Biruni-The Chronology of Ancient Nations

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THE CHRONOLOGYOF

A NOIENT NATIONSAN BNOH8H V ER SION 0F THE

ARABIC TKH. OFTHE ~f~~t OF ~M~~v,

ON

~< ~ESTIGES OF THE PAST,"CO~MMD.ANB BEDOCBD TO W~rriNG BY THB AUTHOB

IN A.H. 3901, A.D.1000. fAt:~)!tlff~

-A'~ ~.3.

TRANSlATED AND EDITED, WITH NOTES AND INDEX, BY

Da. C. EDWARD SACHAUPROFESSOBIN THE NOTAI. tncn-ERSm- OF BEEUK.

LONDON:PUBLISHEDFORTHEORIENTALTRANSLADONFUNDOF6REATBRITAIN&IRELANDBy WILLIAM H. ALLEN AND CO.18WATERLOOPLACE,PALLMALL.

FtmLmmim Te TaBranis emoa.

1879.


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tONDON:PBtNTEnBTW. H. ALT.MjtKn CO.


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DEDICATEDTOTHEMBMBEBS

Of THE

COMMITTEE OF THE ORIENTAL TRANSLATION FUKD (1878).

OSMOND DE BEAUVOIR PRIAULX.EDWARD THOMAS, F.R.S.JAMES FERGUSSON, F.R.S.

REINHOLD ROST, LL.D., SECBETABY.

ANDTOTHE MEMOBT0F

THEODOB GOLDSTUCEEB, D.C.L.LATE FROFBSSOR 0 F SANSKRIT !N Tmf ntftVNNSITT OP LONDON.


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PREFACE.

IT was Sir Hemy Bawlinson who nrst direoted publicattention to this work of AlMrni, in his celebrated articleon Central Asia in th "Quarterly Review for 1866, in

which he gave some valuable information derived from hisown manuscript copy, now the property of the BritishMusum. In oSering the book, both in text and trans-lation, to the learned worid, I feel bound to premisethat it is scarcely of a nature to attract ~e interest ofth gnerai reader. It appeals to minds trained in theschools of various sciences. Even comptent scholars willfind it no easy matter to follow our author through aUthemazes of his elaborate soientino calcutations. Containing,as it does, all the technioal and historical details ofthe various Systems for the computation of time, inventedand used by the

Persians, Sogdians, Chorasmians, Jews,Syrians, Harrnians, and Arabs, tngether with Greektraditions, it oners an equal interest to all those who studythe antiquityand historyof the Zoroastrian and Jewish,Christian and Muhammadan religions.'

The work of AlMrun has the character of a primarysource. Oriental philologists are accustomed to see one booksoon superseded by another, Barhebraeus by Ibn-al'athr,Ibn-al'atMr by AI.Tabar. Although it is likely enough

ByChmtia.na,l understandth MeIIdteMd NestorianCh~ohMwhilst th author dce. not to have hnownmuchm.re of theJaoobitesthamthename.


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Vt PREFAOE.

that on many subjeots in this book we shall one day findbotter authenticated and more anoient information, 1venture to say, that, as a whole, it will soaroely ever besuperseded It is a standard work in Oriental literature,and has been recognised as suoh by the Eaat itself, repre-senting in ita peouliar line the highest development ofOnental soholarahip. Perhaps we shall one day find theliterary sources themselves from whioh Albirn derived bis

information, and shall be enabled to dispense with hieextraots frc-.i them. But there are other chapters, e.g.those on the oalendars of the ancient inhabitants of CentralAsia, regarding wMoh we shall, in all likelihood, nevor findany more anoient information, beoause the author hadlearned the subject from hearsay among a populationwhich was then on the eve of dying out. As the &rsteditor and translator of a book of this kind, 1 venture toolaim the indulgence of the reader. Generations ofscholarshve toiled to oarry the understanding of Herodotus tothat point where it is now, and how muoh is wanting still 1The work of generations will be required to do full justiceto Albrn. A classioal philologist can edit a Greek toxt ina correct form, even though he may have no completeunderstanding of the subject-matter in all possible relations.Not so an Arabie philologist. The ambiguity of th Arabiewritingpfo~ dolor 1-is the reason why a manuscriptexpresses only three-quarters of the author's meaning,whilst the editor is compelled to supply the fourth quarterfrom his own knowledge and discernment. No number inany chronological table can be considered correct, as longas it is not proved by computation to be so, and even inthe simplest historical narrative the editor and translator

may most lamentably go astray in his interpretation, ifthere is something wrongwith the method of his research.


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PREFACE, vii

1 have boldly attacked the sometimes rather enigmatiostyle of the author, and if 1 have missed the mark, if thebewildering variety and multiplioity of the subjeot-matterhave prevented me reaohing the very bottom of everyquestion, 1 must do what more or less overy Orientalauthor does at the end ofhis work,-humbly ask the gentlereader to pardon my error and to correct it.

I. The A~of.

The full name of the author is -~Ba~m JMM~~MK~b. 'J~MMK~J.~M~m~. He quotes himself as ~.M-.B


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PREFAOE.

4th September), and died A.H. 440, 2. Rajab (A.D. 1048,lith Deoember), aged seventy-five years.The mst part of his life he seems to have spent in

Khw&nzm, where he enjoyed the protection of the Houseof m'~M, the rulers of the country. Originally vaasa!aof the kings of Central Asia of the House of /?< theybeoame independent when the star of their masters beganto sink, ~.c.between A.H.384-390. They were, however, notto play a great part in the

historyof the

East,for

so early asA.n. 407 their power was oruahed by the grt Mahmud ofGhazna, and their dominions annexed to his empire. LikeAlbirn, other soholars also of high standing receivedprotection and faveurs at the court of the Ma'mnprinces.

The author is known to have lived some years aiso inJurj&n, or Hyrcania, on the southern shores of the Caspiansea, under the protection, and perhaps at the court, ofK&bus ben Washmgr Shams-ahna'&I!, who ruled overHyrcania and the adjoining countries at two diferentperioda, A.n. 366-371 and 388-403. To this prince ha bas

dedicated the present book, appsrently about A.n. 390-391(A.D.1000).

During the years A.H. 400-407 he stayed again in hisnative country at the court of Ma'mn b. Ma'mn, as hisfriend and counseUor. He was a witness of the rebellionthat broke out A.H.407, of the murder of Ma'mn, and ofthe conquest of the country by MahmM of Ghazna, who,on returning, carried offhimand other scholars to A~han~istan in the spring of A.H.408.

Among his numerous works, we find mentioned a"Chronicle of Khwrizm," in which he probably had re-oordsd aUthe traditions

relatingtothe

antiquityofhisnativecountry, and more especially the history of those events of


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PBBFAOB.

into the spcial ments or demerits of each single tradition.Mathematioat acouracy is his last gauge, and wherever thenature of a tradition admits of suoh a gauge, he ia sure toverify it by the help of oarefui mathematioal calculation.To speak in gnerai, there is much of the modern spirit andmethod of critical researoh in our author, and in this respecthe is a phenomenon in the history of Eastern learningand literature. Authors of the nrst centuries ofthe Hijrasometimes betray a great deal of common sense and goodmethod, sometimes also unmistakable traces of a markedindividuality, whilst th later centuries are characterised bythe very opposite. Then the author entirely disappearsbehind his book all literary work sinks down to the levelof imbeoile compilation from good and bad sources; theunderstanding of the life and literature of the preoedingcenturies becomes rare and distorted. Common sense basgone never to return, and very seldom do we meet with atrace of soientifin method or of the individuality of theauthor.

The fourth century is the tmiing-point in the history ofth spirit of Mm, and the establishmentof the orthodoxfaith about 500 sealed the fate of independent research for

ever. But for Alash'art and AIghazzI the Arabs mighthave been a nation of Galileos, Keplers, and Newtons.

Originally I intended to give a complete repose of thesources whence AIMrn bas drawn bis manifold informa-tion, but the material hitherto available for researches onth literary history of the east is still so scanty that 1had to desist from my plan. This applies in particular tothe east of the Khalifate, to Ehurasn. We are oom-paratively weU informed regarding the literature ofMesopotamia, Syria, Egypt, and the farther west of Islam,

wM]st we have very little information regarding the soien-


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FBEFAOB. xi

tific and literary life east of Bagdad as it developod itself

during the first three centuries of Abbaside rule, under the

protection of the imprial governors and the later inde-

pendent princes, .e. the House of Sman.It is to bo hoped that Central Asia and Afghanistan,

when once in th grasp of European influence, will yieldus rich collections of valuable literary monuments.Hitherto manuscripts coming from those countries areseldom met with in the great libraries ofEurope.

As for the


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Xii PBBFAOB.

i

their parents do, but they had no longer a correct under.

standing of their origin and meaning. Certainly a Mobe-dan-Mobed of the time of ArdasMr Babek&n would havebeen able to give a more accurate and complte aocount ofZoroastrian life and religion; but still we must betharMulto Albrn! for his having preserved to posterity the testaioalendars as used by Zoroastrians of his time when their

religion was on tbe eve of dying out.To ot'a! information 1 asoribe aiso the author's admirable

knowledge of the Jewish oalendar. Jewish soholars willbe able to say whether his informants were Ananites

(Karaites) or Rabbanites. My critics do not seem to havenoticed that Atbirn, a JMMsKw,is the nrst of ail thesoholai'8 we know who has composed a scientino system ofthe Jewish chronology. He is much anterior to Moses

Maimonides, also to Abraham bar Chiyya, boing a contem-

porary of R. Sherr and H &&n, who seem to play a

prominent part in the history of Jewish chronology.With Nestorian Christians he mut have been acquainted,

as he speaks of the Nestorian communities of his native

oountry. His report of th Melkite feasts, &o., may havebeen communioated to him by Nestorian priestsfrom Syriaoscuroes.

