Liber Embadorum

work by Abraham bar Hiyya

Also known as: “Hibbur ha-Meshihah ve-ha-Tishboret”

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June 30, 2026

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The Liber Embadorum is the Latin translation of a Hebrew book on mathematics by Abraham bar Hiyya, a Spanish Jewish philosopher and mathematician who lived around the late 11th and early 12th centuries. This work, originally titled Ibbur ha-Meshihah ve-ha-Tishboret (Treatise on Measurement and Calculation), was translated into Latin in 1145 and became a significant textbook in European schools.1

Abraham bar Hiyya was a prolific writer and is credited with producing the first scientific encyclopedia in Hebrew. His mathematical work was instrumental in transmitting knowledge, including Hindu-Arabic numerals and calculation methods, to Western Europe during the Middle Ages.12

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Abraham bar Hiyya
…which, in its Latin translation, Liber Embadorum (1145), became a principal textbook in western European schools. Other notable works by Abraham include the philosophical treatise Hegyon ha-Nefesh ha-Aẓuva (Meditation of the Sad Soul), which dealt with the nature of good and evil, ethical conduct, and repentance; and Megillat ha-Megalleh (“Scroll…
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…which, in its Latin translation, Liber Embadorum (1145), became a principal textbook in western European schools. Other notable works by Abraham include the philosophical treatise Hegyon ha-Nefesh ha-Aẓuva (Meditation of the Sad Soul), which dealt with the nature of good and evil, ethical conduct, and repentance; and Megillat ha-Megalleh (“Scroll…
Read More