Kitāb naʿt al-ḥayawān

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Frontispiece 1: compiler of the manuscript, holding a volume in his hands. Ibn Bakhtīshūʿ, Kitāb naʿt al-ḥayawān, probably Baghdad, c. 1225. London, British Library, Or. 2784, fol. 1v (2v)

Kitāb naʿt al-ḥayawān, sometimes abbreviated Na't (“Book of the Characteristics of Animals”), is a 13th-century manuscript in the tradition of the

Nestorian Christian author Ibn Bakhtīshūʿ (980–1058). The manuscript is in the British Library (Or. 2784).[1] It is the earliest illustrated manuscripts on animals, among known Arab and Persian manuscripts.[1]

It is a work of the

Abbasid period circa 1225, probably from Baghdad, but the exact date or place of production, or the author (painter and calligrapher) of this specific manuscript are unknown.[1]

The compiler of the book describes his intentions:

The compiler ( jāmiʿ) of this book says: when I read what the sage Aristotle said in his book on the characteristics of animals and found that he had not mentioned their usefulness I wanted to [add what has been mentioned by the sage ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Jibrāʾīl i]bn Bakhtīshūʿ on the usefulness of animals to make this book complete. I began it with the book by Aristotle and I [finished] it with the book by Ibn Bakhtīshūʿ. Everything quoted from Aristotle is Naʿt and everything quoted from Ibn Bakhtīshūʿ is Manfaʿ.

— Kitāb naʿt al-ḥayawān.[2]

Figures of authority are presented in frontispiece 3 and 4, a "Ruler-Prince" with armed attendants and a "Scholar-Prince". The attendants of the "Ruler-Prince" are armed and dressed with elements of the Turkic military fashion, wearing a type of Turkic

sharbush headgear and boots.[3] These elements help distinguish the "official" garb from the "Arab" garb, as also seen in the Maqamat al-Hariri manuscripts.[3] One attendant in frontispiece 4 is in non-military “Arab” dress, with a turban, a long tunic with baggy white trousers and black slippers.[3]

  • Frontispiece 2. Sage holding a flabellum
    Frontispiece 2. Sage holding a flabellum
  • Frontispiece 3. Ruler-Prince with crown, enthroned with two Turkic-style attendants.[3]
    Frontispiece 3. Ruler-Prince with crown, enthroned with two Turkic-style attendants.[3]
  • Frontispiece 4. Scholar-Prince with turban, enthroned with two attendants.[3]
    Frontispiece 4. Scholar-Prince with turban, enthroned with two attendants.[3]
  • A student sitting with Aristotle (right). Mention sūrat al-ḥakīm Aristūṭālīs ̣(“Representation of the Sage Aristotle”).[4]
    A student sitting with Aristotle (right). Mention sūrat al-ḥakīm Aristūṭālīs ̣(“Representation of the Sage Aristotle”).[4]
  • Ibn Bakhtīshūʿ and a pupil.
    Ibn Bakhtīshūʿ
    and a pupil.
  • Man and woman
    Man and woman
  • Two hares eating berries
    Two hares eating berries

References

  1. ^ a b c Contadini 2012, p. 1.
  2. ^ Contadini 2012, p. 40.
  3. ^ a b c d e Contadini 2012, p. 72.
  4. ^ Contadini 2012, p. 75.

Sources

  • Contadini, Anna (1 January 2012). A World of Beasts: A Thirteenth-Century Illustrated Arabic Book on Animals (the Kitāb Na‘t al-Ḥayawān) in the Ibn Bakhtīshū‘ Tradition. Brill.
    doi:10.1163/9789004222656_005
    .
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