable for the wealth of information it contains on the royal ideology nurtured within the highest circles of the ruling Rubenid dynasty. The study provides an analysis of the sources used by its anonymous author, placing them within a historical context. Moreover, this marks the first time that a text based on the study of surviving sixty nine manuscripts along with its English translation has been made available for scholars.
Written by Abraham ibn Daud of Toledo (c. 1110-1180), Dorot ‘Olam (Generations of the Ages) is one of the most influential and innovative historical works of medieval Hebrew literature. In four sections, three of which are edited and translated in this volume for the first time, Dorot ‘Olam asserts the superiority of rabbinic Judaism and stresses the central role of Iberia for the Jewish past, present, and future. Combining Jewish and Christian sources in new ways, Ibn Daud presents a compelling vision of the past and formulates political ideas that stress the importance of consensus-driven leadership under rabbinic guidance. This edition demonstrates how Dorot ‘Olam was received by Jewish and Christian readers who embraced the book in Hebrew, Latin, and two English and German translations.
Written by Abraham ibn Daud of Toledo (c. 1110-1180), Dorot ‘Olam (Generations of the Ages) is one of the most influential and innovative historical works of medieval Hebrew literature. In four sections, three of which are edited and translated in this volume for the first time, Dorot ‘Olam asserts the superiority of rabbinic Judaism and stresses the central role of Iberia for the Jewish past, present, and future. Combining Jewish and Christian sources in new ways, Ibn Daud presents a compelling vision of the past and formulates political ideas that stress the importance of consensus-driven leadership under rabbinic guidance. This edition demonstrates how Dorot ‘Olam was received by Jewish and Christian readers who embraced the book in Hebrew, Latin, and two English and German translations.
The present volume consists of translated anecdotes, on musicological and socio-cultural topics, from al-Iṣbahānī’s Kitāb al-Aghānī al-Kabīr (The Grand Book of Songs) with annotations and commentaries. It deals with musical rhythmic and melodic modes, technical terms and treatises; music instruments; composition techniques and processes; education and oral/written transmissions; vocal and instrumental performances and their aesthetics; solo and ensemble music; change and its inevitability; musical and textual improvisations; ṭarab and the acute emotions of joy or grief; medieval dances; social status. Though extracts from The Grand Book of Songs have been translated in European languages since 1816, this work presents a much larger and more comprehensive scope that will benefit musicologists, medievalist and Middle Eastern scholars as well as the general reader.
The present volume consists of translated anecdotes, on musicological and socio-cultural topics, from al-Iṣbahānī’s Kitāb al-Aghānī al-Kabīr (The Grand Book of Songs) with annotations and commentaries. It deals with musical rhythmic and melodic modes, technical terms and treatises; music instruments; composition techniques and processes; education and oral/written transmissions; vocal and instrumental performances and their aesthetics; solo and ensemble music; change and its inevitability; musical and textual improvisations; ṭarab and the acute emotions of joy or grief; medieval dances; social status. Though extracts from The Grand Book of Songs have been translated in European languages since 1816, this work presents a much larger and more comprehensive scope that will benefit musicologists, medievalist and Middle Eastern scholars as well as the general reader.
In The Arab Thieves, Peter Webb critically explores the classic tales of pre-Islamic Arabian outlaws in Arabic Literature. A group of Arabian camel-rustlers became celebrated figures in Muslim memories of pre-Islam, and much poetry ascribed to them and stories about their escapades grew into an outlaw tradition cited across Arabic literature. The ninth/fifteenth-century Egyptian historian al-Maqrīzī arranged biographies of ten outlaws into a chapter on ‘Arab Thieves’ in his wide-ranging history of the world before Muhammad. This volume presents the first critical edition of al-Maqrīzī’s text with a fully annotated English translation, alongside a detailed study that interrogates the outlaw lore to uncover the ways in which Arabic writers constructed outlaw identities and how al-Maqrīzī used the tales to communicate his vision of pre-Islam. Via an exhaustive survey of early Arabic sources about the outlaws and comparative readings with outlaw traditions in other world literatures, The Arab Thieves reveals how Arabic literature crafted lurid narratives about criminality and employed them to tell ancient Arab history.
