فاطمه حسن بیگی

The Review and comparison of the textual and visual content of carpets related to the Shahnameh (preserved in the Carpet Museum of Iran) with the Shahnameh and ancient historical sources

Abstract

This research aims to examine and compare the textual and visual content of carpets associated with the Shahnameh (preserved in the Iran Carpet Museum) with the text of the Shahnameh and ancient historical sources. The carpets are studied in three categories: the "Life of Rostam" carpet, comprising twenty-five panels, each containing four poetic verses and an image depicting an event from Rostam's life, from his first appearance in the Shahnameh—his battle with the white elephant—up to his death at the hands of his half-brother Shaghad; a collection of twenty-six miniature carpets related to the Shahnameh, of which two lack miniatures and are dedicated to the "Lohrasb-nameh" (as per the carpet's text, corresponding to the section on King Lohrasb's reign) and the praise of wisdom, two serve as identifiers for the carpets, and the remaining twenty-two narrate stories from the Shahnameh accompanied by miniatures; and the "Kings of Ajam" carpet, which includes the names and durations of reign for ۷۲ kings from Kayumars to Bahzad. The research methodology is based on transcribing the texts inscribed on the carpets, comparing the first and second categories with six authoritative editions of the Shahnameh and presenting variant readings, as well as conducting a preliminary comparison of the narratives in the texts and woven images on the carpets. Additionally, the third category, the "Ancient Kings of Iran" carpet, is compared with the Shahnameh, Tarikh-e Tabari, Tarikh-e Bal'ami, Mojmal al-Tawarikh wa al-Qisas, and Nasikh al-Tawarikh, with discrepancies in readings, names and lineages of kings, and durations of their reigns being analyzed. The "Life of Rostam" carpet exhibits the greatest conformity with the Amir Bahadori and Turner Macan editions of the Shahnameh, particularly the Amir Bahadori edition. The images on the miniature carpets are attributed in the catalog of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh woven illustrations to the "valuable Shahnameh from the first half of the ۱۰th century AH" without specifying details of this manuscript; however, in the carpet identifiers at the Carpet Museum, they are referred to as the Baysonghori Shahnameh collection. Some websites also claim that the design of these carpets is based on the Baysonghori Shahnameh preserved in the Golestan Palace Museum Library. Nevertheless, considering differences in script, miniature faces, type of illumination, marginal decoration (present in the carpets but absent in the Baysonghori Shahnameh), and the gold-dotted interlinear ruling in the Baysonghori Shahnameh (lacking in the carpets), the hypothesis of dependency on the Baysonghori manuscript is ruled out; the same applies to differences in script and miniatures compared to the Tahmasbi Shahnameh. In any case, the exact manuscript upon which these carpets were designed remains unclear to us. The texts of these carpets exhibit significant differences from all examined editions of the Shahnameh, with the nature of these discrepancies detailed through the presentation of variant readings. The most substantial variant readings pertain to the carpets "Siyavash Passing Through Fire" and "Siyavash Killed by Goruy-e Zereh." Some readings in these carpets match none of the examined manuscripts, which is presumed to result from errors in the source quoted on the carpet or from misreading or miswriting by the carpet designer. The first three verses from the third panel of the "Life of Rostam" carpet are not from the Shahnameh but from Asadi Tusi's Garshasp-nameh, and the fourth verse appears to be an interpolation by enthusiasts. Two verses from the sixth panel of the Rostam carpet are present only in the Amir Bahadori and Turner Macan editions, absent from the others. Other noteworthy points include orthographic slips in some carpets. Furthermore, certain information inscribed on the "Ancient Kings of Iran" carpet regarding the names and durations of kings' reigns does not fully correspond to any of the historical sources consulted.

Keywords: Shahnameh, pictorial carpets, Carpet Museum