From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Persian astronomy
or
Iranian astronomy
refers to the
astronomy
in
ancient Persian history
.
[1]
Pre-Islamic history
[
edit
]
Ancient
Persians
celebrated the
vernal equinox
,
summer solstice
,
autumnal equinox
, and
winter solstice
through a variety of different festivals and traditions.
[2]
Vernal equinox
[
edit
]
Nowruz
is the day of the
vernal equinox
and the moment the
Sun
crosses the
celestial equator
has been calculated for years. Nowruz was an important day during the
Achaemenid period
and continued in importance through the
Sasanian dynasty
.
[3]
[4]
Summer solstice
[
edit
]
Tirgan
is an ancient Iranian festival celebrating the
summer solstice
.
[5]
Autumnal equinox
[
edit
]
Mehregan
is an ancient
Zoroastrian
and Persian festival celebrating the
autumnal equinox
since at least the
4th century BC
.
[6]
Winter solstice
[
edit
]
Yald? Night
is an ancient Iranian festival celebrating the
winter solstice
of the
Northern Hemisphere
.
[2]
[7]
[8]
Star systems
[
edit
]
Some old
Persian
names in astronomy have barely survived; the names of the four
Royal stars
that were used by the Persians for
almanacs
are
Aldeberan
,
Regulus
,
Antares
and
Fomalhaut
, and are thought by scientists to equate to the modern-day
star systems
of
Alcyone
,
Regulus
,
Albireo
, and
Bungula (Alpha Centauri)
for almanacs.
[9]
Planets
[
edit
]
Tablet
inscriptions set forth observations of
Jupiter
from the 43rd year of the reign of
Artaxerxes II
to the thirteenth year of
Alexander the Great
.
[9]
The positions of the planets throughout the year were determined using astrological charts.
[9]
After Muslim conquests
[
edit
]
After the
Muslim conquest of Persia
, much of Persian astronomy and
astrology
became intertwined with the
astronomy in the medieval Islamic world
, paving way for the
Islamic Golden Age
. Scientists translated studies in
Sanskrit
,
Middle Persian
, and
Greek
into
Arabic
, where the Indian Sanskrit and Persian Pahlavi (Middle Persian) sources taught medieval astronomers methods for calculating the position of heavenly bodies, and for creating tables recording the movement of the sun, the
moon
, and the five known planets.
[10]
The first major Muslim work of astronomy was
Zij al-Sindhind
by Persian mathematician
al-Khwarizmi
in 830. The work contains tables for the movements of the Sun, the moon and the five planets known at the time, and is significant as it introduced
Ptolemaic
concepts into Islamic sciences. This work also marks the turning point in Islamic astronomy. Hitherto, Muslim astronomers had adopted a primarily research approach to the field, translating works of others and learning already discovered knowledge. Al-Khwarizmi's work marked the beginning of nontraditional methods of study and calculations.
[11]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica"
.
- ^
a
b
Yak, Doctor (December 21, 2019).
"Yalda ? The Ancient Iranian Festival celebrating Light's victory over Dark"
.
Medium
.
- ^
Trotter, James M. (2001).
Reading Hosea in Achaemenid Yehud
. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 108.
ISBN
978-1-84127-197-2
.
- ^
Maxouris, Christina; Moshtaghian, Artemis (March 20, 2019).
"More than 300 million people will celebrate Nowruz (and you should, too)"
.
CNN Digital
.
- ^
"The Legend of Tir and the First Month of Summer in Persia"
.
www.payvand.com
.
- ^
Stausberg, Michael; Sohrab-Dinshaw Vevaina, Yuhan (2015). "The Iranian festivals: Nowruz and Mehregan".
The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Zoroastrianism
. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 494?495.
ISBN
978-1118786277
.
- ^
"?ELLA ? Encyclopaedia Iranica"
.
www.iranicaonline.org
.
- ^
Richter, Joanne (2005).
Iran, the culture
. New York: Crabtree Pub. Co. pp.
18
.
ISBN
0-7787-9317-6
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Culture of Iran: Astrology & Astronomy in Iran and Ancient Mesopotamia"
.
- ^
Sardar, Marika (August 2011).
"Astronomy and Astrology in the Medieval Islamic World"
.
Met Museum
. Retrieved
2023-01-29
.
- ^
Dallal (1999), pg. 163
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| Ancient
| 3400?539 BC
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550 BC?AD 224
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AD 224?651
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Medieval and
early modern
| 632?1090
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977?1432
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1370?1925
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Modern
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See also
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