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Abu Yusuf Ya'qub ibn Ishaq as Sabbah al-Kindi:
Ristila Ii mulk al-arab wa kamiyyatihi
(letter on the rule of the Arabs and its duration) (d 873)
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Taken from: On Historical Astrology: The Arabic original - Kitab al-milal wa-al-duwal
(The book of religions and dynasties) Abu Mashar, Keiji Yamamoto, Charles Burnett 2000
When the two malefics (1) conjoin in Aries (2), it indicates a riot between the Byzantines and the Arabs, in Gemini (3) and Cancer (4) between the people of Armenia and its borders, in Leo (5) between the Turks and the Arabs, in Virgo (6) among the Copts,
Nubians, and the Arabs, in Libra (7) among the Byzantines themselves, is Scorpio (8) among the Arabs themselves, in
Sagittarius (9) among the Turks, in Capricorn (10) between Ethiopia, Zang, and India, in Aquarius (11) between as-Sawad (12), Kufa (13), and al-Gibal (14), and in Pisces (15) between the Egyptians, the Khazars (16), (the people of) the sea, and the Arabs.
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History of Cartography. Second Part. Middle Ages. Juan Romero-Giron.
Juan Romero-Giron concludes in his work that the author of this book is unknown. It was written or copied in 1192 in Seville.
The manuscript is divided into 30 short chapters, which have a geographical and astronomical content to explain the cause of the tides and the rise of the rivers, with special dedication in chapters 25-29: the rise of the Nile. But chapter 24 has several maps. The chapter is titled: About what is said about the seas that come out of the ocean and what comes from the ebb and flow.
This great sea is opposed in the western region by another sea (Mediterranean Sea) that leaves the ocean in the western part of the country of Sudan, which ends in the vicinity of the Mountains of the Moon and in it are the mouth of the Nile of Egypt……
…………The geography of the Earth has been drawn by means of two different images, of round and flat shape, so that the one who looks at them can see clearly the way the flow and reflux behave and its particularities with respect to the ocean and where it ends. monthly flow of these seas, where is the end of that sea and its limits .......
The text along the East African coast reads: End of inhabited territory.
and to the south a longer text reads: This territory is not populated by excess heat.
In the half circle (at the sources of the Nile) is written: Mountains of the Moon.
Besides the rivers that come out of the Mountains of the Moon but flow to West Africa is written: Nile of Ethiopia.
The other map (on Fol. 114r) has the N pole at the centre of the circle. The largest of the concentric circles (the outer one) is the equator. Just right of the top of this map a half circle is popping out of the equator. These are the Mountains of the Moon. Inside it is visible a circle with in it (vague) 3 small circles. These are the lakes close to the sources of the Nile. And the Nile that flows from there to the Mediterranean is also visible.
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Taken from: Ibn Khaldun, Mukaddima
Ya’kub ibn Ishak
al Kindi said that (the behaviour) of the Zanj is due to the weakness of their brain, which causes a weakening of the intellect.
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Aqrabadhin; (The medical formulary)
Taken from: The medical formulary, or Aqrābādhīn by Kindī, Süleymaniye Umumı̂ Kütüphanesi
For freckles. Al-Kindi says that they will be lightened by two or three applications of barmecide drug (18).
Ivory dust 1 part
Yellow fig seed 1 part
Red kidney bean 1 part
Mungo bean 1 part
Honey 1 part
These are moistened with barley water. It is daubed on the face and hands. If it is too thick, use one-half part of the drugs.
The freckles will disappear, with God's help.
(1) malefics : having malignant influence.
(2) Aries: is one of the constellations located in the Northern celestial hemisphere. The name Aries is Latin for ram.
(3) Gemini: located in the northern hemisphere. Its name is Latin for twins; Castor and Pollux, two bright stars that appear relatively very closely together.
(4) Cancer: in the Northern celestial hemisphere. Its name is Latin for crab.
(5) Leo: in the Northern celestial hemisphere. Its name is Latin for lion. Among its many bright stars are Regulus and Denebola.
(6) Virgo: Its name is Latin for maiden; it intersects the celestial equator; its brightest star is Spica.
(7) Libra: is located in the Southern celestial hemisphere. Its name is Latin for weighing scales.
(8) Scorpio: is located in the Southern celestial hemisphere, its bright stars include Antares and Acrab.
(9) Sagittarius: is located in the Southern celestial hemisphere. Its name is Latin for "archer".
(10) Capricorn: Its name is Latin for "horned goat".
(11) Aquarius: Its name is Latin for "water-carrier" or "cup-carrier".
(12) as-Sawad: the name used in early Islamic times (7th–12th centuries) for southern Iraq.
(13) Kufa: Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about 170 kilometres south of Baghdad.
(14) al-Gibal: literally the front part.
(15) Pisces: in the Northern celestial hemisphere. Its name is Latin for "fishes".
(16) Khazars: Semi nomadic people from south Russia, south Ukraine, Crimea, Kazakhstan.
(17) Faris: Fars in Iran; Persian Gulf.
(18) barmecide drug: botanical drug also morphine.