The Book of Sheep and the Book of Camels of Al-Asma’i
I just downloaded the “Book of Sheep” and the “Book of Camels” of Al-Asma’i from archive.org. Al-Asma’i was also one of the earliest authors of the “Book of Horses”. Al-Asma’i was the rival of Abu ‘Ubaydah, the author of another early “Book of Horses”.
I don’t nearly love sheep and camels the way I love horses, and I know little about either. I thought it interesting however to compare the same author’s treatment of this triad of domesticated animals.
A nagging question is whether the early Books of Horses were describing Arab horses, or horses in general, or both. The question becomes especially relevant to color patterns unusual in modern-day Arabian horses. Of course both cite Arabic poetry to illustrate their descriptions, but this may or may not have been a literary device of the time. One needs to be weary of jumping to the conclusion that the horse described is an Arab because Arabic poetry is used to illustrate the descriptions — without ruling out this possibility.
In particular, I would like to learn whether the sheep described are similar to the ‘awass breed of the Bedouins — the ovine equivalent of the Arab horse, and whether other types are also mentioned. Also whether two humped camels — Bactrian two-humped camels — are mentioned too. These were definitely outside the realm of Arabia. I will let you know what I find.
The Book of Sheep is a short read, and does not refer to “breeds” or even types. It draws on the habits and sayings of the Arab tribes. For example, one sentence starts with “in the language of some of the Arabs …”
Sheep rasied by non-nomads are specifically referred to as “daajinah”, which is the same word for tame, domesticared animals, and the same root as the word for poultry (dawajin).
The book is free of poetry save two or three verses about women. It turns out that some of the vocabulary on procreation is shared between women and ewes.
No mention of color.
This is an interesting comparative study – I’m looking forward to learning what else you find out.
Very interesting indeed. The retrojection is very similar to the book on horses. Im checking some things about camels lately as they are connected to the identity as are horses.
but i did not find evidence of retroprojection. There is no evidence of a sheep breed either, and no use of poetry to illustrate. I would actually like to translate the work, it is short and fairly easy.