Albr&n wrote both in Arabie and Persian, as he haaedited his "Kitb-altafMm in both languages. There isa possibility of his having had a smattering of Hebrew and

Syriao (vide pp. 18, 19), but of Greek he seems to havebeen ignorant, and whatever he relates on the authority ofGreek authorsPtolemy, Galen, Eusehius, &o.-must

have been oommunicated to him by the ordinary ohannelof Syriao-Arabio translation. His atudy of Sanskrit falls

into the latter ha)f of his life.

From oooasional notes in the book a.description of the


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PREFAOE.


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PREFACE.xiv

whioh 1 have found it in the manusoripts. Should thefavour of time bring to light one day a oomplete copy, 1sha be happy if oiroumstanoea will allow me at once toedit the hitherto missing parts in text and translation.

The basis of my dition consista of two manusoripts ofthe aeventeenth and one of the nineteenth century, all fullof fanita, and-what ia worse !agroeing with eaoh otheralmost in every partioular. In tact, all three copies repre-sent one and the same original. Fortunately a ohronolo-gioat work offers this advantage, that in many oasesmathematioal examination enables the editor to correct theblunders of the tradition, e.g. in the numerous tables.

My notes are in the Srst place intended to give the oalou-lations on which the tables rest. Besides, they containcontributions to the explications of certain difficult passages,short information on points of literary history, and, lastly,a few remarks on the text and corrections.

For all other introduotory questions 1 refer the reader tothe German preface to my edition of the text.

In

offering mytranslation to the

English reader, 1 desireto thank my friond, the Bev. Robert Gwynne, Yioar ofSt..Mary's, Soho, London, who not only corrected thewhole manuscript, but atso read the proof-sheets of theentire book.

EDWARD SACHAU.

BerK~,24&3~y, 1879.


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CONTENTS.

PagoTBANSLATOtt'SPREFACE V

PREFACE 1

CHAPTEBI.-On the Nature of Day and Night, of their TotaJityandottheirBeginninga 5

CHAPTERn.On the Nature of that whieh is composed of Daya,viz.MonthsamdTeara 11

CHAFTEBni.On the Nature of the Eras and the digrentOpinions ofthe Nations reg&rding them 16

CHAPTERIV.Th diSetent Opinions of vatione Nations re-gM'dingtheEngcaJledDh.&t-~ajnMniorBicomutua 43

OzApTEBV.On the Na.ture of the Months which are used inthe preceding Bms 52

CaApTEB Tt.On the Drivation of the Eraa from e~h other,and on the Chronological Datee, relating to the Commence-ments and th DnM.tionB of the Reigns of the JEngs,according to the various Tr&dltiona 84)

CHAPTERVILOn the Cyclee and Year-points, on the Moleds ofthe TeaM and Months, on thoir various Qualitiea, and onthe Leap-months both in Jewish and other Tears 141

CHAPTU VHI.On the Ema of the Pseudo-prophets and theirCommunities who were deluded by them, the curse of thLord be upon them igf;

CHAMENIX.On the Festivala in the Montha of the Persiams 199

CHAFTEBX.On the Festivals in the Months of the Sughdians 220

CHAPTERXI.On the FeativaJs in the Months of the Ehwariz-MitUM 223


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CONTANTS.xvi

CHAPTEBXn.-On Ehw&~m.SlMh'. Eeformof theXhw&Mm-tMiFestatCaJendN- 229

CBAPTEBXni.-On the Days of the GreekCMendM- as knownbothamongtheCtree~aandotherNatioM ..231

CHAPTBBXIV.-Of the Festivals and Fast-days in the Months oftheje~ ~g

CHAn-EB XV.On the Feativala and Memorable Days of the

SynmCMendM-.celebmtedbytheMethiteOhfMiJMM 282CHAPTEBXVI.On the Christian Lent, and on those Feasts andFestive Days which depend npon Lent and revolve pM~nelwith it throagh th Tear, regarding whioh tdl ChristianaectsagreeamongetMhother 299

CaAPTM XVn.-On the Festivals of the Nestorian Christians,theu'MemorhtmdFMtDa.ya f s


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E!tRATA.

p.383,tM~P~f'trn/t,tMft


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1

PREFACE.

IN THENAbiSOF ~OD, THE COMPA88IONATZ,THE MBRCIFUL.

PBAiM be to God who is high above all things (lit. those which areunlike, and those which are like to each other), and blessing be onMuhammad, the elected, the best of all created beings, and on hia family,the guides of righteousness and trath.

One of the exquisite plans in God'a management of the affaira of hiacreation, one of the glorious benefits which he has bestowed upon theentirety of bis creatures, is that categorieal decree of his, mot to leave in

10 his world any period without a just guide, whom he eonatitutes as a

protectorfor his creatures, with whom to take

refugein unfortunate and

sorrowful cases and accidents, and upon whom to devolve their aNairs,when they seem indissolubly perplexed, so that the order of the worldshould rest upon-and its existence be supported by-his genius. Andthis decree (that theaBain of mankind should be governed by aprophet)bas been settled upon them as a religions duty, and has been linkedtogether with the obedience towards God, and the obedience towards hisProphet, through which alone a reward in future life may be obtained-in accordance with the word of him, who is the truth and justiceand

20 hia word is judgment and decree, 0 ye believers, obey God, and obeythe prophets, and those among yourselves who are invested with theommand." (Sra iv. 62.)

Therefore, thanks be to God for thoae blessings, which he has bestowednpon his servants, by exalting our master, the commander, the prince,the glorious and victorioua, the benefactor, Sh&ma-alma'&M,may Ctod


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ALBRN.

give him a long J: andgive dumtion tohispowerand majesty, prservethrough th course of time his excellence and Ma splendeur, protect hiswhole house (M. th areas inside and outaide his house), proatrate aUthose who envy him, and aU his enemies, (by exalting him) M a guide,who justly ruiea over Ma creatures, who furthers religion and truth, whofights for the altar and the hearth of the MusJims, and who protects theircountry against the mischief of evU-doera. And God ha,a supported himby giving him a charMter similar to that with wMch he has Meaaed hieProphet, the bearer of his revelation for he, whose name be pN.iaed, basanid To thee ha.a been given a high character." (Sra Ixviii. 4.) 10How wonderfully bas he, whoae name is to be exaiteJ and extolled,

combined with the glory ofhis noble extraction the gra~ea of his generouscharacter, with Mavaliant soul aU laudable qualitiea, aach as piety andrighteousness, carefulneas in defending and observing the rites of re-ligion, justice and equity, humility and beneficence, firmnesa and deter-mination, liberality and gentleness, the talent for ruling and governing,for managing and deciding, and other qualities, whieh no fancy couldcomprehend, and no human being enumerate! And how should a. manwonder a.t this, it being undeniable that God bas the power to combinethe whole world in one individual (i.e. to croate a nucrocoamoa) There- 20fore, mav God permit the MuaHma HtiH for a long period to enjoy theMndneaa of Ma intentions, the ingenuity of Ma plama, and Ma evidentlymercifui and pitiful mind, with wMch he cases for them May they fromday to day derive more benefits from the perptuai shade ofbis majesty,to whieh they are accustomed And may God assist by his Knd~eaaand mercy, high and low, to fulfil tha works of obedience towards God,wMch are imposed upon them 1

p. 4. Dedica.tiom.The Author'S Nethod.A leamed man once asked meregarding the eras used by digrent nations, amd regarding the differenceof their roots, t.e. the epochs where they begin, and of their branches, t.e. 30the months and yeara, on which they are based; further regarding thecauaea wMch led to auch diSerenoe, and the famous festivals and com-memoration-daya for certain times and venta, and regarding whateverelse one nation practises diSerentIy from another. He urged me to givean explanation, the clearest possible, of aU this, aoas to be easily intelli-gible to the mind of the reader, and to free him from the ne~easity ofwading through widely scattered books, and ofconsulting their authors.Now 1 was qnite aware that this was a taak difficult to handle, an objectnot eaaily to be attained or managed by anyone, who wante to treat it asa matter of logical sequence, regarding wMch the mind of th student is 40not agitated by doubt. However, from the majesty of our master, theprince, the glorious and victorions, the bcjM&tetor, Shama-alma'anmayGod make hia power to endure! derived strength in exerting mycapa,bilities, and trying to do my ntmom in order to explain the -vholesubject on the basis of that information wMch 1 have gathered either as


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PREFACE. 3

an ear- or eye-witness, or by cogitation and study. Besides, 1 wasencouraged by that robe of blessed service, in which 1 have dressedmyself, to compose such an explanation for him, who occupies a highthrone, that he may see herein a new sign ofmy service, and that thereby1 may obtain the garments of such a glory, the memory and splendeur ofwhich will last as my heirloom in posterity through the flood ofages andgenerations.J If, therefore, he-whose noble mind may Qod preservewill faveur hia servant by overlooking bis audacity, and accepting hisexcuses, he foUowa the right idea, if it pleMea God. And now 1

10 commence and sayThe bat and nearest way leading to that, regardmg which 1 have been

asked for information, is the knowledge of the history and tradition offormer nations and generations, because the greatest part of it consistsof matters, which have come down from them, and of remains of theircustoms and institutes. And thia object cannot be obtained by way ofratiocination with philosophical notions, or ofinductions based upon theobservations of our senses, but solely by adopting the information of thosewho have a written tradition, and of the members of the differentreligions, of the adherents of the different doctrines and religious sects,

