gems, Arabic mineralogy, al-Kazwini, early lapidaries

Ruska studies the textual history and scientific content of Zakariyyā al-Qazwīnī’s (1203–1283) celebrated cosmography, ʿAjāʾib al-makhlūqāt wa-gharāʾib al-mawjūdāt (The Wonders of Creation and the Rarities of Existing Things), comparing manuscripts and related Arabic scientific works in an attempt to distinguish Qazwīnī’s original text from later revisions and interpolations. He identifies at least four distinct recensions of the Arabic cosmography and demonstrates that Wüstenfeld’s nineteenth-century edition was based largely on a late recension and incorporated material from different manuscripts, making it an unreliable representation of Qazwīnī’s original work. Of particular gemological interest is Ruska’s discussion of precious stones, where he compares parallel passages in Qazwīnī with al-Bīrūnī, al-Khāzinī, and al-Tīfāshī, providing evidence for the transmission and borrowing of mineralogical and gemological knowledge among medieval Islamic authors. The study is therefore important not only for establishing the textual history of Qazwīnī’s cosmography, but also for tracing the sources and transmission of medieval Arabic knowledge concerning minerals and precious stones.