The present study offers a broader reflection on the concept of “sphere” and its origin in astronomical and cosmological frameworks before starting an investigation of the cosmographical models provided in Pre-Islamic Iranian sources. There, in fact, we find a simple scheme with the heavens opposed to the earth or a more elaborated structure with three superimposed heavens. The later diffusion of a spherical model was not at all “natural,” but appeared slowly as the fruit of complex intellectual labor. We must observe that there is no ground for some older hypotheses stating that the ancient Iranians had already imagined the concept of a cosmic “sphere,” thus adopting a name like *spiθra- in order to refer to the firmament and the heavenly globe. Despite the existence of an Old Iranian stem *spiθra-, simply meaning “white”, Pahlavi spihr and cognate forms must be considered a loanword from Greek, perhaps via Syriac. This investigation emphasizes the fact that in the standard Old Iranian representation of the celestial world, the lowest heaven was very peculiarly attributed to the stars, that of the Moon was placed in the middle level, while that of the Sun was the third one, i.e. the level closest to the abode of Ahura Mazdā. This pattern finds strong resonance, and probably results from direct or indirect Oriental influence. in some traditions included in the Greek fragments belonging to the Pre-Socratic philosophers, the heaven of the stars was presented as the closest one to the earth. The origin of this very peculiar cosmography certainly dates back earlier. In fact, a group of Akkadian texts from the beginning of the first millennium BCE, although their archetype could be older, refers to three different heavens, each one made of a different precious stone. According to this scheme, the lowest celestial level was also ascribed to the stars. It is probable that this cosmic architecture played a certain influence on the Iranian peoples, but such a hierarchic model was reasonably incorporated into the Mazdean tradition under the theological assumption that the souls ascending to the Paradise of Ahura Mazdā (located on a fourth and higher level) should pass through different progressive steps, each one distinguished thanks to its increasing brightness. Then, the stars, Moon and Sun also assume an esoteric meaning. In later times, other cosmographic patterns were developed, probably with reference to the planets, although the traditional idea that the stars should stay below the heaven of the Moon was formally maintained, despite evidence indicating that the Sasanian astronomers knew that this sequence was impossible from the observational point of view. More intricate is the history of the mixture and coexistence of different cosmographical models. The Iranian peoples not only became acquainted with Babylonian astral doctrines, as in particular, the one concerning the separate existence of a particular group of wandering astral bodies, i.e. the planets, but in the course of time they also accepted Greek and Indian astronomical and astrological patterns. Particular relevance was attributed to a cinematic model in which the planetary motions, in particular the phenomena of the retrogradation, were explained thanks to the action played by a number of celestial wind-ropes or cords. Many arguments show that this pattern entered Iran via India, albeit it was soon widespread in many cultural contexts, not only in the Zoroastrian, but also in the Manichaean and Mandaean systems. The paradoxical endurance of a doctrine that posits the heaven of the stars as the first layer of the sky, before that of the Moon, witness of a primitive representation of the planetary motion, cannot be invoked as part of an argument showing that the Iranians did not know the concept of sphericity and that they simply adopted the Pahlavi word spihr from Greek σφαῖρα, but ignored its true meaning. On the contrary, this research highlights a series of pertinent arguments supporting the evidence that the Pre-Islamic and Early Islamic Iranian uranography, despite some bold contradictions, was able to compress a traditional representation of the heavens into a spherical model, accepting Ptolemaic patterns and schemes openly in contradiction with the coexistence of older models and peculiar cosmographic concepts. The presence in Sasanian (and post-Sasanian) Iran of contrasting visions of the heavens, including Ptolemaic, and anti-Ptolemaic, and even anti-Aristotelian, theories (as the one of the Celestial Tabernacle defended by Cosmas Indicopleustes), confirms the intellectual complexity of the multi-cultural and multi-religious debate current in this area in Late Antiquity (Plate 10). The present study will also show that in Iran a special interest was given to some cosmographic and uranographic problems, which played a very subtle role not only in the dialectical relationship between science and religion, but also in the one between contrasting theologies and philosophies.
A WALK THROUGH THE IRANIAN HEAVENS. Spherical and Non-Spherical Cosmographic Models in the Imagination of Ancient Iran and Its Neighbors.
