Book of roger idrisi

The fruit of these efforts, the excursion of one who is eager to traverse the regions of the world, was completed in 1154 c. Tabula rogeriana latin for book of roger is the name of a publication created by arab cartographer muhammad alidrisi in 1154 under the guidance of king roger ii of sicily. Muhammad al idrisi muhammad al idrisi the tabula rogeriana, drawn by al idrisi for roger ii of sicily in 1154, one of the most advanced ancient world maps. This, together, with the accompanying map has been referred to as the tabula rogeriana a world map and description made by alidrisi for the norman king of sicily roger ii in the year 1154. Previous research has shown that this attention depends to a. Alidrisi, the book of roger, and the importance of water. Alidrisi completed the book in january 1154, shortly before rogers death. The arab geographer muhammad ibn muhammad alidrisi 11001165 wrote the book of roger, a world geography, for king roger ii of sicily. The book of roger in arabic or tabula rogeriana lit. Al idrisi and the king sent expeditions to remote places to record and draw what they saw. Al idrisi s great work of descriptive geography is known as kitab rujar, or alkitab arrujari the book of roger or in latin.

Alidrisi settled in palermo, sicily, at the tolerant and enlightened court of the norman king roger ii of sicily, where he was charged with the production of a book on geography. Dec 20, 20 the tabula rogeriana, also known in english as the book of roger, is the finest work of geography of its age. The book was completed shortly before king roger s death. Al idrisi was born in ceuta in morocco, a descendant of the. Tabula rogeriana project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. Drawing on several centuries of islamic cartographic research, al idrisi produced both a book of 70 maps covering. Muhammad alidrisi biography childhood, life achievements. A man on the edges alidrisi always seemed to live at the intersection of worlds. In the year 18, the royal palace at palermo, sicily was the scene of a longawaited meeting between an unusual christian king and a distinguished muslim scholar. It was commissioned by the islands norman ruler, king roger ii, and drew on greek, islamic and christian knowledge in creating one of the greatest medieval compendiums of geographical. Tabula rogeriana latin for book of roger is the name of a publication created by arab cartographer muhammad al idrisi in 1154 under the guidance of king roger ii of sicily. Recording the book of roger and reconstructing al idrisi s worldmap one of the bestpreserved copies of the entertainment is held by the bodleian library in oxford ms. This, together, with the accompanying map has been referred to as the tabula rogeriana a world map and description made by al idrisi for the norman king of sicily roger ii in the year 1154.

In 1154, after 18 years of toil, alidrisi produced his magnum opus, a map which came to be called the tabula rogeriana, or the book of roger. The great wall of china can be seen in the bottom left. Roger, whose father had wrested sicily from the muslim rulers after a long war of 30 years in 1091, treated al idrisi with great respect. Roger, however, was the first, and only, great king of sicily his son and successor was dubbed william the bad and his progeny let the kingdom fall from their grip. Maqbul ahmad aiidrlslwas born in ceuta, morocco, in 4931100. There is in fact more resemblance to geographical reality in the text and maps of claudius ptolemy, a text which alidrisi informs us he has used to compile his book of roger, but obviously he never completely read, attempted to draw the maps from the information therein, or, more likely did not understand the text of books 2 to 8.

It was to contain all available data on the location and climate of the worlds main centers of population. Al idrisi worked on the accompanying commentaries and illustrations of the map the book of roger for eighteen years at the court of the norman king roger ii of sicily. Muhammad al idrisi 1100 1165 born in ceuta in andalusian spain was the arab writer of a famous treatise on geography that was loosely based on ptolemy and updated through al idrisi s time. Al idrisi s book nuzhat almushtaq fi ikhtiraq alafaq,the delight of him who desires to journey through the climates is a geographical encyclopedia which contains detailed maps and information on european. Without an overall map as part of the book of roger it is doubtful that the individual tableaux or maps could be located and the climate limits set. Alidrisis works had a profound influence on european writers such as. Idrisi describes an island of cormorants with which has been tentatively identified as corvo, cape verde but on weak grounds. When king roger ii died in 1154, charif al idrisi lost power inside the royal court. Al idrisi later wrote two comprehensive geographical texts, apparently for roger s son william ii. Feb 08, 2012 the normans e3 book of roger pavel voronin. Recreating the lost silver map of alidrisi on vimeo. The book of roger in latin, is a description of the world and world map created by the arab geographer, muhammad alidrisi, in 1154. The silver planisphere has been lost, but the maps and book have survived.

