Book of kings (Shahnama), Walters Art Museum MS. W.600

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcodePublished 2009

The Walters Art Museum600 N. Charles StreetBaltimore, Maryland

21201http://www.thewalters.org/

This document is a digital facsimile of a manuscript belonging to the Walters Art Museum, inBaltimore, Maryland, in the United States. It is one of a number of manuscripts that have beendigitized as part of a project generously funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities,and by an anonymous donor to the Walters Art Museum. More details about the manuscripts atthe Walters can be found by visiting The Walters Art Museum's website www.thewalters.org. Forfurther information about this book, and online resources for Walters manuscripts, please contactus through the Walters Website by email, and ask for your message to be directed to the Departmentof Manuscripts.

NOTE: The pages in this book are ordered from right to left. This means that to view the pages inorder, you should go the last page of the document and read what would be from “back-to-front”for a Western manuscript.

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Ownership entry dated 12 Jumādá I 1204 AH / 1789 CE (fol.1a)

Acquisition Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters bequest

Binding The binding is not original.

Probably thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE; blacklacquer (no flap); central ovals and pendants decorated withfloral designs on a gold background

Bibliography Storey, C. A. Persian Literature: A Bio-BibliographicalSurvey, Vol. 1. (London: Luzac, 1927- ), 112-159.

Richard, Francis. Catalogue des manuscrits persans. (Paris:Bibliothèque nationale, 1989), nos. 228-9.

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fol. 216a:Title: The combat of Rustam and PūlādvandForm: Illustration

fol. 236b:Title: Rustam rescues Bīzhan from the pitForm: Illustration

fol. 264b:Title: Gustaham fights Lahhāk and FarshīdvardForm: Illustration

fol. 303b:Title: Luhrāsp enthronedForm: IllustrationLabel: This is the right side of a double-page illustrationintroducing the Book of Luhrāsp. The inscription in themiddle eight-pointed star of the titlepiece reads: Kitāb-i Luhrāsb nāmah.

fol. 367a:Title: Rustam kills Isfandiyār with an arrowForm: Illustration

fol. 387b:Title: Alexander the Great and the dying DariusForm: Illustration

fol. 421a:Title: Ardashīr recognizes Shāpūr during a polo gameForm: Illustration

fol. 442a:Title: Bahrām Gūr hunting with ĀzādahForm: Illustration

fol. 544a:Title: Bahrām Gur enthroned after killing two lionsForm: Illustration

fol. 620b:Title: A festive gathering in a landscapeForm: Illustration

Provenance Seal impression with the name Aḥmad (fol. 1a)

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fol. 2b:Title: Text page of Shāhnāmah prefaceForm: Text pageLabel: This is the first page of the preface ordered byBāysunghur in 829 AH / 1425-6 CE. The text is largelywritten in black nastaʿlīq script with incidentals in blueand gold. The preface ends on fol. 14a with a colophon.

fol. 14b:Title: Incipit page with illuminated titlepieceForm: Incipit; titlepieceLabel: This illuminated titlepiece is inscribed aghāz-i kitāb-i Shāhnāmah (the beginning of the book ofthe Shāhnāmah) in white ink on a blue ground withpolychrome decoration.

fol. 17b:Title: The court of KayūmarsForm: Illustration

fol. 48b:Title: Zāl in the court of Miḥrāb of KabulForm: Illustration

fol. 91a:Title: Rustam slays the White Dīv (the seventh feat)Form: Illustration

fol. 115a:Title: Rustam mortally wounds SuhrābForm: Illustration

fol. 145a:Title: The beheading of SiyāvushForm: Illustration

fol. 163a:Title: Kay Khusraw attacks the fortress of BahmanForm: Illustration

fol. 178a:Title: The Turanians fight the PersiansForm: Illustration

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(fols. 1b-2a); illuminated medallion (shamsah) (fol.1a); titlepiece with the inscription aghāz-i kitāb-iShāhnāmah in white ink on a decorated background(fol. 14b); titlepiece inscribed with the title of thesecond part: Kitāb-i Luhrāsb nāmah (fol. 303b); threetailpieces around the colophons (fols. 14a, 303a, and620a); rectangular panels for chapter/section headings;frame

Decoration Upper board outside:Title: BindingForm: BindingLabel: This black lacquer binding with lobed centralovals and pendants is not contemporary with themanuscript and probably dates to the thirteenth centuryAH / nineteenth CE.

fol. 1a:Title: Illuminated medallionForm: MedallionLabel: This illuminated medallion (shamsah) with ablue ground and gold arabesques and polychromeroundels opens the codex. There are later inscriptions,including an ownership entry dated 12 Jumādá I 1204AH / 1789 CE. The seal at the left gives the nameAḥmad.

fol. 1b:Title: Double-page illuminated frontispieceForm: FrontispieceLabel: This is the right side of a double-pageilluminated frontispiece that precedes the preface of thetext. The inscriptions are not legible.

fol. 2a:Title: Double-page illuminated frontispieceForm: FrontispieceLabel: This is the left side of a double-page illuminatedfrontispiece that precedes the preface of the text. Theinscriptions are not legible.

