Account of Scientific Transmission

Abraham Ibn Ezra

Mid-12th Century

In ancient days, neither wisdom nor religion was found among the Arabs who dwell in tents, until the author of the Koran arose and gave them a new religion from his heart. After him came wise men who composed many books on their religious law, until there arose a great king of the Arabs whose name was al-Ṣafāḥ. He heard that in India there were…

Please login or register for free access to Posen Library
Register
Already have an account?
Engage with this Source

This passage comes from the introduction that Abraham Ibn Ezra wrote to his Hebrew translation of an Arabic commentary, written by the tenth-century Muslim Ibn al-Muthannā, on a set of astronomical tables by the ninth-century Muslim al-Khwārizmī. In it, Ibn Ezra describes the transfer of Indian astronomy to the Islamic world. Medieval Jewish rationalists, trying to validate their engagement with “secular” studies like philosophy, sometimes claimed that Jewish sages were the original source of Greek scientific wisdom. Ibn Ezra’s own scientific works played a critical role in the transfer of Arabic knowledge to Latin Europe, and many of his Hebrew texts were translated into Latin.

Read more
Restricted
Some content is unavailable to non-members, please log in or sign up for free for full access.

Related Guide

Early Medieval History and Travel Writing

7th to 12th Century

Creator Bio

Abraham Ibn Ezra

1092–1167

Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra was a remarkably productive itinerant intellectual who contributed to an astonishing array of fields, including biblical exegesis, science, mathematics, grammar, astronomy, astrology, piyyut (liturgical poetry), and philosophy. Born in Toledo, in al-Andalus (Muslim Spain), in the first part of his life Ibn Ezra moved in elite circles, for the most part writing poetry, and enjoyed a close relationship with the poet and theologian Judah ha-Levi. Around the age of fifty, Ibn Ezra fled Almohad persecutions in his homeland and traveled to Italy, northern France, and England. Most of his scientific writings date to this period, including numerous works on astrology, number theory, and grammar. His biblical commentaries, which were concerned with the straightforward meaning of scripture but also incorporated philosophical and scientific insights, were enormously popular. In later centuries, they attracted many supercommentaries , namely, commentaries on his commentary

You may also like

Letter to His Father, Joseph

You certainly wish to know the news from the Maghreb; the ears of all who hear about it will tingle (Jeremiah 19:4). People, distinguished persons as well as common people have arrived, among them…
View Source
Damaged manuscript page with Arabic text above an illustration of two lions seated among flora, facing and gesturing toward each other.
Tooltip info icon

A Lion Cub and His Lioness Mother

This illuminated page, found in the Cairo Geniza, is an illustration from a thirteenth or fourteenth century copy of Kalīla wa-Dimna, a popular collection of animal tales, written originally in…
View Source

Order of Tannaim and Amoraim

Ḥanina: We learned in the last section of chapter two [of b. Ḥagigah]: R. Jonathan ben Eleazar said: If his shawl fell off, etc. R. Jonathan ben ‘Amram likewise says: If one’s Sabbath…
View Source
Illustration of a bearded man in a robe holding a staff over his shoulder with a bag hanging from it, reaching his hand out toward another hand extended from the left edge of the image.
Tooltip info icon

The Tale of Alexandria and Cairo

When the time of my youth had not yet been poured from the vessel of society to the vessel of wandering, and the days of youth were like oil poured out upon my good name, and times of trouble were…
View Source

The Book of Tradition

The purpose of this Book of Tradition is to provide students with the evidence that all the teachings of our rabbis of blessed memory, namely, the sages of the Mishna and the Talmud, have been…
View Source