al-mawa ̄l ̄ıd, a large section of which survives in al-Da ̄magha ̄n ̄ı’s astrological “Collection”
(written 1113 CE), in Hugo of Santalla’s Latin Liber Aristotelis, in the Jewish astrologer Sahl
ibn Bisˇr’s Kita ̄b al-mawa ̄l ̄ıd (9th c.), and in Ibn Hibinta ̄’s Kita ̄b al-mughn ̄ı (ca 950), which is
quoted in a Byzantine MS (Vat.Gr. 1056) as Moúgne ̄.
The Paranatéllonta toîs dekanoîs, only partially ascribable to T B, were
translated under Xusraw I, perhaps ca 542 (von Gutschmid 88, and Boll 416), but the
precision of this date is still questioned (some scholars suggest a separate earlier translation).
Nonetheless, other works, e.g. Abu ̄ Ma’sˇar’s Greater Introduction (9th c.) – describing the Persian
system of the Paranatéllonta and mentioning numerous Pahlavi terms (especially names of
constellations) – confirm the existence of a Pahlavi translation. Ibn Hibinta ̄’s Kita ̄b al-mughn ̄ı
also refers to the Pahlavi Teuker, whom the Arabic sources name variously as T
̇
̄ınkalu ̄s,
T
̇
ı ̄nkaru ̄s, Tinkalu ̄sˇa, or (with reference to an archaizing forgery) Tankalu ̄sˇa. Boll (415–439)
argued that Abu ̄ Ma’sˇar utilized the Sasanian text, in combination with the Indian icono-
graphic tradition of the decans from V via the astrological text Yavanaja ̄taka
of S, while Warburg and Saxl argued for the presence of the Egyptian icon-
ography of the Decans, through Indian and then Persian (Sasanian) intermediation. Abu ̄
Ma’sˇar’s work was embedded in the Astrolabium planum of Pietro d’Abano (ca 1300), who
there describes the sphaera barbarica.
‘Umar ibn al-Farruxa ̄n al-T
̇
abar ̄ı’s (ca 800) Arabic version of D S’s
Astrological Poem was based on a Pahlavi translation. This treatise survived in Greek until the
7th c., while some prose paraphrases were attested at Buzantion in the 9th c.; few fragments
survived, but some excerpts were inserted into H’s Apotelesmatiká. Other chapters
of Do ̄rotheos survived through a recension based on the Pahlavi version, preserved in
Ma ̄sˇa ̄’alla ̄h’s Kita ̄b al-mawa ̄l ̄ıd and Kita ̄b al-mawa ̄l ̄ıd al-kab ̄ır “The Great Book of the nativities,”
extant in Latin translation.
Ma ̄sˇa ̄’alla ̄h refers to parts of the Pahlavi Do ̄rotheos missing from al-Farruxa ̄n’s transla-
tion. Thus, Ma ̄sˇa ̄’alla ̄h was probably still able to consult another Pahlavi annotated version,
apparently earlier and lengthier than al-Farruxa ̄n’s later Arabic translation. The University
of Leiden Arabic MS (Oriental 891, ff.1–28) contains further material of the Pahlavi
Do ̄rotheos, including some horoscopes, also attested in the monumental Byzantine astro-
logical compilation, Introduction and Foundation to Astrology, attributed to Ah.mad the Persian.
A few chapters deriving from Ma ̄sˇa ̄’alla ̄h’s redaction are preserved in Hugo of Santalla’s
Liber Aristotilis.
A planetary melothesia is attested in the framework of the relations between micro-
cosm and macrocosm (Wiz ̄ıdag ̄ıha ̄ ̄ı Za ̄dspram 30.1–13). The pattern partly follows that attested
in S’s Yavanaja ̄taka, (1.123–126), but is partly Greek. Another melothesia,
Iranian Bundahisˇn 28.3–5, perhaps reflects the influence of the H C,
S.
The description of the World horoscope (thema mundi) attested in the Iranian Bundahisˇn
5 and 6B reveals further Greek and Indian influences.
A. von Gutschmidt, “Die nabatäische Landwirtschaft und ihre Geschwister,” ZDMG 15 (1861) 1–110;
K. Dyroff in F. Boll, Sphaera: neue griechische Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Sternbilder (1903)
482 – 539, see also Boll pp. 412–439; Nallino (1922) 352, 361 = (1948) 292, 301; Fr. Saxl, Verzeichnis
astrologischer und mythologischer illustrierter Handschriften des lateinischen Mittelalters, 2., Die Handschriften der
National-Bibliothek in Wien = Sitzungsberichte der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-
Historische Klasse 2 (1925–1926); A. Götze, “Persische Weisheit in griechischem Gewande,” Zeitschrift
für Indologie und Iranistik 2 (1963) 60–98, 167–174; D.E. Pingree, “The Indian Iconography of the
PAHLAVI, TRANSLATIONS INTO