Bitumen Boat

Two boats with sails and oars are depicted in the Madaba Mosaic Map, a miraculously preserved sixth-century giant floor map of Palestine. One has a cargo of white stuff, the other of a vibrantly coloured substance being shipped over the Dead Sea. The tesserae depicting the boatmen have been smashed and replaced with a random red-and-yellow mix of mosaic pieces:

The boat at left carries salt, which is there for the digging on the Dead Sea coast. Recently I asked an archaeologist friend what he thought was aboard the boat at right and he promptly said: bitumen. This surprised me, but he explained that the Dead Sea used to be covered in floating globs of asphalt. It would have glistened, so perhaps that is why the mosaic shows it rainbow-fashion.

I have since learned that under the Romans, the asphalt or bitumen was so ample that it was harvested from the beaches or fished out of the water and exported. Hot work, but it was much in demand by the glue trade around the Mediterranean (and had earlier been used, it is said, for mummification in Egypt).

One of the most notable manuscripts to be digitized in the past week by the Vatican Library is the Cartulary of the Chapter of the Holy Sepulchre, Vat.lat.4947, a set of records of land endowments and dealings by Christian priests in Crusader Jerusalem in the period 1162-1165. From a review by Olivier Guyotjeannin, I learn that the Cartulary contains a record dealing with salt and bitumen harvesting at the time of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

I wonder how long the bitumen trade continued overall. Evidently for a good two thousand years! An account by George Frederick Wright in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) quotes Josephus saying lumps of asphalt as big as an ox were common in his day. But by the 19th century, big asphalt seepages from the lake bottom were rare, coinciding with earthquakes, though lake dwellers still knew to harvest and sell the releases. Today the last remains are only pebble-sized.

In all, the library released 39 digitizations in the past week. My list:

1. Barb.lat.813,
2. Barb.lat.4400,
3. Ott.lat.577,

   #IamNotAPaleographer but... I think this MS might be German (Ott lat 577 f.3v)#medievaltwitter
   (h/t @JBPiggin) pic.twitter.com/Cc85NLSwrR

   — AaronM (@gundormr) May 26, 2019

4. Ross.49,
5. Ross.125.pt.1 (Upgraded to HQ),
6. Ross.126.pt.1,

   Ross 126 - Breviary, Fransiscan
   Ross 157 - Glossed Bible, starts at Romans, (12th c?)
   Vat lat 4756 - Notated Office for the Cathedral of Chartres, the only surviving witness (see Fassler, M)

   — AaronM (@gundormr) May 26, 2019

7. Ross.157,
8. Ross.286,
9. Urb.lat.1301,
10. Vat.lat.2538,
11. Vat.lat.2541,
12. Vat.lat.4720,
13. Vat.lat.4756 (Upgraded to HQ),
14. Vat.lat.4818 (Upgraded to HQ),
15. Vat.lat.4821 (Upgraded to HQ),
16. Vat.lat.4822,
17. Vat.lat.4824 (Upgraded to HQ),
18. Vat.lat.4826, a mathematics manuscript datable to 1450, by Iacobus de Florentia. See Jordanus
19. Vat.lat.4829, mathematics anthology in Italian, dated 1480, see Jordanus. The word algorithm was established in the West by this time:
    
    Also tons of squiggly sums:
    
    
20. Vat.lat.4832,
21. Vat.lat.4856,
22. Vat.lat.4884,
23. Vat.lat.4885,
24. Vat.lat.4892 (Upgraded to HQ),
25. Vat.lat.4893 (Upgraded to HQ), a decretum
26. Vat.lat.4907,
27. Vat.lat.4919 (Upgraded to HQ),
28. Vat.lat.4923, here, the small strips used for strengthening the binding formed part of the same manuscript of Gregory as is found in Vat.lat.4918 (Lowe):
    

