Sebum
Sebum idem scripsit pro sceb vel xeb quod est alumen.
Apparatus:
Sebum AC p | Sebbum (-bbũ B ej) B efj
ms. f skips a line after scripsit and writes pro suchaa, the last two words of the next entry Secha (1)
sceb | seb B
sceb vel om. e
Translation:
The same {i.e. Stephanus who was mentioned in the previous entry} writes sebum for Arabic sceb or xeb, which is alumen {"alum"}.
Commentary:
Cf. Wehr (1976): ﺷﺐ /šabb/ "alum"; Siggel (1950: 82): ﺷﺐ /šabb/ Alaun; aber meist Mischung mehrerer Sulfate {i.e. "alum, but mostly an amalgam of several sulphates"}.
Stephanus in his Breviarium writes: stuptirea sebbũ iemenicũ
[[1]] - "alum is sebbũ iemenicũ in Arabic".
N.b. Greek στ(ρ)υπτηρία /st(r)yptēría/ “name of any of a group of astringent substances containing (a) alum or (b) ferrous sulphate” (LSJ).
Stephanus’s sebbũ iemenicũ is Arabic ﺷﺐ ﻳﻤﺍﻧﻰ /šabb yamāniy/ “alum from Yemen”, which was often considered the purest form of alum during the Middle Ages. See Glick, Livesey & Wallis (2005: 31-2), s.v. Alum.
WilfGunther 20:41, 2 July 2015 (BST)
See also: Sceb