The Arabie Plant Names of Peter Forsskâl's flora Aegyptiaœ-Arabica

161 Pages·2015·33.33 MB·English

The Arabie Plant Names
of Peter Forsskâl’s flora
Aegyptiaœ-Arabica
By Philippe Provençal
Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab
The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters
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The Arabic Plant Names of
Peter Forsskål's Flora
Aegyptiaco-Arabica
by Philippe Provençal
Biologiske Skrifter 57
DET KONGELIGE DANSKE VIDENSKABERNES SELSKAB
Abstract
This book enumerates and analyses the Arabic plant names gathered by Peter
Forsskál during the Royal Danish expedition to Egypt, the Red Sea and Yemen
in 1761-1767. This expedition, named the Arabian Journey 1761-1767, is con­
sidered an important scientific undertaking of the 18th century. The aim of the
expedition was i.a. to make observations in Natural History, including the gath­
ering, description, preservation or illustration of all kinds of zoological and
botanical species, and also to note the local vernacular names of these species
both in Arabic script and in Latin transcription.
Forsskál gathered more than 2000 botanical specimens, of which 1846 are
still kept in the Herbarium Forskalii at the Botanical Garden and Museum of the
Natural History Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen. In 1994 Professor lb
Friis and F. Nigel Hepper published The Plants of Pehr ForsskaVs Flora Aegyptiaco-
Arabica, a book containing a survey of the Herbarium Forskalii and a revision of
Forsskal’s posthumous work, Flora Aegyptiaco-Arabica. This present book aims at
supplementing Friis’ and Hepper’s work with a philological study of the Arabic
plant names gathered during the expedition. Forsskál had scrupulously ful­
filled his task of noting the local names, and his notes represent a unique mate­
rial regarding Arabic botanical linguistics, as it can be closely connected to
herbarium specimens.
Table of Contents
Abstract................................................................................................................. 2
Prefatory Notes about the Expedition to Egypt and Yemen and the
Background of this Work by lb Friis............................................................. 5
Introduction........................................................................................................ 9
Historical background ................................................................................ 9
Forsskal's Importance to the Study of Classical Arabic.......................... 10
How to use this Book .................................................................................. 11
Standard Captions, Abbreviations, etc, in the List of names............... 12
Acknowledgements....................................................................................... 14
Dicotyledons........................................................................................................ 15
Monocotyledons.................................................................................................. 104
Ferns and Fern-allies........................................................................................... 120
Literature....................................................................................................... 122
Index of Scientific Botanical Names............................................................... 125
Index of Arabic Botanical Names................................................................... 134
© Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab 2010
Printed in Denmark by Special-Trykkeriet Viborg a-s
ISSN 0366-3612 • ISBN 978-87-7304-345-5
Submitted to the Academy in January 2009
Printed in March 2010
Prefatory Notes about the Expedition to Egypt and Yemen
and the Background of this Work
by lb Friis
In the 18th century Danish authorities encour­ plore geographically unknown places. The phy­
aged scholarly interest in the Middle East. In sician Christian Carl Kramer should study medi­
1737-1738 the Danish government sent the na­ cal problems and look after the health of the
val officer Frederik Ludvig Norden to Egypt and expedition members. The artist Georg Wilhelm
the Sudan with the task of reaching Ethiopia by Baurenfeind should make drawings of places
sailing up the river Nile, but he only reached and people, as well as of plants and animals that
the small town of al-Dirr south of Aswan near might be difficult to preserve. The planning in­
the Second Cataract, now covered by Lake Nass­ volved many European scholars, who sent ques­
er. There the ship had to reverse because of lo­ tions to Copenhagen to be studied and possibly
cal hostilities. Norden kept careful records of answered by the expedition. From this input, a
his observations, made drawings of the monu­ detailed Royal Instruction about the research
ments and mapped the course of the Nile. After program of the expedition was drafted.
