Item Summary

Collection of two texts on time reckoning and astronomical matters. Two dates are mentioned in the text as "hādhihi al-sanah allatī naḥnu fīhā": 607 H. (fol. 45a, l. 3) and 612 H. (fol. 69b, l. 5).

Descriptive Information

Title
كتاب في الشهور الرومية ... [الخ.]
Transliterated Title
Kitāb fī al-shuhūr al-rūmiyah ... [etc.]
Call Number
Islamic Manuscripts, Garrett no. 4657Y
Identifier
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/sx61dm35g
Publisher
[15th century?]
Language
Arabic
Date Created
1400-1499
Format
Manuscript
Extent
82 leaves : paper, map ; 181 x 137 (137 x 102) mm bound to 182 x 142 mm.
Provenance
Waqf dated 1194 H. on the pastedown of the upper cover. Acquired from Abraham Shalom Yahuda, 1942.
Source Acquisition
Gift ; Robert Garrett, Class of 1897 ; 1942.
References
Mach, R. Yahuda, 4983, 5025
Rights Statement
No Known Copyright
Contents
1. fol. 1a-41a: Kitāb fī al-shuhūr al-rūmīyah. Treatise on the names of the months of the year. Incomplete at beginning (the original foliation indicates that 40 leaves are missing). The first complete section begins on fol. 2b, l. 7 (on February).
2. fol. 41b-80a: Mukhtaṣar al-hayʼah wa-al-mafātīḥ fī ʻilm al-awqāt wa-al-maṣābīḥ lil-Sarrāj. Treatise composed in 607 H. (see fol. 45a, l. 3) on the mansions of the Moon, how to calculate the hours of the night, the hours of prayer, the seven climes, etc., followed by a text dealing with chronology, divided in a number of chapters (bāb) and sections (faṣl), which seems to be a portion of a different work (from fol. 69b on). For a description of contents, see R. Mach. Yahuda, no. 4983. Table of contents on fol. 42a-b, listing 16 chapters (bāb), but the present copy contains only bāb 1-15.
Notes
Ms. codex.
Title supplied by cataloger.
On fol. 65b-66a: Map. Incomplete at the beginning.
Collation: Paper, fol. 81 ; 1-7¹⁰ 8¹⁰ (+1, fol. 81) ; catchword on the verso of each leaf ; foliation in ink using Hindu-Arabic numerals (starts with 41 on fol. 1) ; modern foliation in pencil using Western numerals.
Layout: 14 lines per page ; ruled.
Description: Written in medium small script in black ink, with use of red for headings and ornementation. The final letters of a line are often written in the margin (see fol. 31a). Light cream paper, glossy, with laid (and chain?) lines visible. Some paper tinted (tending towards orange).
Incipit: [كتاب في الشهور] وتوسط السما الدراع وزاغت التحية وغاب الرشا فاذا كان نصف الليل طلع الاكليل ... [2ب] ... شهر فبرير وهو بالقبطي امشير وبالسرياني والعجمي اشباط عدد ايامه ثمانية وعشرين يوم -- [كتاب مختصر الهيئات] بسم ... رب يسر الحمد لله مصرف الخير والشر ومسبب النفع والضر الذي زين السما والارض بالزهد والزهر ... وبعد فانه سالني من لا يمكنني دفعه ولا يحسن بي منعه تعريفه بمنازل الاهله وتعليمه التوصل الى علم الاوقات بالادلة
Explicit: [كتاب في الشهور] ثم يقلع ويزرع الثوم ثم ينقل في شهر اغشت وفيه يزرع الخشخاش الابيض وبالله التوفيق -- [كتاب مختصر الهيئات] ثم تسقط المجتمع لكل برج خمسه خمسه وبدو العدد من برج الشمس فان بقى معك اقل من خمسه فبحسابه تم
Binding Note
Quarter-bound type III (without flap) binding in dark brown leather and marbled paper over paper pasteboards. Paper pastedowns. Disbound.

Discovery Information

Subject
Time measurements—Arab countries—Early works to 1800
Geographical positions—Arab countries—Early works to 1800
Lunar eclipses—Early works to 1800
Solar eclipses—Early works to 1800
Astrolabes—Early works to 1800
Astronomy, Arab—Early works to 1800
Months—Nomenclature—Early works to 1800
Manuscripts, Arabic—New Jersey—Princeton
donation inscriptions
Colored papers
scientific illustrations (images)

Physical Characteristics

File Count
165

Institutional Information

Collection
Manuscripts of the Islamic World
IIIF Manifest URL

https://figgy.princeton.edu/concern/scanned_resources/d9230540-bebb-4243-8b6a-3dc24e9b6c94/manifest