Abstract
My paper studies several manuscripts of‘Abd al-Raḥmān Ṣūfū’s Kitāb al-kawākib al-thābita, which were produced at the Safavid court, a provincial court at Mashhad or by artists related to either of them. The purpose is to contribute in a small manner to a cultural history of science in a specific context of one of the major post-classical societies. Its main claim is that the Safavid elite paid considerable attention to, and invested substantial resources in, reproducing famous illustrated scientific manuscripts. Content and aesthetic point to Timurid inspirations. In a limited sense, one could speak of a Safavid engagement with translating scientific, medical and geographical texts from Arabic into Persian. The integration of art, science and translation could be described as a specific feature of courtly interest in scholarly knowledge under the Safavids.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Brentjes, S. (2014). Safavid Art, Science, and Courtly Education in the Seventeenth Century. In: Sidoli, N., Van Brummelen, G. (eds) From Alexandria, Through Baghdad. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36736-6_22
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36736-6_22
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-36735-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-36736-6
eBook Packages: Mathematics and StatisticsMathematics and Statistics (R0)