Abu Muhammad al-Hasan al-Hamdani
Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan ibn Aḥmad ibn Yaʿqūb al-Hamdānī (
Biography
The biographical details of al-Hamdani's life are scant, despite his extensive
Before he was born his family had lived in al-Marashi (المراشي). Then they moved to
Writings
His Geography of the Arabian Peninsula (Sifat Jazirat ul-Arab) is by far the most important work on the subject,[3] where he describes the geography and the linguistic situation in the Arabian peninsula and Socotra.[5] The manuscript was used by Austrian orientalist, Aloys Sprenger in his Post- und Reiserouten des Orients (Leipzig, 1864) and further in his Alte Geographie Arabiens (Bern, 1875), and was edited by D.H. Müller (Leiden, 1884; cf. Sprenger's criticism in Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen Gesellschaft, vol. 45, pp. 361–394).[6]
His work has been the subject of extensive research and publications by the Austrian Arabist,
Other works said to have been written by al-Hamdani are listed in G. L. Flügel's Die grammatischen Schulen der Araber (Leipzig, 1862), pp. 220–221.[7]
List of works
- Kitab al-Jawharatayn al-ʻatīqatayn - A book describing metals known at that time, including their physical and chemical properties as well as treatment and processing (such as gold, silver, and steel).[8] He is also considered the first person who explained gravity of Earth in a way similar to magnetic field behavior.[9]
- Sifat Jazirat ul-Arab (صفة جزيرة العرب), Geography/Character of the Arabian Peninsula.[10]
- Kitāb al-Iklīl min akhbār al-Yaman wa-ansāb Ḥimyar (الإكليل من أخبار اليمن وأنساب حمير); Crowns from the Accounts of al-Yemen and the genealogies of Ḥimyar. al-Iklīl consists of ten volumes. However, only four volumes have been found (Vol.1, Vol.2, Vol.8 and Vol.10); the other volumes are missing.[11]
- History of Sabaʾ.
- Language of Himyar and Najran.
References
Citations
- )
- ^ "أبو محمد الحسن الهمداني" [Abu Muhammed Al-Hasan al-Hamdani]. yemen-nic.info. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
- ^ a b Thatcher 1911, p. 875.
- ^ Biography of al-Hamdani.
- ^ Vitaly Naumkin (1989) Fieldwork in Socotra, British Society for Middle Eastern Studies. Bulletin, 16:2, 133-142.
- ^ Thatcher 1911, pp. 875–876.
- ^ a b Thatcher 1911, p. 876.
- ^ Description of metals (in Arabic).
- OCLC 607846741.
- ^ Geography/Character of the Arabian Peninsula (in Arabic).
- ^ Crowns from the Accounts of al-Yemen and the genealogies of Himyar (in Arabic).
Bibliography
- "Hamdānī, Abū Muḥammad al- Ḥasan Ibn Aḥmad Ibn YaʿQūb al-". ISBN 978-0-684-10114-9.
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Thatcher, Griffithes Wheeler (1911). "Hamdānī". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 875–876.
- Britannica
- Nabih Amin Faris: The Antiquities of South Arabia being a Translation from the Arabic with Linguistic, Geographic and Historic Notes of the Eight Book of al-Hamdānī's al-Iklīl, Princeton, 1938
- Yūsuf Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh (Hrsg.): Al-Hamdani. A great Yemeni Scholar. Studies on the Occasion of his Millenial Anniversary. Sanaa, 1986
- Yūsuf Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh: al-Ḥasan b. Aḥmad al-Hamdānī, In: Al-Mausūʿa al-Yamanīya, Sanaa, 2003, vol. 4, S. 3097ff.
- Yūsuf Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh: Die Personennamen in al-Hamdānī's al-Iklīl und ihre Parallel in den altsüdarabischen Inschriften, Dissertation, Universität Tübingen, 1975.
- Jörn Heise: Die Gründung Sana'as – Ein orientalisch-islamischer Mythos? Berlin, Klaus Schwarz Verlag, May 2010, ISBN 978-3-87997-373-6(the fifth chapter is devoted to al-Hamdani's Biography )
- O. Löfgren: Art. "al-Hamdānī" in The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition vol. III, S. 124a-125a.
External links
- Toll, Christopher (2008) [1970-80]. "Al-Hamdānī, Abū Muḥammad Al-Ḥasan Ibn Aḥmad Ibn Yaʿqūb". Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Encyclopedia.com.
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