How much Spain was indebted to the Arabians
for their early commerce may be judged of from the number of commercial and
maritime terms in the Spanish language, evidently derived from the Arabic.
In the middle of the twelfth century, Al Edrissi composed at the court of
Roger King of Sicily, whose subject he was, his Geographical Amusements. In
this work we find little that relates to commerce: its geographical details
will assist us when we give our sketch of the geographical knowledge of the
Arabians.
In the work of [Ebor->Ebn] Al Ouardi, which was drawn up in 1232, Africa,
Arabia, and Syria are minutely described; but comparatively little is said
on Europe, India, and the North of Asia.
The next Arabian geographer in point of time is Abulfeda: he wrote a very
particular description of the earth, the countries being arranged according
to climates, with the latitude and longitude of each place. In the
introduction to this work he enters on the subject of mathematical
geography, and describes the most celebrated mountains, rivers, and seas of
the world. Abulfeda was a native of Syria; and this and the adjacent
countries are described with most fullness and accuracy: the same remark
applies to his description of Egypt and the north coast of Africa. The
information contained in his work, respecting Tartary, China, &c.
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