    Nice, 12th-century Beneventan

    — Erik Kwakkel (@erik_kwakkel) May 25, 2019

29. Vat.lat.4926,
30. Vat.lat.4927,
31. Vat.lat.4930,
32. Vat.lat.4935,
33. Vat.lat.4941 (Upgraded to HQ),
34. Vat.lat.4947 (Upgraded to HQ), the Cartulary of the Chapter of the Holy Sepulchre (above, also discussed in a blog post two years ago).
35. Vat.lat.4956.pt.1,
36. Vat.lat.4956.pt.2,
37. Vat.lat.4957 (Upgraded to HQ),
38. Vat.lat.4959 (Upgraded to HQ),
39. Vat.pers.31,

This is Piggin's Unofficial List number 210. Thanks to @gundormr for harvesting. If you have corrections or additions, please use the comments box below. Follow me on Twitter (@JBPiggin) for news of more additions to DigiVatLib.

Nissenbaum, Arie (1978). 'Dead Sea Asphalts — Historical Aspects', Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, 62, 837–44. Online

Crusader Elite

A post two years ago highlighted records in the Vatican Library illuminating the doomed attempt to establish a Christian kingdom in Palestine after the Crusades, the finale of a conflict many Muslims angrily remember to this day.

One of those manuscripts is a book of genealogies containing the Lignages d'Outremer, a French-language compilation describing the leading settler families and their descents. This week that work, at folios 276-296 of Vat.lat.4789, has been re-released in high resolution and full color after only a microfilm in black and white had been available.

Arlima informs us this is the second recension of the Lignages. For a quick introduction to its scope, see Wikipedia.

In all, 39 manuscripts arrived online over the past week. My list:

1. Reg.lat.960.pt.A,
2. Reg.lat.2121,
3. Ross.50 (Upgraded to HQ),
4. Ross.107 (Upgraded to HQ), book of hours, see tweet below
5. Ross.116,
6. Ross.117,

   Ross .117 - Benedictine Breviary w/ calendar, c. 1300 (per Baroffio)
   Ross .107 - Parisian BoH, late (c. 1500?)

   — AaronM (@gundormr) May 20, 2019

7. Ross.131,
8. Ross.142,
9. Ross.266,
10. Sbath.243,
11. Urb.lat.1622,
12. Vat.estr.or.127,
13. Vat.estr.or.41.pt.A,
14. Vat.lat.2514,
15. Vat.lat.2516, in which Dominique Gatté discovers a depiction of Fauvel, a fictitious horse which rises to prominence in the French royal court, and is here depicted in a royal crown:
    Merci @JBPiggin pour la nouvelle liste !https://t.co/CGMBOijGdD

    — MusicologieMédiévale (@MusicologieMdiv) May 18, 2019

16. Vat.lat.2519,
17. Vat.lat.2521,
18. Vat.lat.2530,
19. Vat.lat.2531,
20. Vat.lat.3493,
21. Vat.lat.4688,
22. Vat.lat.4698,
23. Vat.lat.4700,
24. Vat.lat.4705,
25. Vat.lat.4760.pt.2,
26. Vat.lat.4789 (Upgraded to HQ), Lignages d'Outremer (above)
27. Vat.lat.4811,
28. Vat.lat.4828, a compilation of merchant arithmetic from 1453 in Italian and Latin. See Jordanus
29. Vat.lat.4844,
30. Vat.lat.4855,
31. Vat.lat.4864, works by Albertus Magnus on alchemy and other scientific topics, see eTK
32. Vat.lat.4873,
33. Vat.lat.4888,
34. Vat.lat.4898,
35. Vat.lat.13489.pt.1,
36. Vat.lat.13489.pt.2,
37. Vat.lat.14402.pt.A,
38. Vat.lat.15344,
39. Vat.turc.373,

This is Piggin's Unofficial List number 209. Thanks to @gundormr for harvesting. If you have corrections or additions, please use the comments box below. Follow me on Twitter (@JBPiggin) for news of more additions to DigiVatLib.

