Severus Sebokht

Severus Sebokht (also Sebokt, Sebukht, Seboht ; * around 575 in Nisibis , Syria; † 666 or 667 in Kennesrin , Syria) was a Syrian clergyman and astronomer. He is seen as an important transmitter of late antique knowledge, including the so-called “ Arabic numbers ”, to Islamic culture.

Life

Little is known about his life. He taught in the school of Nisibis (then Persian) but gave up his position after a dispute within the Nestorians in 612. He later became bishop of the Syrian Orthodox Church and became a monk in the monastery of Kennesrin on the west bank of the Euphrates, at that time one of the centers of Greek learning in Syria.

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Severus Sebokht wrote a book on Aristotelian syllogisms in 638 and translated the Persian commentary by Paulus Persa on Aristotle De interpretatione into Syriac. He is best known for his astronomical works, particularly his treatise on the astrolabe (before 661 to around 660) in which he refers to a lost work by Theon of Alexandria . The book (two chapters of which have not been preserved) deals in detail with the structure and use of the astrolabe. He also wrote a book on star constellations (and elementary astronomy, such as the ecliptic, Earth's climates and lengths of day), written in 661 after his book on the astrolabe. This book is also incomplete. It contains excerpts from the Phenomena of Aratus and shows familiarity with Ptolemy 's palms. Around 665 he wrote additional chapters in response to questions from a visiting clergyman, Basil of Cyprus. Among other things, they concern the date of the birth of Christ, the conjunction of the planets and the calculation of the Easter date.

Indo-Arabic numbers

The earliest mention of the Indian decimal system in the "West" comes from Severus Sebokht (west of the mainly Hindu -influenced, multi-religious , including Christian, India , by the Sasanid Persians and northwest of the emerging Muslim world - but see Eastern Churches ).

Sebokht praises the Indian decimal system. In the 7th century, the Arabs also got to know the system. Arabic books that used it did not appear until the 9th century ( Algoritmi de numero indorum by al-Chwarizmi , around 825, only known in Latin translation).

Translations

• Severus Sabokt: Description of the Astrolabe. Translated by Jessie Payne Smith Margoliouth . In: Robert T. Gunther: The Astrolabes of the World. Volume 1, Oxford University Press, 1932, pp. 82-103 ( online ).
• François Nau : Le traité sur les “Constellations” écrit, en 661, par Sévère Sébokt, évêque de Qennesrin. In: Revue de l'Orient Chrétien. Volume 7, 1929, pp. 327-410, Volume 8, 1932, pp. 85-100 (French translation of his book on constellations, with Syriac text of chapters 4.5, based on MS Paris Syr. 346).

literature

Overview display

• Henri Hugonnard-Roche: Sévère Sebokht. In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques. Volume 6, CNRS Éditions, Paris 2016, ISBN 978-2-271-08989-2 , pp. 230-235

Investigations and manuals

• François Nau: Notes d'astronomie syrienne. In: Journal asiatique. Series 10, Volume 16, 1910, pp. 209–228 (detailed description by MS Paris Syr. 346, with translation of many passages, including on the Indian decimal system).
• Otto Neugebauer : The Early History of the Astrolabe. In: Isis. Volume 40, 1949, pp. 240-256
• Otto Neugebauer: A history of ancient mathematical astronomy. Springer, 1975.
• Scott L. Montgomery: Science in Translation: Movements of Knowledge through Cultures and Time. University of Chicago Press, 2000.
• David Pingree : The Greek Influence on Early Islamic Mathematical Astronomy. In: Journal of the American Oriental Society. Volume 93, 1993, pp. 32-43.
• David Pingree: The Teaching of the Almagest in Late Antiquity. In: Timothy D. Barnes (Ed.): The Sciences in Greco-Roman Society. Academic Printing and Publishing, Edmonton 1994, pp. 73-98.
• William Wright : A short history of Syriac literature. Philo Press, Amsterdam 1966.

Web links

• John McMahon, Severus Sebokht article in Thomas Hockey (Editor) The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers , Springer Reference 2007
• Entry in an Encyclopedia of Syriac Literature