Arbitrary Constellations: Writing the Imagination in Medieval Persian Astrology, with Translations from Tanklūshā (11th – 12th century)

Tahmasebian, Kayvan

Abstract

The book we read today in the name of Tanklūshā in Arabic and Persian versions is pseudepigraphic––most likely an imaginary reconstruction of an astrological work by Teukros, rich with images of everyday life appearing in supernatural tints as constellations on the vast screen of the night sky. Each of the twelve zodiac signs contains depictions, of varying lengths, of thirty sets of triptych images. For those interested in Islamic theories of imagination (khayāl), Tanklūshā offers highly visualised texts and fantastic combinations of images. For those interested in Islamic sciences and practices of divination and prognostication, Tanklūshā presents a vivid map of the constantly changing sky — variously rendered as charkh, gardūn, falak, all meaning “turning,” and all representing fate in classical Persian literature — with its aleatory faces. Falak (sphere), which was described by Khāqānī Shirvānī as a “blank dice [kaʿbatayn-i bī-naqsh],” turns, in Tanklūshā, into a dice with 360 sides each inscribed by its dream-like patchworks of arbitrary images.

Citation

Tahmasebian, K. Arbitrary Constellations: Writing the Imagination in Medieval Persian Astrology, with Translations from Tanklūshā (11th – 12th century). Birmingham

• Working Paper Type: Working Paper
• Deposit Date: Mar 4, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 4, 2024
• Pages: 1-19
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.17613/mwtj-p261
• Keywords: astrology, Constellation, pseudotranslation, Tanklūshā, imagination, Islamic studies, Literary theory, Pseudepigrapha, Representation
• Publisher URL: https://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:42997/