A comparison Between the Paintings of Noah’s Ark Narrative in the Manuscripts of the Ilkhanid Jami ‘al-Tawarikh, Timurid Majma al-Tavarikh, and the Safavid Qasas al-Anbiya with the Text of the Holy Qur’an

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Ph.D. candidate of Comparative and Analytical History of Islamic Art, Faculty of Art, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Art, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Problem statement: The history and story of the Prophet Noah are among the important religious topics reflected in the paintings. The narrative of the Prophet Noah’s Ark is the theme of many paintings in different Islamic periods. The description of this historical and religious event is also presented in the Holy Qur’an. Therefore, this necessitates the comparison of Persian Islamic paintings to the text of the Qur’an.
Research objective: The purpose of this study is to identify the amount of similarity of these paintings to the text of the Holy Qur’an. Also, this study was an attempt to answer these research questions 1- To what extent do the paintings of the Ark of Prophet Noah (PBUH) in the manuscripts of the Rashidi Ilkhanid Jami ‘al-Tawarikh, the Timurid Majma al-Tavarikh, and the Safavid Qasas al-Anbiya match the text of the Holy Qur’an? 2-What are the similarities and differences between the paintings of the narration of the Ark of the Prophet Noah (AS) in these three manuscripts?
Research method: For this purpose, in the present study, library, documentary, and pictorial data were examined using a descriptive-analytical and comparative approach. Cases of the study include paintings of Noah’s Ark in the manuscripts of the Rashidi Ilkhanid Jami ‘al-Tawarikh in the Royal Society of Asia in London (Nasser Khalili Collection), the Timurid Majma al-Tavarikh written by Hafiz Abru. This is preserved in the David Collection, and the Safavid Qasas al-Anbiya is preserved in the British Library. These paintings were compared with the text of the Holy Qur’an.
Conclusion: The results of the research show that compared to the paintings of the Jami ‘al-Tawarikh and Majma al-Tavarikh manuscripts, the narrative of Prophet Noah’s Ark in the Qasas al-Anbiya is similar to the text of the Holy Qur’an to a great extent

Keywords

References

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The Monthly Scientific Journal of Bagh-e Nazar
Volume 19, Issue 112
October 2022
Pages 93-102

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