20 by whom the institutes in question are used, and by making their opinionsa basis, on which afterwards to build up a system besides, we mustcompare their traditions and opinions among themselves, when we try toestablish our system. But ere that we must clear our mind from allthose accidental circumstamees which deprave n.ost men, from all causeswhieh are liable to make people blind against the truth, e.o. inveteratecustom, party-spirit, rivalry, being addicted to one's passions, the desireto gain influence, etc. For that which 1 have mentioned, is the nearestway you could take, that teads to the true end, and the most emcient helptowards removing aU the clouds of uncertainty and doubt, which beset

80 the subject. It is impossible in any other wayto reach the same purpose,notwithstanding the greatest care and exertion. On the other hand, weconfess that it is by no means easy to act upon that principle and that p. 5.method, which we have laid down, that on the contrary from ita reconclitenature, and its difficulty, it might seem to be almost unattainable-onaccount of the numerous lies which are mixed up with all historicalrecords and traditions. And those lies do not ail on the face ofitappearto be impossibilities, so that they might be easily distinguished andeliminated. However, that which is within the limita of possibility, hasbeen treated as t'-ne, as long as other evidence did not prove it to be

40 false. For we witness sometimes, and others have witnessed before us,physieal appearances, which we should simply declare to be impossible,if something similar were related from a far remote time. Now the lifeof man is not aunnaent to learn thoroughly the traditions of one of themany nations. How, therefore, could he learn the ttaditiona of all ofthem? That is impossible.

1


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ALBBON.

The matter standing thus, it is our duty to proceed from what is nearto the more distant, from what M known to that which is tess known, togather the tmditioM from those whohave reported them, to corKct themas much M possible, and to leave the rest as it is, in order to make ourwork help him, who seeks truth and loves wisdom, in making independentresearches on other subjects, and guide him to find out that whioh wasdenied to us, whilst we were working at this subject, by the will ofGod,and with hie help.

In conformity with our plan, we must proceed to explain th nature ofday and night, of their totality, ie. the Mtronomicat day, and Msumed 10beginning. For day and night are to the months, years, and eras, whatone ia for the numerals, of which

theyare

composed, and into whiehtheyare resolved. By an accurate lnowledge of day and night the progresstowards learning that whieh ia composed of them and built upon them.becomes easy.


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5

CHAPTER I.

ON THBNATUREOFDAYAND NMHT, OFTHEM TOTALITYAND OpTHBIB BMINNIN08.

1 M.Y Day and night (i.e. t~m') are one revolution of the sun inthe rotation of the universe, starting from and returning to a drde,whieh hae been assinned as the beginning of this same Nychthemeron,whichsoever circle it may be, it being determined by gnral consent.Thia CM-e!eMa great cirde, for each great circle is dynamioaJIy anhorizon. By "d'~MH)nc


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ALBBN.6M the beginniug. And, therefore, they considerod absence of motionas superior to motion, compa.ring reat and tranquillity with darkness,amd because of the fact that motion is always poduced by some wantand necessity that weariness follows upon the necessity that, there-fore, weariness is the consequence of motion. La?tly, becausc rest (theabsence ofmotion), when remaining in the elements for a time, does notproduce decay whilst motion, when remaining in the eleraents andtaking hold of them, produces corruption. As instances of this theyadduce earthquakes, storms, waves, &c.

The Rising of the Sun as the beginning of the Day.As to the 10other nations, the Greeks and Romans, and thoae who follow with themthe like theory, they bave agreed among themselves that the Nych-themeron shouid be reckoned from the moment when the sun risesabove the eastern horizon till the same moment o~ the following day,M their months are derived by calculation, and do not depend upon thephases of the moon or any other star, and as the months begin withthe beginning of the day. Therefore, with them, the day precedes thenight; and, in favour of this view, they argue that light is an .BM,whilat darkness is a J~Mt-etM. Those who think that light was anteriorin existence to darimess consider motion as superior to rest (the absence 20of motion), because motion is an .B


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ON THE NATURE 0F DAY AND NIGHT.

at a different rate of velocity. Therefore, in order to remove thatvariation which attaches to the Nychthemera, they wanted some kindof equation and the quation of tho Nychthemera by means of therising of the ecliptic above the mcridia.n is constant and rgular every-where on the earth, because this circle is one of th horizons of the p. 7globe which form a right angle (with the meridian) and because itsconditions and qualities remain the same in every part of th earta.This quality they did not find in the horizontal circles, for they vatyfor each place and every latitude haa a particular horizon of its own,

10 different from that of any other place, and because the single sections

of the ecliptic croM the horizons at a different rate of velocity. To usethe horizons (for the equation of the Nychthemera) is a proceeding bothimperfeet and intricfbte.

Another reason ivhy they preferred the meridian to the horizon isthis, that the distances between the meridia.ns of different placescorrespond to th distmces of their meridmns on the equator and theparallel circles; whilat the distances between the horizontal circles arethe same with the addition of their northern and southern declination.An accurate description of everything eonnected with stars and their

20 places is not possible, except by means of tliat direction whieh dpendsupon the meridian. This direction is called "longitude," which basnothing in common with the other direction, which dpends upon thehorizon, and is called "latitude."

Therefore they have chosen that circle which might serve as a reguJartmd constant basis oftheir caloulations, and have not used othersalthough, if they had wished to use the horizons, it would have been

possible, and would have led them to the same results M the meridian,but oniy after a long and roundabout process. And it is the greatestmistake possible purposely to deviate from the direct route in order to

80 go by a long roundabout.

Day, Night, and the Dnration of the Day of Fast.-This is thegnral definition of the day which we give, the night being included.Now, if we proceed to divide and to distinguish, we have to state thatthe words Yam)t" (da-y) in its restricted signification, and "JNcM)'"(day), mean the same, viz., the time from the rising of the body of theeun till its setting. On the other htmd, Mt~Mmeans the time from thesetting of the body of th sun till its rising. Thus these two terms arcused among all nations by gnral consent, nobody disputing theirmeanings, oxcept one Muslim lawyer, who bas defined the beginning of

40 the day to be the rise of dawn, and its end to be the setting of the sun,because he presumed that the day and the duration of fusting wereidentical. For this view of his ho argues from the followiug word of

God (Sra, ii. 183) Bat and drink tiU you can distinguish a whitethread from a black throad at th light of daim. Thereupon fast theentire day till the night." Now, he bas maintained that these two termx

7


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ALBiB~N.8

(


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ON THE NATURE OF DAY AND NIGHT. 9

regarding that which we have previously explained, agree with us as tothe fact that twice a year night and day are qua.Ionce in spring andonce in autumn. Further, that he thinks, like us, that we have thelongest day when the sun stands nearest to the north pole the shortest

day when the sun is at the greatest distance from the north pole thatthe shortest summer night is equal to the shortest winter day; and thatthe same meaning M expressed by the two verses of the Coran Godmakes night enter into day, and he makes day enter into night"(Sra xxxv. 14), and Hewraps night around day, and he wraps day

10 around night" (Sra xxxix. 7). Now, if they do not know this, or

pretend not to know it, a.t all events they cannot help admitting that

the first half of the day is six hours long, and likewise the latter half.Against this they cannot pretend to be blind, because of the well knownand weU authenticated tradition which relates to the prerogatives ofthose who ha~ten to the moaque on a Friday, and whioh shows thattheir wages are the highest, although their time of work in the six hoursfrom th beginning of the day till th time of the decline of the sun isthe shortest. Thia is to be understood of the ~fo!-


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11

CHAPTER II.

ONTHE NATMtZOf THATWHICH S COMPOSEBOF DAYS,VIZ., MONTHSAND YEARS.

1 SAT Tear means one revolution of the sun in th ecliptic, moving in adirection opposite to that of the universal motion, and returning to thesame point which bas been assumcd as the starting-point of hia motion,whichsoever point this may be. In this way the sun ineludea in hiscourse the four seasons, spring, summer, autumn, winter, and their fourdifferent natures and retumsatwa.ys to the point whence he commenced.

10 According to Ptolemy these revolutions are equaJ, because he did notfind that the apogee of the sun moves; whilst they are unequal accordingto the authors of Sindhind and the modern astronomers, because theirobservations led them to think that the apogee of the sun moves. In

each case, however, whether they be equal or different, these revolutionsinclude the four seasons and their natures.

As to the length of such a revolution in days and fractions of a day,the rsulta of the astronomica.l observations do not agr"e, but differconsideraNy. According to some observations it is larger; according toothers less. However, in a short apace of time this diSerem-e scarcely

20 becomes perceptible but in the long run of time, when thii differenceM being redoubled and multiplied many times, and is then summed upinto a whole, a very great error becomes clearly manifest, on accountof which the sages have strongly recommended us to continue makingobservations, and to guard against errors vhich possibly might haveentered into them.