his premature deat in 1742, only 33 years old, The members of the expedition, except von
his work Voyage d’Egypte et de Nubie (1750-1755) Haven, sailed from Copenhagen on 4 January
was published by the Royal Danish Academy of 1761. At Marseille, which the ship reached on
Sciences and Letters. This work encouraged 14 May, von Haven, who had travelled over land,
great interest in the history, monuments and joined the party. The ship continued via Malta
culture of Egypt, both in Denmark and else­ to Smyrna [Izmir] and onwards to the North
where in Europe. It was therefore not surpris­ Aegean island of Tenedos [Bozcaada], where
ing that scholars planned a large-scale expedi­ the party, on 20 July, left the Danish ship, and
tion to the same general region, but this time to on board a Turkish vessel they reached Con­
include Arabia felix, the present day Yemen. stantinople on 30 July. After having botanized
From a modest proposal in 1756, to send one around the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara
person to Yemen, the project soon developed and in a few places along the coast of the Black
into an expedition with five academically trained Sea, Forsskal and the rest of the party left Con­
participants. By the end of 1760 all five scholars stantinople on 8 September on board another
had been appointed. The naturalist Peter Fors­ Turkish ship bound for Egypt. Alexandria was
skål, a student of Carl von Linné, should study reached on 26 September. By a small vessel the
plants, animals and minerals, naturalia, and party continued 31 October to Rosette [Rashid]
their names in Arabic. The philologist Frederik in the Nile Delta, where they stayed until 6 No­
Christian von Haven should acquire oriental vember. On 10 November 1761 they reached
manuscripts for the King’s Library in Copenha­ Cairo.
gen and make general observations on the Ara­ The party used Cairo as their base for exten­
bic language. The surveyor and cartographer sive studies in Lower Egypt, but this long stay in
Carsten Niebuhr should produce maps and ex­ Cairo was also partly induced by conflicts be-
6 BS 57
tween von Haven and the other members of the was their best chance of saving both the collec­
party. The excursions from Cairo included a tions and the lives of the surviving members of
long trip to Sinai. On 8 October 1762, at Suez, the expedition. However, two more of the party
the party embarked on a small ship crowded died during the sea voyage (Baurenfeind died
with goods and pilgrims bound for Mecca via on 29 August and the servant two days later). In
the port of Jeddah. The ship arrived at Jeddah Bombay the fifth fatality (Kramer) occurred
on 29 October. Here the party transferred to a shortly after arrival, leaving Niebuhr as the only
small coffee-boat to Lohaja [Luhayya], the survivor. He continued, via Oman to Persia and
northernmost port in Yemen. On 29 December, then through Iraq and Syria to Palestine, with
1762, almost two years after the party had left an excursion to Cyprus. From Jerusalem, he
Copenhagen, they finally arrived at Lohaja and travelled to Constantinople and then through
were finally at their destination, Arabia felix. In Eastern Europe to Copenhagen. Finally, on 20
Yemen they first studied the Tehama (the coast­ November 1767, almost six years after the party
al plain of Yemen), with the valley of Surdud had set out on the expedition, he was back in
and various small towns. The largest of these, Copenhagen.
Beit el Fakih, was base for trips into the moun­ In spite of the terrible fate of the expedition,
tains, where Forsskal and Niebuhr saw coffee it succeeded in acquiring significant collections.
