Rolling Stones Do Gather: MS Istanbul Aya Sofya 3610 and Its Collection of Mineralogical Texts

Abstract

: In the multiple-text manuscript (MTM) Istanbul Aya Sofya 3610, around a peculiar recension of the Pseudo-Aristotle On Stones , a constellation of texts dealing with stones, mineral and their use has gathered. This collection of texts represents an anthology of many different streams of tradition received in the early Abbasid time by the Arabo-Islamic cultural milieu, alongside with some of original compositions from the same period inspired by the reception of ancient and late-antique knowledge. The comparison with another MTM on stones, Paris BnF 2775, shows the formation of clusters of texts around a central one―that becomes the driving force of the collection―and their circulation as such. The focus on the layout and other codicological features of Aya Sofya 3610 reveals an interest for some of these technical materials in the late Mamluk time and hints at their possible inclusion in the Mamluk curriculum.