8 ISLAMIC GEOMANCY AND A THIRTEENTH-CENTURY DIVINATORY DEVICE: ANOTHER LOOK Emilie Savage-Smith and Marion B. Smith THE FOCUS OF THIS STUDY is an Islamic metal tablet from the thirteenth century AD in the possession of the British Museum (Department of Oriental Antiquities, Inv. No. 188.5-26.1).! The analysis of this unique device attempts to place it within the context of Islamic geomantic theory, practice, and historical development. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the G.E. von Grunebaum Center for Near Eastern Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, both for the initial study and publication and for this opportunity to reprint major portions of the original monograph with corrections and updating to incorporate material published in the intervening years? I. Survey of Islamic Sources and Traditions of Geomancy ‘The art of divination known in the West as geomancy appears to be a distinctly Islamic development which later reached the Byzantine and Latin worlds. The term ‘geomancy’ comes from the Latin word geomantia possibly first used by 1 For a complete list of earlier illustrations and discussions of this device, see our monograph, 5, Savage-Smith and M.B. Smith, Lslazie Geoorancy aud a Thirteenth-Century Divinatory Dexice [Studics in Near Eastern Culture and Society, 2} (Malibu, CA 1980), vii, notes 1 and 2. It was also exhibited in Paris in 2001-2; see /Orient de Saladin Cart des Apponbides. Exposition présentée & Unstitut du monde arabe, Paris di 23 ovtobre 2001 au 10 mars 2002 (Pasis, 2001), 210 item 222. 2 The authors wish to thank those who have contributed corrections and suggestions following the initial publication. These include Lawrence 1. Conrad, Toufic Fahd, Helmut Garje, Bemard Goldstein, Bruce Inksetter, David King, Paul Kunitesch, and Josef van 3 Isidore of Seville (d. AD 636) used che term geomantia in his Exymolggiarem, Lib. VIL, ix, 12~ 13, where he cites the Roman scholar Varro (d. 27 8c) as saying that divination was divided into four categories corresponding to the four elements: earth, water, air, and fire: Varre dict ivinationis quattnor esse genera, terronn, eqnam, aerem et ignens. Hine geomantiom, bydromantiam, aeremantians, pyromantians diam, Of these four divinatory arts, only hydromancy, however, is actually described by Isidore, the other three ~ geomantia, aeromantia, and pycomantia — being coined to complete the parallel. In any case, the use of the term geemantia in this context, sometimes interpreted as divination from earthquakes or other geological phenomena conneetion with and seems to have had no influence upon the history of the Islamic divinatory art he abrare.MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM 2 E. Savage-Smith and MB, Smith Hugo Sanctallensis (Hugh of Santella), working at Tarazona in Aragon in the twelfth century,* as a translation of the Arabic term ‘idm alsram/ ‘the science of the sand,’ the most common name in Islam for this attS The origins of this system of divination prior to the Islamic eta are shrouded in various traditions. The most common traditional account places the origin of the art with the archangel Gabriel (Jabra’il) who taught the practice to Idtis.6 The latter was a common name to which to attribute authority in occult and divinatory subjects, and Idris is frequently cited as an authority on geomancy.? Idris is then said to have taught Tumyum al-Hindi, another legendary figure very frequently cited by geomantic authors.® Other legendary and quasi-legendary figures, such as Hermes and the prophet Daniel, are also occasionally cited as geomantic authotities.? ‘ For a survey of extant Latin treatises, see Th darnatoire. la géamancit dans Foccident medieval [Hautes Fitudes Médiévales et Modernes, 44] (Paris, 1980). See also Laurel Means, ‘A Translation of Martin of Spain's De stomancis’ in Popular and Practical Scene of Modioal England, ed. Lister M. Matheson [Medieval Texts and Studies, 11] (East Lansing MI, 1994), 61-121, 5 Other Arabic terms were occasionally cmployed as well, such as darb al-rand ‘the steiking of sand’ or Abaft al-ramd ‘the line of sand’. ¢ For the importance in Islamic thought of the archangel Gabriel, who is the bearer of revelations, appearing in the form of an ordinary man to all but the Prophet, sce }.Pedersen, ‘Disbeii? in The Eroclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., 11 vols. {hereafter EP| (Leiden, 1960-2002), Il 362-4. The name Idris is probably to be identified with the Biblical Enoch rather than with Hermes Teismegistus; see G. Vadia, ‘Idsis' in EP, 111, 1030-1, For the legend of Idris and Gabriel and the origin of geomancy, see ‘Abd al-Rahim al-Jawbari, Kitéb alMukhtir ft kachfab-asnir (Caito, nd. (1918). ” For example, Oxford, Bodleian Library, Oriental Collections, MS Arab.£36 and MS Marsh 216, Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, MS Mq, 49, fols. 68b-213b (Ahlwardt no. 4201), and Paris, Bibliothéque nationale de France, MSS arabe 2631 and arabe 2632 * Alchemical, lapidary, and talismanic Arabic treatises are also attributed to this figure. See A. Tauber, “Tomfom (Timtim) = Aavdayic = Dindymus, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgerlindischen Geselssbaf 63 (1909), 457-72; and I. Goldziber, Tumpum al-Hindi", Orewalistische Literaturzeitung 13 (1910), cols. 59-61. For a suggestion of a possible confusion between Hind? and hindast (geometer), sce Cacra de Vaux, ‘La géomancie chez les arabes’ in Paul Tannery, Mémoires Scientifiques, 4 vols. (Paris, 1920), TV, 299-318, esp. 303. See also P. Sezgin, Geschichte der arabischen Scbrifiturs, IV: Alcbemit-Chemie-Botanik-Agrikaltur bis ea 430 H. (Leiden, 1971), 118-9; and M. Ullmann, Die Natur. und Gebvinnvissenschaften ir Islan (Handbuch det Orientalistik, 1, vi, 2| (Leiden, 1972), 298-9. Willy Hartner in a book review suggests that Tumfum may be identified as Kanakah, see Der Islam 43. (1967), 174-80. * For Hermes as an authority, see Lectora Geomantia, ed. ‘Thérése Chaemasson in Hermetis Trismegisti Astrulogica ot Divinatorta, ed. G. Bos, C. Burnett, ‘T. Charmasson, P. Kunitasch, F. Lelli, and P. Lucentini [Corpus Christianorum, Continuatio Mediaeualis, 144c, Hermes Latinus, 44) (Fumbout, 2001), 349-97; Hermes is also cited in Paris, BaF, MS arabe 2697, item 1. Ptolemy is cited in London, British Library, OIOC, MS Or. Sloane 2650, and Daniel in Los Angeles, UCLA Near Easter Coll. 898, MS 88. In the case of Daniel, entire treatises are sometimes ascribed to hhim, such as Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica, MS arab. 1106 item 3; Vienna, Nationalbibliothek, MS acab. 1814 (Cod. Vind. Palat. A.F, 554); British Library, O[OC MS Or. Add. 9702; and Berlin, Staatsibliothek, MS Turk. 157 item 7, Charmasson, Rechercher sur une techniqueMAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM Islamic Geomaney: Another Look 3 A certain Khalaf al-Barbari the Elder is said to have been a contemporary of the Prophet Muhammad and to have travelled to India where he lived for 120 years, studying thoroughly the works of Tumtum al-Hindi. He is supposed to have given, when he died in AD 634 (13 AH) at the age of 186, the book of Tumfum to his pupil, a shaykh Nasir al-Din al-Barbari the Younger. From the latter a series of masters and pupils is traced!” until reaching Aba Said al-Tarabulst who in tum was the teacher of the acknowledged master of geomancy, Abi ‘Abd Allah Muhammad ibn ‘Uthman al-Zaniti. Nothing is known of the latter’s life, but his name would seem to indicate that he was from the North African Berber tibe of Zanita. It is certain, however, that he lived before 1230 (629 AH), for he is cited as an authority on geomancy by ‘Abd al- Rahim al-Jawbati. The latter, at the request of al-Malik al-Mas‘dd of the Artugid dynasty which raled parts of Diyir Bakr, the upper basin of the Tigris, from 1222 to 1231 (619-29 AH), wrote a treatise on all the frauds, deceptions, and charlatans he had encountered while travelling throughout the Islamic lands.!? In this treatise he cited al-Zanati as an authority on geomancy after ‘Tumum Shaykh al-Zanad is cited extensively by almost all later geomantic authors, and treatises under his name have been printed in Cairo under various titles." 1 some accounts of the early masters, see F. Klein-Franke, ‘The Geomancy of Ahmad b. ‘Ali Zunbul: A Study of the Arabic Corpus Hermeticus’, Arsbix 20 (1973), 26-35; and Carea de Vaux ‘La géomancie’ (above note 8), 301-2. 11 He is an author frequently quoted in the geomantic treatises. A teeatise entitled Thamar at iid abmubaddith ‘an al-murid fi Lbawétin wa-Lakbad is extant in Paris, Bak, MS arabe 5834, fols 110a-119b. Paris, BaF’, MS arabe 2716, fols. 112a-113b, contains a didactic poem (wizgd) under his mame, while Escorial, Bibl. Monasterio de San Lorenzo cl Real, MS arab. 924, fols. 9a-13b contains a chapter (fay!) from a geomantic tract by al-Tarabulsi. Algers, Bil ‘MS 1531, consists of a tract by al-Tarabulsi redone by Aba ‘Abd Allah ibn Hariin al- manuscripts arc extant of a Latin geomantic tract by one Alatrabulucus apparently derived from an Arabic original; see P. Tannery, ‘La Rabolion’ in P. Tannery, Mémoires scientifiques (note 8), TV, 324-8, 339-44, and 373-403. - "2 Kitab al Mukbtar fi hash{ al-asrér (note 6), 3. See also M.J. de Goeje, ‘Gaubari’s “entdeckte Geheimnisse”, Zeitichrift der Dentschen Morgenlindischen Geselcchaft 20 (1886), 485-9. The treatise by alJawbari does not present a detailed discussion of the method of geomancy, although it does given an account of the legendary origins of the art. 10 These texts are rare in Western libraries. ‘There are two printed treatises attributed to al Zanis, one of which is entitled alAguuil al mardi fi Lahkim ab-rantliya l-t-shaykh al andl i ‘tlm al ‘unl (Pleasing Statements on the Geomantic Principles of Shaykh al-Zanati concerning the Art ‘of Geomancy’); a copy printed in Cairo in 1908 (1328 H) is now at the New York Public Library. The second treatise is titled Kitab ubFas! fi usid ‘in ab-ran! ‘ali bukm ab-gawa'd al-aslia abidrisiya (The Chapter on the Principles of the Art of Geomancy Based on the Authority of the Original Tdcisian Principles’) and was printed several times with slight variations; one copy dated 1280 AH (1863) is ar the New York Public Library, another dated 1345 aH (1926) was at the cole Nationale des Langues Orientales Vivantes in Paris but is now lost, and a third undated printing is in the Princeton University Library. For a summary of a printed text with the same title as the second work, but with remarkably different contents, see Aboubekr Abdesselam Ben Choaib, ‘Le bonne aventure chez les musulmans du Moghsib’, Le Ree Aficaine 1 (1906), 62-71, Yet 213214 MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM 4 E. Savage-Smith and M.B. Smith There ate intimations in the names of these legendary and quasi-legendary figures of a possible Hindu ot Berber origin of the art. The legendary Tumtum al-Hind? implies an eatly connection with India, a symbol of antiquity and hence authority. The names Khalaf al-Barbati, Nasir al-Din al-Barbati, al- Zanati, and presumably also Abi Said al-Taribulsi, suggest Berber connections. Moreover, in several extant treatises there ate purported Berber names given along with the Arabic names for the basic geomantic figures. ‘These terms, however, appear to be more frequently incorrect ot simply unintelligible Arabic than actual Berber.¥ The peoples of North Aftica were well known for their mastery of various occult and divinatory practices. The Zanfita tribe, for example, practised prognostication by the inspection of shoulder blades (scapulimaney, ‘idm al-katif).'5 It is not outside the realm of possibility that some North African peoples did in fact develop such a system of divination as geomancy, but on the other hand the Maghrib might be a reasonable area to which to attribute the development of an art whose origins had become obscure by the time it was committed to writing and which may in fact have originated in the pre-Islamic Near East ot India.16 Somewhat outside the above traditions is the attribution of a geomantic treatise to the Imam Ja‘far al-Sadiq who died in 765 (148 AH), the last Imam surprisingly few manuscripts are preserved of a geomantic treatise attributed to al-Zandtl An dition of the available manuscripts is being undertaken by Anne Regourd see her preliminary study, ‘Au sujet des sources manuscrites de Pouvrage imprimé au Caice sous le titce d*AAfagl fi ugl ‘ine al-saml W'AL-Zanati', Annales islamologiques 35 (2001), 393-407. Sce also P. Kunitzsch, ‘Die “Unvwettersterne” und dic “Geomantie” des Zanati’, Bygantinische Zeitschrift 60 (1967), 309-317 (cept. P. Kunitesch, The Arabs and the Stars (Variorum CS 307], Northampton, 1989, item XV). ' See Carra de Vaux, ‘Le géomancie’ (note 8), 306-8 and 311-14. Thomas Penchoen, Professor of Berber at UCLA, kindly studied the so-called Berber terms employed in some of the treatises. ‘To date only one of the barbar’ names can with certainty said to be Berber: dbrid ‘path’ used for the Arabic fanig which has the same meaning, An additional term may possibly be from a Berber root. SE. Domtté, Magi religion dant l'Afrique du Nord La soceté nusubnane die raaghrib (Algiers, 1909); R. Potties, Initiation a fa mideine of @ ta magie en Islam (Paris, 1939), 85; D.S. Margoliouth, “Divination (Muslim)’ in Enaelopardia of Religion and Ethics, ed. J. Hastings and J.A. Selbie, vol. 4 (New York, 1912), 816-8. On the other hand, al-Mas‘id (d. 956/345) speaks of wujid al-mugat (‘the finding of points’) being associated with the Berbers, while scapulimancy (ab-nagar ff al-katif) he says is something all peoples engaged in; see al-Mas‘idi, Kitdb Munij al-dhabab wa-ma'édkin al- Jawbor, ed. Basbier de Meynard and Pavet de Courteille, rev. by Ch. Pellat, 5 vols. (Beirut, 1966— 79), IT, 203. ‘© Te is uncestain whether wyiid alnugat mentioned by al-Mas‘idi (see above note) refers to what came to be called sim al-ram/ or geomancy. The word ranmal, possibly though not necessacily meaning, ‘diviner in sand’, occurs as a personal name, either as a mitba, derived from his trade, or preceded by idm ~ that is, pact of the nasab or list of ancestors — in sixteen pre-Islamic Safaiti inscriptions. Safaitic graffiti in North Arabian dialect have been found in Safa, Harra, and Leja east of Damascus and date from the third to sixth centuries AD. Sce G. Lankester Harding, An Tackee and Concordance of pre-Islamic Arabian Names and Inscriptions (Toronto, 1971), 287MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM Islamic Geomancy: Another Look 5 0 recognized by both Twelvers and Isma‘lli Shi‘ Many treatises on divination, magic, and astrology have been, perhaps incorrectly, attributed to him, and he is considered the teacher of the alchemical author Jabit ibn Hayyan known in Europe as Geber.'