being cultivated. After this successful time the The plant collections at the Natural History Mu­
party left Beit el Fakih on 20 April 1763 for the seum of Denmark (Botanical Garden and Mu­
port of Mocha, where their heavy collections seum) number ca. 1800 specimens. The most
had been sent from Lohaja by boat. During the important collection of animals at the Natural
stay at Mocha they tried with great difficulty to History Museum of Denmark (Zoological Mu­
secure that the collections, especially specimens seum) includes 99 specimens of fish in the so-
of animals preserved in alcohol, were preserved called “Forsskal’s Fish Herbarium”; the speci­
and sent to Europe. Here von Haven died on 25 mens were pressed and dried between paper,
May, while Forsskal made further trips into the preserving one side only. Only very little of the
Tihama desert. collections of animals in alcohol has been pre­
On 9 June the party left for the town of Taas served. Niebuhr’s observations and maps from
[Ta'izz] in the mountains, where they arrived all parts of the journey were and are still of great
on 13 June. Permissions to travel in the country­ importance. The collection of oriental manu­
side around Taas were difficult to obtain, and scripts from the expedition is an important part
the party soon left for the town of Abb [Ibb], of the Department of Orientalia and Judaica in
where they arrived on 1 July. Now Forsskal was the Royal Library, and the Danish National Mu­
seriously ill and had to be tied to his camel when seum (for cultural history) keeps objects col­
travelling. On 5 July they arrived at Ye rim, where lected by the expedition in the Departments of
Forsskal died on 11 July. The four remaining Antiquities, the Ethnographic Department and
members of the party, Niebuhr, Kramer, Bau- in the Department of Coins and Medallions.
renfeind and the servant continued to Sana, After his return from the expedition, Nie­
where they arrived on 17 July. They soon contin­ buhr worked for ten years in Copenhagen pub­
ued, at the height of the rainy season, down to lishing its results. Initially a surveyor, he now
Mocha, arriving on 5 August. had to cover the fields of Forsskal and von Ha­
The purpose of this hasty departure was to ven. First, in 1772, he published a general work
reach the British merchant ships, which at that with the title Beschreibung von Arabien. It focused
time of the year left for Bombay in India. This on answers that the expedition had provided to
BS 57 7
questions by the European scholars. Later, in university post at Uppsala in this new field, but
1774 Niebuhr published the first volume of his did not get it. He then submitted a thesis in
more detailed Reisebeschreibung nach Arabien und Swedish with the title Tankarom borgerliga jriheten
anderen umliegenden Ländern. This volume cov­ [Reflections on civil liberty]. This was rejected
ered the journey from Copenhagen to Bombay. by the university, formally because it was written
In 1778 the second volume of that work ap­ in Swedish, not Latin. He then submitted a new
peared, covering his journey from Bombay to thesis with the politically correct title De pratis
Aleppo. A third volume, entitled Reisen durch conserendi [On sowing of meadows]. This thesis
Syrien und Palästina and covering the journey was accepted, but was not published nor de­
from Aleppo to Copenhagen, was published fended. In 1759 Forsskâl nevertheless was given
posthumously in 1837. In 1775, Niebuhr edited the title Reader of Economy, but never lectured.
and published Forsskàl’s works on natural his­ Instead he submitted a new version of his politi­
tory, first Desciptiones Animalium, and later in the cal thesis, now with a Latin translation De liber-
same year Flora Aegyptiaco-Arabica. These works tate civili [On civil fredom], advocating the total
were compiled from Forsskal's notes with the freedom of the press. It was again rejected. In
help of an unknown assistant editor, who was 1759 he published the Swedish text as a private
more familiar with the works of Carl von Linné publication, but the book was confiscated by the
than was Niebuhr. In 1776 followed leones rerum authorities and officially condemned from all
naturalium, a work with engravings based draw­ pulpits of Sweden. After this blow, Forsskâl de­
ings of animals and plants by Baurenfeind. cided to leave Sweden and joined the Danish
Here it is also appropriate to give a brief expedition to Egypt and Yemen. It appears from
sketch of Forsskal’s life before the expedition. this short sketch that Forsskâl was strong-willed
He was born 1732 in Helsinki, the son of a Lu­ and independent, not shying away from con­
theran vicar. In 1742 the family moved to a place flicts, even under very antagonistic conditions.
near Uppsala in Sweden. The young Forsskâl Linné hinted at these features of his character
registered as a student of theology and philoso­ when he named a plant from the desert of Egypt
phy at the University of Uppsala. Later, he also Forsskaolea. It belongs to the nettle family (Ur-
attended teaching in botany and zoology by ticaceae), thrives in very adverse habitats and is
Carl von Linné. In 1751 he was granted a schol­ amply provided with clinging hooked hairs.
