Two Notes on History of Sciences in Ancient Iran Extracted from A Middle Persian Text

Document Type : Research/Original/Reqular Article

Author

Encyclopaedia Islamica Foundation (The Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam), Tehran, Iran.

10.22059/jihs.2026.411651.371879

Abstract

This article focuses on the Epistles of Manuščihr, a juridical text in Middle Persian (Pahlavi), one of the most complex specimens of Pahlavi prose and the only independently preserved example of epistolary literature in that language. It examines two lesser-known and largely overlooked points in the historiography of science in ancient Iran. The text was originally composed within the framework of a juridical dispute concerning ritual purification; nevertheless, the author employs analogies and incidental remarks in his argumentation that contain valuable evidence for the history of medicine and astronomy.
First, in the course of an analogy, the juridical action of the addressee of the letter (namely Zādsparam) is compared to that of a physician who, instead of treating a toothache, recommends extracting the tooth. This passage, together with the use of the term tan-bizešk, “physician of the body,” which also appears in other Middle Persian texts, shows that at that time physicians were understood to possess methods for treating dental ailments beyond simple extraction. This point appears not to have been mentioned elsewhere.
Second, through an analysis of relevant passages of the same text, the article discusses the use of three zijs, “astronomical tables,” known as Zīg ī Šahryārān / Zīj Šāh, “the Royal Tables” / “Tables of the King”, zīg ī Hindūg, “the Indian Tables”, and zīg ī Patlymūš, “the Tables of Ptolemy.” The author refers to a practice among astronomers according to which, in determining the positions of the planets, one of these zijs might be preferred over another depending on the case. This report, which counts among the earliest explicit references to these three sets of tables in the extant sources, indicates the circulation of a composite and critical approach within the astronomical tradition of the late Sasanian period and the early early Islamic centuries. The article thus demonstrates that a text essentially concerned with jurisprudence may preserve original and illuminating evidence for reconstructing aspects of medical and astronomical knowledge in ancient Iran and the early Islamic centuries.

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References

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Journal for the History of Science
Volume 24, Issue 1
September 2026
Pages 67-76

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