* The tradition of asctibing the origins of geo- mancy to Ja‘far al-Sadiq was still prevalent in nincteenth-century East Africa from the following statement of Richard F, Burton: ‘The Arabs call it El Raml, and ascribe its present form to the Imam Jaafar al-Sadik; amongst them it is a ponderous study connected as usual with astrology’." Although the preserved geomantic tract ascribed to him may not be genuine and his name is seldom cited in later geomantic treatises, the attribution does raise the possibility of there having been some relations between geomancy and the Ikhwin al-Safa? (the Brethren of Purity), a sect of the Isma‘lli who were instrumental in the early propagation of astrology and numerology in the Islamic world.» A treatise attributed to Ja‘far al-Sadiq on the divinatory practice of jafr is included in some of the modern printings of one of the Zanati texts mentioned earlier?! In addition to the writings of the authorities mentioned above, there were other sources of knowledge concerning geomancy that were available in the Islamic world by the middle of the thiteenth century. One of the great codifiers of geomancy was ‘Abd Allah ibn Mahfif almanajim (‘the astronomer’) who lived before 1265 (664 AH). His treatise, which is quite extensive and 17 An incomplete manuscript of five folios is at the Princeton University Library, Garrett Coll. MS 929 (547 AH), while Gotha, Forschungsbibliothek, MS arab. 74, fol. 24b, contains a short discussion of geomancy attributed to Ja'far. 1 See J. Ruska, Arabische Alchemisten 11: Gafar al-Sadig der secheste Iméina (Heidelberg, 1924; repr. Wiesbaden, 1967), 28-9, and M.G.S. Hodgson, ‘Dja'far al-Sadik’ in EP. (note 6), I, 374-5. The best-known and most authoritative treatise on /a’-nama, a type of soxtilege practiced in the Middle nima’ in also, RLY. Ebied and M,.LYoung, ‘A Treatise on Hemerology ascribed to Arabica 23 (1976), 296-307, © Richard F. Burton, First Footsteps in East Africa or, Essploration of Harar (London, 1856), 55-6 20 V. Marquet, Tkhwan al-$afi’” in EP (note 6), II, 1071-6; and SH. Nase, Ar Introduction to Islamic Cocmolegjcal Doctrines (Cambridge MA, 1964), 25-106. 21 al-Zanati, Kitab al-Fajl fi ugnl ‘the abraml (note 13) in the 1863/1280 printing. See also, ‘. Fahd, ‘Djafr’ in EP (note 6), U1, 375-7. 2 In the colophons of two Istanbul manuscripts (Esat. Ef, MS 1988 and Ragip Pas MS the scribes state that both copies were made from a copy dated 664 AH (= AD 1265-6 . Fahd, La dination anche: etuesreligieaces,scologigues ef folkleriqes ar ke mien natif de Ulam (Leiden, 1966), 201 nt. 4. In addition, Birmingham, Selly Oaks, Mingana Coll. MS 911 was copied in 1300 [= 1883] from a copy made in 1159 [= 1746] from one made in 664 [= 1265-6}. The author's name is clearly written in all recorded copies as ‘Abd Allah (bn Abi/‘AI) ibn Mahfif, often prefaced by a/Mambik, and it is unlikely that he is to be identified with the astronomer Jamil al- Din Abd al-Qasim ibn Mabfiz al-Baghdadi, whose was completed in 1285; for Ibn Mabtiiz, Jensen, “The Lunar Theories of al-Baghdtdt,, Archive for History of Exact Sciences 8 (1972), East, is that which goes under the name of the Imim Ja‘far al-Sadiq; see H. Massé, EP, Il, 760-1 321-8 215216 MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM 6 E, Savage-Smith and M.B. Smith detailed, is extant in several Arabic manuscripts.” The title of his treatise is often given simply as Kitab ji ‘lm al-raml (‘Book on the Art of Geomancy), but, according to some manuscript copies and the Ottoman historian Katib Celebi (Hajji Khalifa), the title should be Kitab al-Muthallath ft tlm abranl (‘The Book of Triplets in the Art of Gcomancy ’)* ‘The great astronomer, mathematician, and philosopher Nasir al-Din al-Tast (d. 1275/672AH), also wrote on the art of geomancy. A small Arabic tract under his name entitled a/-Risala al-Sultaniya fi kbatt al-raml (‘The Royal Epistle on Geomancy’) as well as a lengthy treatise on the same subject entitled simply Kitab ji ‘idm al-raml (‘Book on the Art of Geomancy’) are extant.25 Furthermore, several Persian treatises or parts of treatises on geomancy by Nasir al-Din al- ‘Tasi, as well as a Turkish version, are also found in libraries today and he is occasionally cited as an authority on the subject in later compilations A knowledge of geomaney is also to be found in the writings of one of the most celebrated theologians of Islam, Fakhr al-Din al-Razi who was born in 1149 (543 AN) at Rayy near modern ‘Tehran.2” In 1178 (574 AH) he composed 2 In addition to the three mentioned in the previous note, there are Los Angeles, UCLA tern Coll. 898, MS 129; Oxford, Bodleian, MSS Arab.£36 and Marsh 216; Manchester, Rylands Library, Arabic MS 373; Dublin, Chester Bearty Library, Arabic MS 5273, Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, MSS Mq. 49, fols. 12a-63b (Ahlwardt 4200) and Or. qu. 1734, fols. 1-59b; Patna (Bankipore), Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, Arabic MS HLL. 2077 (cat. 2487); and Cairo, Dar al-Kutub, MSS buraf 42, burif 43, and huraf mim 70 (fragments); Damascus, Maktabat al-Asad al-Wataniya MS 6226; and Princeton, Garrett Coll., Yehuda Arabic MS 4216, fols. 40b-80a. > Manchester, John Rylands, Arabic MS 373 and Oxford, Bodleian, MS Arab.£.36; Haji Khalifa, Kashf al-zunsiw: Lexicon bibkographicum et encyclopedicum, cd. G. Flagel , 7 vols. (Leipzig, 1835: 8), V, 373, no. 11365. Note that Oxford, Bodleian, MS Marsh 216 bears the title Kitab Bughyat al- dra f sind‘at ab-ram! wa-taguiim tadagyaf al-asbkél wa-L‘alima (‘The Desire of Hopes concerning the Act Of Geomancy and the Schema of Figures and Attribution of Meanings) with the author given as Aba Nase ibn Tarhin al-Farsbi. This attribution is certainly incorrect, for the manuscript is clearly an incomplete copy of the treatise by Tba Mabfaf. 25 Alpiers, Bibliothéque Nationale, MS 1530, fols. 25b-27a, and Princeton, Garrett Coll. Yebuda Arabic MS 2748, fols. 38b-39b, contain the shorter tract whereas Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, MS arab. 880, presents the more extensive work in 90 folios. See Muhammad ‘Taqi Mudarris Razavi, Kbegiah Tast (Kehsan, 1956/1335 sh), 57-8; and S.H. Nase, ‘al-Tasi’ in Dictionary of National Biography, ed. C.C. Gillispie (hereafter DSB), 14 vols. (New York, 1970-6), XIL, 508-14 % For example, Oxford, Bodleian, MS Laud. Or. 313, fols. 75b-7b and MS Walker 55, fols. 41b-47b; Patna (Bankipore), Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, Persian MS 1066; and Madras, Government Oriental Manuscript Library, Persian MS 509. An Arabic translation by ‘Abd al-Mubsin Abmad ibn al-MahdT of part of a Pe in Paris, BuF, MS arabe 2716, fols. 113b-118b. A Turkish translation (fom Arabic of Persian 2) of a lengthy treatise by N: Din al-Tiist on geomancy is now at Hamburg, Stadtbibliothek, MS Orient. 253 (cxlii), fols. 41b- 163b. 2 For his life and writings, see G.C. Anawati, Falthe al-Din al-Raai’ in EP (note 6), 11, 751-5. A treatise on geomancy is also attibuted to the theologian and philosopher Aba Hamid al- Ghazzili who died in 1111 (505 AH); the treatise is extant in Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, MS We. 1218, fols. 1a-11b (Ahlwardt 4204). If this is a valid attribution (which is unlikely), it would beMAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM Islamic Geomaney: Another Look 7 in Persian an encyclopaedia of Muslim science, Jami‘ al-‘ulim, that contains a section on the science of geomancy.* In addition, an extant Arabic manuscript concerned in part with geomancy and, in another manuscript, a didactic pocm (uyiiza) on the same subject are both attributed to al-Razi”” There is a small text containing some geomantic material which has been printed several times in this century and which bears the name of the well- known ninth-century astrologer Abi Ma‘shar al-Balkhi, known to the West as Albumasar (d. 886/272 Alt). The booklet is entitled ‘Book of the Meticulous Investigator, the Greek Philosopher known as Abi Ma'shar the Astronomer’ (Kitdb alMubaggiq almudaggiq al-Yinini al-faylasaf al-sbahir bi-Abr Ma'shar al- Falaki) > No treatise of such a tile is attributed to Abi Ma‘shar in the medieval biographical dictionaries. ‘The approach to geomancy in this work is an unusual one in the Islamic world in that the sixteen geomantic figures are discussed exclusively in relation to the twelve zodiacal houses without any use of the customary geomantic tableau. The printed text appears to be identical with Abi Ma‘shar’s tract ‘On the Nativities of Men and Women’ (Kitab Tall al- maslid l-Lrijal wa-l-nisa’) in which each zodiacal sign is discussed along with its three decans (wiih), with one important exception. ‘The printed booklet has an additional paragraph on a related geomantic figure following the discussion of each zodiacal house in the section on the nativities of men, and these extra paragraphs are not to be found in the manuscript copy of Kitab Tali‘ al-mawlid ic-L-ryil wa-Lnisd? which the present authors have examined? The author of these paragraphs was clearly well acquainted with the sixteen geomantic figures and the various meanings and attributes attached to them, although the details one of the earliest confirmed dates for a geomantic treatise. Al-Ghazzall has had attributed to him some writings on number symbolism and magic squares as well as some clearly spurious alchemical tracts. See Ullmann, Natur (note 8), 227 and 274; W. Ahrens, ‘Studien iiber die “magischen quadrate” der Araber’, Der Islam (1917), 186-219 and Abii [mid Muhammad al-Ghazzali (spusious 2), a/-Amyag, ed. Mahmid Hamdi (Cairo, n.d., ¢ 1973). 28 Fake al-Din al-Razi, Jaen" al-ulam (Bombay, 1323/1905), 187-9. Compare Haji Khalifa, Kashf al zunien (note24), II, 560 entry no. 3923. ® Florence, Biblioteca Lausentiana, MS Or. 329 and an wjiige in Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica, MS arab. 1106, fols. 1312-136b. ™ Printed in Cairo several times, including 1905 (1323 H) and 1910 (1328 H), and in Beirut in 1982. See also J.-M. Faddegon, ‘Notice sur un petit traité dastcologie attribué a Albumasar (Abi Ma‘sas)’, Jounal Asiatigne 213 (1928), 150-8, who does not, however, mention its geomantic contents. 4 Tn al-Nadim, Kitab abFibrist, od. G. lige, 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1871), 1, 277 and The Fibrist of al-Nadin. A Tenth-Century Survey of Muslim Culture, tens. Bayard Dodge, 2 vols. (New York, 1970), 1, 656-8; Ibn al-Qifit, Ta'rikb aljukamd’, ed. J. Lippert (Leipzig, 1903), 154. See also D. Pingrec, ‘Aba Ma‘shar’ in DSB (note 25), Il, 32-39, esp. 38, who aligned the printed tract with a work entitled Kitab alMawalid al-saghir (‘The Small Book of Nativities’) which is nor extant today in manuscripts of that title. % Los Angeles, UCLA Near Eastern Coll. 898, MS 60, 217218 MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM. 8 E. Savage-Smith and M.B. Smith of the procedures for forming a geomantic figure or casting a tableau are lacking in the treatise. Since the tradition of the text of Kitab Tali‘ al-mawlud li-k- ral wa-Lnisa’ apparently varies considerably in some of the extant manuscript copies, the text and its relation to the printed pamphlet deserve further study, while the manusctipt versions of other treatises by Aba Ma‘shar should be searched for geomantic references. There are only three known references in the geomantic literature to Abi Ma‘shar as an authority. All of these citations occur within discussions of strictly astrological material and relate to his mastery of astrology rather than to any geomantic wisdom. At this point, then, it seems that the geomantic references in the printed text are interpolations by the modern editor and inventor of the fanciful title, and that Aba Ma‘shar may not have been a possible source for geomancers. Consequently, a final assessment of Aba Ma‘shar’s role in the diffusion of geomancy must await further investigation. Of the writings just discussed, some are not very detailed in their information regarding ‘in a/-raml, and some, such as those by Nasit al-Din al- Tust, might not have been available in Mosul opposite the site of ancient Nineveh on the upper Tigris River in the fourth decade of the thirteenth century, when the geomantic device which is the object of this study was executed. No doubt, in the first part of the thirteenth century there were additional sources for the knowledge of geomancy, whose titles and authors ate not known to us today. Lot-books that employ geomantic figures were apparently known in the thirteenth century, but they have not been included in the summary just presented, for they represent a very different form of geomancy and were not at all likely to have influenced the maker of this device. The geomantic lot- books are geomantic in name only, for the basic procedutes are different. The methods employed in the lot-books do not make use of tableaux and some- times not even of geomantic figures. In some of these methods, dots were made at random and then the number divided by twelve with the remainder giving the page and line where the answer to the inquiry would be given for any one of a list of 144 questions.®5 There is considerable confusion in much of the 8 Ullmann, Natur (note 8), 322 nt. 4. One reference is in Paris, BaF, MS arabe 2730; see Carra de Vaux, ‘La géomancie’ (note 8), 302 nt. 1. An Arabic geomantic treatise by Aba ‘Abd Allah ibn Efasan ‘AH ibn Muhammad al- Lakhmi al-Andalusi, written in 1875 (1292 au), also cites Aba Ma‘shar as an authority (Los Angeles, UCLA Near Eastern Coll. 898, MS 618, fol. 2a), and he is cited as well in a Provencal gcomantic treatise written about AD 1330 (P. Meyer, “Traités en vers provengaux sur Pastrologie et la géomancie’, Romania 26 (1897), 225-75, esp. 262). * Three Tuskish manusctipts are extant of geomantic lot-books supposedly written by ‘Abd Allah ibn Anis (or Ani) for the cighth-century caliph Marin al-Rashid (London, British Library, OIOC MS Hasl. 262 and MS Harl. 5522 as well as Vienna, Nationalbibliothek, Turkish MS 1509).MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM Islamic Geomaney: Another Look 9 literature, both primary and secondary, between the counting of points any time they have been put down at random and what one might call the classical type of ‘in al-raml, consisting, of the sixteen possible geomantic figures with the production of a tableau from them according to precise rules.'