Rosy-cheeked bishop

One of the Vatican's finest manuscripts of the Decretrum Gratiani, a great collection of laws, has just been digitized. The high resolution lets you zoom in close to figures like this rosy-cheeked bishop:

Here's a king from the copious initials, and I wondered if the gold-blue-red tiles were a throne, and got a reply from @GlossaeIuris:

To me it looks certainly like a king on his throne! Maria Alessandra Bilotta (@ManuscritsMidi) has studied this manuscript, her 2014 article is available online in the Ascheri Festschrift, https://t.co/ZJ97ww0mot

— GlossaeIuris (@GlossaeIuris) May 15, 2019

This 14th century codex from Toulouse is made up of 404 folios and contains the commentary of Bartholomew of Brixen in the margins. Mirabile has details on its former owners.

My full list of new digitizations:

1. Chig.A.VIII.231 (Upgraded to HQ),
2. Ross.130,
3. Urb.lat.581,
4. Urb.lat.1029.pt.2,
5. Vat.estr.or.124,
6. Vat.lat.2493, Decretum Gratiani (above)
7. Vat.lat.2523,
8. Vat.lat.3557,
9. Vat.lat.4638,
10. Vat.lat.4719,
11. Vat.lat.4721,
12. Vat.lat.4748.pt.2,
13. Vat.lat.4786 (Upgraded to HQ), Petrarch's Trionfi?
14. Vat.lat.4797 (Upgraded to HQ),
15. Vat.lat.4802,
16. Vat.lat.4812,
17. Vat.lat.4814,
18. Vat.lat.4835 (Upgraded to HQ),
19. Vat.lat.4836,
20. Vat.lat.4840 (Upgraded to HQ),
21. Vat.lat.4845,
22. Vat.lat.4852 (Upgraded to HQ),
23. Vat.lat.4853,
24. Vat.lat.4854,
25. Vat.lat.4858 (Upgraded to HQ),
26. Vat.lat.4862,
27. Vat.lat.4865,
28. Vat.lat.4867, about magic, witchcraft and demons, among other subjects. See the entry on this codex in the eTK; from the catalog, indications of Seneca here too
29. Vat.lat.4869,

This is Piggin's Unofficial List number 208. Thanks to @gundormr for harvesting. If you have corrections or additions, please use the comments box below. Follow me on Twitter (@JBPiggin) for news of more additions to DigiVatLib.

Fortuna

The fortunes of  some manuscripts take them to the very brink of destruction, as we see with a Neapolitan part-bible, Vat.lat.8183, digitized in the past week by the Vatican Library.

The miniaturist is believed to have been Matteo Planisio. This codex containing Prophets and Psalms once contained gorgeous colourful 14th-century miniatures, but many were snipped out by a "collector". Check it out, because the vandal did not get them all.

This week 26 manuscripts were scanned and put online for all the world to enjoy. My list:

1. Ross.118 (Upgraded to HQ), an exquisite book of hours in mint condition 
   
2. Ross.301,
3. Vat.gr.2650, from Byzantine southern Italy, a copy of a seventh-century legal deed
4. Vat.lat.2399,
5. Vat.lat.2400,
6. Vat.lat.2482 (Upgraded to HQ), Avicenna, Eugubinus de Montecatino, Albertus Magnus and Petrus de Abano in a 300-folio, mainly medical anthology from the 15th century: see eTK. There's a librarian's handy table of contents at the front.
7. Vat.lat.2503,
8. Vat.lat.2505,
9. Vat.lat.2513,
10. Vat.lat.3500 (Upgraded to HQ),
11. Vat.lat.4710,
12. Vat.lat.4711 (Upgraded to HQ), with an Aristotle commentary
13. Vat.lat.4760.pt.1,
14. Vat.lat.4764,
15. Vat.lat.4791 (Upgraded to HQ),
16. Vat.lat.4792,
17. Vat.lat.4813,
18. Vat.lat.4816,
19. Vat.lat.4837,
20. Vat.lat.4841,
21. Vat.lat.4842,
22. Vat.lat.4846 (Upgraded to HQ),

    Dedication of the 'Bonum universale de apibus' to Humbertus of Romans, head of the Dominican Order, by the author Thomas of Cantimpré, 'frater humilis cuius nomen ad presens non urget necessitas nominari.' H/T @JBPiggin https://t.co/MZWmHEDt8t pic.twitter.com/3j86gPS2bZ