The difference ofthe observations regarding th length of one annualrevolution of the sun does not anse from this cause, that people do notknow how properly to institute such observations, and to gain therebyan accurate knowledge of th real state of the thing but this

30 cause, that it is impossible to nx the parts of the greatest circle by


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ALBBN!.12

means of th parts of the .malleat circle. 1 refer t. the am~Uneaaofthe instruments of observations in comparison with the vaatnesa of thebodies whMh are to be observed. On this subject 1 have enlarged in myboot.c&Ued&MM~MiHK~

i~~mmy

During thia time. !.e. during one revolution of the sun in th ecliptio,the moon completes a little le.. than 12: revolutions, and has 12lunations. This Bp~e of time, i.e. the 12 revolutions of the moon inthe Mhpt.c techme~y, the lunar year, in which the f~etion (beyondthe 12 revolutions), whieh is ne~ly 11 d~, i. di~reg~ded. The Luefact, further, is the reason why the ecliptie wM divided into 12 equal 10parts, as 1 have explained in my book on the investigation of raya andlights; th same ~hich 1 h~d the honour to present to His

Righness.May Qod merease his majestyIn consequence, people distinguish two kinds of yeara-the Solar yearand the Lunar year. They have n.t used other stars for the purpose ofderiving years from them, be~e their motions are comparativelyhidden, and eau hardly ever b. found out by eyesight; but only by~tronomi~t observations and expenment.. Further (they use;l only.un and moon for this purpose), because the changes of theparticles ofthe elements and their mutual metamorphoses, M far as time and the 20state of the air, plants and animals, etc., are concert, depend entirelyupon the motions of these two celestial bodies, be


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ON THE NATURE 0F MONTES AND YEAB8. 13

solar year the length of 865t daya and hour), had summed up toone day; then they added the complete month to the year in each 116th

year. This was done for a reason which 1 shall explain hereafter.The exMmpIeof the Persians wM followed by the ancient inhabitants

of Khwrizm and Sogdiana, and by all who had the same religion as thePersians, who were subject to them, and were considered as theirkinsmen, during the tima when their empire flourished.

1 have heard that the Pshddian kings of the Persians, those whoruled over the entire world, reckoned the year as 360 days, and each

10 month as 30 days, without any addition and subtraction; that theyintercalated one month in every sixth year, which they called "intercatarymonth," and two months in every 120th

year;the one on account of

the five days (the Epagomenta), the other on account of the quarter of aday that they held this year in high honour, anj caUed it the blesaedyear," and that in it they occupied themselves with the affairs of divineworship and mattera of public interest.

The character of th ayatem of the &noient Egyptians, according towhat the Ahnageat relates regarding the eara on which ita own system ofcomputation was based, and of the ayatejM of the Persians in Islam, and

20 the people of Khwrizm and Sogdiana, ',stheir aversion to the fractions,i.e. the day and what follows it, and their neglecting them altogether.

The Lmu-SoIar Year.Th Hebrews, Jews, and aU the Isralites,the Sbians, and Harrnians, used an intermediate system. Theyderived their year from the revolution of the sun, and its months fromth revolution of the moon-with this view, that their feast and fastdays might be regulated by lunar computation, and at the same timekeep their places within the year. Therefore they intercalated 7 monthsin 19 lunar years, as 1 shall explain hereafter in the derivation of theircycles and the different kinds of their years.

30 The Christians agreed with them in the mode of the computation oftheir faating and of some of their festivals, the cardinal point in all th'sbeing the Passover of the Jews but they differed from them in the use ofthe months, wherein they followed the system of the Greeks amd Syrians.

In a similar way the heathen Arabs proceeded, observing thedifference between their year and the solar year, whioh is 10 dayss21~ hours, to speak roughly, and adding it to the year as one month p. 12.as soon as it completed the number of days of a month. They, however,reckoned this difference as 10 days and 20 hours. This business wasadministered by the Nasa'a (the intercalators) of the tnbe of Kinna,

40 known as th ~TttMmtO,a plural form of ~


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ALBBN.14

V. 'AbbM benEaJa* ben

Vn. pudhaif~.

They were all of theminterca1a.tors. Thefirst of the~ who held this01licewas-

VII. HudhM&ben'AbdbenFutaim ben

X-'Adiyyben'Amir ben

10Tha'bb& benMMikben

XIV.Kinanfh

The last of them, who held it, was 'Aba-Thum&ma. Th Met whocelebrates them, describes him in the following term~-"ThereisFu~aim! He was called Alkalammas,And he was one ofthe foundem of their religion,His word being obeyed, he being recognised a chieft~in."

And another poet says:(a-e WM;famous among the forerunners ofXinna, 20A celebrated man, ofexalted rank.

In this wa.yhe spent his time."Another poet says:

~J~ new-moon~ie adds together and snme it up,Till it makea out a complete month."

He taken this system of inte~Mon from the~n~ bef.rel.lam; th Jew., however, intercalated~T 24 lunar years. In c.n.equence their months were fixed,~~t~'orm~ 30through the y~r without retrograding and without advancing. Thisetate of things remained till the Prophet made hi. Farewell pilgrimage,and the following verse was revealed to him "Inter~tion i~nm~e of infidelity, by which the indeb lead astray (people),admitting it one year and prohibiting i t in another." (Srs. ix. 37.)The Prophet delivered an add~a ta th people, and said: Il Timeha.e~ day of G.d.Bc~tingthe heavens and theearth," and, continuing, he recited to them the (juat mentioned) verseof the Coran on the prohibition of the j~ intention. Bvcr

~"eglected intercalation, B. that their month. have 40receded from theiroriginal places, and the n~ne. of the months are nolonger in conformity with their original meaning,


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ON THE NATURE OP MONTHS AND TEABS. 15

As to the other nations, their opinions on this subject are weB known.They are likely to hve no other systems besides those we have men~tioned, and each nation seems to follow the example ofthe system oftheir neighhours.

Yeara of the Indi&na. have heard that the Indians use thappearance ofnew-moon in their months, that they intercfda.te one lunarmonth in every 976 days, and that they nx the beginning of their erato the moment when a conjunction takes place in th nrst minute of anyzodiacat sign. The chief object of their

searehingis that this con-

10 junction ahould take place in one of the two equinoctial points. Theleap-year they caU ~


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16 ALBB~Ni.

EttA means a definite spaee of time, reckoned from the beginning ofsome put year, in which either a prophet, with signs and wonders, a.ndwith a proof of his divine mission, was sent, or a. great and powerfulking rose, or in which a. nation perished by a universal destructivedetcge, or by a violent earthquake and einking of the earth, or asweeping pestilence, or by intense dronght. or in whieh a change ofdynasty or religion took place, or any grand event of ~e celeetial and 10the famous tellnrian ntiraontouB occurrences, whioh do not

happenaave

at long intervals and at times far distant from each other. By suchventa the nxed moments of time (the epocXa) are recognised. Now,such an era cannot be dispensed .vith in ail seoular and religiousaffaire. Each of the nations scattered over the different parts of theworld has a spcial era, which they count from the times of their kingsor prophets, or dynasties, or of some of those events whieh we have justnow mentioned. And thence they derive the dates, which they want insocial intercourse, in chronology, and in every institute (t.e. festivals)whieh is exclusively peonliar to them. 20

Era Of th Cration.Th first and most famous of the beginningsofantiqnity is the fact of the creation of mankind. But among thosewho hve a book of divine revelation, such as the Jews, Christians,Magians, and their various sects, there exists such a difference ofopinion as to the nature of this met, and as to the question how to date

p. 14. f~om it, the like of whioh is not aJlowaMe for eraa. Everything, thknowledge of which is connected with the

beginningof creation and

with the history of bygone generations, is mixed up with MsiScationsand myths, because it belongs to a far retnote age; because a longinterval separates us therefrom, and because the student M incapable of 30

CHAPTER III.

ON THE NATUM 0F THB BRAN, AND THB NFFBBBNT OPINIONS 0F THBNATIONSBMAttNNa TBNM.


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ON THE NATURE OF THE EBAS. 17

keeping i t in memory.and of fixing it (,o as t. preserve it from con-fusion). God saya_Have they not got the storiea about those whowerebeforethemP P None but God knows them." (SnHx il.) There-fore it Mbecoming not to admit any account of a simitar subject, if itMnot attesta by a book, th .crrectue.. of which is relied upon, or bya tradition, for whieh the conditions of authenticity, according t. theprevalent opinion, furniah groundt) of proof.If we MwnMt consider thisem,we find a considerable divergenceof opinion regarding it among these nations. For the Persiansand10 Mag~s think that the dumtion of the

world ia 12,000 years eorre-sponding to the number of the signs of the zodiac and of the monthsand that Zo~ter~ the founder of their law, thought that of thoae therehad passed, till the time of his appearance, 3,000 years, intercalatedwith the day-quarters for he himself had made their e~putati.n, andhad taken into account that defect, whi.h had accrued t. them onaccount of the day-quarters, till the time when they were intercalatedand were made t. agree with real time. From his appearance till the

c. years therefore theycount rom the beginning of the world tiU Alexander 3,258 yeara20 However, if wecompute the from the creation of


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ON THE NATURE OF THE EBAS. 19

informed him that the rule should always remain with Ms sons till thetime of the coming of him to whom the nile belongs. Soin these wordshe told him that the rule should remain with his descendants until theappearance of the expected Messiah. And now the Jews add that thisis really the case that the rule bas not been taken from them. For theMn~


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ON THE NATURE OF THE ERAS. 21

Therefore the Jew. have not the slightost reason to eomm.nce (in~t~ the comingof the Messiah) with that date withwluch they have commenced (viz., the epoch of th Alexandri).These are doubts and difficulties which beset th assertions of theJews. Those, however, which attach to the schemes of the Christiansconspicuou.. For even if the Jew. grantedto them that tho coming of Messiah was take place 70 after

that the .Ppe~ceof Jesus theson of Marydid n.t take place at that time. The reason is this:-The10 Jews haveagreed

to &.the interval between the exodus of thefrom Egypt and the Alexandri at 1,000 complete years.sages in the books of the Prophets they have inferred that the intervalbetween the exodus of the Ismelites from Egypt and the building of

~?~between the building andthe destruction by Nobucadnezar 410 years; and that it remained in a

~d~y~~?h:exodus from Egypt) as the date for the vision of Daniel, and as a

=~ millennium (from the exodus till EraAlexandri) 40 Further, Jews and Chriatians u~nhnou.Iy supposeS~ Mary place Anno Alexandri 304.Therefore, if we use their own chronology, the birth of Jesus the s.n~Mary took place 344 yeara after the vision of Daniel and the rebuilding~S hebegan preaching in public are 4,- Septennia more. Henee it ia evident~TS.~ ~.T~(sa the time of the birth of the

Messiah).

