Eyewitness Observations of Umayyah bin Abi Al-Salt Al-Andalusi (d. 529 AH/1134 AD) about Egyptin the Egyptian Message

Abstract

Umayyah bin Abdul Aziz, known as Ibn Abi al-Salt (d. 529 AH/1134 AD), was from Andalusia and the city of Dania. He traveled to the East on two trips, the first of which may have been at the end of the fifth century AH/eleventh century AD. The second was at the beginning of the following century, which was the sixth century AH/twelfth century AD. On his two trips, he arrived in Egypt, and recorded many of his observations in Egypt and his experience with its people in a book called “The Egyptian Message.” We will focus in our research on what he described in that letter, which he saw with his own eyes and no one told him about it or read in a book. Abu Al-Salt recorded many of his observations demonstrated the strength and accuracy of his observation and the use of many clear signs to indicate what he saw and experienced, whether in his talk about the Nile River and ancient Egyptian antiquities such as the pyramids and the nature of the population, describing its writers and scholars in various fields of medicine, engineering, astrology and astronomy. He did not limit himself to describing his observations about that, but rather expressed his opinion on what he saw and observed about the country of Egypt in various scientific, geographical and historical aspects, due to his distinction of being a skilled scholar in the early sciences.