    — Pieter Beullens (@LatinAristotle) May 4, 2019

23. Vat.lat.4848,
24. Vat.lat.4860,
25. Vat.lat.4871 (Upgraded to HQ), philosophical, with a text by Franciscus de Marchia on univocal concepts
26. Vat.lat.8183, Italian part bible which begins with Isaiah (above)

This is Piggin's Unofficial List number 207. Thanks to @gundormr for harvesting. If you have corrections or additions, please use the comments box below. Follow me on Twitter (@JBPiggin) for news of more additions to DigiVatLib.

At Full Tilt

Among the well-loved old books digitized in the past week by the Vatican Library is a missale plenum of the late 10th or early 11th century from somewhere in central Italy.

Vat.lat.4770 provided a bishop, or abbot or senior priest with liturgical rites for most occasions including for dedication of a church. Although it has a loose appearance, it is well planned in layout, with space set aside for initials and the text spaced where required for the necessary musical notation:

It has one particular curiosity: a sudden change in script from the ordinary Carolingian minuscule of the period to Beneventan in a passage over the turn at fols. 216r-216v. Presumably the scribe knew both, and was deft enough to swap script and revert while working at full tilt.

Dominique Gatté has written a detailed post about the manuscript.

Here is the full unofficial list of 42 new releases:

1. Ross.88,
2. Ross.312,
3. Ross.404,
4. Ross.406,
5. Ross.408,
6. Ross.409,
7. Ross.412,
8. Ross.414,
9. Ross.415,
10. Ross.416,
11. Ross.417,
12. Ross.419,
13. Ross.420,
14. Urb.lat.749,
15. Urb.lat.838,
16. Urb.lat.1114.pt.3,
17. Urb.lat.1352,
18. Urb.lat.1453,
19. Urb.lat.1499,
20. Urb.lat.1620,
21. Urb.lat.1657,
22. Vat.lat.2506,
23. Vat.lat.2512,
24. Vat.lat.3464,
25. Vat.lat.3506,
26. Vat.lat.3508,
27. Vat.lat.4672,
28. Vat.lat.4702 (Upgraded to HQ), 16th-century commentary on Aristotle?
29. Vat.lat.4745,
30. Vat.lat.4748.pt.1,
31. Vat.lat.4750 (Upgraded to HQ), church music, high medieval

    As per Baroffio, vat lat 4750 is a 12th C (middle) processional, possibly from Ravenna

    — AaronM (@gundormr) April 28, 2019

32. Vat.lat.4770, missale plenum (see above)
33. Vat.lat.4774,
34. Vat.lat.4783,
35. Vat.lat.4785,
36. Vat.lat.4793,
37. Vat.lat.4799,
38. Vat.lat.4801 (Upgraded to HQ), Spanish
39. Vat.lat.4804,
40. Vat.lat.4805,
41. Vat.lat.4815,
42. Vat.lat.7597, pontificale

This is Piggin's Unofficial List number 206. Thanks to @gundormr for harvesting. If you have corrections or additions, please use the comments box below. Follow me on Twitter (@JBPiggin) for news of more additions to DigiVatLib.

Holy Mountain

One of the many curious features of the Tabula Peutingeriana is a depiction of Monte Tifata, a holy mountain in Campania, Italy. Tifata is a strong point, a ridge 600 metres high with steep slopes. From the top you get a view both ways along the Via Appia, and also to Vesuvius to the south and the River Volturno below (Corryx, Wikipedia, 2016).

The Tabula depicts Tifata Mons with two notable temples and a sacred spring:

From left to right (west to east) these places are the Baths of Sulla, a Temple of Diana (Diana Tifatina) and a Temple of Jove (Iovis Tifatinus). The whole drawing seems to be fairly accurate, as it is now accepted that the temple to Diana was at the western foot of the mountain and its stone is probably incorporated within the walls of the splendid Benedictine basilica of Sant'Angelo in Formis. Note how the temple at right seems to be drawn in a perspective suggesting it is on a height.