Antonio Panaino
2019
Abstract
The present study offers a broader reflection on the concept of “sphere” and its origin in astronomical and cosmological frameworks before starting an investigation of the cosmographical models provided in Pre-Islamic Iranian sources. There, in fact, we find a simple scheme with the heavens opposed to the earth or a more elaborated structure with three superimposed heavens. The later diffusion of a spherical model was not at all “natural,” but appeared slowly as the fruit of complex intellectual labor. We must observe that there is no ground for some older hypotheses stating that the ancient Iranians had already imagined the concept of a cosmic “sphere,” thus adopting a name like *spiθra- in order to refer to the firmament and the heavenly globe. Despite the existence of an Old Iranian stem *spiθra-, simply meaning “white”, Pahlavi spihr and cognate forms must be considered a loanword from Greek, perhaps via Syriac. This investigation emphasizes the fact that in the standard Old Iranian representation of the celestial world, the lowest heaven was very peculiarly attributed to the stars, that of the Moon was placed in the middle level, while that of the Sun was the third one, i.e. the level closest to the abode of Ahura Mazdā. This pattern finds strong resonance, and probably results from direct or indirect Oriental influence. in some traditions included in the Greek fragments belonging to the Pre-Socratic philosophers, the heaven of the stars was presented as the closest one to the earth. The origin of this very peculiar cosmography certainly dates back earlier. In fact, a group of Akkadian texts from the beginning of the first millennium BCE, although their archetype could be older, refers to three different heavens, each one made of a different precious stone. According to this scheme, the lowest celestial level was also ascribed to the stars. It is probable that this cosmic architecture played a certain influence on the Iranian peoples, but such a hierarchic model was reasonably incorporated into the Mazdean tradition under the theological assumption that the souls ascending to the Paradise of Ahura Mazdā (located on a fourth and higher level) should pass through different progressive steps, each one distinguished thanks to its increasing brightness. Then, the stars, Moon and Sun also assume an esoteric meaning. In later times, other cosmographic patterns were developed, probably with reference to the planets, although the traditional idea that the stars should stay below the heaven of the Moon was formally maintained, despite evidence indicating that the Sasanian astronomers knew that this sequence was impossible from the observational point of view. More intricate is the history of the mixture and coexistence of different cosmographical models. The Iranian peoples not only became acquainted with Babylonian astral doctrines, as in particular, the one concerning the separate existence of a particular group of wandering astral bodies, i.e. the planets, but in the course of time they also accepted Greek and Indian astronomical and astrological patterns. Particular relevance was attributed to a cinematic model in which the planetary motions, in particular the phenomena of the retrogradation, were explained thanks to the action played by a number of celestial wind-ropes or cords. Many arguments show that this pattern entered Iran via India, albeit it was soon widespread in many cultural contexts, not only in the Zoroastrian, but also in the Manichaean and Mandaean systems. The paradoxical endurance of a doctrine that posits the heaven of the stars as the first layer of the sky, before that of the Moon, witness of a primitive representation of the planetary motion, cannot be invoked as part of an argument showing that the Iranians did not know the concept of sphericity and that they simply adopted the Pahlavi word spihr from Greek σφαῖρα, but ignored its true meaning. On the contrary, this research highlights a series of pertinent arguments supporting the evidence that the Pre-Islamic and Early Islamic Iranian uranography, despite some bold contradictions, was able to compress a traditional representation of the heavens into a spherical model, accepting Ptolemaic patterns and schemes openly in contradiction with the coexistence of older models and peculiar cosmographic concepts. The presence in Sasanian (and post-Sasanian) Iran of contrasting visions of the heavens, including Ptolemaic, and anti-Ptolemaic, and even anti-Aristotelian, theories (as the one of the Celestial Tabernacle defended by Cosmas Indicopleustes), confirms the intellectual complexity of the multi-cultural and multi-religious debate current in this area in Late Antiquity (Plate 10). The present study will also show that in Iran a special interest was given to some cosmographic and uranographic problems, which played a very subtle role not only in the dialectical relationship between science and religion, but also in the one between contrasting theologies and philosophies.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
