پیکره (Mar 2020)
Comparative Study of the Twelve Constellations in Illustrated Versions of the Book of Fixed Stars and Nativities
Abstract
Since the time of their appearance on the Earth, humans have been interested in the cosmos and the discovery of the secrets of the sky. The emergence of Islam and the tendency of the Islamic Khalifas towards the science of astronomy and astrology led to the growth and development of this branch of natural sciences, especially between the 3rd and 9th centuries AH. In the present study, astronomical concepts and beliefs in the Islamic era have been identified and extracted in order to compare them with the astronomical motifs of the two illustrated versions of Book of Fixed Stars (820 AH) by Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi, the original version of which belongs to the 4th century AH and Nativities (700 AH) by Abu Ma'shar Balkhi. The present research aimed to find out how the components of astrology and constellations are depicted in the two illustrated versions of Nativities (700 AH) and Book of Fixed Stars (9th century AH) and whether the images of the Nativities were influenced by the reference images of Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi (4th century AH) in Book of Fixed Stars. Regarding the research carried out in this field of study, Zargari and Yahyaei (2014) in "The effect of astronomical beliefs and attitudes on the social and political conditions of Iran during 4-9th centuries AH" have studied the formation and growth of astronomical beliefs in the Islamic era. Moreover, Hosseini (2017) in his study "Reflections of various constellations in the art of pottery from the Islamic era to the Safavid period and their comparison with the images of Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi " concluded that the artists of the Islamic period have used the astronomical designs and concepts of astronomical books; however, in many cases, they have made changes in these designs according to the spirit of the age and their own taste. Afrough and Nowruzi Talab (2012) have also studied the 12 constellations of the zodiac in the "Decorative nature of the astronomical concepts of a brass water container”.
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