The Book of Watchtowers
Tov ben Matsliaḥ
Kitāb al-manāẓir
983
Similarly Scripture mentions also the excellent Egyptian sages who are called “wise men” and “magicians,” and their subtle actions that resemble some of the true [miracles] that had been performed by our Master Moses, peace be on him, and also the knowledge that they pretended to possess—namely, of the effects of the divine heavenly bodies in this…
The Book of Watchtowers (Kitāb al-manāẓir), written in Judeo-Arabic in Mosul, Iraq, provides evidence for the study of Jewish philosophy outside of the more commonly chronicled centers of Jewish life. The sole surviving manuscript of this work was dedicated to the Karaite synagogue of Cairo and copied in 1131. Tov is adamant about the value of studying non-Jewish wisdom. For him, philosophy is in harmony with ancient Jewish teachings. Here, he endorses the idea that Egyptian sages might have contributed to the development of the sciences.
Related Guide
Intellectual Culture in the Early Medieval World
Creator Bio
Tov ben Matsliaḥ
Tov ben Matsliaḥ (Abū ’l-Khayr Ṭābā ibn Ṣalḥūn) was from Mosul, Iraq. He is known for one work, written in Judeo-Arabic: The Book of Watchtowers (Kitāb al-manāẓir), which consists of notes on synagogue study sessions that seek to harmonize philosophy and biblical theology. Nothing else is known about his life.
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