~umed

For the Jews there follow no such consequences from their chrono-logical system and if~==-lies regarding the length of the period between the rebuilding of30 Jerusalem and the

~A~them with eimilar accusations, and more than that.If we leave aside the argtunente of the two partiea and considcr thetable of the Chaldwan kings, whieh we shall hereafter explain, we findthe interval between the beginning of the reign of Cyrus and that ofthe reiA'IIof Alexander to be 222 yeara, and from the latter date till thebirth of Jesus 804 years so that the sum total is 526 years. If wu~X~ (of Jerusalem) com.meneed in the third year of the reign of Cyrus, and if we reduce theremainder to Septennia, we get nearly 75 Septennia for the interval

-E~SS~birth of Messia.h is later than the date which they (the Christians)have assumed.IftheChristianscompute the SyriM w~. (~o~ L~~c

~=~with the number (1,835, mentioned by Daniel), these worde were meant


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22 ALBBO~.

(by Daniel) and not a certain number of yeafs, we can only say thatwe oannot aocept such an opinion except it be conNrm-~ by an argumentas indubitable as ocular inspection. For if you computed the numericalvalue of the following words: J~


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ON THE NATURE OF THE ERAS. &:}

ofIsaac, exoept the s.ms of Ishmael. If they sa.y, that the brcthMn ofthe aons of Israel are the children ofEsau, we ask only HM there thenrisen among them a man like Mosesin the times after Moses-of theaMM description and resembling him Does not also the followingpassage of the same book, of which this is the translation (Deut. xxxiii.2), bat testimony for Muhammad TheLord came from Mount Sinai,and 9-OMttp forward, and aU we are going to propound, is a dcisive proof, and a clearargument, showing that the words in the holy books have been alteredfrom their proper meanings, and that the text has undergone modifica-tions contrary to its original condition. Having recourse to this sort of

30 computing, and of using false witnesses, shows and provea to evidence,that their authors purposely deviate from the path of truth and right-eouaness. If we oould open them a door in heaven, and they ascendedthereby, they would say Our e~eo are only drunken. Nay, we o:'e~


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ALBB~.24

Now 1 proceed to stRte that both Jews and Christians hve a copy ofthe Thora, th contenta of which agree with the doctrines of either sect.Of the Jewish copy people think that it is comparatively free fromconfusion. The Christian copy is caUed the TAo)-


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(M THE NATURE 0F THE EBA9. 85

Besides these two copies of the Thora, there is a. third one that existaamong the Samaritans, also known by the name of ~


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AMRN.26

a~tep-MMr ofJesus. For Mcordmgto Matthew (i. 2-16), Ma pedig~eis thig:I. Joseph. Zorobabel. Joram. S~tmon

Salathiel. Josaphat. Naaason.Matthan. JechoniM. A~. Aminadab.Eleazar. j. Abia. Aram.

V. Eliud. XV.Amon. XXV.BoboMn. XXXV.Earom.Achin. MajtMsea. Solomon. Pharea.Zadok. Bzekiae. David. JudasAzor. Ah~. Jeese. Jacob. 10B~ahm. Joatham. Obed.

Isa~.X. Abiud. XX.OziM. XXX.Booz. XL.Abrahamjmtttmew m stating this genealogy commences with Abraham, tmcingit downward (as far Joseph). According to Luke (iii. 23-31) th

pedigree ofJoseph is thisI. Joseph. EsM. Salathiel Matthat.

Nagge. Neri. Levi.Matthat. Maath. Melchi. Simeon.

Ma.tt~thiM. Addi. Juda.V.Melcht. XV.Semei. XXV.Cosam. XXXV.Joseph. 20Janna Joseph. EhnodMn. Jonam.

Joseph Judas. Er. Elyakim.m.tt&thM. Joanna. Joseph. Melea.Amos. Rhesa. Elieser. Menam.X.mmn. XX-ZoTohabeI. XXX.Jorim. XL.Ma.tath.

Nathan.

XLn.D&vid.This d~erence the Chnstians ttyto excuse, and to account for it,saying, that there was one of the iaws proscribed in the Thora whichordered that, if a man died, leaving behind a wife but no male children, 30th brother of the deceased was to marry her instead, in order to RJseup a.ptogeny to the deoeMed brother; that, in consquence, his childrenwere~~s~ referred to the deceased brother, whilst as to ~ea:M they were the children of the living brother; that, therefore,p. 23. Joseph was referred to two different &.thers,thatHeIiwas his&thery~bj~y, whilst Yakob was his father reality. Further, theysay, that when Matthew had atated th reaJ pedigree of Joseph, theJews blamed Mm for it, saying = Hispedigree is not correct, because itbas been made without regard to hie genealogical relation." In order tomeet thMreprc~h, Luke stated his pedigree in conformity with the 40genealogical ordinances oftheir code. Both pedigrees go back to David,and that waa th object (in stating them), beeause it had been

predictedofthe Messiah, that he would be the son ofDavid."FinaNy, the fact that only the pedigree of Joseph bas been adduced


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ON THE NATURE OF THE EBA8. 27

for Mesaiah, and not that of Mary, is to be explained in thia way, thataooording to the law of the Israelites, nobody was allowed to marry anybut a wife of hia own tribe and clan, whereby they wanted to preventconfubion of the pedigrees, and that it was the cuatom to mention onlythe pedigrees of the men, not those of th women. Now Joseph andMary being both of the same tribe, their descent must of necessity goback to the same origin. And this was the object in their statementand account of the pedigree.

Everyone of the sects of Marcion, and of Bardesanes, has a spcial10 Gospel, which in some parts differs from the Gospels we have men.

tioned. Aiso the Manicheeans have a Gospel of their own, the contentsofwhich from the first to the last are opposed to th doctrines of theChristians but the Manicheeans consider them as their religions law,and believe that it is the correct Gospel, that itNcontents are really thatwhich Messiah thought and taught, that every other Gospel ie false, andita followers are liara against Messiah. Of this Gospel there is a copy,called, "Th Gospel of the Seventy," which is attributed to one.BaMmM,and in the beginning of which it ia stated, that SaIIam ben 'AbdaUhbenSallm wrote it down as he heard it from Salman AlfMs!. He, how-

20 ever, who looks into it, will see at once that it is a forgery it M notacknowledged by Christians and others. Therefore, we come to theconclusion, that among the Gospels there are no books of the Prophetsto be found, on which you may witl good faith rely.

Era. of the DlugeTh next following era.Mth era.of the greatdeluge, in which everything perished at the time of Noah. Here, too,there is auch a difference of opinions, and auch a confusion, that youhave no chance of deciding as to the correctness of the matter, and donot even feel inclined to investigate thoroughly ita historical truth. Thereason is, in the first instance, the diffrence regarding the period between30 the ~ra. Adami and the Deluge, whieh we hve mentioned aiready andsecondly, that difference, whieh we shall have to mention, regarding theperiod between the Deluge and the ~m. Alexandri. For the Jewa derivefrom the Thora, and th following books, for this latter period 1,792years, whilat the Christians derive from their Thora for the same period2,938 yeara.

The PersiMM, amd the great ma.M of th Magians, deny th Delugealtogether; they believe that the rule (of the world) hM remained withthem without any interruption ever since Ga.yomarth Gilshh, who was, p. 24.according to them, the Brat mML In denying the Deluge, the Indians,40 Chinese, and the various nations of th east, concur with them. Some,however, of the PershM admit the fact of the Deluge, but they deacribeit in a different way from what it is described in the books of theprophets. They say, a partial deluge occun~d in Spria and thc wcst atthe time ofTahmurath, but it did not extend over the whole of the thencivilized world, and only few nationa were drowned in it; it did not


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AMBN.so

~H~n i. e~H.hed.ih.t he had re~d divine inspirationand help.For it is quite possible that these (celestial) bodies were scattered, notunited at the timo when the Creator deaigned and created them, theyhaving thcso motions, by which_s calculation shows-they must rneatin such

mentioned). It wouldbe the ~e, as if we, supposed a eirele, in different separate places1~~ ofwhom somethem, however, being carried on in equal motiona-of ite peculiarsort of motion-in equal times; further, suppose that we knew their 10

~~5~over whieh -each ofthem travels in oneNychthemeron. If you then asklength of after whieh they would meetea.ohotber in a certain point, or beforewhieh they had met each other inthat identieal point, no bla.me attaches to him, if he spea.ks of billions ofyears. Nor does it follow from bis B.Ct.,mntthat those beinga eziBtedatthat (past) time (when they met each other), or that they would atildexiatat that (future) time (when they are to moet again) but this onlyYfollows from bis aceount, if it is properly explained, that, iftheae beingareally exi" (in the past), or wouldstill exist (in future) in that saine 20condition, the result (a.s to their conjunetions) could be no other butthat one at which he had arrived by calculation. But then the verifica.tion ofthis subject is the ta.sk of a science whieh was not the science ofAM-sha.r.