arship that allowed him to move to the Univer­ It would be too great a task to describe here
sity of Göttingen in order to study philosophy, all the subsequent taxonomic treatments of
theology and Oriental languages. At that time Forsskâl’s plant collections byj. Zoëga, M. Vahl,
the teaching of the rational German philoso­ C.F. Rottbôll, G. Bentham, G.E. Kaulfuss, R As-
pher Christian Wolff had a wide following. After cherson, G. Schweinfurth, O. Schwartz, C.
some time at Göttingen, Forsskâl submitted a Christensen, E. Chiovenda, J.R.I. Wood and oth­
thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy ers. These studies, spanning from 1775 to the
with the title Dubia de principiis philosophiae recen- end of the 20th century, are described in the
tioris [Doubt about the principles of modern general introduction to the book by F.N. Hep-
philosophy], containing criticism of the Wolffi­ per and I. Friis, The Plants of Pehr Forsskâl’s Flora
an philosophy. Soon after, Forsskâl returned to Aegyptiaco Arabica (1994) that summarises all the
Uppsala, where he took interest in the new “eco­ studies of the collections up to its publication.
nomic” disciplines, the study of biology and ge­ However, when the book by Hepper & Friis
ology for better agriculture and utilization of was presented in 1994 at a lecture in the Meet­
natural resources. In 1758 Forsskâl applied for a ing Room of the Linnean Society of London
8 BS 57
there was one comment that came almost in porary Danish Centre for Research in the Hu­
unison from the scholars of Arabic in the audi­ manities, allow Provençal to concentrate for
ence, They pointed out that systematic biolo­ some time on the plant and animal names col­
gists might be satisfied with the new treatment, lected by Forsskâl. He has contributed lectures
but scholars of Arabic missed a modern survey and papers on Arabian pharmacology and lexi­
of the linguistic observations on plant and ani­ cographic studies of plant and animal names to
mal names recorded by Forsskål. Therefore, various congresses and congress proceedings.
they pointed out - with a smile - it was not cor­ With great enthusiasm he has travelled in the
rect when it had been jokingly said in the pres­ Middle East and dived in the Red Sea, taking
entation of the book that it finalised 233 years excellent photographs of marine animal life.
of study of Forsskåfs plant material. Subse­ With Philippe Provençal, we have found a per­
quently, we - Hepper and Friis - were much son who combines interests in biology and lin­
aware of this gap, and we have tried to find guistics and who, before embarking on the work
someone with both an interest in the plants and with Forsskâl’s plant names, had not only stud­
animals of the region, and a suitable linguistic ied Arabic names of plants and animals accord­
knowledge of Arabic. ing to written sources, but also himself collected
Now, with this work by Philippe Provençal, we animal names from tribesmen in Sinai, as
have the requested supplement to Hepper & Forsskâl had done.
Friis’ The Plants of Pehr Forsskål’s Flora Aegyptiaco It is therefore with great satisfaction that now,
Arabica. Philippe Provençal seems well suited 15 years later after the meeting in the Linnaean
for the task. He was born in 1954 in Cairo, Society of London, I am able to write a foreword
Egypt, and obtained his General Certificate of to the present review of the Arabic plant names
Education from the Cathedral School in Arhus collected by Pehr Forsskâl, published nearly 250
in 1974. He began studying biology at the Uni­ years after the names were first recorded.
versity of Århus, but before obtaining a Master’s
degree in biology he changed to the study of
Semitic philology and obtained an MA in that Ib Friis
subject in 1989. In 1996 he obtained a Ph.D. at Professor
the University of Copenhagen for the thesis A Botanical Garden and Museum
lexicographic survey of Arabic animal names. Since Natural History Museum of Denmark
1992 he has alternatively been teaching Semitic Gothersgade 130
languages and working at the Natural History 1123 Copenhagen K
Museum in Århus. A welcomed interruption Denmark
caused by a scholarship in 2000-2001 at the tem­