ARISTOTLE 



435, Ibas, who in that year was made Bishop of 

 Edessa, had translated into Syriac the commentaries 

 of Theodore on the works of Aristotle. Jacob, one 

 of Ibas's successors at Edessa (d. 708), translated the 

 Categories into Syriac, but a much earlier version had 

 been made by Sergios of Resh 'Aina (d. 536), who 

 had studied Greek at Alexandria. In 765 the Nes- 

 torian physician Georgios was summoned to Bagdad 

 by the Caliph, and translated numerous Greek words 

 into Arabic for him. By the beginning of the ninth 

 century, translation was in full swing at Bagdad, 

 under the Caliphate of al-Mamun (813-833), son of 

 Harun-al-Rashid. The first leader of this school 

 of translators was the physician Ibn al-Batriq, who 

 translated the Historia animalium, the De partibus 

 animalium, and the De generatione animalium into 

 Arabic. 



But it was through southern Italy, Sicily and Spain 

 that the transmission of Aristotle's works from the 

 Arabic into Latin was effected. Messina had been 

 recovered from the Saracens by 1060, and the whole 

 of Sicily was freed by 1091. Under the Norman 

 kings, Greeks, Saracens and Latins hved together 

 in one community, and the court was the meeting- 

 ground for eminent persons of all nations and 

 languages. The reconquest of Spain had begun in 

 the eighth century, so that here also an opportunity 

 offered for making the works of Greek science 

 available in Latin. Archbishop Raymond of Toledo 

 (1126-1151) and Bishop Michael of Tarazona (1119- 

 1151) were the patrons of the translators, who made 

 Toledo the centre of their activity. One of these 

 was Michael Scot. 



There is in existence an Arabic translation of 



40 