In The Arab Thieves, Peter Webb critically explores the classic tales of pre-Islamic Arabian outlaws in Arabic Literature. A group of Arabian camel-rustlers became celebrated figures in Muslim memories of pre-Islam, and much poetry ascribed to them and stories about their escapades grew into an outlaw tradition cited across Arabic literature. The ninth/fifteenth-century Egyptian historian al-Maqrīzī arranged biographies of ten outlaws into a chapter on ‘Arab Thieves’ in his wide-ranging history of the world before Muhammad. This volume presents the first critical edition of al-Maqrīzī’s text with a fully annotated English translation, alongside a detailed study that interrogates the outlaw lore to uncover the ways in which Arabic writers constructed outlaw identities and how al-Maqrīzī used the tales to communicate his vision of pre-Islam. Via an exhaustive survey of early Arabic sources about the outlaws and comparative readings with outlaw traditions in other world literatures, The Arab Thieves reveals how Arabic literature crafted lurid narratives about criminality and employed them to tell ancient Arab history.
Themistius’ (4th century CE) paraphrase of Aristotle’s Metaphysics 12 is the earliest surviving complete account of this seminal work. Despite leaving no identifiable mark in Late Antiquity, Themistius’ paraphrase played a dramatic role in shaping the metaphysical landscape of Medieval Arabic and Hebrew philosophy and theology. Lost in Greek, and only partially surviving in Arabic, its earliest full version is in the form of a 13th century Hebrew translation. In this volume, Yoav Meyrav offers a new critical edition of the Hebrew translation and the Arabic fragments of Themistius’ paraphrase, accompanied by detailed philological and philosophical analyses. In doing so, he provides a solid foundation for the study of one of the most important texts in the history of Aristotelian metaphysics.
Themistius’ (4th century CE) paraphrase of Aristotle’s Metaphysics 12 is the earliest surviving complete account of this seminal work. Despite leaving no identifiable mark in Late Antiquity, Themistius’ paraphrase played a dramatic role in shaping the metaphysical landscape of Medieval Arabic and Hebrew philosophy and theology. Lost in Greek, and only partially surviving in Arabic, its earliest full version is in the form of a 13th century Hebrew translation. In this volume, Yoav Meyrav offers a new critical edition of the Hebrew translation and the Arabic fragments of Themistius’ paraphrase, accompanied by detailed philological and philosophical analyses. In doing so, he provides a solid foundation for the study of one of the most important texts in the history of Aristotelian metaphysics.
This volume contains the edition and translation of the chapter of al-Maqrīzī’s al-Ḫabar ʿan al-bašar dealing with Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Franks, and Goths. This chapter is, for the most part, an almost exact reproduction of Ibn Ḫaldūn’s Kitāb al-ʿIbar, from which al-Maqrīzī derived material from many other sources, including prominent Christian sources such as Kitāb Hurūšiyūš, Ibn al-ʿAmīd’s History, and works by Muslim historians like Ibn al-Aṯīr’s Kāmil. Therefore, this chapter of al-Ḫabar ʿan al-bašar is a continuation of the previous Arabic historiographical tradition, in which European history is integrated into world history through the combination of Christian and Islamic sources.
This volume contains the edition and translation of the chapter of al-Maqrīzī’s al-Ḫabar ʿan al-bašar dealing with Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Franks, and Goths. This chapter is, for the most part, an almost exact reproduction of Ibn Ḫaldūn’s Kitāb al-ʿIbar, from which al-Maqrīzī derived material from many other sources, including prominent Christian sources such as Kitāb Hurūšiyūš, Ibn al-ʿAmīd’s History, and works by Muslim historians like Ibn al-Aṯīr’s Kāmil. Therefore, this chapter of al-Ḫabar ʿan al-bašar is a continuation of the previous Arabic historiographical tradition, in which European history is integrated into world history through the combination of Christian and Islamic sources.
It is well known that medieval Europe owes most of its scientific learning to the translations of Arabic treatises made in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The earliest Arabic infiltrations in Latin science are however much older. They can be traced back to the tenth century and to the making, in Catalonia, of a large corpus of astrological treatises: the Alchandreana. Based mainly on Arabic sources, but also on Hebrew and Latin sources, the Alchandreana constitute an exceptional testimony of cross-cultural exchanges between Christian, Arabic and Jewish scholars before the turn of the first millenium. This book offers a historical study, a technical analysis and a critical edition of the whole corpus.
Brill's Texts and Sources in Intellectual History, vol. 2