The arab geographer muhammad ibn muhammad alidrisi 11001165 wrote the book of roger, a world geography, for king roger ii of sicily. Alidrisis fame as a scholar brought him to the attention of roger ii, the norman king of sicily, who had assembled a group of philosophers, mathematicians, poets and geographers. 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 book of roger is a 12th century geographical compendium written in arabic by alidrisi. Fragments of muhammad alidrisis tabula rogeriana in. Roger of sicily ordered that a disk daira should be produced in pure silver of a large extent and of 400 roman ratls in weight, each ratl of 112 dirhams and when it was ready he had engraved on it a map of the seven climates and their lands and regions, their shorelines and hinterlands, gulfs and seas, watercourses and places of rivers, their inhabited and uninhabited parts, what. Al idrisis book however survived and is widely known as the book of roger, after the name of its patron. There, they quickly set up colonies that mixed the local population with settlers from their homelands and drew immigrants from the danelaw danish. As well as the planisphere, alidrisi 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 rogers book. Alidrisis silver map of the world presented at hay.
Tabula rogeriana latin for book of roger is the name of a publication created by arab cartographer muhammad alidrisi in 1154 under the. Roger ii hired alidrisi to create an updated world map. He also tried to combine descriptive and astronomical geography. Arab geographers had translated ptolemys geography by the end.
Alidrisi was born in ceuta in morocco, a descendant of the. He wrote one of the greatest works of medieval geography, kitab nuzhat almushtaq fi ikhtiraq alafaq the. As his visitor entered the hall, the king rose, took his hand and led him across the carpeted marble to a place of honor. The silver planisphere has been lost, but the maps and book have survived. 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.
Alidrisi found refuge in the court of roger ii, the greatest of the norman kings of sicily. Created by arab geographer muhammad alidrisi for king roger ii of sicily, the tabula rogeriana latin for the book of roger contains both an extraordinarily accurate partialworld map, and cultural and political commentaries on the seven climate zones it represents. Muhammad alidrisi 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. Modern consolidation, created from the 70 doublepage spreads of the original atlas. 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 knowledge. Alidrisi was the descendant of idrisid, the ruler of morocco, who was a direct descendant of hazrat hasa, the grandson of prophet muhammad. Alidrisis ideas on mare tenebrarum clarification needed are alluded to in pascal merciers book entitled night train to lisbon.
Alidrisis book came to be known as kitab rujar rogers book and the circular world map was engraved onto a silver tablet. 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. His book, nuzhat almushtaq, would live on inspiring countless future explorers from ibn battuta to marco polo. 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. The book of roger the description of langleterre synopsis in the book of roger kitab ruyar or nuzhat almustaq fi ikhtiraq alafaq, compiled ad1153 for king roger 2nd of sicily by mohammad alidrisi, which is an arabic script text and it is doubtful that. South is oriented to the top and southern africa is very large in. 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. Al idrisis world map, presented upside down in his book with south on top. Surat alard lilsharif alidrisi almutawaffa sanat 560, reprinted 1951 alidrisi was born in morocco, travelled in north africa and europe, and entered the service of roger ii king of sicily for whom he made this map as part of the book of pleasant journeys to faraway lands also known as the book of roger tabula rogeriana.
The book of roger brady hibbs ouachita baptist university follow this and additional works at. Al idrisis 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. After the massacre of muslims in sicily in 1161, alidrisi fleed the island. The map was informed by alidrisis interviews with scores of experienced. His work, marking the end of the classical age of arab geography, sums up much of its achievement. The nobles who signed up for the crusade included robert, duke of normandy and bohemond of taranto with his nephew tancred of roger ii family. For reasons which are unclear, he settled at the court of king roger ii of sicily r. Alidrisi was the main character in tariq alis book entitled a sultan in palermo. Al idrisis great work of descriptive geography is known as kitab rujar, or alkitab arrujari the book of roger or in latin.
