DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6552#0358
appendix.
319
ABOU MA'SHER JA'FER BEIV MOHAMMED BALKHI,
an astrologer. died, 272 a.h.
{Bod. Lib. MS. 392.)
The wise men, previous to the flood, foreseeing an impending-
judgment from heaven either by submersion or by fire, which
would destroy every created being, built upon the tops of the
mountains and in Upper Egypt many pyramids of stone, in order
to have some refuge against the approaching calamity. Two of
these buildings exceeded the rest in height, being four hundred
cubits high, and as many broad, and as many long. They were
built with large blocks of marble. The length and breadth of
each stone was from eight to ten cubits square ; and they were so
well put together that the joints were scarcely perceptible. Upon
the exterior of the building, every charm and wonder of physic
was inscribed in the Mosannad character;8 and likewise this de-
claration—" I have built them, and whoever considers himself
powerful, may try to destroy them ; let him however reflect, that
to destroy is easier than to build."
8 The original is jJowll The Camoos (Arabic Dictionary) says, that
— u •»
.XUm^j, fourth conjugation — which means literally "propped," "supported"—is
the name of the Himyaritic character, perhaps so called in opposition to the Ta'lik,
i.e. " hanging," or " Persian character," to designate that it is more fixed and fitter
for inscription upon stone; but as we find here the word in the second conjugation,
which often answers to our " ize," in Germanize, and the Greek in ixx>iw^, it
may be derived from JsJLw " Sind," the Arabic name for Western India. This is
the more probable, as this word is used in the Mirat-ezzeman as an adjective, with
the word Himyaritic. The Manahij Alfikr likewise terms a sort of writing "Sind,"
JsJUJL De Sacy, in " Abd Allatif," p. 222, reads it in Makrizi, (where he quotes
Ebn Khordadbeh,) " Masnud:" but I cannot discover this expression, either in
the copy of Makrisi, or in that of Ebn Khordadbeh, which are preserved in the
Bodleian Library.*—Dr. Sprenger.
* The references occasionally introduced in the notes are generally taken from
the Arabic MSS. of the Bodleian Library, which are inserted in Uri's and Nicol's
catalogues; it is therefore unnecessary to give more than the name or number
of the MS. There are few quotations from the printed books, which relate to
Arabic historians, as no additional information was to be expected from them._
Dr. Sprenger.
319
ABOU MA'SHER JA'FER BEIV MOHAMMED BALKHI,
an astrologer. died, 272 a.h.
{Bod. Lib. MS. 392.)
The wise men, previous to the flood, foreseeing an impending-
judgment from heaven either by submersion or by fire, which
would destroy every created being, built upon the tops of the
mountains and in Upper Egypt many pyramids of stone, in order
to have some refuge against the approaching calamity. Two of
these buildings exceeded the rest in height, being four hundred
cubits high, and as many broad, and as many long. They were
built with large blocks of marble. The length and breadth of
each stone was from eight to ten cubits square ; and they were so
well put together that the joints were scarcely perceptible. Upon
the exterior of the building, every charm and wonder of physic
was inscribed in the Mosannad character;8 and likewise this de-
claration—" I have built them, and whoever considers himself
powerful, may try to destroy them ; let him however reflect, that
to destroy is easier than to build."
8 The original is jJowll The Camoos (Arabic Dictionary) says, that
— u •»
.XUm^j, fourth conjugation — which means literally "propped," "supported"—is
the name of the Himyaritic character, perhaps so called in opposition to the Ta'lik,
i.e. " hanging," or " Persian character," to designate that it is more fixed and fitter
for inscription upon stone; but as we find here the word in the second conjugation,
which often answers to our " ize," in Germanize, and the Greek in ixx>iw^, it
may be derived from JsJLw " Sind," the Arabic name for Western India. This is
the more probable, as this word is used in the Mirat-ezzeman as an adjective, with
the word Himyaritic. The Manahij Alfikr likewise terms a sort of writing "Sind,"
JsJUJL De Sacy, in " Abd Allatif," p. 222, reads it in Makrizi, (where he quotes
Ebn Khordadbeh,) " Masnud:" but I cannot discover this expression, either in
the copy of Makrisi, or in that of Ebn Khordadbeh, which are preserved in the
Bodleian Library.*—Dr. Sprenger.
* The references occasionally introduced in the notes are generally taken from
the Arabic MSS. of the Bodleian Library, which are inserted in Uri's and Nicol's
catalogues; it is therefore unnecessary to give more than the name or number
of the MS. There are few quotations from the printed books, which relate to
Arabic historians, as no additional information was to be expected from them._
Dr. Sprenger.