Al-Zarqal, Alfonso X and Peter of

Aragon on the Solar Equation

JULIO SAMS6
Departmento de Arabe
Facultad de Filologia
Universidad de Barcelona
Barcelona, Spain

T HE SOLAR THEORY of al-Zarqil has been studied by Toomerl in an impor-

tant paper in which he uses practically all the known evidence on the sub-
ject and, in particular, the materials gathered by Millk2Confirmation of some
of the parameters associated by Toomer with alZarq3ls solar model can be
obtained by considering Chapter 7 of the Alfonsine version of the Toledan
astronomers treatise on the construction of the e q ~ a t o r i u mI.shall
~ summa-
rize here, first, the main features of the solar plate as they appear in the above-
mentioned Chapter 7 of the CastilIian translation, as well as the way to use
it in order to establish the true longitude of the sun according to al-Zarqals
Arabic treatise on the use of the instrument.4 In FIGURE1,T is the center of
the Universe and C the center of the solar eccentric circle. The value of the
eccentricity is 3;44p segund que yo lo fall6 rectificando en muchos annos
(accordingto what I found after many years of observations),the units relating
to circle AS (the parecliptic on which the true longitude of the sun will be
measured) having a radius TA of 124P. Circle BS2, concentric with the
parecliptic, is called piv-codel enderepmiento def sol (circleof the solar cor-
rection) and it has a radius of 110;50P,the units again relating to a division
of the radius of the parecliptic into 124. Around center C we trace the solar
eccentric circle, a circle which will be erased in the final version of the instru-
ment. The Alfonsine text does not give us the length of the radius of the solar
eccentric circle but it states that it is divided into 360 and that its divisions
are projected on the circle of the solar correction. This projection is made,
according to our text, from the center of the plate (point T) which is an ob-
vious mistake: the center of the eccentric circle (C) should be used instead.
The position of the Sun S1on the solar eccentric circle is, therefore, projected
on point S1 on the circleof the solar correction. The alidade (TSZS)will de-
termine, on the parecliptic, the position of the Sun (S) and the value of its
true longitude ( I ) .
In the above-mentioned Chapter 7 of the Alfonsine translation (Decuerno
deuen sennalar 10s cercos del Sol = How to draw the circles of the Sun),
467
468 ANNALS NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

FIGURE1.

al-Zarqal uses a maximum equation of the Sun approximately equal to

1;52,30" ("etsera so arc0 desto un grado et acerca de .LII. menudos et medio
demas"),a parameter which is near to those established by too me^-5 using al-
Zarqd's own works such as his Treatise on the Fixed Stars (e-1;53"), his
Almanach (e = 1;52,50") or his treatise on the Azafea (al-safiha al-zarqd-
iyya) (e-1;51"). These values are also confirmed by other evidence from
different sources considered by Toomer, namely, works of Andalusian or North
African astronomers who followed al-Zarqal's tradition: these maximum
solar equations are mainly values between 1;52,0" and 1;52,33", although we
also find 1;52,44".
According to the Alfonsine text, the eccentricity corresponding to a max-
imum equation of 1;52,30" should be slightly less than 1;59P. However, the
SAMSO: THE SOLAR EQUATION 469

actual value for the eccentricity corresponding to this equation is 1;57,47P:

one might therefore infer a mistake either in the printed text or in the manu-
script, and further suspect that the original parameter used by al-Zarqzl was
1 ; 5 8 P instead of 1;59P. No confirmation can be obtained from the value of
the eccentricity used for the construction of the solar plate (3;4@) for, as I
have already said, the Alfonsine text does not give us the length of the radius
of the solar eccentric circle.
This seems, apparently, to be all the information we can gather on al-Zar-
q d s solar parameters from the Castillian text on the equatorium, for the text
does not establish the position of the solar apogee. The Arabic treatise on
the use of the equatorium states, however, that the solar apogee - as well as
the apogee of Venus6- has a longitude of 77;55,7a value which is practically
the same as that appearing in the Toledan tables (77;50"), which Toomerscon-
siders a longitude computed by al-Zarqgl for the beginning of the Hijra. As
for the Alfonsine text, we might also consider that the position of the solar
apogee will be the same as that of the apogee of Venus: for this planet, the
Alfonsine translation provides us with a tropical longitude of 85;50" for the
year 473/1080-81 and a sidereal longitude of 78;30.9The difference between
these two longitudes of Venus' apogee amounts to 7;20, a value very near
to the 7;18" which, according to al-Zarqd himself, is the difference in longi-
tude for the same year 473/1080-81 between the movable point Aries 0" and
the vernal point.1 These longitudes of the apogee of Venus might very well
coincide with those of the sun for, as Toomer has established, the treatise on
the Azafea gives a tropical longitude of the solar apogee of 86" whilst, from
the Treatise on the Fixed Stars, one can deduce that the solar apogee was placed
between 85" and 87" in the time of al-Zarqd. No explicit confirmation can
be given for a sidereal longitude of 78;30, although this value is not very
far away from others brought into consideration by Toomer for the sidereal
longitude of the sun.
Having, thus, analyzed some of the contents of Chapters 2 and 7 of the
Alfonsine translation of al-Zarqal's book on the construction of the equato-
rium, we now proceed to consider the table of the solar equation in the Tables
of Barcelona, a set of astronomical tables compiled after 1360 although they
use the 1st of March 1320 as radix date. King Peter IV of Aragon (1336-1387)
was the promoter of this work undertaken by three astronomers: Pere Gilbert
(d.1362), Dalmau Ses Planes (f1.1362-1381) (both Christians), and the Sevil-
lian Jacob Corsuno (f1.1376-1380), a Jew. These tables have been edited by
MillPs,ll and Poulle has published an important set of remarks on them.12
Both authors have underlined the fact that the equation tables are not presented
in the usual way and that they offer some important formal novelties which
M i l k believes inherited from the almanach tradition.13 One might as well
470 ANNALS NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