If, now, the :man who uses the cycles (the star.cycles), would conclude~~t~ ofAries, would again and again paSIl through the same cycles, becanse,

~St~f~~ deeay, and that the the i~the past was exactly the same, bis conclusion would be a mere assumption 80by whieh he quiets his mind, and which is not supported by any argu-ment. For a proof does not equally apply to the two sides of a contra-diction; it applies only Ytothe one, and excludes the other. Basidesit in well knownamong Philosophera and others, that ~~s~t~~ evolution of power ~~) into action (~~),~S.the periods of the past were eomputed whilst they in reality exi.sted

same time inereasing in number;therefore, they are not infcnzte.This exposition will be su1licient for a vemeiouo and fair.minded 40

~~=~bearing people, more oaplanations will be wanted, which exceed thecompass of this book, in order to remove these ideaa rom bis mind, tohea.l what is feeble in bis thoughts, and toplant the truth in his soulHow~r, thore are other chapter, of thia book where it will ba more


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ON THE NATCNE 0F THE EBA8. 31

amtable M spcaT: of thia subject than here. Th diserepamey of thcyoles, net the dMcrepanoy of the observations, is a suSdent argumentforMMt a powerful help towardsrepudifttmg the foUiea committed by'Ab-Ma'abar, and relied upon by fooMsh people, who abuse all religiona,who make the oycles of Sindhind, and others, the means by which torevile those who warn them that the hour of judgment is coming, andwho tell them, that on the day of resurrfetion there will be reward andpunishment in yonder world. It if the same set of people who excitesuspicioM agMnstand bring discrdit upon-astronomers and mathe-

10 maticians, by counting themselves among their ranks, and by representin~themselves as professors of their art, although they cannot even impose p. 27.upon anybody who haa only the slightest degree ofscientinc training.

Era of NabonasSM'The next following era is the Era of the nrstNebukadnezar (Nabonassar). The Persian form of this word (Bukh-


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AMB~Nt.82

~tended the lectures of the mathematiciana, and having learned fromthem the s.ien.e of form and motion, (~tronomy), he proceeded t. dis.~erthe~t..n of the eclipses. Then he happened to come toEgypt, where he warned people of an impending eclipse. When,~bis prediction had been fulfilled, people honoured him highly.The matter, as thus reported, does n.t belong to the impossible. Forback to certain original sources, and the nearer it is toi~origin, it till you at last arrive at the very originitself. ~t~~o~t, that eclipses were not known beforeThales, mu.t not b. understood in this generality, but with certain local 10restrictions. For some people refer this scholar (Thales) to the time of

P28

Bbak, others to tha.t of Now,if he lived atp. 28. ~e~'n" preoeded by Ptolemy and Hipparchus andthese two among the astronomers of that age knew the subject quite~h~ ~e~~he stands near to Zoroaster, who belouged to the sect ofthe ijalTnians,~~E~EES~had carried it to such a height as that they could not be ignorant ofthetheory of the eolipses. If, therefore, their report (regarding the dis.covery of the theory of the eclipaea by Thales) be true, it is not to be 20underatood in this gonerality, but with certain restrictions.

Era of PhdippiM ArideeM.The era of Philip, the father of~T'tr:

~t~e~dated from the death of Alexander, the MM~oni~, the Founder Inboth cases the natter is the ~me, and there is only 0. difference in theexpression. Becausesuceeeded by Philip,therefore, it is the same, whether yon date from the death ofthe former,or the accession of the

latter, the epoch being a connecting link commonto both of ~em. T~oBe who employ this era are ~Ued~t~Ont~~TheonAlex~drlnush.edMsso.~led..C.n~ 30Era OfAlexMder-Then follows the era of Alexander the Greek towhom some people give tne surname On the difference ofopinions

'T~ohapter. This era is based upon Greek yeara. It is in use among most~r~ yeara,prepared to fight withD~iu., the king of the ~r~~d marchingupon his capital, he went down to Jerusa.lem, which was inhabited by theJewa then he ordered the Jews to,give up the tiu ofMoaes and Da.vid,and to me &

and to adopt that X~aeventh of his life, as the epoch of this era. The Jews obeyed bis 40command, and a.epted what he ordered; for the Rabbis allowed them=~~d~ Moses. And at thattime ju~nuUenmum had become complete, and their offerings andM~rmceBhad

ceased to be pra~ed, as they relate. So t!My ad.~dT-era, and used it for &dng the


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3

as they had already doue in the twenty-sixth year of his life, when honrst started from home, with tho view of finishing thf millennium (i.e.so as not to enter upon a new one). Whem, then, tho firat thousandyears of the ~!ra. Alexandri had passed, the end of whieh did not coin-cide with any striking event which people ajo Meustomed to make theepoch of an era, they kept th ~!ra. Alexandri, and continued to use it.The Greeks also use it. But according to the report of a book, whiohI;Iabb ben Bihrz, the metropolitam ofMosul, hM tranelated, the Greeksused to date-before they adopted the ~Era.Alexajidrifrom the migra.tion

10 of Tunn ben Paris from Babel towards the west.Era of Augnstus.Next follows the era of the king Augustus, the P. 29.

frat of th Roman emperors (CtBsen-~). The word C


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AMB~Nt.34

Prophet Muhammad from Makka to Madma. It is based upon Lunar

yeam, in which the commencements of the months are determined by the

appearance of New Moon, not by calculation. It ia used by thwhole

Muhammadan world. The circumstances under which this very pointwas adopted M an epoch, and mot the timo when the Prophet was either

born or entrusted with hie divine mission or died, were the followingMaimn ben Mihr&n testes, that Omar bon Atkha~&b, when people one

day handed over to him a cheque payable in the month jS&o'Mtt,BMd:

Which Sha'Mm M meant f that one in whieh we are or the next

Sha.*bAn?" Thereupon he asaembled the Companions of the Prophet, 10and asked their t~dviceregarding the matter ofchronology, whichtroubledhis mind. They a.nswered It ia necessary to mform o'tmelves of the

pra.ctice of the PersiaM in this respect." Then they fete Hurmuz&n,and asked him for information. He aMd: "We have computationwhich we call JtM&MZ,t.e. the computa.tionofmonths and days." Peopleatabizod this word, and pronomicod (.Mt


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ON THE NATURE OF THE ERAR. 35

Besidea, the single years wero of different length, some having bft'nintercalated, others not, about the time when intercatation wM prohibited.Considering further that after th Flight, the affaira of lalam werethoroughly established, while heathenism decreased, tha.t thc Prophetwas saved from the calamities prepared for him by th infidels of M~kka.,and that after th Flight his conquesta followed each other m !ra.pidsuccession, we coma to the conclusion that the Flight was to the Prophet,what to the kings is their accession, and their taking possession of thewhole 80Yeieign power.

10 As regards the weU known date of his death, people do not like todate from the death of a prophet or a king, except the prophet be a liar,

or the king an enemy, whose death people enjoy, and wish to make afestival of or he be one of thoso with whom a dynasty ia extinguished,so that his followers among themselves make this date a memorial ofMm, !md a mourning feaat. But this latter case has oniy happened veryeeldom. Eg. the era of Alexander th Founder is reckoned from thetime of his death, he having been considered as one of those from whomthe era of the kings of the Chatdeeans and the western kings was trans-ferred to the era. of the Ptolemeea.nkings, of whom each is caUed r


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AMB~.88

Ctreek months for this purpose, that th months of Ax year should beintercalated at the same time whon the Ctreetd intercabte their years.The mm who was entrusted with carrying out his orders, was his Wazr'Abu-al~asim 'Ubaid-aU&h ben SuMman ben Wahb. To this aubjeotth following verses of the astronomer 'Au ben YahyA refer"0 thou restorer of the untarnished glory, renovator of the shattered

empire!Who hast again established among us the piUa.rofreligion, after it hadbeen totteringThou hast surpassed aJl the kings like the foremost horse in a race. 10How blessed ia tha.t Nimrz, whon thon has: eMned thanks beaides

the reward (due to thee for it in heaven)By postponing NMr&z thou hast justly made prcde, what they bad

postponed."

On the same subject 'Ait ben TahyA says:-Th day of thy NMrz is one and the same day, not liable to mo~MbMkward,

AIwaya coinciding with the Ilth of~Mrn."

Now, although in bringing about thia measure much ingenuity hasbeen displayed, Naurz bas not thereby returned to that place which it 20occupied at the time when intercalation was still practised in the Persianempire. Fortheremianshadali-eadybeguntonegIecttheirinterMJationnearly seventy years before the death of Yazdajird. Because at thtime of Yazdajird ben Shpr they had intercalated into their year twomontha, one of them as the necessary compensation for that apace of

time, by which the year had moved backward (it being too short) Thefive Epagomene they put as amark at the end of this intercalary month,and the turn had just come to Ab~.Mah, as we shall explain hereafter.The second month they intercalated with regard to the future, that noother intercalation might be needed for a long period. 30Now, if you subtract &Mn the sum of the years between Yazdajird ben

SMpur and Yazdajird ben Shahryr 120 years, you get a remainder ofnearly-but not exaotly70 years, there is much uncertainty and con-fusion in the Persian chronology. The Mt


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perhaps some other nations, whose countries are far distant from ours,hve eras of their own, whieh have not been handed down to posterity, p. 34.or suoh eras as are now obsolete. For instance, the Persians in the timeofZoroastrianism used to date successively by the years of the reign ofeach of their kings. When a king died, they dropped his era, andadopted that of his successor. The duration of the reigns oftheir kingswe have stated in the tables wtnch will follow het-eafter.

