Painting the Stars in a Century of Change a Thirteenth-Century Copy of Al-Sufrs Treatise on the Fixed Stars British Library Or.5323
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Painting The Stars In A Century Of Change A thirteenth-century copy of al-Sufrs Treatise on the Fixed Stars British Library Or.5323 Part I Moya Catherine Carey School of Oriental and African Studies Ph.D. thesis 2001 / (L. J Abstract British Library manuscript Or.5323 is a late thirteenth-century copy of the well-known illustrated treatise on the constellations, composed by the Persian astronomer cAbd al-Rabman b. cumar b. Muhammad al-üff in 964AD. It is a significant manuscript, both in terms of Islamic art history and constellation iconography. This study follows three different approaches to establish the date and provenance of the manuscript. The study begins with a precise description of the manuscript, and a reconstruction of its original pagination. Additional notes and owners' seals are examined, and provide new details of the manuscript's provenance and history. These establish that the manuscript was produced before 1279-8OAD. Then follows a review of al- üWs biography, and the history of his treatise. AI-SOfrs influences and innovations are discussed, as is the extent of the work's popularity and dissemination throughout the Islamic world and Europe. The illustrations are assessed in relation to a review of Islamic constellation iconography previous to 1400AD, in other copies of the treatise and on celestial globes. There is a particular connection with three celestial globes, attributed to an TI-Khãnid observatory in Marãghâ (NW Iran) in the late thirteenth century. The metamorphoses of the classical constellation-images in the Islamic world are also discussed, constellation by constellation, and the considerable influence of late classical pseudo-scientific astronomy literature is demonstrated. Finally, the al-Süfi manuscript is considered in the stylistic context of thirteenth- century Islamic art. There are different stylistic links in evidence, one archaic and one contemporary. The contemporary link is with Seljuk-style" painting, in both manuscript-illustrations and overglaze-painted ceramics, and is the most dominant. Certain decorative motifs are also found in architectural reliefs and metalwork, from thirteenth-century Iraq. It is concluded that the illustrations represent a continuation of an early thirteenth-century style into the second half of the century. The illustrations belong to an important period for the arts of the book in Islam: the moments before the artistic impact of the Mongol invasions of Iran became manifest. 2 To my parents Acknowledgements In particular I would like to thank my supervisor Dr Anna Contadini, for advice and useful discussion, Mr Alexander Morton (formerly of SOAS) for invaluable advice and translation of Persian marginalia to the British Library al-SOff manuscript, Dr. Raymond Mercier (Southampton University) for discussion, advice and careful proof-reading of the section on star-tables, Prof. David King (lnstitüt für Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften, Frankfurt) for providing advice on qibla-finding diagrams and useful cross-references, Prof. Paul Kunitzsch (Munich) for advising me on the textual sources of a marginal note in the British Library al4üti manuscript, and the staff of the Irish Embassy in Tehran, especially Mr Tim Doyle and Ms Fereshteh Sirus, for greatly-appreciated help with arranging visits to manuscript-collections, and providing an interpreter. My sincere thanks are also due to the following people: Dr Silke Ackermann (Dept of Medieval & Later Antiquities, British Museum) for advice and permission to view objects; Dr Cohn Baker, Mr Muhammad CIsa Waley and the desk staff at the Oriental and India Office Collection (British Library) for permission to view manuscripts; Dr Jim Bennett and Stephen Johnston (Museum of the History of Science, Oxford) for permission to view a celestial globe; Mr Turgai Bey and Ms Gülendam Hamm (Topkapi Palace Library, Istanbul) for permission to view manuscripts; Dr Sheila Canby (Dept of Oriental Antiquities, British Museum) for permission to view objects; Dr Monique Cohen, Dr Michel Garel, Dr Marie- Genevieve Guesdon, and Dr Francis Richard (Division oriental du Dept des manuscrits, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris) for permission to view manuscripts; Dr Fadai and Messrs Ha'ri, Kusha and Amiri (MajIis Library, Tehran) for permission to view manuscripts; Mr Marcus Fraser (Sotheby's, London) for giving me photographs of the at-?QfT manuscript sold as Lot34 in April 1998); Hàkan Hallberg, Dr Hans Nodesjö and Dr CAll Mirmohades (Uppsala University Library) for providing information about an al-?ufT manuscript in their collection; Dr Nevzat Kayu (Suleymaniye Library, Istanbul) for permission to view manuscripts; Dr