ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

World History in the Margins of Arabic Ephemerides and Almanacs

• In Event: Recasting the History of Almanacs 2

English Abstract

Ephemerides and to a lesser degree Almanacs provide a grid for references on historical events of high temporal and spatial precision. They are attached to an identifiable day in one or several calendars. Ephemerides can be geographically localized by reverse engineering. Recent conceptual developments in studies of world history give more weight to oversea connections. Many almanacs contain in their margins information of travel opportunities for long-distance destinations. Further the availability of goods is recorded. Finally, the degree of mutual respect between different religious denominations is reflected in the choice of religious festivals to be recorded. In the younger studies of world systems, previously peripheral areas have become important centers. This is particularly the case with Yemen, from where ephemerides and almanacs exists from the second half of the thirteenth to the early fifteenth century. This is the epoch in which the first world system aroused, connecting Europe with China by a couple of entangled circuits. Yemen occupied the intersection of three of them. Yemenite ephemerides and almanacs provided time tables for travelling from Aden to Egypt, to the Mediterranean, to Hormuz, to Mogadishu, and to the Coromandel Coast in South-East India, to mention just the most important destinations.

Author

• Johannes Thomann, University of Zurich