Bitumen iudaicum
Bitumen iudaicum dictum: eo quod in iudea invenitur scilicet in stagno quod mare mortuum dicitur in quod ingreditur flumen iordanus sicut patet per Serapionem et ipsum est species napte ut per eundem patet: et per concordiam Avicennae capitulo de petroleo quod est napta hoc dicitur aspaltum et stercus demonis supra in aspaltum.
Apparatus:
inuenitur B | inuenit~ AC f | rep[er]itur e
.s. {= scilicet} ABC e | seʒ f
ms. has malre for mare with "l" crossed out.
iordanus AC | iordanis B ef
spēs napte AC ef | spēs naphte B
per eũdẽ (per eũdem C) patet BC | per eũdem (-dẽ A) pʒ A e | patet per eundem f
petroleo ABC e | pitreolo f
quod est (ē e) napta AC e | quod ē (quod est f) naphta B f
Translation:
Bitumen iudaicum {lit. "Judean bitumen"} is so called because it is found in Judaea, i.e. in the lake, which is called Mare mortuum {"Dead Sea"} and into which the river Jordan flows as Serapio states, and this bitumen is a kind of napta as the same author says. And this is in concordance with Avicenna in his chapter de petroleo {"On petroleum"} that it is napta. This is also called aspaltum and stercus demonis {"demon's excrement"}. See the entry Aspaltum above.
See also: Aspaltum