Sophie Makariou (Dept. des Antiquités Orientales, Musée du Louvre, Paris) for permission to view celestial globes, for useful advice and for giving me a copy of a lecture she delivered at the Louvre; Edoardo Manzano Moreno (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Madrid) for advice; Mme Muzerelle (Bibliotheque de l'Arsenal, Paris) for permission to view a Latin translation of al-SOfT; Ms Doris Nicholson (Bodleian Library, Oxford) for permission to view manuscripts, and 4 generous help with many photographic orders; Ms Monique Pelletier (Dept des Caries et Plans, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris) for permission to view a celestial globe; Prof. Michael Rogers (SOAS) for careful proof-reading, advice and discussion, and for arranging photographs of a celestial globe in the Khalili Collection; Dr Rouhfar and Dr Mohammad Reza Karegar (Iran Bastan Museum, Tehran) for permission to view and photograph an al-Qfi manuscript, Dr Michael Ryan and Dr Elaine Wright (Chester Beatty Library, Dublin) for permission to view manuscripts; Dr Emilie Savage-Smith (Oriental Institute, Oxford) for useful advice and for kindly lending me a photograph of a nineteenth-century engraved copper plaque, Mr Tim Stanley, Ms Nahia Nassar and Ms Manijeh Bayani (Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, London) for permission to view manuscripts and a celestial globe, for discussion, and for giving me excellent photographs of the Khalili celestial globe; Dr Zeren Tanindi for providing impromptu (and much-appreciated) interpreting at the Topkapi Palace Library, Dr Sergei Tourkin and Prof. Kychanov (Oriental Institute, St Petersburg), for organising the delivery of an important microfilm, Fr José Luis del Valle O.S.A. (Escorial Library, Madrid) for permission to view manuscripts, Dr Rachel Ward (formerly of the Dept of Oriental Antiquities, British Museum) for permission to view a celestial globe, and also the staff of the Vatican Library, and the Real Academia della Historia in Madrid. I would like to acknowledge the University of London Central Research Fund, for generously sponsoring two of my research-trips. For technical support, I would like to thank Mr Junaid Menar (SOAS) and Mr Michael Dowling. For much-appreciated help and support (practical/emotional/etc.): Umut Azak, Malika Kraamer, Tristan Sellen, and above all my parents. 5 Table of Contents: Part 1—Text Abstract.............................................................................................2 Acknowledgements..............................................................................4 Tableof contents.................................................................................6 Listof plates........................................................................................9 Chapter One A late thirteenth-century astronomy manuscript, produced In Iran 1. Introduction..............................................................................19 2. HOlagO's seal............................................................................20 3. The Qibla-finder for Qazwin in 1279-8OAD......................................22 4. Reference to a Buyid waqf library in Baghdad..................................26 5. An engraved copy of the Or.5323 Pegasus, from more recent times.. ..33 6. Accession to the British Library collection.......................................34 7. Previous attributions..................................................................36 8. Format....................................................................................41 9. Reconstructing pagination...........................................................44 10. Summary................................................................................55 Chapter Two Al-Sufi and Kitãb Suwar al-Kawãklb al-Thãbita 1. The author................................................................................58 2. The treatise on the fixed stars........................................................66 Preface..............................................................................68 Maintext............................................................................74 Arabfolk astronomy.............................................................76 Double-format illustrations.....................................................77 Star-tables.........................................................................80 3. Dissemination........................................................................... 86 Chapter Three Islamic Constellation Iconography 1. Images primarily as maps............................................................91 6 Pseudo-scientific images .92 2. Iconographical change in scientific images......................................97 Introducing foreign material: translation vs transliteration..............97 3. Linking classical and Islamic