When king roger ii died in 1154, charif alidrisi lost power inside the royal court. Alidrisi is a major character in karol szymanowksis 1926 opera king roger. Thus our understanding today of al idrisis conclusions is based on an abbreviated version of a. Alidrisi 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. 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. The nuzhat almushtaq fikhtiraq alafaq most often known as the tabula rogeriana is a description of the world and world map created by the arab geographer muhammad alidrisi in 1154. 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. Alidrisis 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.
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 rogers death. The nuzhat almushtaq fikhtiraq alafaq, most known as the tabula rogeriana, is a description of the world and world map created by the arab geographer muhammad alidrisi in 1154. The text commences with flowery words concerning god and the illustrious roger king of sicily, of italy. Map of the world created in the 12th c by the geographerbotanist alidrisi a muslim born in iberia from the book alkitab alrujari rogers book, or, nuzhat almushtaq fi ikhtiraq alafaq the delight of him who desires to journey through the climates. Tabula rogeriana latin for book of roger is the name of a publication created by. The book of roger muhammed al idrisi was a celebrated arab geographer. Alsharif alidrisi, world map, 1154 a history of the. Muhammad alidrisi project gutenberg selfpublishing.
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. His globe was accompanied by his book alkitab alrujari rogers book. He also made a representation of the known world on a disc. During that period, in 1095 when spain was centuries away from freedom and al idrisis clan held sway, pope urban ii, on the 27th november 1095 announced a call to arms, the 1st crusade. Abu addullah muhammad ibn muhammad ibn addallah ibn idrisi 10991166 was the creator of one of the most famous cartographic works in. Muhammad alidrisi 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 idrisis time. In the year 18, the royal palace at palermo, sicily was the scene of a longawaited meeting. He was born in ceuta in north africa and is said to have studied in cordoba, travelling widely throughout andalusia and north africa. Each map was accompanied by a description, which related all the wonderful things relating to each country. While crusaders and muslims battled in the holy land, sicily remained a meeting place. In correct muslim usage al idrisi begins his preface with an extended praise of a merciful and beneficent god. Alidrisis book came to be known as kitab rujar rogers book and the. Alidrisi, the book of roger, and the importance of water. The nuzhat almushtaq fikhtiraq alafaq, most often known as the tabula rogeriana, is a description of the world and world map created by the arab geographer muhammad alidrisi in 1154.
The map was utilised by various explorers such as christopher columbus and vasco da gama for their voyages in america and india. This book was titled the nuzhat almushtaq fikhtiraq alafaq, or the entertainment for those wanting to discover the world, although it is often known as the tabula rogeriana or book of roger. Alidrisi later wrote two comprehensive geographical texts, apparently for rogers son william ii. It was comprised of a silver disc some 80 inches across and weighing over 300 pounds 203 cm and 7 kg with al idrisis map engraved upon it and an accompanying book. Alidrisis book, the excursion of one who is eager to traverse the. Sadly, both the book and the silver map appear to have been destroyed during civil unrest shortly afterward, in 1160. Alidrisi was commissioned by roger ii to construct a map of the known world. Muhammad alidrisi muhammad alidrisi the tabula rogeriana, drawn by alidrisi for roger ii of sicily in 1154, one of the most advanced ancient world maps. Wikipedia commons over a period of 15 years, alidrisi would incorporate knowledge of africa, the indian ocean, and the far east gathered by islamic merchants and explorers along with islamic records and maps, and interviews of norman sailors and voyagers conducted. World heritage encyclopedia, the aggregation of the largest online encyclopedias available, and the most. Roger dexter was never really good at keeping secrets, when he was sudde. Al idrisis book came to be known as kitab rujar rogers book and the circular world map was engraved onto a silver tablet. Rogers court, he completed a world map engraved on silver no longer extant and the geographical compen dium entitled nuzhat almushtaqfi khtiraq alafaq the book of pleasant journeys into faraway lands, also known as the book ofroger containing a small world map and seventy sectional maps.
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