EpOChs of the Anciemt Arabs.As a second instance we mentionthe lahmaelite Araba. For they used to date from the construction of

10 the Ea'ba by Abraham and IshmapI tiU the time when they were dis-

persedand left Tihma. Those who

went away dated from the time oftheir exodua, whilat thoso who remained in the country dated from thetime when the last party of the emigrants had left. But afterwards,after a long course oftime, they dated from the year when the chieftain.ship devolved upon 'A.mr ben BaM'a, known by the name of 'Amr benYahya, who is said to have changed the religion of Abraham, to ha.vebrought from the city ofBalka the idol Hubal, and to have himself madethe idols'Isf amd Na'Na. This is said to have happened at the time ofShapur Dh-at'akt&f. This synchronism, however, is not borne out by20 the comparison of the chronological theories of both sides (Arabs andPersiams).

Afterwajdsthey dated from the death ofKa'b ben Lu'ayy-till theYear T


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descendants over the country, dating from the time whcn he immigra.tedand extendt'd his away over the empire of the Turks. This happened92 years after the colonization of the country.At a later time they imitated the example of the Persians in dating

by the years of the reign of each king of the line of Kajkhusr, whoruled over the country, and who was called by th title ofNtaM~s.ThM went on down to the reign of frtgh, one of the kings of thatfamily. Hia name was considered a bad omen like that of Yazdajirdth Wicked, with the Persiana. His son succeeded him in the rule of

10 the country. He (Afrgh) built his castle behind Alfr, A. Alexandri616. Now people began to date from him and his children (i.e. by theyears of his reign and that of his descendants).

This Alr waa a fortresa on the outsMrta of the city of Khwanzm,built of clay and tiles, consisting of three forts, one being built withinthe other, and at: three being of equal height and rising above thewhole of it were tue royal palaces, very much like Ghumdan in Yamanat the time when it was the residence of the Tubba's. For this Ghum-dn wae a castle in SMi'a, opposite the great mosque, founded upon arock, of which people say that it was built by Sem ben Noah after the

20 Dluge. In the castle there is a.cistern, which he (Sem) had digged.Others think tha.t it wa.s a temple built by Al~ahhak for Venus. ThisAlfir was to be seen from the distance of 10 miles and more. It waabroken and ahatte'ed by tbo Oxus, and was swcpt away piece by piceevery year, tiU th last remains of it had disappeared A. Alexandri1305.

Of this dynasty was reigning at th time wheu theProphet

wasentrusted with his divine mission-

10. Arthamkh ben9. Bzkr ben

30 8. Khamgr ben7. Sbwuah ben6. Sakhr ben5. Azkjawr ben f 4. Aakajamk ben8. Sa,khMM.):ben2. Baghra ben1. Mgh.

When Kntaiba. ben Muslim had conquered XhwMm the second timea&er th inhabitants had rebelled, he constituted as their king-40 14. Asbqamuk ben

13. AzkAja.wArben

12.Sa.brbenll.Sa.Hu-ben10. Artha.mAkh,


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AMR~N.42

p. 36. and appointed him as their


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44- AMRN!.

to Jrusalem, sacrinced in ita temple and made o&ringa. Thenee heturned to Armemia. and B&b-at'abw&b, and passed even beyond it. TheCopte, BerbeM, and HebMwa obeyed him. Then ha marohed againstDd, the son of D&r&,m order to take revenge for atl th wronge whiehSyria had auSered at the bande of Buthtamassar (Nebuhtdmezzar) andthe Babylonians. He fought with him and put him to night severaltimes, and in one of those hattles D&r&was killed by the chief of hiebody-guM-d, called NaujuahanM ben dhM'baUit, whereupoD Alexandertook possession of the Persian empire. Then he went to India amdChina, making war upon the most distant nations, and snbdnmg a.Uthe 10tract


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AMB~N.46

and maintain that from this BMne his son L&y&hajderived bis name.He, however, who coMtdeM what 1 have laid down at the beginning

of this book, as the conditio


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THE XJNG CAUED BICOBNUTUS. 4{)

V. e)j~ Meton.

Yafeth.X. tu~-

~*}) Bmiya.bjt Byzantium.Jet~ TheopMI.

10 ,}) Rome.XV.

~.S~ Al'a~fa.r.EIi&tz.,~


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50 A,B~N


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AMht~Nt.52

CHAPTER V.ONTHE NATUREOF THE MONTtMWHICHARE USBBIN THE PRECEDING

EBA8.

HBBETOMM!1 have mentioned atrea~y that every nation uaes a. specialera of ita own. And in the same degree M they differ in the use of theraa, they differ regarding the beginning of th monthe, regarding thnumber of days of each of them, amd the rea~ona assigned therefor.Of this subject, 1 mention what I have learnt, and do not a.ttempttoandeut what 1 do mot know for certain, a.md regarding which I have noinformation from a trustworthy peraon. And amt we give the montha 10of the PeMiama.

Months Of the PersmMThe number of the months of one yearis twelve, M God has said in his book (Stra. ix. 36) With Qod th

number of the montha waa twelve montha, in the book of od, on theday when &od created the heaveNB amd the earth." On thia subjectthere ia no diSerenee of opinion between the nations, except in the leap-years. So the Peraiama have twelve months of the foUowing namea

F~wardin Mh. Mihr Mh.AjdtbahiahtM&h. bn Mh.Bmrddh Mah. dhaj Mh. 20T!rM&h. DaiM&h.MtB-dMh Mah. Bahmm Mh.Shalu~waj Mh. Is&md&mtadh Mh.

1 have heard the geometrician 'Ab& Sa.'id 'Ahma.d ben Muhammadben 'Abd-a.tjaMt Ataijz rela.ting of the ancient inha.bitamta of Sijiat&n,tha.t they called these months by other namea and commenced likewisewith Faj-wardn Mh. The names are these-

I.m J~


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ALBRN.54

1 myself heard 'Ab-alfaraj ben 'Ahmad bon Khalaf AIzamjnn! saythat the Mobad in SMra!! had dictated them to him in this form-

I. tM~ n. t~M.< ni. t~itJ~~ IV. )~~ V. t~t~And lastly, 1 have heard them from the geometrioiam 'Ab-aJhasam

AdharHmra, the son of Tazdanl:hass, in this form-

I. II. J~ IH. (~ IV. ~M~(Ahunavaiti.) (Ustavaiti.) (Spent&mainyu.) (Vohukhshathra.)

V. ~A,(Vahist6isti.)

fi The aum total of their days, therefore, was 365. The quarter of a 10

day (beyond the 365 days) they neglected in their computation, till thsequarters of a day had summed up to the days of one complte month,which happened in 120 years. Then they added this month to the othermonths of the year, ao that the number of ita montha became thirteen.Thia month they called ~MMC: (intercaJary month). And the daya ofthia additional month they called by the same names as those of theother months.

In this mode th Persiana proceeded tiU the time when both theirempire and their religion periahed. Afterwarda the day-quarters wereneglected, and the years were no longer intercalated with them, and, 20therefore, they did not return to their original condition, and remainedconsiderably behind the fixed points of time (!e. real time). Thereason was this that intercalation was an affair settted under the specialpatronage of their kings at a meeting of the mathematiciams, literarycelebrities, historiographers, and chroniclers, priests, and judgea,on thebaaia of an agreement of fUI those regarding the correctnesa of the

calculation, after aU the persons I have mentioned had been aummonedto the royal court from a.Uparts of the empire, and after they had heldconncilBin order to come to an agreement. On this occasion money wasspent profusely to such ajt extent, that a man who made a low estima.te 30

said, the cost had sometimes amounted to one million of denajs. Thissame day waa observed as the most important and the most glorious ofail festivals; it was called the ~M< of 7tt


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ALBiNtN.

Months f th SogdiaMNow 1 shall mention th months of theMa.gmM of Transoxiana, the people ofKhwrizm and of Sughd Theirmonths have the same nimber, and the same number of days as thoseof the Persians. Onty between the beginning of the Persian and theTranaoxanian montha there M a difference, becMM theTmnsoYaniMM

p. 46. append the five Ep~gomeme to the end of their year, and commence theyeM~fh the 6th day of the PeMian month Farwardn, Khurd&dhrozSo the beginning of th months ia different until dhar Mh a&erw~da 20they have the same beginnings.

mt~c~tiou ao long, until th day-quarters sununed up t.o two months.Or, on th other hand, they antioipated intercalating tha year at once bytwo montha, when theyexpectedth~t .t the time of the next commeMtercatatMn arcumstMices would distKM-ttheir itttentMm thorefrom, asit hM been done in the time ofYazdajird ben S&bur, for no other motivebut that of precaution. That was the last intercalation which theycarried out, under the superintendence of DMt&r, caUedYMd~jirdAlhizi. HizAr waa an estate in the district of I~hhr in F&M,frumwhich ho received hM name. In that intercahtion the turn had come toAban Mah; therefore, the EpagomeM were added at its end, and 10there they have remained ever since on account of their neglectingintercalation.

Thse are the namos of the months of the Sughdians.

Some people add a Jim (e) at the end of(~ and and p~noirnoeand s~ they add a Nm and a J{m (~) at the end of 30and U~ and pronomioe ~-< and They call each day by a.apecial name, ae ia the enatom with the PersiMM. TheM Me the Damesof the thirty days-

L J~ of 30 daya. VIL j~ of 30 daya.

1>

l.2.j~.8.M-4..j,jAM.

6.~7. J~*

&M~J

9.

M.


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ON THE NATPBE OF MONTHS. S7

These five days they add at the end of the last monthThe SugMjam system of interc~ia.tioN agrted with the pmetice of the

10 Persians, M aJso did their neglecting interealittion. The reason whythere arose a difference between the beginnings of the Sughdian and thePersian years 1 shall describe hereafter.

