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and narrating the miracles of the Virgin Mary. In all but one of the surviving four manuscripts, each poem is accompanied by musical notation. In two of the manuscripts, the poems are illustrated by miniatures, in themselves revealing of many aspects of life during al-Andalus. Jesús Greus’ Así Vivieron en al-Andalus (Grupo Anaya S.A. 2013) offered a helpful introduction to the subject. As the scope of my sequence widened, among the books I consulted, crucial in my research was Al-Andalus: The Art of Islamic Spain published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York in 1992, which provides detailed information on some of the artefacts evoked in the poems. ‘Córdoba’ Co-existence with and tolerance of the Christian and Jewish religions was a characteristic of Muslim governance in alAndalus and markedly so in Córdoba under Umayyad rule. Though Christans and Jews did not have equal status and certain restrictions were imposed on them in Muslim Iberia, they could practice their religions and were protected under the Quranic dispensation accorded to ‘People of the Book’, and were able to contribute to and participate in a rich cultural and intellectual landscape. This tolerance and convivencia had its later exceptions, particularly under the more austere Almohad rule. ‘Madinat al-Zahra’ This palace city was built in the tenth century by Abd alRahman III on the slopes of the Sierra Morena, overlooking the Guadalquivir Valley. ‘ journeys’ and ‘the library’ These poems drew on two miniatures in al-Hariri’s Maqamat painted by al-Wasiti in thirteenth-century Iraq. Libraries 98
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proliferated in Muslim Iberia. The library of Córdoba, first established under Abd al-Rahman II, by the tenth century under al-Hakam II is said to have housed some 400,000 books. The epigraph in the library, a fragment by tenth-century Hebrew poet Dunash Ben Labrat, was translated by Peter Cole in his book The Dream of the Poem: Hebrew Poetry from Muslim and Christian Spain 950–1492. ‘painted bowl from Medina Elvira’ Fragments of this 10th century bowl were discovered during excavations on the site of Madinat Ilbira (now Medina Elvira), Granada. Pieced together, the bowl is now in the Museo Arqueológico de Granada. ‘bronze perfume bottle’ this tenth-century bottle is from Olivos Borrachos and is now in the Museo Arqueológico de Granada. ‘brass astrolabe’ ‘The astrolabe was transmitted to Europe mainly by way of alAndalus and became the most popular European instrument during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.’ (Al-Andalus: The Art of Islamic Spain, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992). The astrolabe described in the poem was made by Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Naqqash, Zaragoza, and dated 1079-80. ‘water clock’ Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Yahya al-Naqqash al-Zarqali (1029– 1087) was an inventor and astronomer. He fled Toledo when the city was under attack by Alfonso VI, the Christian King of Castilla. The poem is informed by the account of alZarqali’s water clocks by Mohammed ibn Abi Bakr al-Zuhri, a geographer from Granada. 99

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and narrating the miracles of the Virgin Mary. In all but one of the surviving four manuscripts, each poem is accompanied by musical notation. In two of the manuscripts, the poems are illustrated by miniatures, in themselves revealing of many aspects of life during al-Andalus.

Jesús Greus’ Así Vivieron en al-Andalus (Grupo Anaya S.A. 2013) offered a helpful introduction to the subject. As the scope of my sequence widened, among the books I consulted, crucial in my research was Al-Andalus: The Art of Islamic Spain published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York in 1992, which provides detailed information on some of the artefacts evoked in the poems. ‘Córdoba’ Co-existence with and tolerance of the Christian and Jewish religions was a characteristic of Muslim governance in alAndalus and markedly so in Córdoba under Umayyad rule. Though Christans and Jews did not have equal status and certain restrictions were imposed on them in Muslim Iberia, they could practice their religions and were protected under the Quranic dispensation accorded to ‘People of the Book’, and were able to contribute to and participate in a rich cultural and intellectual landscape. This tolerance and convivencia had its later exceptions, particularly under the more austere Almohad rule. ‘Madinat al-Zahra’ This palace city was built in the tenth century by Abd alRahman III on the slopes of the Sierra Morena, overlooking the Guadalquivir Valley. ‘ journeys’ and ‘the library’ These poems drew on two miniatures in al-Hariri’s Maqamat painted by al-Wasiti in thirteenth-century Iraq. Libraries

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