Talk:Sinbad the Sailor

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Added a part regarding 1001 Nights drawing some inspiration from Zheng He's voyages due to references in the Zheng He wiki article. -intranetusa

Is there real evidence for a connection between Zheng He and Sindbad? That presented here seems unpersuasive and unneccessary.--Cuchullain 20:46, August 16, 2005 (UTC)

The connection is actually mentioned by many historians and a recent National Geographic article on Zheng He. Zheng He had 7 voyages - sindbad had 7 voyages. Zheng he explored the western pacific along with africa - sindbad went to various places. Zheng He's name in some languages - San Bao - sounds very similar to Sind Bad. Most likely the stories existed before Zheng he and then the Zheng He's voyages were incorporated into them and compiled into a list of seven voyages. Kennethtennyson 22:13, 16 August 2005 (UTC)

So the connection between Zheng He and Sindbad is based on similarity of name and the fact that each had seven voyages. That does not sound very persuasive at all. There are many features of each story that do not chime. For example:

• Zheng He is known to have travelled with huge fleets, some comprising 27,000 people. At the most Sindbad has one ship at a time.
• Zheng He explored as far west as Africa and is thought to have at least sighted Australia. Sindbad's adventures are believed to have taken place in the western Indian Ocean, possibly even just the Arabian Sea.
• Sindbad encounters some fantastic creatures such as the Rukh, of which there is no other evidence. *Zheng He took home exotic creatures like a giraffe, of which there is dwindling but palpable evidence.

Most likely the Sindbad story is a combination of local mariners tales and ancient Middle Eastern myths.

The Sinbad stories are older than Zheng He by several centuries. PiCo 10:35, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Contents 1 to D or not to D? 2 I agree with Cuchullain. The fantasy about this connection lacks solid proof. 3 Removed Chinese references 4 Inclusion of Chinese references 5 from Arabicسندباد Sin-di-bad 6 Deleted material

[edit] to D or not to D?

I have trouble believing that the "Sindbad" spelling is truly more appropriate than the "Sinbad" spelling... Google would seem to agree. Thoughts? --Dante Alighieri | [[User talk:Dante Alighieri|Talk]] 22:42, 29 November 2005 (UTC)

Google only shows what is more popular, not what is more accurate. Kaijan 09:16, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

OK, would you care to explain why "Sindbad" is more "accurate"? --Dante Alighieri | Talk 00:28, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

Leaving aside the issue of "accuracy" (we're talking transliteration anyway), the English-speaking world knows this character as Sinbad, not Sindbad. I'm changing the article. --Dante Alighieri | Talk 22:44, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

"Sindbad" with a 'd' is more accurate because that's the way it's spelled in Persian and Arabic - it's spelled that way in Persian script in the article itself :). But I'll stick with Sinbad - ultimately it's a matter of supreme unimportance. PiCo 01:00, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] I agree with Cuchullain. The fantasy about this connection lacks solid proof.

[edit] Removed Chinese references

I've removed all references to Sinbad being based on the Chinese admiral Zheng He. If anyone wants to put them back, please reference some reputable scholarly source. (Also made some minor style edits). PiCo 00:58, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Inclusion of Chinese references

I believe there should be references to Zheng He, since I have yet to see any "reputable scholarly source" completely disprove that theory. As for sources on the Zheng He theory, National Geographic has apparently made mention of it. This reference can be read on the Wikipedia entry for Zheng He. Also, the line, "No universally accepted etymology of Sinbad's name has yet been advanced." at the end of the first paragraph seems a bit over-the-top, since I don't believe the requirement for "universal acceptance" is a way of automatically disproving a theory.

The line ""No universally accepted etymology of Sinbad's name has yet been advanced" isn't meant to disprove the Zheng He theory, just to state a fact. The Zheng He theory has no backing in scholarly circles - the Nat Geo is hardly a source for such matters. PiCo 05:26, 27 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] from Arabicسندباد Sin-di-bad

Can anyone confirm that the Arabic really is Sin-di-bad? The way it's written here (and yes, I do read Arabic) it just says "Sndbad" - not even an "i".

I'm even more curious about what the Persian might be, since Sinbad is originally a Persian tale.

PiCo 09:12, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

The reason why there is no "i" in the arabic spelling is because arabic script does not write the whole words, as some vocals are left out, this can lead to som confusion at times for example the words "to merge"[Lahim] and "meat"[Lahm] are spellt the same way. Just like Hebrew as the name of god is spellt JHVH.

Some mean that Sindbad is actually a kurdish name as "Sand" means "to swear" as in swearing on something(not as a curse).

----سندباد Sinbad or Sindibaad is an Arabic tale NOT PERSIAN because it talks about a sailor from Basra which is an arabic city in Iraq also the original tale was written in Arabic Not Persian. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Aziz1005 (talk • contribs) 21:32, 28 January 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Deleted material

I deleted this recent addition:

The birth place of Sindbad is considered by many as Sohar in North Batinha region of Sultanate of Oman.

Aktoy's story of the Shipwrecked Sailor is thought to be the inspiration for the classical story of Sinbad the Sailor. His other works includeThe Prophecy of Neferty, the Instruction of Amenemhet, and Sinuhe's tale.

Reasons are:

First, it sounds pretty odd to ascribe a birthplace to ma fictional character - he wasn't real, how could he have a birthplace? But if you give a reference (where did you find this idea?) it can be considered.

Second, the Aktoy theory seems extremely weak - there's no such thing as "the story of Sinbad the Sailor" - it's a collection of stories, not one. It's not even seven stories, as each 'voyage' contains more than one story. Moreover, the link between a 12th dynasty Egyptian tale (when was that - pre-100BC surely?) and a collection of tales that apparently took their present form only in the last few hundred years, is tenuous to say the least. But if you can give a precis of this Aktoy story, and a reference (i.e., the book where you read this point), it could be made into a useful addition (maybe).

Don't be disheartened, I'm not trying to prevent you joining the editing effort, just trying to keep it scholarly. PiCo 12:05, 28 October 2006 (UTC)