Illustrations from

The Chronology of Ancient Nations of Al-Biruni
(Abū al-Rayḥān Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Bīrūnī )
Copy from Ilkhanid Tabriz, Iran, 1307AD


Muhammad shown riding on a camel
next to Christ, who is riding a donkey
Muhammad meeting the envoy
of Musailama, a false prophet
The peasant and the false prophet Bihafrid

The storming of the
fortress of Al-Muqanna
Eli lying dead at the foot of a throne



The destruction of Bayt al-Muqaddas

Jesus baptised in the Jordan by John
The Annunciation to Mary
Muhammad exchanges curses
with the Christians of Najran
The investiture of Ali
by the prophet
Muhammad
Shelfmark: Or.Ms.161
Holding Institution: University of Edinburgh
Title: Chronology of Ancient Nations
Creator: Al-Biruni
Creator Nationality: Iranian
Creator Role: Author
Date: 1307

Written by the famous astronomer and polymath Abu Rayhan Al-Biruni, the Chronology of Ancient Nations is a compendium and chronicle of a vast number of calendars and chronological systems from a variety of different cultural and religious groups from throughout the late antique and medieval periods in the Hellenic world, Central Asia and the Near East. Completed in the year 1000, it even includes details of festivals and liturgical practices, in addition to more specific information. This particular manuscript is thought to have been copied in 1307 and was the archetype for the three later versions which were used by Edward Sachau to translate the document from Arabic into English during the nineteenth century.
Chelkowski, P. J. (1975), 'The scholar and the saint : studies in commemoration of Abuʾl-Rayhan al-Biruni and Jalal al-Din al-Rumi', New York.
Source: University of Edinburgh

Abū al-Rayḥān Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Bīrūnī (born Sept. 4, 973AD, Khwarezm, Khorasan [now in Uzbekistan] — died c. 1052, Ghazna [now Ghazni, Afghanistan], Muslim astronomer, mathematician, ethnographist, anthropologist, historian, and geographer.


Referenced as figure 639 in The military technology of classical Islam by D Nicolle
639A to 639D. Manuscript, A - 'ʿAlī,' B - 'Al Muqannā' besieged by Khalīf al Maḥdī.,' C - 'Nebuchadnezzar destroys Jerusalem,' D - 'ʿAlī,' Chronicle of Ancient Peoples, 1307-8 AD, west Iranian, Edinburgh Univ. Lib., Ms. 161, ff. 92r, 93v, 134v, 16r and 162r (Gray R).

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