Humanities > Greek astrology
PTOLEMY (2nd century).
Ha-mavatim melekhet keli ha-itstolvvi le-yediʻat matsav ha-galgal le-khol ʻet she-yirtsu.
Manuscript in Hebrew on paper.
Italy, ca. 15th century.
MS X893 P95
Rare Book and Manuscript Library
This fifteenth century manuscript is a translation into Hebrew of Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos, on astrology. There is no extant copy in Greek, and the earliest known copy of this work is in Arabic, from the ninth century. There were Jews in the Arabic world who served as translators of Greek classics from Arabic to Latin, and so a Hebrew edition of this work is not uncommon. Columbia has about 15 manuscripts in Hebrew by or about the Greek philosophers.