gems, Arabic mineralogy, al-Biruni, early lapidaries

A doctoral study of the sources underlying al-Bīrūnī’s Kitāb al-Jamāhir fī maʿrifat al-jawāhir, his treatise on gemstones, minerals and metals. Investigates the earlier authorities and writings used in compiling the work, contributing to the study of how mineralogical knowledge was transmitted and incorporated into medieval Arabic scholarship.