A Walk through the Iranian Heavens: For a History of an Unpredictable Dialogue between Nonspherical and Spherical Models

222 Pages·2020·5.209 MB·English

by  Antonio Panaino

Ancient Iranian Series
Editor
Touraj Daryaee (Irvine)

Editorial Board
Samra Azarnouche (Paris)
Chiara Barbati (Pisa)
Matthew P. Canepa (Irvine)
Carlo G. Cereti (Rome)
Hassan Fazeli Nashli (Tehran)
Frantz Grenet (Paris)
Simcha Gross (Pennsylvania)
Almut Hintze (London)
Nasir Al-Kaabi (Kufa)
Irene Madreiter (Innsbruck)
Antonio Panaino (Ravenna)
Céline Redard (London)
Robert Rollinger (Innsbruck)
Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis (London)
M. Rahim Shayegan (Los Angeles)
Mihaela Timuş (Bucharest)
Giusto Traina (Paris)
Yuhan S.-D. Vevaina (Oxford)
Ancient Iran Series
Editor in Chief
Touraj Daryaee (University of California, Irvine)
Managing Editor
Sherivn Farridnejad
(Free University of Berlin, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna)
Editorial Board
Samra Azarnouche (École pratique des hautes études)
Chiara Barbati (University of Pisa)
Matthew Canepa (University of California, Irvine)
Carlo Cereti (Sapienza University of Rome)
Hassan Fazeli Nashil (University of Tehran)
Frantz Grenet (Collège de France)
Simcha Gross (University of Pennsylvania)
Almut Hintze (SOAS University of London)
Nasir Al-Kaabi (University of Kufa)
Irene Madreiter (University of Inssbruck)
Antonio Panaino (University of Ravenna)
Céline Redard (SOAS University of London)
Robert Rollinger (University of Inssbruck)
Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis (British Museum)
M. Rahim Shayegan (University of California, Los Angeles)
Mihaela Timuş (University of Bucharest)
Rolf Strootman (Utrecht University)
Giusto Traina (University of Paris-Sorbonne)
Yuhan S.-D. Vevaina (University of Oxford)
VOLUME 9
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/ais
A WALK THROUGH THE IRANIAN HEAVENS
For a History of an Unpredictable Dialogue
between Nonspherical and Spherical Models
Antonio Panaino
A Walk through the Iranian Heavens
For a History of an Unpredictable Dialogue between Nonspherical and Spherical Models
© Antonio Panaino 2019
Antonio Panaino is hereby identified as author of this work in accordance with
Section 77 of the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988
Cover and Layout: Kourosh Beigpour | ISBN: 978-1-949743-14-2
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, me-
chanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of
the publishers. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way
of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without
the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in
which it is published andcondition is redundant.
In memory of my friend Salvo De Meis
Sulmona, July 23, 1930 – Milan, June 13, 2016
Ein Wort
Ein Wort, ein Satz –; aus Chiffren steigen
erkanntes Leben, jäher Sinn,
die Sonne steht, die Sphären schweigen
und alles ballt sich zu ihn hin.
Ein Wort – ein Glanz, ein Flug, ein Feuer,
ein Flammenwurf, ein Sternenstrich –
und wieder Dunkel, ungeheuer,
im leeren Raum um Welt und Ich.
Gottfried Benn, Statische Gedichte, Zürich 1948.
Tabel of Contents
Preface ……………………………………………………………………………… 7
Introduction ……………………………………………………………………….. 9
1. A Methodological Problem: Celestial Sphere and Spherical
Astronomical Models as a Result of a Mental Construction ………..13
2. The Ancient Iranian Witness ……………………………………………….. 33
3. The Name Σπιθραδάτης / Σπιθριδάτης and its Importance
in the History of the Debate on the origin of the Sphere
in the Iranian world …………………………………………………………… 43
4. The Ancient Iranian Cosmography and its Evolution …………….. 55
5. Order and Disorder in the Spherical Models ……………………….. 101
5.1. Models ……………………………………………………………………… 101
5.2. The Direction of the Invasion: A Cosmographic problem …..132
5.3. Debates, Controversies and Polemics …………………………… 139
6. First Conclusions and Further Problems ……………………………… 151
7. Addenda ………………………………………………………………………….. 158
8. Plates ……………………………………………………………………………… 161
9. List of the Plates ………………………………………………………………. 168
10. Bibliographical References ………………………………………………. 169
11. Indexes ………………………………………………………………………….. 207

PREFACE
This book by Antonio Panaino discusses the development of the
Iranian cosmographical world and its interaction with the Greek,
Mesopotamian and Indic civilizations. By undertaking such a study,
the author places the Iranian intellectual tradition in perspective
vis-à-vis other ancient civilizations and demonstrates the depth and
importance of the Mazdean tradition, which was able to absorb and
systematize foreign knowledge. Panaino shows the presence of both
Aristotelian and Neo-Platonist traditions in the Iranian intellectual
scene, though somewhat changed and acculturated to the Mazdean
ideas and world-view. Hence, the book is a lively and interesting
study of the juxtapositioning of various scientific and philosophical
ideas at play in the Mediterranean, Iranian and Indic worlds. The Dr.
Samuel M. Jordan Center for Persian Studies is pleased to publish
this work by one of the foremost scholars of Iranian Studies, whose
knowledge in astronomy and cosmology is well-known. It is hoped
that his work further stimulates other studies in the field of Mazdean
p hilosophical and scientific outlook.
Touraj Daryaee
Director of the Dr. Samuel M. Jordan Center for Persian Studies