* ‘To add to the confusion, in Persian treatises the term ram is applied to two types of divination: the traditional form of geomancy — the type employed on this device — and the throwing of brass dice strung together in groups of four. Although these are commonly called ‘geomantic dice’, their markings do not produce a geomantic figure, and divination using such dice is a form of lot casting related to the sortes of classical antiquity rather than true geomancy.7 ‘The author is possibly to be identified with ‘Abd Allah al-Asni (or al-Ansi) named in Arabic lot. books, which are not, however, geomantic; sce P. Kunitzsch “Zum Léber Affadbol cin Nachlese’, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlindischen Gesellchaft 118 (1968), 297-314, and ‘Der Liber Affadbok cin arabischen Losbuch und seine Schicksale im Morgen- und Abandland’, Zeitschrift der Dewtscben Morgentindischen Gesellschaft, Suppl. 1, 2 (1969), 667-72. Kunitzsch argues that the Arabic (non- geomantic) lot-books, related to the ‘Liber Alfadhol’ of the Latin tradition, do not predate the twelfth century. For further discussion of Latin geomantic lot-books going under the name of Alfodhol or Alfadhol, see Lynn Thorndike’s articles, “4/odbo/ and Admadet Hitherto Unnoted Medieval Books of Magic in Florentine Manuscripts’, Speaulu 2 (1927), 326-331, ‘Alfodhol de merengi again’, Sprewlum 4 (1929), 90, and ‘Alfodhol and Almadel once more’, Speculum 20 (1945), 88-91. Gerhard Eis has edited a medieval German lot-book in which one of the sixteen geomantic figures is produced to determine the answer (G. Fis, Wabrsagetexte des spatmittelalters ons ‘Handschofien und Indnabelen (Texte des spiten Mittelalters, 1, Beelin, 1956), ™ Also in the class of lot-books there should be placed the so-called ‘manual of geomancy’ entitled Esperimentarius written of translated by Bernaed Silvester of Tours written in the twelfth century. This treatise does not cast a geomantic tableau or even one geomantic figure, but rather descnbes a procedure for setting down points at random, dividing by 7, and using the remainder to determine the answer selected from the lot book. Sce M.B. Savorelli, ‘Un Manuale di Geomanzie presentato da Bernardo Silvestre da Tours (XII Secolo): L'Experimentaria?, Rivista Grtica di Storia della Fiesofa 14 (1959), 283-342, and C.S.F. Burnett, ‘What is the Expeninentarias of Bernardus Silvestris? A preliminary survey of the material, Archives d'Histoire Dactrinale ef Littéraire di Moyen Age 44 (1977), 79-125. The Oxford, Bodleian Library, Western Manuscripts, MS Digby 46, a fourteenth-century copy of the Experimentarins, has set into the inside front cover of the volume two interlocking wooden cogged wheels with twenty-eight and thirteen teeth, by which fone can find a random number, rather than by counting random points. This eather mechanical ‘way of obtaining « number is very different in principle from the determination of the geomantic figures on the device by Muhammad iba Khutlukh al-Mawsili now at the British Museum. ¥ For a study of so-called ‘geomantic dice’, see E. Savage-Smith, ‘Divination’ in E.R. Maddison and E. Savage-Smith, Science, Tools & Magic [The Nasser D. Khalili Coll. of Islamic Art, 12), 2 vols. (London/Oxford, 1997), 1, 148-57. Confusion in the use of the term ram/ for geomancy and for a form of sortilege employing dice has caused such errors as that of Nasr, who labels a photograph of two sets of such dice as ‘Instruments used in geomancy’; see S. Nasr, Iidamic Science. An Wustrated Study (London, 1976), 207. Fusthermore, the circular plate pictured by Nasr in the same photograph as another geomantic instrument is in reality unrelated to rara in ether sense, but rather is plate closely resembling the back of a compass used for finding the gibla, the dicection towards Mecca. ‘That is, the plate gives the names of 34 cities and their corresponding directions and mhiraf, which is the angle that determines the direction toward Mecca. Such a plate is used neither in tle a/ramf (geomancy) nor in sostilege with dice, 219220 MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM 10 E, Savage-Smith and M.B. Smith ‘The device studied here contains some features apparently not found in extant Arabic, Persian, or Turkish writings on geomancy dating from before the middle of the thirteenth century. It seems clear that the designer of the instrument was quite familiar with written treatises on the subject, for in one inscription he has the device say of itselé ‘from my intricacies there comes about insight superior to books concerned with the study of the art” In view of the confused and not overly large corpus of geomantic writings prior to the fourteenth century, this intricate device proves to be of considerable importance for the history of the occult sciences, complementing its value as a fine example of thirteenth-century Islamic metalwork. In addition, the tablet itself is a unique concept in the history of geomancy, since there seem to be no writings before or after this device containing any mention of a mechanical contrivance for establishing 2 geomantic reading and supplying information necessary for its interpretation. There is no other known geomantic device from any culture remotely similar to it. It does seem likely that a dust board was employed by some geomancers, for the word takbt occurs frequently in geomantic treatises where it could mean either the abstract sixteen-place tableau or a dust board on which the tableaux of geomantic figures were produced.* The word akét occurs in medieval Arabic mathematical writings as a term for a small board lightly covered with sand on which one could mark down numerals and then erase them by smoothing over the sand or dust or by covering it with additional dust. Tt is entirely likely that such a board would have been used for marking down the geomantic figures until paper and pen later became sufficiently available to replace it. The several references in Aff layla wa-layla (The Thousand and One Nights’) to a geomantic tablet used with a stylus of brass to form the figures is probably evidence of the early use of a dust board or tablet, although it is possible the references are later interpolations into the stories. Such a tablet or ® For example, Los Angeles, UCLA Near Eastern Coll. 898, MS 88, p. 31, uses the term taht for the surface which you mark with a stylus, mi/, once calling it éakbt Javh ‘dustboacd’. In one of the printed texts attributed to al-Zanii the word is more frequently used for the completed sixteen-place tableau of geomantic figures from which the reading is derived, but itis also used as a tablet of sand (takbt min al-ram!) on which you mark with a stylus, galam, the row of lots and form the first four figures; see al-Zanasi, Kitab al-Fas ft wsal ‘lv al-raml (note 13, copy dated 1280 Alt), 18, 24-5, ef passim. ® Kashyar ib Laban, Prinapls of Hindu Reckoning. Kitab ft neil bisa al-bind, ed. and tens. Martin Levey and Marvin Petruck (Madison, WI, 1965), 5-6 ef passing, AS. Saidan, ‘The Comprchensive Work on Computation with Board and Dust by Nasit al-Din als’, alAbath 20 (1967), 91-163 and 213-92. See also M. Souissi, ‘Hisab al-ghubar’ in EP (note 6), II, 468-9, who suggests that the tablet may not necessarily have been covered with dust but rather covered with clay in which figures could have been marked and erased by a stylus. * A collection of Atabic stories comprising The Thousand and One Nights appears to have formed about a Persian framework and to have developed with many additions from vaciousMAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM Islamic Geomancy: Another Look u dust board is quite different, however, from a device designed to generate the geomantic figures mechanically, which is the nature of the instrument we are here discussing,** IL. Principle Method of Casting a Tableau In Islamic geomancy, divination is accomplished by forming and then interpreting a design consisting of sixteen positions, each of which is occupied by some geomantic figure. This design is referred to as the geomantic tableau. The figures that occupy the first four positions are of primary importance in constructing the tableau, for they determine the occupants of the other twelve places. Consequently, the formation of these first four figures, called the Mothers (wmmahat), is of great significance. Ordinarily each of the Mothers is made by marking in the dust or sand ot on a piece of paper four horizontal lines of dots, one row below another (sce Fig. 1). Among some practitioners of geomancy these rows of dots are made by the person seeking advice or the answer to some question, whereas in other practices the diviner or geomancer being consulted puts down the marks. It is always stressed that the dots should not be counted as they ate made, but rather the hand should make the marks while the conscious mind is totally absorbed in reflection on the question or problem. Since there are four Mothers to be formed, sixteen rows of dots must be made in all (sce Fig. 1). After this has been done, each row is examined in turn and the dots are grouped in pairs so as to find whether the row has an even or locations from the ninth and tenth centuries AD, taking final shape in the thisteenth century (sce E. Littmann, ‘Alf layla wa-layla’ in EF (note 6), 1, 358-64). A tablet of sand (fakht raml ox takbe al- rane) and a stylus of brass (galarr min nuit) figure prominently in the story of ‘AN Shir and Zomucrud (the 320th to 326th night), while a gift of a geomantic sand board of gold (sakbe ram! six dbabal) is mentioned in the tale of Qamar al-Zamin (the 202nd night); see Kitdb if layla wa- bala, 4 vols. (Biliq, 1862/1279.n1), IT, 18-19, 196-8, and 200-3; The Book of the Thonsand Nights and @ Night, tens. Richard F. Burton, 6 vols. (London, 1885; spe New York, 1962), 1117-8, and 1464- 74; and Husain Haddawy, The Arabian Nights Lt Sindbad and Other Popular Stories (New York, 1995), 197. The tales of Jawda the Fisherman, Shimas and Jali’ad, Gharib and his brother Ajib, and Delilah the Crafty also mentioned a geomantic dustboatd or tablet; see O. Rescher, ‘Studien ber der Inhalt von 1001 Nacht’, Der Islam 9 (1919), 1-94, esp. 36-8. ‘The practice of geomancy with a square box of sand plays an important sole in the story of Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, which is not usually grouped as one of the Thousand and One Nights; sec H. Zotenberg, Histoire d“Ala al-Din ou la lampe rreucilense (Pacis, 1888), 11, 62-3, and 76, RLF. Burton, Supplemental Nights 10 the Books of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Bossaorah Edition, 3 vols. (London, nd), IT, 68, 156-7 and 179-80; and Haddawy, The Arabian Nights TI: Sindbad, 81-163. 4“ Also very different from the present device is the thin brass astrological/geomantic plare from a late Safavid workshop, now in the Khalili Collection, Acc. no. sci33. It is engraved on both sides with numerous Persian inscriptions, laid out in concentric circles, presenting a gazetteer as well as astrological alignments and an arrangement of geomantic figures. See Savage- Smith, Divination’ (note 37), I, 158-9. 221222 ————— MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM 12 E. Savage-Smith and M.B. Smith an odd number of dots. If the number of dots in the row is even, then that row 4s represented by a pair of dots; if the number is odd, then by only one dot. In this way there is obtained, for each Mother, a vertical column of four marks, each of which is one or two dots. Fig. 1. The formation of the first four figures of a geomantic tableau, ‘The four geomantic figures thus formed are then placed side by side, with the first one on the right, the second one immediately to the left of it, and so on. From these four Mothers occupying positions I thtough IV in the tableau, Daughters Mothers vil VI wi ov m ou ot eo 2 2 ee oo 2. og S oS b eS Sg \/ \ 7 SS & Ss xm XI x Ix 8 3 3 38 SS ee SL = xIV XUL ep 3 oe ES ae XV ee XVI & 8 so $3 Result Result of Result Fig. 2. An example of a complete geomantic tableau, with Roman ‘aumerals marking the number of the position ot ‘house’.MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM. Islamic Geomancy: Another Look 13 the remaining figurcs in the tableau are produced as shown in Fig. 2. The figure for position V is formed by taking the top row of marks in the Mothers from right to left and writing them as a column from top to bottom. The ones for positions VI, VIL, and VIII are obtained similarly by taking the second, third, and fourth rows respectively, in the Mothers, always going from right to left, and turning them into columns. ‘The figures thus produced and placed in positions V through VII are commonly known as the Daughters (banat). For position IX a figure is produced in an entirely different way, for here only the first and second Mothers are used, and they are in a sense ‘added’ together. Starting with the top row, the marks of the two figures are combined. If the sum is even, then two dots are placed in the top row of the new figure; if the sum is odd, only one dot is put there. By adding in this way the dots in the second row of the two Mothers, the number of dots for the second row of the new figure is determined, and likewise the number of dots for rows three and four. All the remaining figures are formed by combining a previously determined pair of figures: for example, by adding figures in positions TIT and IV we find the figure for position X, the figure V ‘plus’ the figure in VI yields the figure for XI, and so forth. Finally, when one has obtained the figure for position XV from those occupying positions XII and XTV, the final figure, the one in position XVI, is found by combining in this same manner the figures in positions XV and I, and this completes the formation of the geomantic tableau, ‘The device that we are examining was designed so that it was unnecessary to put down the sixteen rows of dots as the first step in finding the four Mothers. Instead it is clear that these four figures are obtained by moving the four curved slides which are located in the upper right-hand portion of the face of the device (sce Pl. 1). Since each geomantic figure consists of four marks, and each mark consists of either one or two dots, there is a total of sixteen (j.c., 24) possible figures. Each figure has a name and various meanings. Furthermore, the geomantic treatises give numerous alignments between the figures and such items as the planets, the zodiacal signs, the four classical elements, parts of the human body, and so forth. These alignments play a role in the interpretation of a particular tableau, but the alignments and interpretive methods vary considerably from author to author. The sixtcen figures are described in the next section, where the name of each and the unique alignment of the figures found on the device under consideration are discussed. ‘There are sixteen positions or ‘houses’ (buyat; sing. bayt) in the complete tableau. Although there ate also sixteen different geomantic