Idrisi

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | 682 words | Copyright

Idrisi or Edrisi , b. 1099?, d. after 1154, Arab geographer, b. Ceuta . He traveled in Europe, Asia Minor, and Mediterranean lands and settled at the court of Roger II of Sicily, for whom he made a silver celestial globe and a map of the earth engraved on a plate of silver. He completed (1154) a description of the earth, compiled from his studies and observations and from the reports of travelers sent out by Roger II. This monumental compendium—called the Kitab Rujjar (the Book of Roger)—is the most important geographic work of the period. Idrisi divided the earth into seven horizontal climatic zones, each divided vertically into 11 arbitrary sections.

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