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]
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Frontispiece 2. Sage holding a flabellum -
![Frontispiece 3. Ruler-Prince with crown, enthroned with two Turkic-style attendants.[3]](/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/Ibn_Bakht%C4%ABsh%C5%AB%CA%BF%2C_Kit%C4%81b_na%CA%BFt_al-%E1%B8%A5ayaw%C4%81n_probably_Baghdad%2C_c._1225._London%2C_British_Library%2C_Or._2784%2C_frontispiece_3_Ruler-Prince%2C_enthroned_with_two_attendants.jpg/134px-thumbnail.jpg)
Frontispiece 3. Ruler-Prince with crown, enthroned with two Turkic-style attendants.[3] -
![Frontispiece 4. Scholar-Prince with turban, enthroned with two attendants.[3]](/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/18/Ibn_Bakht%C4%ABsh%C5%AB%CA%BF%2C_Kit%C4%81b_na%CA%BFt_al-%E1%B8%A5ayaw%C4%81n_probably_Baghdad%2C_c._1225._London%2C_British_Library%2C_Or._2784%2C_frontispiece_4_Scholar-Prince%2C_enthroned_with_two_attendants.jpg/142px-thumbnail.jpg)
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]](/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/Ibn_Bakht%C4%ABsh%C5%AB%CA%BF%2C_Kit%C4%81b_na%CA%BFt_al-%E1%B8%A5ayaw%C4%81n_probably_Baghdad%2C_c._1225._London%2C_British_Library%2C_Or._2784%2C_A_student_sitting_with_Aristotle_%28right%29.jpg/149px-Ibn_Bakht%C4%ABsh%C5%AB%CA%BF%2C_Kit%C4%81b_na%CA%BFt_al-%E1%B8%A5ayaw%C4%81n_probably_Baghdad%2C_c._1225._London%2C_British_Library%2C_Or._2784%2C_A_student_sitting_with_Aristotle_%28right%29.jpg)
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Ibn Bakhtīshūʿ and a pupil. -
Man and woman -
Two hares eating berries
References
- ^ a b c Contadini 2012, p. 1.
- ^ Contadini 2012, p. 40.
- ^ a b c d e Contadini 2012, p. 72.
- ^ 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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This page was last edited on 20 February 2024, at 18:51