The literary status of writers is strongly dependent on the critical attention given to their books in the daily and weekly press. Setting to work, al idrisi consulted all the books and travel reports he could find, synthesizing knowledge from arabic, latin and classical sources on the subject. Muhammad alidrisi 109911656 was a moroccan muslim geographer, cartographer, egyptologist and. Jan 27, 2020 roger ii hired alidrisi to create an updated world map. But, actually, the work he is most known for is the tabula rogeriana, a collection of maps attached to the book that offers a geographical worldview very different to the one that we are used to in the west. But this is not the map to compare the tableaux to. The world map is divided into 70 regional maps, with these divisions. He also made a representation of the known world on a disc.

The author was possibly born in morocco in 1100 and began his travels at the age of 16, visiting asia. Alidrisi presented the planisphere, a silver celestial sphere and the book to his patron in 1154, just a few weeks before roger died at 58, probably of a heart attack. Modern consolidation, created from the 70 doublepage spreads of the original atlas. Thetabula rogeriana global genealogists and probate. An expanded version of the book of roger, was created for william i, king roger s successor and son, unfortunately that work was lost. After the massacre of muslims in sicily in 1161, al idrisi fleed the island. The book of roger in latin, is a description of the world and world map created by the arab geographer, muhammad al idrisi. The book of roger in latin, is a description of the world and world map created by the arab geographer, muhammad al idrisi, in 1154. It does not mention that a world map, circular or otherwise should accompany the text even though it is actually a necessity to illustrate the overall schema. This arab muslim scholar, al idrisi, is one of the most famous geographers of all time. Fragments of muhammad alidrisis tabula rogeriana in. Abu addullah muhammad ibn muhammad ibn addallah ibn idrisi 10991166 was the creator of one of the most famous cartographic works in history, the kitab ruyar, or the book of roger.

The last paragraph of the prologue to the book of roger sets down specifically that there will be 70 tableaux or maps accompanying the text. He made it in sicily in the twelfth century, and it depicts the world from iceland to china, and many, many places inbetween. It was comprised of a silver disc some 80 inches across and weighing over 300 pounds 203 cm and 7 kg with alidrisis map engraved upon it and an accompanying book. Using 400,000 drachmas worth of silver the equivalent of 1,720 kg of silver. The arab geographer muhammad ibn muhammad al idrisi 11001165 wrote the book of roger, a world geography, for king roger ii of sicily. The book of roger is a 12th century geographical compendium written in arabic by al idrisi. Alidrisis book, the excursion of one who is eager to traverse the regions of the world, is known as one of the great works of medieval geography and cartography.

His magnum opus is a book of maps called the tabula rogeriana oras it is in arabic, the kitab rujjar. Al idrisi is a major character in karol szymanowksis 1926 opera king roger. Sep 21, 2017 alidrisis great work of descriptive geography is known as kitab rujar, or alkitab arrujari the book of roger or in latin. The map of roger in latin was a world map drawn by the arab geographer, muhammad al idrisi, in 1154. Al idrisi worked on the commentaries and illustrations of the map for fifteen years at the court of the norman king roger ii of sicily, who commissioned the work around 18. The original translation by jaubert kitab ruyar means book of roger this is al idrisi s geography book named after his employer roger ii of sicily al idrisi did not travel to the lands he described, he collected all information from hear say. Roger ii commissioned al idrisi, a descendant of the prophet of islam pbuh, to conduct a magisterial study of different peoples and lands known as the book of roger. His preface discussed cgid4d01 the text commences with flowery words concerning god and the illustrious roger king of sicily, of italy, of lombardy and of calabria, a roman prince. The book of roger is a 12th century geographical compendium written in arabic by alidrisi.

