Persian astrology

[Muslim astrology]. [Persian astrological manuscript].

€ 1,800.00

A Persian treatise on mathematics, astrology, and computus, penned in small but tidy naskh script and illustrated with charts and astronomical diagrams. The early chapters address the practical aspects of astrology: Arabic abjad numerals (a system which naturally assigned a number to a letter, abjad numerals allowed the numerical quality of words or names to be more easily calculated), calendrical computation, and the rather technical and mathematical art of the measurement of the movement of the planets and Zodiac constellations across the sky. This subject matter is similar to that of what is called computus in Western manuscript tradition, being concerned with the reckoning of time and with general information, such as the names of the months. The latter half of the manuscript guides a reader through some of the basics of astrology and the relevant calculations necessary to make successful interpretations. The fact that this work was written in Persian, when many Persian-speaking writers tended to write science and astrology in Arabic, sets it apart, along with a handful of astronomical and astrological diagrams.