figures, it can be proved that it is impossible for all sixteen figures to appear in a tableau. In other words, in a properly drawn tableau some figure must be in more than one 223224 MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM 14 E. Savage-Smith and M.B, Smith house. Another feature of every correct tableau is that the geomantic figure in position XV is an even figure ~ that is, the figure must have an even number of dots. Observation of this property of the tableaux was stated by Arabic geo- mantic writers as early as the thirteenth century, and, furthermore, they gave arguments explaining the reason for this characteristic.2 Because of the method of combining geomantic figures as used in the production of figures to occupy houses IX through XVI, described above, Islamic geomancy has a pronounced mathematical structure. In fact, the set of all sixteen geomantic figures forms, under the ‘addition’ process, an algebraic structure known as a finite commutative group. Although the topic has been relatively ignored by historians of science, some attention has recently been given to it by cthnologists, and there has been an attempt at a structural analysis. It would seem, however, that there is still a considerable amount of research to be done before much of a definitive nature can be said regarding the structures underlying the practice of geomancy. III. Detailed Description of the Geomantic Tablet The Islamic geomantic device now in the possession of the Department of Oriental Antiquities of the British Museum is signed by Muhammad ibn Khutlukh al-Mawsili and dated 639 AH (= AD 1241-2). From the maker's nisba (the part of the name derived from the location or trade) one might infer that he was born in Mosul and very likely connected in some manner with the prominent metalworking centre, especially renowned for its inlaid brass vessels, which flourished there during the first half of the thirteenth century. The fact that the maker’s nisba is al-Mawsilt is not, however, conclusive evidence that he resided and worked in Mosul, for there were artisans from that locality who worked in Cairo, Damascus, and elsewhere in the thirteenth century.45 A second piece of metalwork also signed by Muhammad ibn Khutlukh al- Mawsili has recently been discovered — an undated incense-burner that is stated For readers interested in mathematical proofs of these properties, see R. Jaulin, La Gtomancie, analyse formlle \Kcole Pratiquc des Hautes Etudes, Sorbonne, Cahiers de PHomme, 1.s., 4] (Paris, 1966), 20-3 and 27. * See M. Pedrazzi, ‘Le Figure della Geomanzia: Un Gruppo Finito Abeliano’, Physis 14/2 (1972), 146-61; M. Ascher, Malagasy Sikidy: A Case in Ethnomathematics’, Histerea Mathensatia 24 (1997), 376-95; and the monograph by the French steuctural anthropologist Robert Jaulin, La Géemanae (note 42). For a critical study of the latter work, see M.B. Smith, “The Nature of Islamic Geomancy with a Critique of a Structuralist’s Approach’, Suda Islarrica 49 (1979), 5-38. “ DS. Rice, ‘Inlaid Brasses from the Workshops of Ahmad al-Dhaki al-Mawsi, Ars Orientals 2 (1957), 282-326. R. Hacari, ‘Metalwork after the Barly Islamic Period’ in A.U. Pope, A Survey of Person Art, 6 vols.(Oxford, 1938-9), V, sec. xii, 2466-2539 esp. 2495 and VI, plates 1276-1396.MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM Islamic Geomancy: Another Look 15 to have been produced in Damascus, possibly made a few years before the geomantic device. It is unusual amongst incense-burners because of the archi- tectural nature of its design, and it possibly reflects Sasanian influences on ctaftsmen working in Greater Syria in the early thirteenth century. No other examples of his work are recorded and no information on him is available except what can be gleaned from the objects themselves. From the standpoint of design and metallurgical craftsmanship, the gco- mantic tablet is very similar to the incense-burner bearing his name and compares favourably with some twenty-five pieces of metalwork associated with Mosul, including a celestial globe made by Muhammad ibn Hilal al- Munajjim al-Mawsili in 1275-6 (674 AH) that was produced after the centre of metalwork began to decline following the sack of the city by the Mongol Hulagu in 1260.7 A comparison might also be made with some of the outstanding and roughly contemporary examples of Syrian-Egyptian scientific instruments, such as the celestial globe made by the Egyptian architect and mathematician Qaysar ibn Abi |-Qasim ibn Musafir al-Ashrafi al-Hanafi in 1225-6 (622 All) for the Ayyubid ruler of Egypt al-Malik al-Kamil, the nephew of Salah al-Din (Saladin). Even more fruitful is a comparison with the fine astrolabes made by ‘Abd al-Karim al-Misti who worked for the last Ayyabid and the first Mamluk ruler of Egypt, which display similar decorative bands.” It is not the purpose of the present study to elaborate upon the importance of this tablet to the history of the minor arts and metallurgy, but it is evident that this geomantic tablet is an exceptionally fine example of the inlaid metalwork produced by the craftsmen of thirteenth-century Greater Syria, Epypt and Iraq. The device is of a brass alloy having a rich reddish colour and is in three basic pieces — front plate with attached dials, back plate, and the fame enclosing them. The device is amply covered with inscriptions, decorative devices, and arabesque inlaid in gold and silver. The instrument measures 33.7 cm in length and 19.6 cm in height, not including the 5.4 cm 46 James Allan, ‘Muhammad ibn Khudukh and the History of Early Islamic Incense-burners’ in James W. Allan, Metalwork of the Islamic World The Aron Collection (London, 1986), 25-34 and 66- 9. 4” British Museum, Dept. of Oriental Antiquities, Inv. no. 71.3.1. See RH. Pinder-Wilson, ‘The Malcolm Celestial Globe’ in The British Museum Handbook. Vol. 1: The Classical Tradition (London, 1976), 83-101; and E. Savage-Smith, Islamricate Celestial Globes. Their History, Construction, and Use (Smithsonian Studies in History and Technology, 46] (Washington, D.C., 1985), 219-20 0. 4, 4 Museo Nazionale, Naples; see Savage-Smith, Celestial Globes (note 47), 218-9 no, 3. © Two such astrolabes arc extant, onc dated 625 AH (= 1227-8) and the other 633 AH (1235-6). The former is now at the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford, and the latter in the Department of Oriental Antiquities of the British Museum. Unfortunately the inscription on the latter has been reworked and hence is unreliable. See L.A. Mayer, Islamic Astrolobists and Their Works (Geneva, 1956), 29-30 and pl. xiib; and Allan, ‘Muhammad ibn Khutlukh’ (note 46), 33 225226 ————— MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM 16 E. Savage-Smith and M.B. Smith high projection by which it can be suspended (see Pl. 1 for an overall view of the front of the device) The front plate has nineteen small circles, cach of a diameter of 3 cm surmounted by a window exposing a sector of a small dial that rotates beneath the plate (see Pls. 1 and 3). A large dial near the centre rotates beneath a semi- circular window of diameter 8 em (sce Pls. 1, 5, and 6). Four sliding arcs are nested at the right of the front plate behind openings in the front plate, the largest of radius 8 cm (see Pls. 1 and 4). ‘The numerous inscriptions are inlaid in either gold or silver wire ‘The front plate of the tablet, with dials attached to it from behind (see Pl. 2), is recessed in a metal frame which holds it in the manner of a picture frame. To the top of the frame is attached a device for hanging the tablet, and on the four sides of the frame there is a poem engraved and inlaid in silver against a background of arabesque (see Pls. 8-11). The front edge of the frame is decorated with a silver inlaid band formed of a wefoil alternately upside down between pairs of interlaced stems, and the narrow margin nearest the front plate is engraved in a chain pattern with centres inlaid with silver (see Pl. 1). ‘The manner in which the geomantic tablet was designed to be suspended closely resembles that common in astrolabes.®” The decorative triangular Projection attached to the top edge of the frame (Pl 1) is like the Aurst (‘throne’) projecting from the upper part of an astrolabe. Itis 5.4 cm in height and 13.5 at the base, and the edges are engraved and inlaid in arabesque (see Pl 11). The ‘nwa (‘handle’) consists of a nearly closed circular arc whose ends are joined by a straight pin passing through the upper part of the uri, thus allowing the tablet to swing on this pin. The ‘nwa or handle then teceives the alga (‘ting’) of diameter 3.4 cm. Both the ring and the handle ate decoratively engraved. To this ring would probably have been attached a cord, ‘liga, as was done with astrolabes. ‘The suspensory device is somewhat reminiscent of the Aust found on a thirteenth-century Persian astrolabe with geared calendar movement made by Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Muhammad al-Rashid al-Ibati al-Isfahani in 1221 (618 AH). There is also similarity with an enormous suspensory device of Aursi form whose purpose is unknown but which was made by one Shakit ibn Ahmad in Mosul or Damascus about the same time as this device. There % See W. Hartner, ‘The Principle and Uses of the Astrolabe’ in Pope, Samey (note 45), III, 2539-54 and VI, plates 1397-1404; reprinted with additions in W. Hartnee, Oriens-Occideus Ansgenithte Scbrifin cau Wissenschaft nnd Kadtrgesctchte Festschrift ) | age a z usT0s waiNIM = : Légieou dep «| BB Moonta orn ps | ze Je onset muomiriee| © | Bg 000 ingad| ues (uiisop ou) [nsomtng ad smut epreq-re It appay | p40} mopaq azeds| | 9 SEB oll maondes: wy eeu wouty patie : eer: |e | ‘onchoas i way weeny) & | att sz ate en |S ‘oxG09§ vee eee Intoos»| 4 ste mee ae (paygtaps row ean ola sce mest anand g25 #20] (sie agtbese woe _ ale z ? ear uegna € (srursg >) aye aes py Men ton | (IE yeusqe st 7. gmdy Teds} amas >| 1 sews Te v1250 MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM. 40 E, Savage-Smith and M.B. Smith from the number of stars associated with that mansion. For example, the twenty-first mansion, entitled a/-balda, is uniformly recognized by writers as referring to a starless region of the sky.*! The pattern, however, associated with this mansion varies greatly, consisting of four, five, or even twelve dots. Table 2 summarizes information regarding the lunar mansions which is important in attempting to understand this device and the fourteen mansions chosen for this large dial by the designer. In the chart presented in Table 2, the sequence of lunar mansions begins, as is customary, with al-sharafén. Occasionally a listing begins with a different mansion,*? but even then the same sequential order is maintained. The position of the zodiacal houses in Table 2 is that given by al-Birini® (4. 1050/442 Al) in which the mansions represent twenty-eight atbitrary divisions of the ecliptic beginning at the vernal equinox, disregarding the positions in the sky of the astetisms for which the lunar mansions are named. The seasonal divisions in the third and fourth columns of Table 2 are also derived from al-Biruni. In column 5 of Table 2, the chart gives the usual number of stars assigned to the asterism associated with a lunar mansion and, in parentheses, differing traditional versions of the number of stars. All this information is derived from the text of ‘Abd al-Rahman al-$afi who in his tenth-century treatise on the constellations used the Ptolemaic star catalogue in his identification of most of the stars in the asterisms."* Column 6 presents the most commonly accepted modern identifications of the stars.‘ Columns 7 and 8 give the designs of the asterisms found in the thirteenth-century writings of al-Quzwini and al-Bani® Column 9 gives the designs of the asterisms found in the twelfth-century Latin Experimentarius attributed to Bernard Silvester along with the Latin names and See, for example, al-Birini, The Chronology of Ancient Nations. An English Version of the Athit- Bakiya of Albiriné or ‘Vestiges of the Past’ Collected and Reduced to Writing by the Author in AH 390-1, AD 1000, tens. E.C. Sachau (London, 1879), 348 and 356. ® For example, the Experimentarius begins with the 28th mansion, which it calls Admarene, making Anatha the 2nd in the list Some anna authors began theic discussion with af-zburapya, the 3rd mansion; see Pellat, ‘Dictions rimes’ (note 73), 19. 8 al-Birdnf, Chronofgy (note 81), 351, and for further discussions of the lunar mansions, see 335-65. See also al-Birini, Book of Instruction (note 65), 81-7, sec. 164-6, & ‘Abd al-Rabman al-Safi, Samarn'lkawakib or Uranometty (Hyderabad, 1373 [1954]), passim; partial French translation by H.C.F.C. Schjcllerup, Descriptions des dtoiles fixes composée au riliew de disctone stele de notre ére, par Vastronome persan Abd al Rahman AbSufi (St Petersburg, 1874), 4% See Kunitzsch, Untereachwngen (note 77); and Savage-Smith, Celestial Ghbes (note 47), 121-32. ® ‘The patterns given by al-Qazwini are taken from the text given by L.P.E.A. [Louis-Amélie] Sédillot , Matériaux pour servir d Vhistireconparde des scemees mathematiqnes che ls recs et les erisutaux, 2 vols. (Paris, 1849), IT, 550-62, they were omitted in the Wastenfeld edition of al-Quewini (see note 78). Al-Biini gives two different designs for some of the lunar mansions, in which case both ¢ given on the chart; he does not, however, state the aumber of stars composing an asterism, as did al-S86; see al-Biini, Shams al-ma'anif (note 78), 18-24.MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM Islamie Geomancy: Another Look 41 the number of stars stated in that text.8? The three writings were selected from a considerable number of treatises in which the lunar mansions are illustrated by abstract patterns because of the importance of the works. They are offered only as illustrations of the numerous designs associated with the asterisms and are not to be interpreted as the only representations found in the literature. We now consider each of the fourteen lunar mansions named on the large dial. Throughout our discussion, these mansions are treated as segments of the ecliptic, and the season in which that segment would tise or set is indicated. See Fig. 3 to distinguish heliacal from cosmical risings and settings. If the mansions are viewed as asterisms and their locations with respect to the equinoxes are calculated for the thirteenth century, one finds that the seasonal rising or setting of the fourteen mansions mentioned on this device would differ from those given in Table 2 in only one instance, which is noted in the discussion of that mansion. The seasons associated with the mansions on the large dial (see Table 1), however, frequently fail to coincide properly with either a heliacal or cosmical interpretation of the rising or setting. ‘THE QUADRANTS NORTHERN WINTER a-balda, setting: The twenty-first lunar mansion is named ‘the place’, referring to an area behind the head of the Ptolemaic constellation Sagittarius which was said to contain no stars. Its heliacal setting would occur in the winter, in keeping with the seasonal quadrant in which it is placed on the device, while its cosmical setting would be in the summer. atbag's, rising: The name of the fifth lunar mansion means a tuft of hair, a branding mark, or any other distinguishing mark of a horse. [ts cosmical rising would occur near the beginning of winter, while its heliacal rising would be near the beginning of the summer. ah‘avwd’, rising and setting: The meaning of the name of the thirteenth lunar mansion is uncertain, but it appears to be from a root meaning to howl or yelp, or to twist or bend. It was sometimes said that the name referred to dogs barking behind a large lion visualized in the sky. Its heliacal rising and setting would occur in the autumn, and its cosmical rising and setting in the spring — neither in the winter. alturayd, rising: The third lunar mansion refers to the open star cluster called the Pleiades. It is a very old Arabic star name of obscure origin and etymology, but was most commonly associated with the pre-Islamic image © The edition by Savorelli has been used for this chart (see note 36). Compare Burnett (note 36), 118-20. 