As well as the planisphere, al idrisi also made a world map which divided earth north of the equator into 70 sections and wrote a book titled kita rujar the book of roger or roger s book. Al idrisi was the descendant of idrisid, the ruler of morocco, who was a direct descendant of hazrat hasa, the grandson of prophet muhammad. The book, which was published in paris in the year 1840, contains references to various slavic countries in the description of the socalled. This is one of the oldest copies of al idrisi s world map, with indication of the seven climates of the world. The book of roger by brady hibbs scholarly commons. Loud and others published the book of roger by abu abdallah alidrisi find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. Dec 27, 2017 this arab muslim scholar, al idrisi, is one of the most famous geographers of all time. Alidrisis ideas on mare tenebrarum are alluded to in pascal mercier s book entitled night train to lisbon. Palermo native vincenzo salerno, who contributed to this article, has written biographies of several. Alidrisi sent travelers and geographers around the world to gather knowledge for this updated map and others.

In return, al idrisi dedicated his great geographical work nuzhat almushtaq to roger. Almost years ago, he drew one of the most detailed world maps ever. Nov 21, 20 the entertainment for he who longs to travel the world was an arabic geographical book written in sicily in 1154 by the muslim scholar alsharif alidrisi. The book of roger by abu abdallah alidrisi request pdf. Alsharif alidrisi, world map, 1154 a history of the world. Maqbul ahmad 1 book ofroger university of chicago press. It was a chart of the known world comprising europe, asia, and north africa and the horn of africa and extending all the way to southeast asia. King roger ii actually held the lands of sicily, apulia and calabria. Sadly, both the book and the silver map appear to have been destroyed during civil unrest shortly afterward, in 1160. Mar 09, 2017 roger commissioned al idrisi to create maps for him of the entire known world. A german scholar, konrad miller, published the maps in his mappe arabicae 192631, and later an emended world map, based upon millers work, was published by the iraq academy baghdad, 1951.

Jul 16, 2019 abu addullah muhammad ibn muhammad ibn addallah ibn idrisi 10991166 was the creator of one of the most famous cartographic works in history, the kitab ruyar, or the book of roger. He wrote one of the greatest works of medieval geography, kitab nuzhat almushtaq fi ikhtiraq alafaq the pleasure excursion of one who is eager to traverse the regions of the world. His work, marking the end of the classical age of arab geograph. Muhammad al idrisi was born in the andalusian city of ceuta, a spanish enclave in morocco, in 1100 ad where his grandfather had settled after fleeing from malaga in the year 1057 ad. His work, marking the end of the classical age of arab geography, sums up much of its achievement. Made in cairo in 1553, it contains not only the 69 regional maps but also a.

Ashsharif alidrisi, arab geographer, an adviser to roger ii, the norman king of sicily. Luigi mendola is the history editor of best of sicily and author of several books. Icon of the renaissance empires of discovery christopher columbus the publishing industry king henry viii the scientific method. The book of roger brady hibbs ouachita baptist university follow this and additional works at. Alidrisis book came to be known as kitab rujar rogers book and the circular world map was engraved onto a silver tablet. He also tried to combine descriptive and astronomical geography. Aramco world magazine july august 1977 volume 28 no. Al idrisi was the main character in tariq alis book entitled a sultan in palermo. Roger ii, alidrisi, and religious coexistence in sicily. Book of roger project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. The work was completed and presented by muhammad al idrisi to his patron, roger ii, in 1154, only a few weeks before the kings death. The book tells the story, not just from the point of view of administrators and academics, but also from those of students and support staff such as secretaries, technicians and engineers.