Elements. Books 1-3

c. 1800

De Beer MS. 08

Unpublished

In the 8th and 9th centuries, there was an intellectual awakening in the Orient, much of it centred around Bayt Al-Hikmah (The House of Wisdom) in Baghdad, which attracted scholars from all over the world. Tasks undertaken at the centre included the translation of major works of the Greeks, Indians, and Persians. Among the Greek works was Euclid’s Elements of Geometry, which is considered as one of the most successful and influential textbooks ever written. This is a battered Arabic manuscript in naskh script of chapters 1 to 3 of Euclid’s work, beginning in the middle of definition ten. It is an Isḥāq ibn Ḥunayn-Thābit ibn Qurra version, the most influential of Arabic translations. Euclid – the ‘father of geometry’ – first became known in Europe through Latin translations of these versions. The age of the manuscript is probably much later than given date of c.1800.