251252 42 MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM E, Savage-Smith and M.B. Smith was of a woman, her head composed of the Pleiades, with one arm and hand passing through Perseus and Cassiopeia and her other hand in the area where the head of Cetus is now visualized, Its heliacal rising is in the spring, not the winter, and its cosmical rising in the autumn. WESTERN AUTUMNAL al-simak and al-ghaf, tising and setting: The name al-simak was applied to two stars, one we call Spica and the other Arcturus, which in the anya’ tradition were seen as forming the hind legs of a large lion. Only the star in Virgo (Spica), however, comprised the asterism associated with a lunar mansion, the fourteenth. Many etymologies are presented in the eatly Arabic astronomical literature for the word ghafr, the name of the fifteenth lunar mansion, the most common being that the name, from a toot meaning to conceal, was applied because the stars were inconspicuous. Since these mansions are on or near the autumnal equinox, their heliacal risings and settings would be in the autumn. at-han'a, setting: The name of the sixth lunar mansion is derived from the root meaning either to fold or to bend, or to brand a camel on the neck. Explanations of the word from both meanings appear in the early astronomical literature, although the most common is the latter, which maintains a parallel with the fifth mansion, a/-hag'a, discussed earlier, Its cosmical setting would occur in early winter. ab-zuband and al-iklil, rising: The name of the sixteenth lunar mansion, al-zuband (the two claws) reflected the ancient, probably Babylonian, conception of 4 scorpion larger than the now familiar Scorpio, its claws formed by the constellation known today as Libra.8 The traditions are not consistent regarding the identification of the asterism associated with the seven- teenth lunar mansion, a/-fkil (the crown). Five different interpretations emerge from the early literature, the most common opinion probably being that it referred to the three stars in a row in the Ptolemaic constellation Scorpio. The heliacal risings of both lunar mansions occur in the autumn. atdabaran, setting: The name of the fourth lunar mansion, from the root meaning to follow, was associated with the famous star called today Aldebaran, The name refers to the fact that it follows the Pleiades. The cosmical setting of this lunar mansion occurs in the late autumn. If the position in the thirteenth century of the corresponding asterism of Aldebaran is considered, the setting would then be in the early winter. 4), See Hommel, ‘Uber den Ursprung’ (note 74), $97, and Savage Smith, Celestial Globes (note 175.MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM. Islamic Geomaney: Another Look 43 SOUTHERN SUMMER at-balda, rising: The twenty-first lunar mansion rises heliacally in the winter rather than summer, though its cosmical rising would be in the summer. at-bag', setting: The fifth lunar mansion sets heliacally in early summer and cosmically in early winter. alna‘@im, rising: The name of the twentieth lunar mansion means ‘the ostriches’ and refers to an early conceptualisation of the Milky Way as a river passing through the area now called Sagittarius, with four ostriches going toward the river and another four leaving on the other side. Its cosmical rising is in the summer, though its heliacal rising is in winter al-thurayd, setting: The heliacal setting of the third lunar mansion, associated with the Pleiades, would be in the spring, with its cosmical setting in the autunn — neither in the summer. EASTERN SPRING abdbira’, al-nathra, and al-tarf: These are the names of the seventh, cighth, and ninth lunar mansions, respectively. In the anwa’ tradition a large lion — much larger than the Ptolemaic Leo — was visualized in the sky with its forelegs in the Ptolemaic constellations of Gemini and Canis Minor, the nose in Cancer, and the eye, forehead, neck, shoulder, and tail tuft in Leo, while its hind legs were in Bootes and Virgo. The names of lunar man- sions numbered seven through eleven as well as number fourteen all reflect the image of this enormous lion. A/dhrra‘ means the foreleg, a/- nathra the cartilage of the nose belonging to the large lion, and al-farf means the glance or vision, also of the large lion. The maker of the geomantic device has not indicated whether the risings or settings are to be considered, for he clearly ran out of room. In fact, he had so little space that he omitted two letters of the name a/na[thrja. The heliacal tisings of all three of these mansions occur in the middle of the summer, being around the summer solstice. ‘4, rising: The si xth lunar mansion rises heliacally in the early summer. ‘xuband and al-iklil, setting: The sixteenth and seventeenth lunar mansions have their cosmical settings in the mid to late spring. an, rising: The heliacal rising of the fourth lunar mansion occurs in the late spring. If the position in the thirtcenth century of the actual asterism. is considered, the rising would occur in the early summer. PATI RNS IN THE ALIGNME! The similarity between the abstract pattern for an asterism and a geomantic is in some cases quite pronounced. For example, one of the patterns 253254 MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM 44 E. Savage-Smith and M.B. Smith given by al-Bani for the sixth lunar mansion, and also for the seventeenth and nineteenth mansions, is in fact a geomantic figure, and others could, were a Person so inclined, be interpreted as parts of geomantic figures. The twentieth lunar mansion, a/-na‘ain, is said by al-Bicini to consist of ‘cight stars, four of them lying in the Milky Way in a square, which are the Descending Ostriches, descending to the water, which is the Milky Way; and four of them lying outside the Milky Way, also in a square, which are the ascending osttiches’® That description does not disagree greatly with the pattern given by al-Qazwini < 33) and suggests the association of the geomantic figure al;jama'a ( 88 ) with that lunar mansion, which is in fact the assignment given by given by the deviee. In an Arabic calendar written in Spain in AD 961," which presents the anud’ traditions regarding natural phenomena, the Pleiades are illustrated by a seties of dots closely resembling the geomantic figure named mujra dakhila ( 88) with which it is associated by the maker of this device. Although al-Qazwii’s Pattern for the Pleiades (the third lunar mansion) does not particularly resemble this geomantic figure, it does contain six dots which both al-Saff and al-Birint gave as the number of stars in this asterism, Even though certain of the asterism designs would seem to suggest geomantic figures or parts of them, explicit alignments of the lunar mansions with geomantic figures are quite uncommon in Islamic literature. In fact, in the manuscripts and printed sources surveyed, only two items contain any such alignment. Both are late, anonymous, Persian manusctipts.2” ‘These two assignments differ from cach other, while neither in any way corresponds with that of the geomantic device by Muhammad ibn Khutlukh al-Mawsil, In the Latin geomantic treatises, on the other hand, an assignment of lunar mansions to the geomantic figures occurs in the enlist literature. Hugo Sanctallensis in the twelfth century based his gcomantic treatise upon, and in part translated, an Arabic work which has not yet been identified. By means of this work it is possible that Hugo introduced the art into the Latin West.2 In his writing Hugo aligned the geomantic figures with twenty different lunar mansions, which are given in the order of their occurrence along the ecliptic, © al-Biriini, Chronolagy (note 81), 348. * Le caendrier de Cordoue, ed. R. Dory, new ed. with French tens by C. Pellt [Medieval Iberian Peninsula Texts and Studies, 1] (Leiden, 1961), 15 and 164. 11 es Angtles, UCLA Research Library, Minasian Coll 1493, fol. 9b, copied in 1031 [= 1621] from a copy dated 812 [= 1409), and Minasian Coll, MS 1495, fo. 4a, dated 1285 [-=1865] % CH. Haskins, Studies in the History of Mediaeval Science (Cambridge, MA, prt New York, 1960), 77-8.MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM ———— 255 Islamic Geomancy: Another Look 45 with no lunar mansions repeated.” Only three figures are assigned to the same lunar mansions in both the geomantic device and the treatise by Hugo Sanctallensis. These aze listed in Table 3. Table 3. Similarities between Geomantic Device and Hugo Sanctallensis Tract Geomantic Latin Asterism Lunar name and figure names Mansion usra dakebila ae Fortuna major Pleiades third Ausilion intus at-biyin 3 Barbatus Aldebaran fourth 88 Lanta abjani'a gg Comgregatio yBenowrt, twentieth 83 Populus Sattar ‘A later English manuscript on geomancy” gives ‘the geomanticall figures attributed to the fixed starres in the eighth Sphaere’ which is, in fact, an alignment very similar to that of Hugo Sanctallensis, except that only eighteen lunar mansions are named and Fortuna minor $3 (nusra kharija) is assigned to the Pleiades. The geomantic device assigns both 88 and ,f, to the Pleiades, $ the former rising and the latter setting in the winter and summer according to the device, though actually in the spring and autumn. This feature of the cortespondences found on the device ~ namely, assigning a geomantic figure to the tising or setting of a lunar mansion — appears entirely unique, for all other correspondences we have found elsewhere do not refer to risings and settings. In contrast with the lunar mansions, alignments of geomantic figures with the directions of the compass and/or the seasons are very common in the Islamic geomantic manuals. Of the many found in the manuals studied, however, only one association of geomantic figures with cardinal points and with the seasons bears much resemblance to that presented on the geomantic tablet, but in that instance the similarity is remarkable. It occurs in a manuscript entitled Kitab arb al-ram! (Book on Geomancy’) by the shgykh Tumrum al- ® Oxford, Bodleian Library, Western Manuscripts, MS Digby 50, fol. 2r-2v, a thirteenth- or sibly twelfth- century manuscript. See also P. Tannery, ‘La Rabolion’ (note 11), 324-8, who the pertinent section of Paris, BaF, MS lat. 7354, which is also a thirteenth-century copy. %t Oxford, Bodleian Library, Westeen Manuscripts, MS Ashmole 434, fol. 17.256 MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM 46 E. Savage-Smith and M.B. Smith Hindi.’ The volume appears to be a compilation from various sources, with several authorities cited (in addition to Tumrum al-Hindi), such as the shaykh al- Zanati and Khalaf al-Barbari. In both a squate diagram and an accompanying text, contained in a section concerned with finding lost objects, the groupings Of the figures with the four directions and the four seasons are identical with those given on the geomantic device. In the text accompanying the diagram, not only are the figures grouped with the seasonal and directional quadrants, but there are indications or portents given to each figure, such as ‘good omen’ Or ‘increasingly mixed’. While the significations ascribed to the figures are not precisely the same as those on the geomantic device, the terms used, when not identical, are very similar. The alignment of geomantic figures, lunar mansions, and seasons on the latge dial possesses a number of remarkable features (see Fig. 4). With the quadrants of the dial bearing the labels of the seasons, it would be natural to assume that the designer intended for the entire dial to be interpreted chronologically, with each geomantic figure occupying a sector corresponding to one-fourth of a season, and consecutive sectors (in a clockwise direction) denoting consecutive time periods. That assumption would seem justified by the fact that for twelve of the sixteen sectors the rising (or setting) of a lunar mansion is placed diametrically opposite its setting (or rising). Such an arrangement could be interpreted as indicating the six-month alternation of the heliacal rising/setting and the cosmical rising/setting of a lunar mansion. There are, nevertheless, serious inconsistencies which make this chrono- logical interpretation of the dial quite unsatisfactory. ‘The first inconsistency concerns the use of the terms ‘setting’ and ‘rising’ and whether heliacal or cosmical is intended.. The correspondence of a single sector with both rising and setting of a lunar mansion (as is done in two sectors, one containing the thirteenth mansion and the other the fourteenth and fifteenth mansions) must of course refer either to the heliacal rising and setting together or the cosmical rising and setting together. In the case of the fourteenth and fifteenth mansions, heliacal must be intended since they are placed in the autumnal quadrant, In the case of the thirteenth mansion, however, the rising and setting are said to occur in winter, which is inappropriate by either interpretation. In several other instances neither heliacal nor cosmical yield a satisfactory interpretation of the rising or setting in terms of the season specified. An even mote setious inconsistence comes to light when one examines the sequence in which the lunar mansions are listed. Those that appear on the dial % Los Angeles, UCLA Research Library, Near Eastern Coll. 895, MS 678; copy dated 12 Jurndda 11133 [= 11 March 1721), % ibid, Fols. 36b-38b.MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM ———— 257 Islamic Geomancy: Another Look 47 Summer — South a > a 2 3 5 y | ¢ B i Winter — North Fig. 4. The alignment of seasons, directions, geomantic figures, and risings and settings of lunar mansions found on the large dial. ‘The lunar mansions are indicated by a number representing their position in the sequence of twenty-eight mansions. ‘The letters ‘R’ and ‘S’ represent the rising and setting respectively. 