![]() Some of the book’s statements were revolutionary for their time, things like “the earth is round like a sphere.” Today, the Book of Roger is considered one of the most important scientific works of the Middle Ages. It is to Idrīsī that we owe much of our knowledge of the entire Mediterranean. In a casual observation, Idrīsī mentions the making of spaghetti in Trabia. Note that south is at the top of the map. Of these ten, six contain at the start of the work a circular map of the world which is not mentioned in the text of al-Idris”. According to the French National Library, “Ten copies of the Kitab Rujar or Tabula Rogeriana exist worldwide today. Al-Idrisi’s world map from ‘Alî ibn Hasan al-Hûfî al-Qâsimî’s 1456 copy. His greatest surviving work also regarded as one of the greatest works of medieval geography is the Kitāb nuzhat al-mushtāq fī ikhtirāq al-āfāq “Pleasure Excursion of One Eager to Traverse the World’s Regions,” better known as the Book of Roger. ![]() His famous planisphere, a large global map made of precious metal (mostly silver), did not survive the 12th century, but it is known to have been a noteworthy work of geography – probably the most accurate map of Europe, North Africa and Western Asia to have been created during the Middle Ages. Upon agreeing to stay, Roger settled upon him a king’s pension. Some Western scholars have suggested that al-Idrīsī may haveīeen regarded as a renegade by other Muslims for entering the service of aĬhristian king. He lived and worked for the rest of his life at the court of Idrīsī produced a number of works based on astute scholarly research, and it has been observed by modern Arabic scholars that Idrisi was an exceptional poet and writer of Arabic prose. He arrived in Sicily around 1145, and may have first visited as early as 1139. ![]() Modern consolidation, created from al-Idrisi’s 70 double-page spreads, shown upside-down as the original had South at the topĪccording to the contemporary Spanish Arab traveller Ibn Jubayr (1145-1217), Idrīsī’s Hammudi family was influential among Sicily’s Muslims, and his fame as a man of letters was known before his invitation to the court of King Roger II. ![]() The Tabula Rogeriana, drawn by al-Idrisi for Roger II of Sicily in 1154, one of the most advanced medieval world maps. ![]()
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