4 ms·

It is Arabic, for example "من بین الحوضین" on the beginning of the first line means "between the two tanks".

• w1ntermute 12y ago
  I don't mean the caption at the top. I'm referring to the letters on the diagram itself: http://i.imgur.com/Bj31AxJ.jpg http://i.imgur.com/Bj31AxJ.jpg
  • KhalilK 12y ago
    aha, well it does look like Old Turkic Alphabet[0], I am not sure. 0.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Turkic_alphabet#Table_of_characters http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Turkic_alphabet#Table_of_ch... Edit: Some characters don't seem to render properly, an Image seems more practical. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Turkic_alphabet#mediaviewer/File:Thomsen_Orkhon_table_1893.png http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Turkic_alphabet#mediaviewer...
    • w1ntermute 12y ago
      Do you know why he didn't just use Arabic characters? Based on a brief survey of the Arabic Wikipedia, it looks like Latin letters are standard for variables in math these days, but what was the reason for using non-Arabic characters back then?
      • KhalilK 12y ago
        It is odd, given that other scientists did use Arabic characters to notate their diagrams (notably, Al-khwarizmi and Ibn Al-Haytham). Perhaps it's because of his roots.