Stefania Quilici Gigli hypothesizes that the Baths of Sulla were close by. Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (c. 138 BC – 78 BC) had won a victory at Caio Norbano near here on his 83 BC March on Rome. The Roman historian Velleius states that Sulla made a foundation of land and waters here to celebrate this, reading thus in the Shipley translation: 

It was while Sulla was ascending Mount Tifata that he had encountered Gaius Norbanus. After his victory over him he paid a vow of gratitude to Diana, to whom that region is sacred, and consecrated to the goddess the waters renowned for their salubrity and water to heal, as well as all the lands in the vicinity. The record of this pleasing act of piety is witnessed to this day by an inscription on the door of the temple, and a bronze tablet within the edifice. 

This does not explicitly say there were baths, but Stefania Quilici Gigli thinks nearby land-marker inscriptions of a later period refer to this land use and both custom and the Tabula would indicate the “waters” were utilized as baths. The purpose of bathing would have been healing rather than play.

The temple of Jove is thought to have been at the summit, near today’s illuminated cross, the Croce del Tifata:

A hiking trail to this is shown on an Italian trails site, Sentieri dei Colli Tifatini.

Knowing all this, the illustrations in the Tabula are most interesting. The two pictures of temples are of a type, but with different fronts. One (Diana) shows a rose window in the front, the other (Jove) shows a high doorway, and I realize after seeing a picture of Sant'Angelo that this probably represents an arch added at the front:

The third image shows an expansive building of two storeys with a tower and a similar arched entrance at left. The usual Tabula icon for a baths lacks such a tower, so perhaps the extra element is a distinctive feature of the Tifata site.

As I note above, I am sceptical of the view (forever associated with the Levis) that baths on the Tabula denote places of recreation. I suggest the primary connotation of such buildings for pre-Christian readers was as ritual sites, and thus the focus would be on the magic rather than the purely pleasurable quality of the waters.

Easter List

Here we have the 24 Easter releases from the Vatican Library's digital portal:

1. Ross.398,
2. Ross.425,
3. Urb.lat.1292, commentary on Aristotle
4. Urb.lat.1500,
5. Urb.lat.1505, life of Andres Avelino of Basilicata
6. Urb.lat.1621, printed newsletters, 1641-43
7. Urb.lat.1762, missal

   I disagree on your ID of urb lat 1762, it's a Book of Hours, missing the calendar (probably) and the beginning of the Hours of the virgin, it begins part way through Matins for the Hours of the BVM

   — AaronM (@gundormr) April 21, 2019

   
8. Vat.lat.2345, legal, Egidius de Bellamera
9. Vat.lat.2509 (Upgraded to HQ), Compilation 1 with Apparatus of Tancred [original version] (1-93); Compilation 2 with Apparatus of Tancred [original version] (94-139); Compilation 3 [French rec.] with Apparatus of Tancred [final version] (140-275v); Compilation 4 with Apparatus of Johannes Teutonicus (276-310) (from the list of Brendan McManus).
10. Vat.lat.2515, Digest of Justinian, with commentary
11. Vat.lat.3431,
12. Vat.lat.3482,
13. Vat.lat.4703,
14. Vat.lat.4715,
15. Vat.lat.4730, pontifical
16. Vat.lat.4732,
17. Vat.lat.4736,
18. Vat.lat.4737,
19. Vat.lat.4740,
20. Vat.lat.4752.pt.1,

    Vat lat https://t.co/dpNMXXWMQ7.1 - first 1/2 of a Franciscan Breviary

    — AaronM (@gundormr) April 22, 2019

21. Vat.lat.4784 (Upgraded to HQ), Petrarch
22. Vat.lat.4787 (Upgraded to HQ), Florentine poetry
23. Vat.lat.4921,
24. Vat.lat.7594, pontifical mass

This is Piggin's Unofficial List number 205. Thanks to @gundormr for harvesting. If you have corrections or additions, please use the comments box below. Follow me on Twitter (@JBPiggin) for news of more additions to DigiVatLib.