The project Zodiac - Ancient Astral Science in Transformation (ERC) at the Institute for the History of Knowledge in the Ancient World, Freie Universität Berlin, is hosting a workshop in cooperation with IAS - Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton, and the Bergische Universität Wuppertal, 10–11 April 2025:

The Visual Scribe: Tables and Diagrams in Middle Eastern Manuscripts

Freie Universität Berlin

Fabeckstr. 23-25, room 2.2058

14195 Berlin

Conveners: Sonja Brentjes (IZWT, Bergische Universität Wuppertal), Mathieu Ossendrijver (Freie Universität Berlin), Sabine Schmidtke (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton), George A. Kiraz (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton)

Since places may be limited, we ask anyone interested in attending to RSVP before 1 April by writing to zodiac@geschkult.fu-berlin.de and providing your full name, country of residence, and affiliation (if any), and indicate whether you want to attend in person or remotely.

The workshop will provide a platform to delve into the rich tradition of tables and diagrams in Middle Eastern manuscripts. We will examine various aspects of these visual representations, including their historical contexts, symbolic meanings, cultural significance, and methodological approaches.
Topics of interest include the evolution of tables and diagrams, analysis of specific types of tables and diagrams (e.g., genealogical tables, astronomical diagrams, geometric patterns, tabular data), comparative studies across different manuscript traditions, the role of tables and diagrams in knowledge transmission and dissemination, digital tools and techniques for analyzing and reconstructing tables and diagrams. This across-discipline workshop aims to cover manuscripts in various languages, including, but not limited to, Arabic, Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian*, Hebrew, Persian, and Syriac, in addition to the ancient languages of Egypt and Mesopotamia.

Program download available soon:

April 10

Majlis 1 [Syriac, Sanskrit]                                                                                                  

9:15       Opening

9:45        Sergius of Reshaina, Proba, and the Tradition of Presentation of Philosophical Divisions and Definitions in the Diagram Form

Yury Arzhanov, University of Salzburg, Austria

10:15     Diagrams in Sanskrit mathematical and astronomical works translated from Arabic and Persian at the court of Savaī Jai Singh II (1689 – 1743)

Jean Michel Delire, University of Brussels

10:45     Break

Majlis 2 [Arabic, Islamic]                                                                                             

11:15     A Sufi Gestaltpsychologie? Diagrams of nafs in the Manuscripts of Ibrāhīm al-Qirīmī (d. 1593)

Mykhaylo Yakubovych, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg

11:45     Strings, Lines, and Circles: Diagramming Musical Pitch and Perception in the Treatises of Ṣafī al-Dīn al-Urmawī

Hallie Voulgaris, Yale University, Department of Music

12:15     Historiographical musings on the Taḥrīr Uṣūl Uqlīdis of Muḥyi al-Dīn al-Maghribī and its geometrical diagrams: An application of cladistic analysis

Gregg De Young, Department of Mathematics and Actuarial Science, The American Univ. in Cairo

12:45     LUNCH

 

Majlis 3 [Hebrew, Greek]

14:15     How to use and where to place a geometrical diagram? The case study of Ḥibbur ha-Meshiḥah ve-ha-Tishboret – on various copies, translations and critical editions

Michael Friedman, Mathematisches Institut der Universität Bonn

14:45     From the West and the East:
“Tree of Porphyry” Diagrams in Hebrew Manuscripts

Sivan Gottlieb, Department of Semitic Studies, University of Granada, Spain

15:15     Tables and Diagrams in Greek Mathematical Papyri

Julia Lougovaya, Universität Heidelberg

15:45     BREAK

Majlis 4 [Arabic, Islamic II]

16:15     Visualizing Verified Knowledge: Genealogical Charts in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century North Africa

Natalie Kraneiß, University of Münster, Germany

16:45     The Arabic Manuscript of Dioscorides’ Materia Medica in the University Library of Bologna: The Dialogue between Plants and Text

Valentina Sagaria Rossi, University of Rome Tor Vergata

17:15     *Zoom: “Visual Idioms” in Islamicate Astronomy (ʿilm al-hayʾa) Diagrams

Scott Trigg, Affiliated Researcher Observatoire de Paris-PSL

17:45     Reception

 

April 11

Majlis 5 [Arabic, Islamic III]

9:15       Graphing the Cosmos: The Astronomical Illustrations of Ṭūsī’s Risāla-yi Muʿīnīya

Kaveh Niazi

9:45        Healing Figures: Avicenna's Geometry and Arithmetic

Hassan Amini, IMT School of Advanced Studies, Lucca

Germano Gorga, IMT School of Advanced Studies, Lucca

10:15     “Popular art” and the Muḥammad Reality: the “Millstone of the spiritual energy”. A diagram from Qandūsī (d. 1861, Fez).

Francesco Chiabotti, INALCO-CERMOM

10:45     Break

 

Majlis 6 [ANE, Ethiopic]

11:15     Visual aspects of tabular texts in Babylonian Mathematical Astronomy

Mathieu Ossendrijver, Freie Universität Berlin

Alessia Pilloni, Freie Universität Berlin

11:45     Tables and Diagrams in Christian Ethiopia and Eritrea

Daria Elagina, University of Münster

Augustine Dickinson, University of Münster

12:15     Astronomical Diagrams accompanying the Book of Enoch in two Ethiopic Manuscripts

Yiqing LI, Freie Universität Berlin

12:45     LUNCH

Majlis 7 [Armenian, Arabic/Islamic IV]

14:15     Zodiac Man in Armenian Tradition

Anush Sargsyan, Matenadaran: Mesrop Mashtots Scientific Research Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, The Department Studies the Scriptoria

14:45     User-Friendliness in Islamicate Zijes: A Comparative Study of Planetary Latitude Tables

Mostafa Yavari, University of Tehran, Institute for the History of Science, Tehran, Iran

15:15     Diagrams of the Two Planetary Equations in the Ninth Book of the Almagest: Insights from Arabic Medieval Manuscripts

Maryam Zamani, Independent Researcher

15:45     BREAK

Majlis 8 [Digital Humanities]

16:15     Manuscript to Digital: Records of Mapping Knowledge of Anatomy in Middle Eastern Manuscripts Project

Mohammad Golshan, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen and École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS)

16:45     Colors of stars in pre-modern texts, tables, and drawings

Ralph Neuhäuser, Astrophysical Institute, University of Jena, Germany

17:15     Revealing the latent mathematics in historical horoscopes through a digital reconstruction method

Pouyan Shahidi, Indiana University, Bloomington

17:45     Conference Dinner