The Serpent and Nile Marvels in Ibn Hawqal’s Configuration of the Earth

Record summary

Ibn Hawqal’s Kitab Surat al-Ard presents geographical information gathered from travel and earlier authorities, including descriptions of African regions and their notable animals. Passages concerning large reptiles, crocodiles, or dangerous river creatures may be relevant to the history of reports later interpreted as unknown animals. The text is valuable for studying how geographical writing classified distant fauna and transmitted marvels. It does not establish a surviving undiscovered species. Researchers should identify the exact regional passage and compare manuscript readings, because the work’s zoological details are not uniformly firsthand.