20 ~~c~

30 Th thirty da.ye they c&!lby th foUoTnng namsa

40 10. (~.t!~

Some people give the dayj!j


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58 ALBBN!.

the end of the month lapandarmaj, with the Mme name by which theybegin the daya of the month; the second day they call Azmtn, th thirdArdawasht, and ao on till the nfth day Ispandarmaj!. Then they retnrmand commence anew with the first day ~*t~, the lat of the month

Nwas&rj. They do not use or even know spcial names for theEpagomenm, but 1 bolieve that this fact simply arises from the sameconfusion, regarding thse namea, which prevails among the Peraianaand Sughdians. For after ~utaiba ben Muslim Albhil! had killed theirlearned mon and priests, amdhad bumed their books and writinga, theybecame entirely illiterate (forgot writing and reading), and relied in 10

every knowledge or science which they required solely upon memory.Ymth long coum of time they forgot tha.t on which there had been adivergence of opinion, and kept by memory only that which had beengenerally agreed upon. But Allah knows best

As to the three identjcal namea of daya (the 8ih, 15th, and 33rd,D


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ON THE NATURE OF MONTHS. 59

Months of the EgyptianS.The following are the namesoftheir

tnoBtha

MechirSO

These are the ancient names ofthe months. In the following we give10 the names which were modemizett by one of their princes, after inter-c&btion had been a~opted

I.

Some people call the months


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AMtBN.60VII. 1o


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ONTHENATURE0FMONTHS. 61into seconds, and divides them by that difference. So he gets 118 years6 months and 6~ days. This would be the space of time in which thecalendar would necessitate the intercalation of one complete day, onaccount of this pins-diffrence. Further, he says, Now,if we inter-calate the past years of the Greek era," which were at his time 1,225

years, th sun's entering the nrst part of Aries again takes place at the

beginning of Nsan." But he bas dropped his example, and has notintercalated th yeai-s. If ho had done su, his conclusions would haveled to the contrary of what he saya aad maintains, and the beginning of

10 NS&Hwould come near the sun's entering the first part of Taurus. Forthat date, which he wanted to treat as an example, would necessitate

the intercalation of 10~ days. Now the Greek year being too short(according to him), the beginning of N!sn precedes the snn's enteringthe first part of Aries, and the time which it would he necessary tointercalate (po~K) !'


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AMRN.62

was a~t'o/~e of those people, entirely mixed up with them, and becauseit was he who polished for them their scientinc work. He had collectedthe materials of this book with the object of explaining the fact of thesolar years not being always equal to each other, on account of themotion of the apoge. With aU this he was compelled to assume equalcircles, and equal motions along with theu* times, in order to derivethereby the mean motion of the sun. But he did not find equal circles,except those which moveinan excentric plane, described (w'z.the circles)round a point within it, which point is a~sumed exclusively for thesecireles. And this circle, which waa sought for, extends the six hours by 10additional fHMitions (t.e. its time of revolution is 365 days 6 hours+a

~'


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ON THE NATURE OF MONTHS. 63

when the leaves of the trees and the blossoms of the fruit trees comeforth'; the lunar months in order that, on the same day, the body ofthe moon should be lit up completely, standing in the sign of Libra..And as the time in question would naturally advanee for a certainnumber of days (the aum of th days of twelve lunar months not beinga complte yeaf), it waa necessary for the same reason to append to theother months those days, as soon as they made up one complete month.They added these days as a complete month, which thpy cn.))ed thfFirst ~10 &co?t~ .~

According to another opinion, the First Adhr ia the original month,the name of which without any addition was used in the common year,and the Second Adhar is to be th leap-month, in order that it shouldhave its place a.t the end of the year, for this reason, that according tothe command of the Thora, Nsan was to bo the first of their months.

20 This, however, is not the case. That the Second Adhr is the originalmonth, is evident from the fact, that its place and length, the number ofits days, the fea.st- and fast.da.ys which occur in it, are not liable to anychanges. And of ail these days nothing wha-tsceveroccurs in the FirstAdhr of a leap-year. Further, they make it a rule that, during theSecond Adhr, the fnm should always stand in the aign of Pisces, whiistin the First Adh&r of a leap-year he must be in the sign of Amphora.

Five Cycles.Now for the leap-years they wanted a certain principle p. 54.of

arrangementas a

helpto facilitate their

practical use. Thereforethey looked out for cycles which were based upon solar years, consisting30 of lunar months. Of those cycles they found the following Ye:

I. The cycle of 8 years consiating of 99 months, of which there are3 leap-months.

n. The cycle of 19 years, called the ~fuM)' Cycle, consisting of 235months, of which there are 7 leap-months.

III. The cycle of 76 years, consisting of 940 months, of which thereare 28 leap-months.

IV. The cycle of 95 years, called the Middle Cycle,consisting of 1,176months, of which there are 35 leap-months.

V. The cycle of 532 yea.rs, called the Major Cycle, consisting of 6,58040 months, of which there are 196 leap-months.

Of these cycles they choose that one, the observation of which wouldbe the easiest and simplest. Thia quality IN

peculiarto the

cyclesof 8

1

and of 19 years, with this difference, however, that the Ja.tt.-r .me agn'es


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ALBBK.64

more elosdy with solar years. For this cycle contains, according tothem, d,989 days 16y~~ hours. Those smaU particles of an hour theycaU ~


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AlBE~Ni.66

The Arat (outer) cirole indieatea th quality of the year, whether it Ma common year or a leap-year. The three other cirdea contain the three

/or!H


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ON THE NATURE OF MOXTHS. 67

THEYEAB. P-67m-,"lEY1

EAR.

p.671Common yeN- of 18 months. Leap-year of 13 monthe.

P9Tfect,of355d&ya. Perfect, of 385 days.MM~eshw.n,30 daya. M~eshw~. 30 days.Ktaiew, 30 days. mdew, 30 days.

Intermdeof 3. i4days. Intenaediate, of 3 4 daya.

~29 days, mr~eshw. 29 days.&sMw, 30 days. Eislw, 30 days.

t0 ~?~ '~y- Imperfect, of 383 days.M~eshw~29d~r~shw&n,29d~.mdew, 29 days. jGdew, 29 days.

For the dduction of these differences they have manv modes of com.1putation as weUas tables, which we shall not fail to explain hereafter.

1Dtermination ofNew NoonBegarding their knowledge of the

beginning of the month, and the mode in whieh it ia computed and used,the Jews are divided into two sects, one ofwhich are the Rabbanites.They derive the beginning of the month by means of calculation fromthe mean motioM of the two luminanea (sun and moon), no regard beinghad as to whether new moon is visible tdreildv or not. For it ~M theirobject to have a conventional time, that was to begin from th conjunc-tion of aun and moon. By the foUowing accident they ~dTp, M theyrelate themselves, induced to adopt this system: at the time when theyreturned to Jrusalem, they posted guards upon tho tops of themountains to observe new moon, and they ordered them to light a Breand to make a smoke, which was to bo a.signal for them that new moonin fact had been seen. Now, on account of the enmity which existedbetween them and th Samaritans, thse latter went and sent up thesmoke from the mountain one day before new moon was seen. Thispracheo they continued during several months, at the beginnings of80 which heaven always happened to be clou.ied. FinaUy, people inJerusalem found out this, observing that new moon, on the 3rd and 4thof the month, rose above the horizon from the east. Hence it waaevident that the Samaritans had deceived them. Therefore they hadrecourse to the scholars of their time, in order to be protected by aSystem of calculation against the deceitful practices of their enemies, towhich they were exposed by their present method.

1In order to prove that it was legally permitted to nx th bcginning of

tne month by catculation instead of observation, they referred to theduration of the dluge. For they assert that Noah computed and fixed40 the beginnings ofthe months by calculation, becanse heaven was covered p. 68.6


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ALBB~68and clouded for M long as six months, during which time neither newmoon nor any other phase of the moon couJd be observed.

Thp mathematicians, therefore, computed for them the cycles, andtaught thpm how to find, by ealcuhtion, the conjanctiona and theappearance of new moon, viz. that between new moon and the con.

junction th time of 24 hours mut elapse. And this comes neM-thetruth. For if it was the corrected conjunction, not the mean one, themoon would in these hours move forward about 13 degrees, and herelongation from the sun would be about 12 degrees.

This reform was brought about nearly 200 yeara after Alexander. 10Before that time they used to observe the Te~~ (n~BtpJt), !e. theyear-quarters, on the computation of whieh we shall enlarge hereafter,

and to compare them with the conjunction of that month, to whichthe Te)tM&in question was to be referred. If they found that the con.junetion preceded the Te~&f. by about 30 days, they intercalated amonth in this year, e.y. if they found that the conjunction of Tammuzpreceded the Te~ufa of T~unmz, i.e. the summer.solstice by about80 days, they intercalated in that year a month Tammz, so that i' had

one Tammz and a second Tammz (t~n-) Mapt). In the same waythey actod with the other Te~&fth. 30Some Rabbanites, however, deny that such guarda were posted, andthat they made a smoke as a signt. According to their opinion, thecause of the deduction of this system of calculation was the following.the Mholars and the priests of the Israelitea, feeling convinced that their

people would be seattered and dispersed in consequence of the lastdestructif of Jrusalem, as they thought, were afraid that their eom-pa.tnots, being seattered aU over the world, and solely relying upon theMpeN-a.nceof new moon, whieh of course in different countries would bedifferent for them, might, on account of this, fall into dissensions, andas

Documents

Biruni-The Chronology of Ancient Nations