180° from the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth mansions (which as stated above are close to the autumnal equinox) are not the ones near the vernal equinox, but rather the ones that occur at or near the solstices. Furthermore, the sectors of the dial marked with the rising (and setting) of the thirteenth and fourteenth mansions do not occur consecutively on the dial, but instead the258 MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM 48 E. Savage-Smith and M.B. Smith sector containing the figure marked as the tising of the third mansion is placed between them. Similarly, the rising of the fourth mansion is within the spring quadrant, although the risings of the third and fifth mansions are listed in the winter quadrant. In other words, the order of the mansions as listed on the dial, when read cither clockwise or anti-clockwise, does not agree even remotely with the true sequence of the lunar mansions along the edliptic. In examining the lunar mansions named in the quadrants of the dial, one finds that of the sixteen seasonal assignments, nearly half are incorrect regardless of whether they are interpreted as heliacal or cosmical. A simple re- labelling of the quadrants, however, will not put the mansions in a chronologically correct sequence, since, for example, the rising of the fourth mansion will still occur in a sector other than that between the third and fifth ones. Consequently, it is evident that the difference between the correct order and that found on the device is so pronounced that it cannot be explained on the basis of scribal error or the accidental reversal by the maker of the winter and summer quadrants. If the sectors of the dial were not intended to represent a chronological sequence of lunar mansions, how can the sequence of mansions and their alignment with geomantic figures be explained? It should be noted that more than a single lunar mansion is assigned to certain geomantic figures by the device, which would be clearly necessary if the aim of the designer were to establish a correspondence between all twenty-eight mansions and the sixteen geomantic figures. That is not, however, his goal for he only employed half of all the lunar mansions. A possible reason for his assignment of mote than one mansion to a figure is found by examining the seventh, eighth, and ninth mansions, which are listed together on the large dial with the figure named itima’ ( & ). Al-Qazwind and al-Bani agree in their configurations for the seventh and ninth mansions, as is shown in Table 2. They differ in repard to the eighth mansion, but this is the asterism containing the open cluster Praesepe ‘whose representation has varied greatly. Consequently, it seems likely that the ee 8 for these three mansions is based on the combination oo choice of the figure of the three patterns, the top and bottom of the figure being formed by the seventh and ninth mansions, and the two middle dots representing the open cluster Praesepe associated with the eighth mansion, From this it would seem that the primary concern in assigning geomantic figures to lunar mansions was agreement between the design of the figure and the appearance in the sky of the corresponding asterism or proup of asterism That concern would be in keeping with the inscription the designer of theMAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM Islamic Geomancy: Another Look 49 device placed over the large dial: ‘We have established this circle [dial] so that you might learn from it the correspondences of the forms of the figures with the forms of the lunar mansions, rising and setting’. Here the designer clearly speaks of aligning the shapes of the geomantic figures with the shapes of the lunar mansions; the word he has employed for shapes ot forms (jv?) means also images or appearances and is frequently used for the outlines of constellations. This concern on the part of the designer would also explain a very distinctive feature of the dial. In six instances the setting of a lunar mansion is assigned to a geomantic figure which is the inverted image of the figure assigned to that same mansion’s rising, It is as though the rising in the east of an asterism was being pictured as a geomantic figure and its setting in the west represented by the figure turned 180°. Nowhere in the literature have we found such an alignment of the geomantic figures, nor one so clearly tied to visual representations If one focuses attention on how the geomantic figures, rather than the lunar mansions, are arranged on the dial and the correspondence of these figures with the lunar mansions and seasons, one finds great consistency and unquestionable evidence of purposeful design. To assist in our analysis of this design, we call two geomantic figures a symmetric pair if the 180° rotation of one of the figures yields the other figure; for example,’ and 8 form a symmetric pair. In the set of sixteen geomantic figures there are six symmetric pairs and four figures that are not changed by the 180° rotation. We call these four figures autosymmetric. For the purposes of this study, two figures are termed opposites if in each of their four rows they differ from each other in the number of dots displayed. 99 8 . ; For example, 88 8 are opposites. There are among the geomantic figures eight ‘puits of opposite figures, and two of these paits are also symmetric pairs — ‘that is, & 88 and & se On the large dial each of the six symmetric pairs ate placed so that the two 3 in a pair are diametrically opposite, one figure of the pair assigned to the ng of a certain lunar mansion and the other figure corresponding to the of the same mansion. In both instances on the dial where the rising and of lunar mansions are assigned to a single geomantic figure, one finds oe “ the figures ( 88 8 ) are autorymmetric and the lunar mansions at or near autumnal equinox. The invariance of the figure under rotation seems a 259260 MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM. 50 E. Savage-Smith and M.B. Smith particularly appropriate property for a figure assigned to both rising and setting. 22 90 The other two autosymmetric figures (8, 88 ) lie on the dial opposite these two and are assigned to mansions occurring at or near the solstices. However, the first of these two autosymmetric figures is the sole figure on the large dial that lacks any indication of the rising or setting of the associated lunar mansion. The partition of the set of sixteen geomantic figures into the four subsets associated with the seasons is remarkable in its symmetry. Each season is assigned a pair of opposite figures, one of the four figures whose opposite is symmetric to it, and one of the four autosymmetric figures (see Fig. 4). For example, for winter: 5 oe the pair of opposite figures de 3 the opposite-symmetric figure 88 the autosymmetric figure 8 Certainly such an arrangement indicates considerable familiarity with the geomantic figures and at least an intuitive awareness of the relations of symmetry and opposition which exist within the set of sixteen geomantic figures. On the other hand, it would seem the designer of this device was acquainted to some extent with certain traditional views of the lunar mansions. Evidence of this would be the partial agreement, mentioned above, of his alignment with others found in the literature. In particular the assignment of a/- jana'a to the twentieth mansion, myra dakbila to the third, and jtima‘ to the combined seventh, eighth, and ninth lunar mansions, as well as his statement over the large dial, would seem to indicate that the designer of the device was using, at least to some extent, sources like those of the cosmologist al-Qazwini which represented the lunar mansions by designs of dots. Bearing in mind the great variation in the representations of the asterisms given in such literature, it is impossible to say at this point whether the particular assignment of geomantic figures to lunar mansions found on this dial was obtained completely from some source not known to us, or whether it was an alignment original with him. ‘The pronounced regularity in the groupings of the figures by seasons, and the obvious attempt on the part of the designer to graphically represent certain of the lunar mansion asterisms by means of geomantic figures, seem to suggest that the correspondences on this dial are to be viewed as independent and unrelated. In other words, the seasons are cach assigned four geomantic figures, and each figure is aligned on the basis of likeness in appearance to the rising ot setting of a lunar mansion. ‘The two correspondences, however, are notMAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM Islamic Geomancy: Another Look 51 intended to give alignment of the seasons and lunar mansions. The curious anomaly mentioned earlier regarding the consistent positioning of auto- symmetric figures and yet the inconsistent treatment of their associated lunar mansions suggests that the designer was more concerned with the figures as abstract designs and the relationships between them than he was of the chronological sequence of lunar mansions. Certainly, he appears mote intent on preserving relationships between geomantic figures, and also graphically representing with these figures certain lunar mansions, than he is with maintaining an astronomically correct sequence. If our interpretation is correct, then this device affords an interesting example of geomantic considerations taking precedence over astronomical, and consequently astrological, concerns. Two POEMS To the right and below the large dial (see Pl. 4) is a poem in kami! metre, in which the tablet is speaking in the first person (see Appendix, item 11, for a transcription). The calligraphy is Naskh script, inlaid with silver. Iam the possessor of eloquence and the silent speaker and through my speech [arise] desixes and fears. The judicious one hides his secret thoughts, but I disclose them, just as if hearts were created as my parts.” On the lower left-hand side of the tablet, to the left of the small dial labelled ‘House of the Result of the Result’, there is another poem in Aamil metre, also in Naskh script and inlaid in silver, in which the tablet again speaks in the first person (see Pl. 1 and Appendix, item 12). Tam the revealer of secrets; in me are marvels of wisdom and strange and hidden things. But I have spread out the surface of my face out of humility, and have prepared it as a substitute for earth. THE FRAME ed in Naskh script, inlaid in silver, and entwined with decorative vines, the edge of the geomantic tablet is a poem in five basif verses, in which, rently, the maker is speaking to us concerning the device. The inscription ins at the upper right-hand corner as you view the tablet from the front and ins clockwise about the edge. ‘The right-hand edge contains the first verse, the ottom edge two verses, the left-hand edge one verse, and the top edge one "The idea apparently being, just as if the device’s internal parts were hearts — ie, as if the ‘were a living and hence perceptive being. 261262 ———— MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM 52 E, Savage-Smith and M.B. Smith verse, with the suspensory device (Aursi) separating the two half-verses of the last verse (see Pls. 8, 9, 10, and 11, and Appendix, item 13). Examine the tablet and memorize it, for in it there is meaning from the tablet [of God in Heaven] when it was marked with the pen.?* It [the geomantic tablet} shows hidden secrets of the unseen! which were determined from time immemorial. Ir [the tablet before us) agrees with geomancy in meaning but differs from it because it generates the figures from nothing." ‘The tablets of Moses were made valuable by what wisdom and authority God gave them But it is sufficient honour for it [the tablet before us} that a hand touched it which is superior to the hands of men!" in strength and nobleness of character. ‘This poem is filled with religious imagery, using throughout the word tablet, a/- fav}, in two senses, that of the geomantic tablet before us and the Mosaic tablets or the tablet of God in Heaven. The Mosaic tablets were made valuable by the wisdom and authority God gave them, but it is sufficient for the gcomantic tablet that a hand touch it which is superior to that of other men —a clear reference to the fact that this device was being constructed for the use of an important personage % The word galam usually means cved-pen or stylus. In this case two meanings could be intended in parallel with the traditions interpreting Sara LXVIII (siirat nin ot strat abgalan) of the Quran. The word galam according to the traditions meant both an implement for writing and a ‘olam of light, as long as the distance from heaven to carth, which wrote down all things that are to happen until the last judgement’ (C Huart and A. Grohmann, ‘Kalam’ in EP (note 6), IV, 471). ” Or possibly both the geomantic tablet and the tablet of God (or Mosaic tablet) 1 The word a-ghayb is a very common word in the Qui’in, again indicating that the poem is filled with religious ideas and parallels. "0! Apparently a reference to the slides on the front of the geomantic tablet from which the figuces acc instantly sclected rather than having been formed in the usual manner of counting random dots. Adbkal is the usual word for the geomantic figures, but the word in the inscription is not well formed, for it looks more like arhaf, which does not seem appropriate in this context. Another possible interpretation of this verse might be ‘geomancy agrees [with the tablet of God] in meaning, but differs fom it because it {the tablet of God] creates forms from nothing — the sense in this case being that while God can create from nothing, the geomancer must physically generate the figures. The present authors, however, prefer the former interpretation. 