Abu Zakariya ibn al-Awwam

Abu Zakariya ibn Al-Awwam (Arabic: ابن العوام , full name Abu Zakariya Yahya ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Al-Awwam Al- Ishbili) was an Arabic agriculturalist who lived and worked at Sevilla in the latter half of the 12th century. The dates of his birth and death are unknown. He wrote a very important and voluminous handbook on agriculture in Arabic, Kitāb al-Filāha (‘Book on agriculture’), the largest book on this subject in medieval Arabic. In 1802 a bilingual edition, Arabic and Spanish, was published and in 1864 a French translation of this book appeared. The author was only interested in agricultural matters. He was well informed about the writings of his predecessors. He quotes very often from Greek, Arabic and Andalusian Arabic authors. The first thirty chapters deal with crops, the last four chapters are about live-stock. Many subject matters are treated, for example different types of soils, fertilizers, irrigation, fruit trees. Later chapters inform about ploughing, the choice of seeds, specific tasks belonging to the seasons. One chapter is devoted to storing foods. This work is an encyclopedic compilation of others, but guided by Ibn al-Awwam’s own knowledge and experience.