think that these equation tables represent an attempt to simplify the compu-
tation of planetary longitudes which has a certain similarity with other ef-
forts undertaken in the Muslim East since the 9th century14and which were
developed in Europe in the 14th century.15If we consider only the table of
the equation of the sun,16 both MillPs and Poulle remarked that it is not a
table of equations but a table whose argument is the solar mean longitude
6 )and whose entries give directly the true longitude ( I ) ,which is the result
x
of the algebraic addition of and the equation ( e ) . In this way the user of
the Tables of Barcelona can save himself the trouble of an addition of a sub-
traction and does not have to concern himself whether the equation has a
positive or negative value. The longitude of the solar apogee in this table is
79;25,55', a value which is quite surprisingly similar to the longitude com-
puted by Toomer from the solar tables of,al-Zarqal's Almanach: namely, a
sidereal longitude of 79;30.17
It is, of course, an easy task to reconstruct the original table of the solar
equation from the table published by Millb. The results appear in TABLE 1.
The maximum value of the equation is 1;52', a parameter which, once again,
seems to derive from al-Zarqd. Now the table of the solar equation in the
Toledan tables is a copy of the same table in al-Battani's Zfj.l* Also, we have
ample evidence of the long years of solar observations made by al-Zarqal,
which resulted in the establishment of new parameters for the sun as well as
a new solar model with original characteristics. Thus it is easy to imagine
that al-Zarqgl computed a table of the solar equation which has been lost.
We might, therefore, ask ourselves whether we have in the Tables of Barce-
lona a derivation of the primitive table of al-Zarqal.
I cannot claim to give here a positive or negative answer to this question.
A few remarks on the reconstructed table might prove useful, however. First
of all, the table was not computed using one of the "correct"methods explained,
for example, by al-Biruni,lg but according to the so-called "solution by decli-
nations",20a method also used for the computation of the solar equation in
al-Khwarizmi's ZG. This method involves computing the equation according
to the approximate formula:

e emax 6 (X)
(h) = ___
&

where 6 (X)is the declination of the sun for a given mean longitude and
E is the obliquity of the ecliptic.
A table of e (h)based on this formula has been recomputed using (1)al-
Zarqal's parameter for E (23;33'); (2) the table of declination of the Tables
of Barcelona,21 which has clearly a Zarqiilian origin and uses also 23;33" as
the maximum value for the dec1ination;Zz and (3) several values for the max-
SAMSO: THE SOLAR EQUATION 471

imum solar equation which are clearly attested in the Zarqalian tradition
(1;52,0"; 1;52,8"; 1;52,26"; 1;52,30"; 1;52,33"; 1;52,44"; 1;52,50"). The best
results are obtained when using emax= 1;52,0". As the values of the equa-
tion are expressed in degrees and minutes only, one gets the impression that
the astronomers of Peter of Aragon used an already existing equation table -
computed in degrees, minutes and seconds-and did not round the results,
limiting themselves to copying the values for the degrees and minutes of the
tables' entries. It is also possible that they computed independently their own
equation table, using al-Zarqgl's parameters, giving entries only to minutes.
If we consider only the absolute values of a solar equation table computed
according to the "solution by declinations," it is obvious that the entries are
the same for degrees of mean longitude having the same declination. This
seems to be true, in our equation table, for arcs of the ecliptic 0"-90" and
180"-360,but the quadrant 90"-180" presents an important series of anoma-
lies that I cannot explain: I wonder whether the entries corresponding to these
degrees of mean longitude were computed by a second person using a different
method or different parameters which I cannot specify. In any case it seems
that the person computing the table was not aware of its assymetries.
As I have already stated, the longitude of the solar apogee in the Tables
of Barcelona is 79;25,55", that is between 79" and 80" of mean longitude. As
the arguments of the equation table are expressed only in full degrees of mean
longitude, no argument corresponds to the exact passage of the sun either
through the apogee or the perigee. It is easy to observe in Peter of Aragon's
x
equation table that for = 79", e = +0;1", whilst for h = SO", e = - 0;l".
x
On the other hand, the equation is 0" for = 260" = 180" + SO", whilst
x x
it is -0;l" for = 259" and +0;1" for = 261". This should imply an error
in the entry corresponding to the passage of the sun through the apogee, which
should be placed in the table in h = 80".A much better adjustment in the
arcs of mean apogee distance between 0" and 90" and between 180" and 270"
is obtained if we accept that the table was computed considering that the sun's
apogee corresponds to h = 79". In my reconstruction of the solar equation
table I have diminished by 1" the entries in the quadrant 180"-270". For similar
reasons I have increased by 1" the entries of the quadrant 90"-1804 These errors
in the arguments in the table can be easily attributed to Peter of Aragon's col-
laborators when they performed the tedious task of adding or subtracting the
values of mean longitude to those of the solar equation.
A final remark should only underline the peculiar character of the solar
equation table which has been brought to surface from Peter of Aragon's Tables
of Barcelona. It definitely uses Zarqiilian parameters, but employs the very
old "solution by declinations" in order to compute the solar equation. One
may wonder whether competent astronomers such as al-Zarqiil or Peter of
 TABLE
1
Peter of Aragon's Table of the Solar Equationa

