The KitÃÂb al-bayá¹Âara (Arabic: ÃÂêçè çÃÂèÃÂ÷ñé, "Book of Farriery" or "Book of Hippiatrics") is a 12th-century Arabic treatise on horse medicine by Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Aḥnaf.
The KitÃÂb al-bayá¹Âara is based on a Greek work on the grooming and veterinary treatment of horses entitled Hippiatrica. The style of the two known manuscripts is characteristic of the pictorial tradition in Upper Mesopotamia, northern Iraq, and southeastern Anatolia at that time, with its frameless figures on a blank background.
Two illustrated manuscripts of the text are known, produced by the same artist, ÿAlë ibn Ḥasan ibn HibatallÃÂh, dating to 1209 (Cairo, Egyptian National Library and Archives, Khalil Agha F8) and 1210 (Istanbul, Topkapñ Library, TSMK, A. 2115) are known.
The 1209 copy manuscript is dated to 1209 through its colophon; the colophon also indicates that it was produced in Baghdad. It is the only pre-Mongol illustrated manuscript whose place of production is securely attributed to Baghdad, which makes it a key work in trying to define a "Baghdad School" of illustrated manuscripts before the Mongol Siege of Baghdad in 1258. The manuscript depicts horse-riders who wear the Turkic sharbà «sh headgear.
The 1210 copy does not mention Baghdad, but is considered a copy of the 1209 manuscript, made by the same calligrapher.
The KitÃÂb al-bayá¹Âara has been used as an artistic reference to try to attribute a famous 1237 CE MaqÃÂmÃÂt al-Ḥarërë manuscript (Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, ) to Baghdad as well. The attempt is based on a certain level of artistic similarity, but this attribution remains uncertain, and the place of production of the BNF Arabe 5847 remains unsure and it can only said to have been made between Syria and Iraq.
Another illustrated manuscript which is tentatively attributed to pre-Mongol Baghdad is the dispersed 1224 Dioscorides (). Here again, attribution to Baghdad remains tentative, and a more cautious attribution, such as "Iraq or Northern Jazira, possibly Baghdad" is often preferred.