Astrology in gold from the Safavid Empire

[Astrology]. [Treatise on astronomy and astrology].

€ 35,000.00

A Safavid manuscript with eleven astronomical and astrological diagrams drawn entirely in gold. This treatise covers, in its twenty-two chapters, the foundational knowledge necessary for a 16th century astrologer. This knowledge was often quite technical, and comprised not simply lists of people, places, and occupations governed by each planet, but the mathematics and astronomy underpinning Islamic astrology. These include trigonometry, calendrical calculations and tables (the tables, in gold, left blank), the traditional calculation of the hours of the day and night, an overview of the seven heavenly bodies (the planets observable by the naked eye, and the Moon and Sun), the zenith of the celestial sphere, and a thorough understanding of the astronomical zodiac and its houses.

The copiest behind this carefully crafted manuscript signs his name on the colophon as Muhammad ibn Mahmoud.