The volume comprises three distinct manuscripts (ff. 1v-63r, 63v-67r and 68r-135r).Contents:(1) Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī (نصير الدين الطوسي),
Taḥrīr al-Majisṭī(تحرير المجسطي ; ff. 1v-63r);(2) Menelaus of Alexandria (مانالاوس),
Fī ashkāl al-kurīyah(في أشكال الكرية; ff. 63v-67r);(3) Ulugh Beg (ألغ بيك),
Zīj-i Ulugh Beg(زيج ألغبيك; ff. 68r-135r).Codex; ff. v+135+4Material: PaperDimensions: 235 x 160 mm leaf [180 x 115 mm written ff. 1v-63r; entire writing surface used ff. 63v-67v; 180 x 132 mm written ff. 68v-135v]Foliation: British Library foliation in pencil; previous foliation in Arabic-Indic numerals, black ink, visible on some foliosRuling:
Misṭarah; 32 lines per page ff. 1v-63r, approximately 60 lines per page ff. 63v-67v, 33 lines per page ff. 68v-135v; vertical spacing 18 lines per 10 cm ff. 1v-63r, 27 lines per 10 cm ff. 63v-67v, 16 lines per 10 cm ff. 68v-135vScript:
Naskh; the scribe of Item 1 (ff. 1v-63r) is Ḥamzah ibn ‘Alī ibn Ḥamzah al-Qazwīnī al-Bayhaqī, known as Sa‘d al-Khurāsānī (حمزة بن على بن حمزة القزويني البيهقي المشهور بسعد الخراساني; see colophon on f. 62r)Ink: Black ink, with rubricated headings and overlinings, diagrams and table borders in redBinding: India Office binding with guardsCondition: Badly worm eaten; all folios removed from quires, protected with silk and mounted on guards; one folios is missing after folio 32Marginalia: Numerous and mostly in hand of scribeSeals: Ff. 1r, 68r, 105r, 106r and 135v
The Zīj, or tables of astronomical calculations,produced by Ulugh Beg (1394-1449). This copy lacks the introduction and explanatory material and contains only the tables themselves.Folio 68r contains a diagram apparently unrelated to the texts before or after it.ff 68v-135v
Treatise on the hydraulic and pneumatic machinery of water-clocks with thirteen diagrams, attributed to Archimedes (Ἀρχιμήδης; أرشميدس; fl. 3rd century BC). The title is given wrongly as كتاب أرشميدش في عمل السكامات (
Kitāb Arshimīdash fī ‘amal al-sakāmāt; f. 2v, line 1); the final word should read البنكامات (
al-binkāmāt, 'water-clocks'). The treatise is a compilation material from Greek, Byzantine, Persian and Arabic sources, and some sections may in fact be derived from Archimedes.Begins (f. 2v, lines 3-6):إذا أردت ذلك فاعمد إلى نحاس فاتخذ منه خزانةللماء (!) يكون ارتفاعها ثلثة أشبار في شبرين وليكنمدورة مستويه مهتدمة جيدة اللحام وليكن لهاقوائم ...Ends (f. 21r, lines 7-11):... فنركب القمع في طرف الأنبوب من خارج ونصبالماء حتى يبلغ المقدار الذي يراد منها الذي وصفناه فيماتقدم من عملها إن شاء الله وقد يستخرج من هذه الآلة آلاتكبيرة فافهم ما وصفناه ولا قوة إلا بالله ثم ما أردنا منذلك وبالله التوفيق ...The text is accomapied by thirteen diagrams with captions in Persian.Diagrams:Top section of water-clock, showing a man's head whose eyes change colour on the hour a bird's head that drops balls onto a cymbal, and the mechanisms that drive these devices (f. 2r);Pipes, float and float chamber (f. 5r);Pipe out of which water enters the sump (f. 5v);Semi-circular plate indicating the twelve signs of the zodiac, and pipe with division marker and tap (f. 6v);A device found in a previous diagram (f. 8v);Drum container, water container, and water-sump container of a water-clock (f. 9r)Top section of a water-clock, showing a woman's head flanked by columns marked to indicated the 24 hours of the day (f. 11r);Automata of an executioner and fettered prisioners (f. 12v);Automaton of an executioner on horseback (f. 14v);Statues of men that rise and fall on rods to indicate the hours of the day inscribed on columns, and the mechanism that drives them (f. 16r);Mechanical snakes that emerge from holes at the foot of a mountain on the hour and the mechanism that drives them (f. 17r);A tree containing birds which emit cries on the hour when the snakes on folio 17r emerge from their holes, and the mechanism that drives them (f. 19r);Flautist automaton (f. 20v).Ff. 2r-21r
Two technical treatises on the design and construction of hydraulic machines.Contents:1) Archimedes (أرشميدس),
Kitāb Arshimīdas fī al-binkāmāt(كتاب أرشميدس في البنكامات; ff. 2r-21r);2) Apollonius the carpenter and geometer (أبلنيوس النجار الهندسي),
Ṣan‘at al-zāmir(صنعة الزامر; ff. 21r-25v).Codex; ff. i+25+iiMaterial: PaperDimensions: 193 x 136 mm leaf [121 x 56 mm written]Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencilRuling:
Misṭarah; 18 lines per page; vertical spacing 15 lines per 10 cmScript:
NaskhInk: Black ink, with rubricated titles and diagrams in red and blackDecoration: Diagrams on ff. 2r, 11r, 12v and 14v beautifully paintedBinding: British Museum bindingCondition: Waterstains, wormholes, foxing, grime, etcMarginalia: 1 marginal correction (f. 8v) by main scribeSeals: f. 2r