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Transliteration: Final colophon (fol. 620a): tammat al-kitābbi-ʿawn al-Malik al-Wahhāb fī awākhīr shahr Dhī al-Ḥijjahal-ḥarām /1/ sanat khams […] tisʿimi<ʾ>ah al-hijrīyah wa-ṣallá Allāh ʿalá /2/ khayr khalqih […] .ṭf [?] ḥqqh [?]Muḥammad wa-ālih /3/ wa-ajsābih wa-ʿitratih ajmaʿīn ilá /4/yawm al-dīn wa-sallam taslīman /5/ dāyiman kathīran /6/abadan /7/Comment: In addition to 620a, colophons are also on 14a and303a: the first, which has no date, gives the title of the prefaceas Dībāchah-i Bāysunghurī; the second marks the end of thefirst part of the book; and the third has a damaged date: endof Dhū al-Ḥijjah 9[?]5

Support material Paper

Laid paper

Extent Foliation: i+621+i

Collation Catchwords: Written obliquely on versos

Dimensions 19.0 cm wide by 32.5 cm high

Written surface 12.5 cm wide by 25.5 cm high

Layout Columns: 4Ruled lines: 25Framing lines in blue, gold, brown, and black

Contents fols. 1a - 620b:Title: ShāhnāmahText note: Preface by Bāysunghur Mīrzā ibn Shāhrukh,composed in 829 AH / 1425-6 CE (fols. 1b-14a);main text divided into two parts, the second partwith the title Luhrāsbnāmah (fol. 303b); double-pageilluminated frontispiece before the preface (fols. 1b-2a)badly damagedHand note: Written in nastaʿlīq script in black, blue,and gold with chapter/section headings in blue on adecorated background; incidentals in blue and goldDecoration note: Eighteen illustrations; double-pageilluminated frontispiece with a faded inscription infour cartouches introducing the work and author

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Shelf mark Walters Art Museum Ms. W.600

Descriptive Title Book of kings (Shahnama)

Text title ShāhnāmahVernacular:

Author Authority name: FirdawsīAs-written name: Abū al-Qāsim Ḥasan ibn Isḥāq FirdawsīṬūsīName, in vernacular:

Note: Author dates preferred by cataloger: d. 411 or 416 AH /1020-5 CE

Abstract This is an illuminated and illustrated Safavid copy of theBook of kings (Shāhnāmah) by Firdawsī (d. 411 or 416AH / 1020-5 CE), dating to the tenth century AH / sixteenthCE. The text is largely written in black nastaʿlīq scriptwith headings in blue on a polychrome ground. The codexopens with an illuminated medallion (fol. 1a), followed bya double-page illuminated frontispiece (fols. 1b-2a), poorlypreserved. The preface, ordered by Bāysunghur in 829 AH /1425-6 CE, begins on fol. 2b. The Shāhnāmah text begins onfol. 14b with an inscribed illuminated titlepiece. It is dividedinto two parts. Eighteen paintings illustrate the text. Theblack lacquer binding with lobed central ovals and pendantsis not contemporary with the manuscript and dates to thethirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE.

Date 10th century AH / 16th CE; damaged date in the colophonreads: end of Dhū al-Ḥijjah 9[?]5

Origin Iran

Form Book

Genre Historical

Genre Literary -- Poetry

Language The primary language in this manuscript is Persian.

Colophon 620a:

This document is a digital facsimile of a manuscript belonging to the Walters Art Museum, inBaltimore, Maryland, in the United States. It is one of a number of manuscripts that have beendigitized as part of a project generously funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities,and by an anonymous donor to the Walters Art Museum. More details about the manuscripts atthe Walters can be found by visiting The Walters Art Museum's website www.thewalters.org. Forfurther information about this book, and online resources for Walters manuscripts, please contactus through the Walters Website by email, and ask for your message to be directed to the Departmentof Manuscripts.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcodePublished 2011

A digital facsimile of Walters Ms. W.600, Book of kings (Shahnama)Title: Shāhnāmah

Published by: The Walters Art Museum600 N. Charles Street Baltimore, MD 21201

http://www.thewalters.org/