a Recomputed values derived using the "solution by declinations":eq (x) = (eq. maX./E) S ( x ) ; eq. max. = 1;52";
E = 23;33O;values of S from the Tables of Barcelona.

472
 Anomalous Anomalous
Values for Values for
Recomp . 149'-120 k Eq. Recomp. 119"-90
0;58O 61" 119" 241" 299' 1;37" 181 1;37,15O 1;39O

1;4,36

1;6,11

1;7,46

1;9,12

1;10,47

1;12,17

1;13,43

1;15,9

1;16,34 1;18 (1 74 1 106 1 254 1 286 I( 1;47 11;47,24 I 1:49 1 151 1 49 1 1;22

1;M.O 1;20 75 105 255 285 1;47 1;47.57 1;49 161 232 1;26

1;19,25 1;21 76 104 256 284 1;48 1101 1;48,26 1;49 171 300 1;35

1;20,46 1;23 77 103 257 283 1;49 1111 1;48,55 1;50 181 61 1;36

1;22,7

1;23,28 1;26 79 101 259 281 1;49 1;49.47 1;50 191 291 1;43

1;24,44 1;27 80 100 260 280 1 1;50 1;50,11 1;51 [lo] 256 1;47

1;26,0

1;27.16 1;29 82 98 262 278 1;50 [13] 1;50,49 1;51 [12] 279 1;51

1;28,28 1;30 , 83 97 263 277 1;51 1;51,8 1;52 [13] 262 1;51

1;29,39 1;31 84 96 264 276 1;51 1;51,22 1;52 278 1;51

1;30,50

1;31,57 1;34 86 94 266 274 1;52 1;51.41 -

1;33,3 1;35 87 93 267 273 1;52 1;51.46 -
1;34,10 1;36 88 92 268 272 1;52 1;51,55 -
1;35,12 1;37 89 91 269 271 1;52 1;52,0 -
1;36,14 1;38 90 90 270 270 1;52 1;52,0 -

473
474 ANNALS NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

Aragon's collaborators would have used such an old-fashioned method. This

fact emphasizes, once again, the importance of the Sindhind and Hindu-Iranian
traditions in Medieval Spain. From as late as the early 15th century we can
find remnants of ancient Hindu trigonometry, as well as a method for com-
puting the lunar declination by adding the latitude of the moon and the decli-
nation corresponding to the lunar position on the e~liptic.2~ It is al-BiNni
who states that many Persian and Hindu authors, incorrectly added celestial
latitude to declinat ion.24

NOTES

1. Toomer 1969.
2. MillLs 1943-50.
3. Rico, 276-77. O n Alfonsine equatoria see Wegener;Poulle 1980,193-200; Sams6; and Millis
Vendrell 1983,
4. M i l k 1943-50, 457-79.
5. Toomer 1969, 320-22.
6. See Goldstein.
7. Millis 1943-50, 473.
8. Toomer 1969, 321-22.
9. Rico, 272-73.
10. See MillLs Vendrell 1983.
11. Millds 1962.
12. Poulle 1966.
13. Millds 1962, 47-49.
14. "Displaced tables and double argument tables: see Kennedy 1971b and 1977b; King 1974
and 1975; Saliba 1976, 1977 and 1978; Jensen; and Tichenor.
15. See North.
16. Millis, 1962, 192-93.
17. Toomer 1969, 320.
18. Toomer 1968, 56.
19. Kennedy & Muruwwa.
20. See Kennedy and Muruwwa, 118-19; Kennedy 1956, 148; Kennedy and Salam; Kennedy,
Pingree, and Haddad, 300-1; Neugebauer, 95-96; Millds Vendrelll963, 42-43; and Pingree, 53.
21. MillPs 1962, 194-95.
22. Mill& 1962, 48.
23. Cdtedra & Samsb, 79.
24. Kennedy 1971a, 312.

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