Abraham Zacuto
Abraham Zacuto | |
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Born | |
Died | 1515 (aged 62–63) |
Abraham Zacuto (
His
Life
Zacuto was born in
With the Catholic Monarchs of Spain issuing the 1492 Alhambra Decree ordering the expulsion of the Jews, Zacuto took refuge in Lisbon, Portugal. Already famous in academic circles, he was invited to court and nominated Royal Astronomer and Historian by King John II of Portugal, a position which he held until the early reign of Manuel I. He was consulted by the king on the possibility of a sea route to India, a project which he supported and encouraged.
Zacuto was one of the few who managed to flee Portugal during the forced conversions and prohibitions of departure that the Portuguese king Manuel I enacted to keep the Jews in Portugal as nominal Christians for foreign policy reasons (see persecution of Jews and Muslims by Manuel I of Portugal). Zacuto first fled to Tunis and later moved to Jerusalem.[2] He probably died in 1515 in Jerusalem; however, other reports indicate his final home was the Jewish community in Damascus and his death occurred in 1520.[2] However, in a similar vein to other giants of the Jewish faith, such as Saadia Gaon, Maimonides and the Vilna Gaon, he followed the Jewish custom (believed to have begun in the Babylonian captivity) of being buried as close to Jerusalem as possible. Zacuto had announced his wish to make his death pilgrimage at a Passover gathering.[citation needed]
Work
Ha-ḥibbur ha-gadol
Abraham Zacuto developed a new type of
The first
Biur luḥot
Zacuto's Almanach perpetuum (or Biur luḥot) revolutionised ocean navigation. Prior to the Almanach, navigators seeking to determine their position on the high seas had to correct for "compass error" (the deviation of the
Vasco da Gama and his crew underwent a thorough briefing and preparation by Zacuto. They learnt how to use the new instruments which he had developed for their trip before they set off on their voyage to India in 1496. Prior to that, Zacuto had further improved existing astronomical tables, mostly those prepared under King Alphonso X of Castille. Already Columbus had used Zacuto's tables. The story is that on one of his voyages, when attacked by the natives, Columbus noted that Zacuto had predicted an eclipse for that day, and used this information to threaten the natives and convince them that he could extinguish the Sun and Moon and deprive them of all light. Based on this story, Zacuto's work saved the Admiral's life and that of his crew.[8]
Other publications
In 1504, while in
Legacy
Abraham Zacuto might have an uncredited appearance in
The small Abraham Zacuto Portuguese Jewish Museum (Portuguese: Museu Luso-Hebraico Abraão Zacuto), founded in 1939 and located in the former Synagogue of Tomar, is named after Zacuto.[14][15]
The crater Zagut on the Moon is named after him.[citation needed]
Bibliography
- 1478, Ha-ḥibbur ha-gadol (La Compilación Magna), his first astronomical book, translated into Castilian 1481 by himself and Juan de Salaya from the University of Salamanca. In 1496 the work was translated into Latin translation by José Vizinho and published in Leira as Almanach Perpetuum or Tabule tabularum celestium motuum astronomi zacuti. This work became important for the contemporary explorers.[16]
- 1486, Tratado breve en las ynfluencias del cielo, and De los eclipses del sol y la luna.[2]
- 1498, Sefer yuḥasin, historical text for the Jewish people. Digital edition: Zacuto, Avraham. Sefer yuḥasin. Brooklyn, NY: Renaissance Hebraica, 1994.
- 1498, astrological text predicting that the Messiah would come in 1503/4.[2]
- after 1498, Mishpetei ha-'istagnin (Judgments of the astrologer)[2]
References
- ^ "Zacuto, Abraham ben Samuel | Encyclopedia.com".
- ^ ISBN 0-87169-902-8.
- ^ J. Riccioli (1651): Almagestum Novum, p. XXVIII
- ^ a b c d e "Zacuto, Abraham" in Glick, T., S.J. Livesy and F. Williams, editors, (2005) Medieval science, technology, and medicine: an encyclopedia, New York Routledge.
- ISSN 1749-5679.
- ^ Although it took a little time to adapt. João de Barros (1552) Decadas de Asia Dec. 1.2,pp. 280–81, relates how Vasco da Gama, arriving at the Bay of St. Helen in November 1497, disembarked to take the readings because he did not quite trust the new-fangled astrolabe on board. Physician-astronomer Master João Faras, aboard the fleet of Pedro Álvares Cabral, upon landing in Brazil in 1500, also complains about the astrolabe readings at sea. But pilot João de Lisboa (writing c. 1514) indicates the use of astrolabe and tables were already perfected and routine. See Albuquerque, Luís de, "Introdução", in 1986 ed. of Abraão Zacuto, Almanach Perpetuum, Lisbon: Imprensa Nacional Casa da Moeda
- JSTOR 24536958.
- ^ Astronomy in Sefarad
- JSTOR 1453505.
- JSTOR 1452099.
- ^ Dan Rabinowitz in Hakirah, The Flatbush Journal of Jewish Law and Thought, volume 2 (fall 2015), Nekkudot: The Dots that Connect Us, p. 64.
- ^ The Complete Yuchsin Book, third edition (5723)
- ^ Correia, Gaspar (1858). Lendas da India. Typ. da Academia Real das Sciencias. p. 23.
- ^ "Tomar". JGuideEurope - The Cultural Guide to Jewish Europe. Fondation Jacques et Jacqueline Lévy-Willard. 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
- ^ "Sinagoga e Núcleo Interpretativo da Sinagoga de Tomar (Synagogue and Interpretive Center of the Synagogue of Tomar)". CM Tomar - Sinagoga (in English and Portuguese). Câmara Municipal de Tomar (Tomar City Hall). 31 May 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
- ^ Miguel CF. "Zacut: Abraham Ben Samuel Zacut". Retrieved 15 June 2009.
Further reading
- Miguel, Cirilo Flórez (2007). "Zacut: Abraham ben Samuel Zacut". In Thomas Hockey; et al. (eds.). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. New York: Springer. pp. 1255–6. ISBN 978-0-387-31022-0. (PDF version)
External links
- Biography, introduction and partial English translation of Sefer Yohassin
- Short biography of Rabbi Abraham Zacuto
- JewishEncyclopedia
- A downloadable copy of Sefer haYuchasin printing from the middle of the 19th century
- Zacuto Foundation commemorates life and works of Rabbi Abraham Zacuto and his Book of Lineage.