gems, Arabic mineralogy, early lapidaries

This substantial collection brings together studies by Hellmut Ritter, Friedrich Sarre, Julius Ruska, and Rudolf Winderlich concerning Oriental lapidaries and Persian ceramic technology. The sections devoted to stone books examine Arabic and Persian mineralogical and lapidary literature, including the transmission of Greek traditions into Islamic scholarship, the identification and nomenclature of stones, and descriptions of their properties, uses, and supposed medicinal or magical virtues. Ruska’s contribution is particularly concerned with the history and textual transmission of mineralogical knowledge and the relationship between Arabic sources and earlier Greek writings. The technological portion examines Persian faience and related ceramic techniques, discussing materials, glazes, pigments, firing, and methods used to produce colored and lustred surfaces. Textual evidence is compared with surviving objects and practical experimentation in an attempt to understand historical manufacturing processes. The volume is important for the history of gemology and mineralogy because it makes Oriental source material accessible and places medieval Islamic knowledge of stones within the broader history of science and technology, while the four plates illustrate relevant manuscripts, objects, or technical material.