ANIMALI MARINI E ʿAǦĀʾIB NELLE OPERE DI GEOGRAFIA E ODEPORICA ARABO-SICULA E ANDALUSA

The aim of this paper is to examine the representation of some marine animals in the works by the traveler Abū Ḥāmid al-Ġarnāṭī (d. 1169-1170), the Tuḥfat al-albāb, ‘The gift of hearts’, and the Muʿrib ʿan baʿḍ ʿağāʾib al-Maġrib, ‘Clear exposi-tion of some wonders of the West’, in the Kitāb Nuzhat al-muštāq fī iḫtirāq al-āfāq, ‘Diversion for one passionate about touring the world’, by al-Idrīsī (d. between 1165 and 1176) and in the coeval Kitāb al-Ǧuġrāfiya of al-Zuhrī (d. 1154). Particular attention will be devoted to the use of mirabilia in the legends about marine crea-tures that populate the Sea of Darkness and the Mediterranean reported by the authors.