A newly discovered Arabic-Hebrew medieval philosophical dictionary, including key-terms of Maimonides' Guide

The manuscript of Turin, Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria, A. II. 12, includes (on folios 213r-217v) a short Hebrew dictionary of 39 philosophical terms. 23 of these terms can be found in the introduction to part two of Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed, which has been copied in full lenght in the manuscript as well (according to Samuel Ibn Tibbon's Hebrew translation). The dictionary was probably written in the second half of the 13th century by an anonymous scribe and has been unknown to scholars until now. This article offers a critical edition of the original text of the dictionary, with a facsimile reproduction of the relevant folios as well as an English annotated summary of its content. © 2007 Brill.It comes, it publishes and translates into an anonymous commented version Philosophical Dictionary Hebrew, probably written in the thirteenth century and so far unknown

Medieval Judaic Logic and the Scholastic One in the 14th – 15th Centuries Provence and Italy: a Comparison of the Logical Works by Rav Hezekiah bar Halafta (First Half of the 14th Century) and Rav Judah Messer Leon (Second Half of the 15th Century)

Abstract Hezekiah bar Halafta and Judah Messer Leon, who wrote in 14th – 15th century in Provence and Italy, were the first and last of "Jewish Schoolman." This short article compares two texts, in order to showing differences and similarities

Shem Tob ibn Falaquera e la filologia ebraica medievale. A proposito di due libri recenti

The recent publication of two books gives the opportunity of a study about some aspects of the work of Shem Tob ben Yosef ibn Falaquera, a Sephardi philosopher living in the 13th century, as translator of Arabic philosophy and science. They contain editions (accompanied by English translations) of two writings: the ’Iggereṯ ha-Wikuaḥ, edited by S. Harvey, and the section of the Sefer De‛ôṯ ha-Filosofîm devoted to Nicolaus Damascenus' De Plantis, edited by H. J. Drossaart Lulofs. The ecdotic criteria and the textual basis of the two editions are examined, and some corrections and integrations are suggested.La reciente publicación de dos libros ofrece la ocasión de profundizar en algunos aspectos de la función de Shem Tob ben Yosef ibn Falaquera, filósofo sefardí del siglo XIII, como divulgador y traductor de las obras filosóficas y científicas árabes. Se trata de las ediciones (acompañadas de traducción inglesa) del ’Iggereṯ ha-Wikuaḥ, a cargo de S. Harvey, y de la sección del Sefer De‛ôṯ ha-Filosofîm dedicada al De plantis de Nicolás de Damasco, a cargo de H. J. Drossaart Lulofs. Se examinan los criterios editoriales y las bases adoptadas en cada una de las ediciones, y se hacen algunas sugerencias sobre correcciones y adiciones que podrían incorporarse

Aristotle’s Theory of Causes and the Holy Trinity : New Evidence About the Chronology and Religion of Nicolaus “of Damascus”

L’identité et la datation de Nicolas le Péripatéticien, l’auteur d’un sommaire de la philosophie d’Aristote, ont fait l’objet d’un article récent de Silvia Fazzo paru dans la Revue des Études Grecques. Contre la datation courante, fondée sur l’identification de Nicolas à l’historien de grand renom Nicolas Damascène (ier siècle av. J.-C.), Fazzo a montré que Nicolas avait probablement vécu au cours de la période couvrant les iiie au ve siècles ap. J.-C., et plus problablement à l’époque de l’empereur Julien l’Apostat (361-363). Cette hypothèse trouve un appui dans un nouveau fragment en traduction hébraïque découvert par Mauro Zonta, dans lequel Nicolas cherche à expliquer la Trinité de Dieu au moyen de la doctrine aristotélicienne des causes : Dieu est un, en tant que sa substance est une, mais Dieu est également trois, puisqu’il est à la fois causes motrice, formelle et finale du monde. Dans la mesure, évidemment réduite, où un fragment si court est susceptible de datation, l’époque de Julien paraît la plus probable.The identity and chronology of Nicolaus Peripatheticus, the author of a summary of Aristotle’s philosophy, were recently discussed in a paper by Silvia Fazzo published in the Revue des Études Grecques. The usual dating, based upon the identification of Nicolaus with the famous historian Nicolaus Damascenus, places Nicolaus in the 1st century bc, but Fazzo argues that it is likely that he lived in the period ranging from the 3rd to the 5th centuries ad, and more likely, during the age of the Roman Emperor Julian (361-363 ad). This hypothesis is supported by a new fragment in Hebrew translation, discovered by Mauro Zonta, where Nicolaus gives an explanation of the Christian doctrine of God’s Trinity in terms of Aristotle’s doctrine of causes : God is one, being a single substance, but He is also three, insofar as He is the efficient, formal, and final causes of the world. As far as it is possible for such a short fragment, the authors contend that it is plausible to date it from the age of Julian

Elementi della terminologia aristotelico-scotistica in ebraico: le glosse filosofiche in ‘Eli Habillo

This article analyses the use of Scotist terminology within the Jewish philosophical tradition, in particular by ‘Eli Habillo of Monzon (15th century). Translator from Latin into Hebrew of philosophical texts and original philosopher, Habillo displays a peculiar use of many technical terms of the Latin Scotist tradition translating them into Hebrew. The article examines some exemplar cases of Habillo’s approach and Hebrew rendering of the terms, pointing out the peculiarities of his attitude

Thirty-year changes (1970 to 2000) in bathymetry and sediment texture recorded in the Lagoon of Venice sub-basins, Italy.

A detailed comparison was made of two bathymetric charts of the Lagoon of Venice (LV) from 1970 and 2000, in tandem with a comparison of sediment grain size data. Analysis of the data revealed marked changes in both morphology and sedimentation, with more than 50% of the 400 km2 assessed in this study 15-20 cm shallower in 1970 than in 2000. The four sub-basins into which the LV is subdivided saw different patterns of change. The Northern basin A was identified as “pristine”, i.e. still in quasi-natural condition, with slight clay enrichment and a small degree of deepening (4-5 cm), essentially due to sea level rise (SLR). The bathymetry and sedimentology of the northern-central sub-basin B (identified as “urban”) and the southern-central basin C (identified as “open”) were affected by infill activities and excavation of industrial navigation channels in the 1970s, causing the loss of ~ 60 km2 of mudflats, and creating an “open” lagoon. The southernmost basin D (identified as “exploited-subsiding”) of the LV was found to be relatively unchanged and still in semi-natural condition. Comparison of sediment types showed depletion of fine-grained fractions ( 63 µm) was recorded, except in the southern-central sub-basin C where medium and coarse sand fractions declined. The results suggest that climate-related SLR accounts for a small fraction of bathymetric change, whilst variations in hydrodynamics (currents and wind patterns) and sediment supply are likely causal factors for the different evolution of the four sub-basins. Definition of the attributes of each sub-basin provided data that was essential not only for the LV but also for predicting the fate of transitional environments facing both anthropic (fishing, navigation, land use changes) as well natural (SLR, eustatism) forcing factors