1@ The word al:wani meaning ‘mankind? is used here in the sense of koi polloi, the common people.263 [ez19b0 ‘ou ayy ‘snyy tug] aotaap Saosuadsns ap Jo apis xupra uo waod Jo pus mim aumesy jo a8p9 a4 “TT ‘Id 53. Liz19b0 ‘ou Ban “sayy ag] ‘ou Jo a8pa puryaeT “OT Td MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM Islamic Geomancy: Another LookMAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM 264 E. Savage-Smith and M.B. Smith 54 fotosto ‘ou Soyy “snpy Ig] so1A0p onuPUI0Ss Jo aed yOeG “ZT “laMAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM Islamic Geomancy: Another Look 55 THE BACK OF THE DEVICE ‘The back of the geomantic tablet contains two inscriptions giving blessings to the owner. The band forming the rectangular frame contains the following inscription written in Kufic script and inlaid in silver, beginning in the top right-hand corner of the back and proceeding anti-clockwise (see PJ. 12 and Appendix, item 14). Everlasting glory, continual and abiding prosperity, constant power, supreme peace, perpetual well-being, increasing good fortune, favourable fate, a comfortable manner of life, a long unimpaired life, complete honour, a pure manner of life, sufficient satisfaction, peace of mind, blessing, compassion, support [from God] and success ‘The inscription around the centre diamond is engraved in Naskh script and inlaid in silver, beginning at the left-hand corner and proceeding anti-clockwise (see Pl. 12 and Appendix, item 15). Everlasting glory, a long unimpaired life, outstanding character, efficacious power, fortunate omens, complete honour, a pure manner of life, support [fom God] and victory over the enemies for its owner. Bands filled with decorative arabesque entwine the diamond and encircle the small centre inscription containing an owner's statement (see Pl. 12 and Appendix, item 2). As discussed above (pp. 21-2), this is likely not the name of the patron for whom the device was executed but rather than of a later owner: In the possession of Muhammad al-Mubtasib al-Bukhari. IY. Operation and Interpretation of the Tablet This geomantic tablet presents only a small amount of information about the procedures intended for its operation. In the two poems on the front of the tablet, the device speaks in the first person telling us that it is a ‘silent speaker” who is not judicious since it discloses innermost thoughts as if it were a living being. It continues in the second poem to say it is the revealer of secrets and has humbly spread out the surface of its face to serve as a substitute for earth — ‘that is, the front of the device is to be used instead of the ground or a dust board for the formation of the geomantic tableau. Mote specific directions are found in the engraved statement over the four curved slides, They leave no doubt that the tablet was designed so that the first ‘four figures, the Mothers, would be obtained by using these slides rather than fn the customary manner of making marks on the ground or on a dust board. poem on the tablet’s edge states that the device ‘agrees with geomancy in 265266 MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM 56 E, Savage-Smith and M.B. Smith meaning but differs from it because it generates the figures from nothing?” referring, no doubt, to this manner of generating these four figures from the slides. Consistently in the practice of geomancy, the first four figures are supposed to be derived in a manner free of purposeful or even conscious selection, Consequently, it seems reasonable to assume that, prior to the determination of the Mothers, all the slides would be in a ‘closed position’ - that is, pushed down so that no figures were visible. Then each slide in turn would be moved up an arbitrary amount, an action analogous to spontaneously putting down in the sand four rows of dots without counting them. It was probably the designer's intention that the slides be moved blindly so as to insure the purposelessness of the selection. Once the slides have been moved, the Mothers can be obtained following the directions given above the slides, which clearly describe which figure on each slide is to be selected. It is the one closest to the place where the slide disappears under the front plate, or, in other words, the visible figure closest to the horizontal edge of the aperture through which the side is visible. Hence, if we are correct in assuming that initially all the slides would be in a ‘closed position,’ then it would require some movement of cach slide upward in order to produce a figure, since at the start all the figures would be out of sight. Although the tablet is explicit about where to locate the figure to be used, there is no indication of which slide provides the first figure, which the second, and so on. Nevertheless, in view of the ordering from right to left given in a geomantic tableau to the four Mothers, it would seem most likely that the nested sequence of slides would be read from the innetmost outward ~ that is, from right to left along the horizontal margin of the slides, where the figures ate located which the device instructs the user to take as the Mothers. Having by means of the slides produced the Mothers, and having adjusted the dials for the first four houses so that each Mother was visible in the appropriate house, the other dials were doubtless turned so as to display the correct figures, in accordance with the procedures for forming a geomantic tableau discussed above (pp. 11-13). The device itself is totally silent with regard to how these additional twelve figures of the tableau are formed. The absence of instruction on how the figures in the various houses are derived is significant, for it clearly indicates that the tablet was intended for someone already acquainted with the process of casting a geomantic tableau. For the interpretation of the tableau, the remaining parts of the device would be used: the large dial and the three small ones in the lower right-hand quadrant. The large dial obviously gives the interpreter information on the good or ill portent of each geomantic figure and its alignment with a season, a direction of the compass, and a lunar mansion. This information was cleatly intended to assist the interpreter in divining the significance of a certain figureMAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM Islamic Geomaney: Another Look 57 occutting in a particular house. From the nature of extant geomantic treatises themselves and from the observation of practicing geomancers in more recent times,” it may be presumed that geomancers in the thirteenth century customarily used a geomantic manual for assistance in the interpretation of the tableau. These manuals present a variety of materials such as alignments of the figures with numbers, elements, letters, planets, directions, seasons, illnesses, masculine and feminine, good or ill fortune, moisture or dryness, parts of the body, professions, animals, minerals, and other things, sometimes presented in chart form. Frequently the significance of each individual house and the basic subject it covers are enumerated; for example, House I is the house of the soul, life, strength, stability, pride, prestige, self-motivation, creative matters, initiative, ingenuity, organization, and all matters involving the mind and will. In addition, the characteristics and significations of each figure occurring in the various houses will sometimes be given, climinating for the odd figures House XV." Interpretative procedures, as distinguished from the meanings of figures and houses, were rarely described outside the context of discussing a specific question. Sample questions would be stated with detailed directions for the interpretation of the tableau. Authors differ greatly with regard to what is assembled in a manual and to theit individual interpretation of the nature of a figure or a house. Enormous ‘variety is found in the characteristics or significations attributed to the figures, ‘as well as in the procedures for actually interpreting a tableau, which vary from. ‘the simple to the extraordinarily complex and involved. ‘There is not as much vatiation in the types of questions asked, for certain ones dominate the manuals, such as — to name only a very few — who will win, “the questioner ot his adversary; who loves more, the questioner or the object of the question; whether a wife is intimate with another and if so with whom; what kind of pregnancy and delivery a pregnant woman will have; whether a ant woman will deliver a male or female child and how many; whether it afe to travel by boat and what will occur during the voyage; whether an ent one will return or not; where to find the lost or hidden; how to inc the depth of water underground; whether it will rain or not; in what 1 Sec, for example, C. Montel, ‘La divination chez les noirs de l'Afrique occidentale nga”, Bulletin de Comité d'Etudes Historiques et Scientifigues de U'Afpique Occidentale Francaise 14 ), 27-136; and Ben Choaib, ‘Le bonne aventure’ (note 13). Because of the relationship between the first four figures and figures five through cight, figures in Houses XIII and XIV arc not totally independent of one another. Both are even or ah are odd. Consequently, the figure in House XV, being the ‘sum’ of these two, is always an i figure. ‘This fact was known to some of the Islamic authors of geomantic treatises, such as hfif; see Oxford, Bodleian Library, Oriental Collections, MS Arab.£.36, fol. 100b. 267268 MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM 58 E, Savage-Smith and M.B, Smith” part of the body lies a person’s illness; and what will be the course of an illness. From the evidence provided by the ordering of the figures on the slides, the significations given to the houses and figures, the names of the figures, and from the reference in the inscription under the large dial to ‘books concerned with the study of the art, it is clear that the designer of this tablet was well versed in the geomantic literature of his day. The tablet itself, however, contains no information at all about the interpretive processes, which ate customarily presented in the geomantic manuals, nor does it give even basic information about how to form a tableau. Obviously, either the designer intended for a geomantic manual to be employed along with the tablet, or he assumed that the user would be sufficiently familiar with the art to at least form a tableau and devise a method for producing a reading or interpretation from just the labelling of the houses. From the extant geomantic treatises no single interpretative method fot geomancy emerges, but rather the method frequently depends upon the nature of the question, From a large number of procedures which varied in complexity, one was chosen depending upon the nature of the question. If the tablet were to be used without the aid of a geomantic manual which would explain the procedures for answering a given question, it is likely that the geomancer would employ a very simple method such as inspecting the figures that appear in the House of the Result (position XV) or in the House of the Result of the Result (position XVI) together possibly with the figure occupying the house most closely related to the question being asked. House XV was usually considered to give the immediate result, while XVI was thought to give the long-range consequences of the result. Unfavourable figures, in terms of the attributions given on the large dial, would certainly indicate unfavourable immediate and future results. Favourable or mixed figures in such positions could be modified by any unfavourable signs appearing in the house whose subject covers the objects of the inquiry, such as illness or property. In addition, the portents associated with the figures in the House of the Questioner or in the House of the Object of the Inquiry (positions XIII and XIV, respectively) could also have direct bearing upon the ultimate favourable or unfavourable outcome for the questioner or the person who is the object of the question. Quite possibly the figure occupying the first house, which governs the soul of the questioner, would be taken into consideration as well, for this was generally thought to be a significant house no matter what the topic of the question happened to be. If, however, the interpretation was limited to the procedures just discussed, then it is somewhat difficult to explain the function of the three small dials, which have over them the statement that ‘the geomantic triplet’ is formed by these circles. Any two figures and the ‘sum’ of those figures is referred to byMAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM ———— 269 Islamic Geomaney: Another Look 59 some writers as comprising a geomantic triplet, muthallatha, and the figure which is the ‘sum’ is called the mézan, ‘the balance’. In casting any geomantic tableau several triplets are involved, but on this device the dials for the houses are located so that the figures to be ‘added’ would already be closely adjacent to one another and there would be no advantage in using the small dials in the lower right-hand corner (see Pl. 1). Only in the case of forming the figure for House XV (by ‘adding’ those in XIII and XIV), and especially in forming the final figure (by ‘adding’ those in XV and 1), would these small dials be of some value in allowing one to place the figures in close proximity to one another for ease of calculating the mizan, which then would be displayed on the lowest of the three dials and then transferred to its appropriate position in the tableau. On the other hand, it should be noted that in the manuals there are interpretive methods described using other special triplets to a considerable degtee. For example, there are procedures in which after the tableau is ‘completed the figure in a specific house is combined with the figure found in another certain house of the tableau, and the resulting figure analysed for its ‘meaning. Sometimes many triplets were formed besides those necessary for the basic tableau. The following is an example of an elaborate, but not unusually ‘complex, procedure in which the three small dials would have been useful.!05 If the question is about who will win — the questioner or the adversary — the nancer is told to ‘add’ together the figure in the first house (the House of and the figure in the cighth house (the House of Slaughter and Death) so IS to form a new figure. Then he is to ‘add’ together the figure in the ninth se (the House of Movement and Change) and the figure in the twelfth se (the House of Enemies and Envious People) to form a new figure. These newly produced figures the geomancer then ‘adds’ together to derive a figure. If this third figure is present in the section of the tableau belonging the questioner (positions I though V1) then the questioner will win; if it is ent in the section of the tableau belonging to the object of the question ions VII through XII), then the adversary will win. If it occurs in both ions, it will be even between the persons. If it is not present in either ion, then the geomancer is to sce what position it occupies in a fixed of all the sixteen geomantic figures, called a taskin, and whichever it falls in, then that person will be the victor; should it occur in the last nur positions of the askin, neither party will be victorious. The consequences of the victory are to be interpreted from houses XIII through XVI in the Fixed orderings of all sixteen geomantic figures play a significant role in many treatises. These orderings, called sasdkin (sing. taskin), vary to some extent WS Los Angeles, UCLA, Research Library, Near Eastern Coll. 898, MS 618, fol. 63.———— MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM. 60 E, Savage-Smith and M.B. Smit from author to author, but certain ones seem to have been especially pop and widely circulated. The order in which the figures occur on each sliding of this device (see Pl. 4), reading them in an anti-clockwise direction, is one of the tackins most frequently found in the treatises, presented here reading right to left: 8 & 8 Be BY & g oo 88 88 co 8 88 ow In geomantic manuals, this ordering is frequently called the ‘askin of the circle’. This is further evidence of the designer’s acquaintance with the geomantic treatises or traditions. It could scarcely be coincidence that this same ordering occurs repeatedly elsewhere, for there is an extremely large number of possible orderings of the sixteen geomantic figures. In fact, the total number of arrangements exceeds twenty million millions. What is curious to note is that on this device this ordering is used for a part of the process not concerned with interpretation at all, but solely with the selection of the Mothers. This is particularly interesting in view of the fact that the entire geomantic process rests on the assumption that the Mothers ate not consciously selected. Therefore, a less well-known arrangement of the figures on this part of the device would seem more suitable since it would be mote likely to avoid a purposeful selection of certain figures for the first four figures. On the other hand, the presence of this sarkin on these slides may be owing to certain theories about this ordering which are not known to us at present. The order in which the figures are presented on each of the nineteen small dials seems to be of no particular significance and is seldom, if ever, encountered in the extant treatises on geomancy. Thete is a pronounced pattern to the ordering, however, for the figures are in opposite or symmetric pairs: er rr 88 8s 8 oe v8 de e 3 aS 8 HRS 2% 8 Bee Fe So eRe LT oS B The failure to encounter this ordering elsewhere would seem to indicate that either it was an invention of the designer, who arranged the figures in these pairs in order to assist the user in locating a particular figure on one of these dials, or it represents a sackin that has not survived in the written discussions of geomancy. Since the device presents the directions of the compass aligned with the geomantic figures, we can assume the designer intended it to be used for locating lost or stolen objects and concealed or buried items, which are the "6 Tt is also called ‘the geomantic tarkin (tackin alram!) belonging to al-Zanit?. See al-Zani K. abPagl ff ual (note 13, printing of 1280/1863), 5-8, 24-5, 31, 34-3; Da’dd al-Antaki, Tadbkira (note 59), 234; Oxford, Bodleian Library, Oriental Collections, MS Greaves 40, fol. 117b and MS Marsh 216, fol. 1a; and Los Angeles, UCLA, Near Eastern Coll. 895, MS 678, fols. 782 and 114b,———————— MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM ————— Islamic Geomancy: Another Look 61 subject of frequent questions in the literature. There is a complicated procedure attributed to Tumtum al-Hindi that occurs quite frequently in the manuals." It is impossible to know whether the designer assumed the user of the device would employ this procedure or whether the designer intended to simplify the method by having the user read the direction corresponding to the figure occupying, say, the fifteenth or sixteenth house. ‘The method as presented in the treatises begins with a square diagram assigning the figures to the four cardinal points (sce Fig, 5). It is assumed the geomancer knows that the top row o rank of a geomantic figure is called ‘fire’ and is assigned a value of one, the second rank ‘air’ with value two, the third rank ‘water’ with value three, and the bottom row ‘earth’ with value four. Near the location where the item is thought to be, the geomancer is told to make a tableau and then to count how many waters are in it (Le., to count the figures have a single dot in the third rank and to multiply this number by three). If less than eight, then there is nothing there, Otherwise the geomancer should proceed to produce a new tableau, after marking the directions of the compass on the ground. He then counts all the elements in the tableau, multiplying the number of single dots in each rank by the value of the rank. The sum is divided by 128, the remainder divided by 16, that remainder divided by 9, and finally that remainder divided by 4. If one is left, the direction is East; if two West; if three North, and if four South. ‘The geomancer then faces that direction and draws a square on the ground and follows the same procedure to produce a new tableau, and the numerical process is repeated until one, two, three, or four is left. Then the geomancer looks at the Mother in the tableau which cotresponds to this remainder (that is, occupies the corresponding position in the tableau) and locates that figure in the square diagram (Fig. 5) and notes the direction. The corresponding position fon the square which he has drawn on the ground in front of him then determines where the object is. In the case of one using this metal tablet rather than a manual, the geomancer would locate the corresponding direction from the large dial. If it is buried, then the depth can be determined by knowing that the clement of fire is assigned the depth of a finger, air the depth of the breadth of a hand, water the length of a cubit, and earth the length of a human body. The geomancer then looks at the figure of the Mother which was found to be the indicator, counts the ranks containing only one dot, and adds up the ‘corresponding lengths. Then, using a certain ordering of the figures known as the ‘Zaskin of the letters’, he finds the figure that occupies the same position in 1 Paris, BNE, arabe MS 2697, fols. 16a-16b, and Los Angeles, UCLA Rescarch Library, Near Eastern coll. 895, MS 678, fols. 63b-65b. Compare Los Angeles, UCLA, Near Eastern Coll. 898, MS 43, fols. 11b-12a, by Ibn Tarahi al-Flanafi al-Dhakir. 271272 MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM 62 E, Savage-Smith and M.B. Sm South East West North Fig. 5. Square relating geomantic figures with the four cardinal points for use in finding hidden o lost objects. the sarkin that the Mother occupied in the tableau. He counts the ranks of that figure which contain a single dot and adds the corresponding lengths. Finally, he finds the sum of the lengths obtained from the Mother and the lengths found from the figure in the éaskén. This then is the depth at which the object is located. A simpler version of the procedure for locating lost objects is given in a printed al-Zanati text where it is said that at the suspected location the geomancer should put down a tableau and then add all the points of the figures together and subtract thirty-one." Using the remainder he then casts off one number for cach of the houses until the number runs out. The geomancer should then take the figure in the house where the number stops and ‘add’ it to the figure in the fifteenth house to produce a third figure (on the device, the geomancer could use the three small dials for this purpose). Then the geomancer is to sce what direction is assigned to that resulting figure in the diagram (Fig, 5), and in that direction lies the lost or hidden object. Just as the alignment of the figures with cardinal directions would have been of significance in responding to questions concerning spatial location, it is reasonable to assume that the seasonal groupings were intended for the interpretation of tableaux cast in an attempt to answer questions about time 8 al-Zanati, K. al-Fas/ ff upil (note 13, printing of 1280/1863), 30-1.MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM Islamic Geomaney: Another Look 63 and when an event would occur. The lunar mansion designation, on the other hand, may have only been meant to convey something of the quality of the figure and not to be used in the temporal location of events. The designer pethaps assumed that the user of this device would be acquainted with the association of particular lunar mansions with indications of weather conditions and good or ill portents, such as are given by al-Birdini.' Nothing, however, on the device itself can guide the user in the application of the lunar mansions toward the interpretation of a geomantic reading, Nor is there any indication in the few treatises that align lunar mansions with geomantic figures of how the lunar mansions were to be applied in a geomantic reading. Several remarkable features about the device from the standpoint of the practice of geomancy should be noted. The use of slides for producing the four initial figures, rather than marking down sixteen rows of dots which are then converted into four figures of four rows each, is striking in its uniqueness — a uniqueness the designer recognized when he said in the verse along the edge that the tablet ‘agrees with geomancy in meaning but differs from it because it generates the figures from nothing’. Furthermore, the very concept of designing a mechanical device or tablet for the production and interpretation of a _geomantic tableau appears to be entirely unique in the history of geomancy. The alignments of the figures given on the large dial are notable for several seasons. The very insignificant role played by the lunar mansions in geomantic treatises makes their alignment here with geomantic figures surprising. Furthermore, in contrast with the remarkably logical patterns exhibited in the ‘arrangement of geomantic figures and the seasons and cardinal points on the e dial, the sequence of the lunar mansions appears illogical and incortect, inless, as suggested above, the maker were concerned only with aligning the shapes of the geomantic figures with the general appearances of the lunar mansion asterisms and did not intend the seasons and directions of the compass to also be attributed to the lunar mansions. While such an alignment only on graphic representation of the lunar mansions is in keeping with statement over the large dial, it does not reflect any known practice in ney current either then or later. It was quite possibly an original tribution by the designer and may offer some indication of his attitude ard geomancy as opposed to astrology. The maker was well aware of and d of the tablet’s unique features, as shown in the remark over the large dial “from my intricacies there comes about insight superior to books oncerned with the study of the art’. Jecause of the relative lack of Islamic geomantic manuscript material prior @ the fourteenth century, the design of this tablet is quite important to the Wal-Birini, Chrowolegy (note 81), 351 273MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM 64 E. Savage-Smith and M.B. Smi history of geomantic practices. The device ranks as one of the earliest dat sources for a complex system of divination that was clearly fully developed ant established by the time Muhammad ibn Khutlukh al-Mawsili made it in 1241. It is also indicative of the importance given to the practice of geomancy in the thirteenth-century Islamic world that so meticulously designed and executed a. piece would have been produced. In medieval Europe geomantic treatises were on occasion produced for royal petsons. Two examples are the geomancies written expressly for Richard II of England and Charles V of France.'! They are beautifully executed manu- scripts, highly decorated, and with striking miniatures. The metal geomantic tablet we have been examining would seem to be an Islamic parallel to these European royal geomantic manuscripts, for it is beautifully ornamented and skilfully crafted and, one may safely assume, intended for a highly placed: person interested in the geomantic art, Appendix ‘Transcription of Inscriptions wee il desl ale oy PYT ng [written entitely without diacritical dots] 5 ld) Gat! ot Coy O 2 88 8 W Bissell & vsell Fobll Haws 3 Weel! B ull Su sll S vas WS weell Five ll BB Sil & os ge uae || 9p Elaet |] & er i fe es) UW ca [Pte Vy Be ce I ply SUL ey ff aly pithy 4 Lh ca Mf AAs SEY ce I ay EL ce If OWEN, Fal Mel ey |] AS Ay Jed) ce |] shy bt co I] Leb ae Sgtedhicy I] Js oe /f by plac co |] JU; cle Jl ew // AI AE Cy // AI Cy // nN Oxford, Bodleian Library, Western Manuscripts, MS Bodl. 581 and Cambridge, Trinity College, MS 1447, respectively. See also the geomancies prepared for John Duke of Bedford (Oxford, St Johns College MS 18) and Wenceslaus (Vackw IV), King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor, 1378-1400 (Vienna, Nationalbibliothek, MS 2352).————— MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM ————— 275 Islamic Geomaney: Another Look 65 Jed // ke sip] [orti-] ote gay 5 ot lee als & [8 oles or | ped KEY eS quell ola Ley 28 UY ge dy yalill ae I fetal Lt! Up ple i sla odie Lavy 27 ae ot SIEM ype aISe ChE Ry talb Jt! rlet diy gle SLI yt 8 bat wall Justi USL ep GOS ot wt GH th yx ee 19 res stl JU a I 710 saa SI fle x at & cofo U2 yt! ae sald Jeb cat 8 08st aSlb aaabl EH |B | coe Sash far jtey tale | ph pele tae 88] S900 sl 3 pai adh b SI aA Ales at 4 | g% | 0980 ‘iiall (Aly SS Les co A |] 8° Co LS aj del Ket =] ee |B] oes BIE ae ust Je nt 1881 9005 Sil Ly ob pull276 ————— MAGIC AND DIVINATION IN EARLY ISLAM. 66 E. Savage-Smith and M.B. Smith ideal Ustl ep! °. deb gat | e080 cbs anib subs | Bog zat je ead Jeb cw | BE) gg ett | aah te dm jls tes | S| $800 ae je 5 nai We LS sd SN eS Toe Ys Jeb Y 98 | S008 ct Elm 5B) cht ee Si, dole tee |B] oo Geb Las alle det! Bete | oe] coo Mab te | HSV Ub Zl ® We ce | | ons, old Wie ot wl ctl tal ales Lele Gastly OU 35 Ul 58 Gils slasl OG aegl ope alll at ety Hey ESS oe Sst OLA ae they ply dae LeU ee ee pall lle 8 Bhi CUI CH ot SIE tary 4S SS ry bS ye LU py U8 Go oul Dy oe eV Gals GI Vole che aslo I 4 BU deity ob UI Bs Bt hol Gall ot hy ales gall BJS! By 8 ee i gay chs US Wy ee IDE tery SL) ale pacly QIbdl ELS) ASL Tylly 4T We JLYly gSlatl Gul WAS UA SShy PLS fe gall paadly LEN Gtewlly dell alt [5] aetall lady AW, de Ny ply Sol ly AST BUT, ASLAM Lewy WAS SUN tadhy LI AVI, polall big] ALD a gl panlly shut Jol aala clicYy dblly uftly ail all arly ts) ll 12 13 14