Why Translate Science?: Documents from Antiquity to the 16th Century in the Historical West Bactria to the Atlantic (Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 1 the Near and Middle East, 160)

A collection of documents from antiquity to the 16th century in the historical West (Bactria to the Atlantic), in the original languages with an English translation and introductory essays, about the motivations and purposes of translation from and into Greek, Syriac, Middle Persian, Arabic, Hebrew, and Latin, as given in the personal statements by the translators, scholars, and historians of each society. ‎Contents -1 ‎Notes on Contributors -1 ‎Chapter 1. Introduction (Gutas) -1 ‎Chapter 2. Latin Translations of Greek Science and Philosophy: Some Relevant Passages (Mundt and Cohen) -1 ‎Chapter 3. Translations from Greek into Middle Persian as Repatriated Knowledge (Zakeri) -1 ‎Chapter 4. Why the Syrians Translated Greek Philosophy and Science (King) -1 ‎Chapter 5. Why Do We Translate? Arabic Sources on Translation (Vagelpohl and Sánchez) -1 ‎Chapter 6. The Nabatean Agriculture by Ibn Waḥšiyya, a Pseudo-Translation by a Pseudo-Translator: The Topos of Translation in Occult Sciences (Toral) -1 ‎Chapter 7. Translations into Greek in the Byzantine Period (Kaldellis) -1 ‎Chapter 8. The Statements of Medieval Latin Translators on Why and How They Translate Works on Science and Philosophy from Arabic (Burnett) -1 ‎Chapter 9. Latin Translators from Greek in the Twelfth Century on Why and How They Translate (Angold and Burnett) -1 ‎Chapter 10. Why Did Latin Translators Translate from the Greek in the Thirteenth Century and Later? (Beullens) -1 ‎Chapter 11. Why Translate? Views From Within Judaism: Egodocuments by Translators from Arabic and Latin into Hebrew (Twelfth–Fourteenth Centuries) (Freudenthal) -1 ‎Chapter 12. Renaissance Scholars on Why They Translate Scientific and Philosophical Works from Arabic into Latin (Hasse) -1 ‎Index of Personal Names -1 ‎Index of Subjects and Placenames -1 ‎Index of Sources -1 From antiquity to the 16th century, translation united culturally the peoples in the historical West (from Bactria to the shores of the Atlantic) and fueled the production and circulation of knowledge. The Hellenic scientific and philosophical curriculum was translated from and into, to mention the most prevalent languages, Greek, Syriac, Middle Persian, Arabic, Hebrew, and Latin. To fill a lack in existing scholarship, this volume collects the documents that present the insider evidence provided in contemporary accounts of the motivations and purposes of translation given in the personal statements by the agents in this process, the translators, scholars, and historians of each society. Presented in the original languages with an English translation and introductory essays, these documents offer material for the study of the historical contextualization of the translations, the social history of science and philosophy in their interplay with traditional beliefs, and the cultural policies and ideological underpinnings of these societies. Contributors Michael Angold, Pieter Beullens, Charles Burnett, David Cohen, Gad Freudenthal, Dag Nikolaus Hasse, Anthony Kaldellis, Daniel King, Felix Mundt, Ignacio Sánchez, Isabel Toral, Uwe Vagelpohl, and Mohsen Zakeri. Introduction / Dimitri Gutas -- Latin translations of Greek science and philosophy : some relevant passages -- Felix Mundt and David Cohen -- Translations from Greek into Middle Persian as repatriated knowledge / Mohsen Zakeri -- Why the Syrians translated Greek philosophy and science / Daniel King -- Why do we translate? Arabic sources on translation / Uwe Vagelpohl and Ignacio Sánchez -- The Nabatean agriculture by Ibn Waḥshiyya, a pseudo-translation by a pseudo-translator : the topos of translation in the occult sciences / Isabel Toral -- Translations into Greek in the Byzantine period / Anthony Kaldellis -- The statements of medieval Latin translators on why and how they translate works on science and philosophy from Arabic / Charles Burnett -- Latin translators from Greek in the twelfth century on why and how they translate / Michael Angold and Charles Burnett -- Why did Latin translators translate from the Greek in the thirteenth century and later? / Pieter Beullens -- Why translate? Views From within : egodocuments by translators from Arabic and Latin into Hebrew (twelfth-fourteenth centuries) / Gad Freudenthal -- Renaissance scholars on why they translate scientific and philosophical works from Arabic into Latin / Dag Nikolaus Hasse "From antiquity to the 16th century, translation united culturally the peoples in the historical West (from Bactria to the shores of the Atlantic) and fueled the production and circulation of knowledge. The Hellenic scientific and philosophical curriculum was translated from and into, to mention the most prevalent languages, Greek, Syriac, Middle Persian, Arabic, Hebrew, and Latin. To fill a lack in existing scholarship, this volume collects the documents that present the insider evidence provided in contemporary accounts of the motivations and purposes of translation given in the personal statements by the agents in this process, the translators, scholars, and historians of each society. Presented in the original languages with an English translation and introductory essays, these documents offer material for the study of the historical contextualization of the translations, the social history of science and philosophy in their interplay with traditional beliefs, and the cultural policies and ideological underpinnings of these societies"-- Provided by publisher