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A: Xàtiva, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain

Muhammad al-Idrisi Mentions the First Paper Mill at Xátiva in Al-Andalus

1150
Statue of Muhammad al Idrisi holding up his map of the world.
Image Source: funci.org
Muhammad al Idrisi holding. up his map of the world.  The statue is in Ceuta, an autonomous Spanish city on the northern coast of Africa.

About 1150 Andalusian geographer, cartographer and Egyptologist Abu Abd Allah Muhammad al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi al-Hasani al-Sabti or simply Al Idrisi (Arabic: أبو عبد الله محمد الإدريسي‎; Latin: Dreses) wrote "of the Spanish city of Xátiva (now Játiva or S. Felipe de Játiva):

'Paper is there manufactured, such as cannot be found anywhere else in the civilized world, and is sent to the East and to the West" (Hunter, Papermaking: The History and Technique of an Ancient Craft, 2nd ed [1947] 473).

Timeline Themes

Technology / Engineering
Papermaking by Hand