عنوان مجله
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Journal of American Oriental Society
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چکیده
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Everything we know about the observatory in Tabrīz founded by Ghāzān Khān (r. 1271–
1304), the seventh ruler of the Īlkhānid dynasty of Persia (1295–1304), was published by
Aydın Sayılı some fifty years ago. 1 Relying on primary historical sources, he presented an
adequate description of its astronomical activities and of the many skills of Ghāzān Khān
in the field of observational instrumentation. 2 Sayılı also presented a good overview of the
Marāgha observatory from 1260–1283, 3 but due to a lack of reliable evidence for the period
after ca. 1280, he made some statements—especially concerning Ghāzān Khān’s astronomical
innovations—that could not be substantiated. A recently discovered treatise has now
revealed the exact type and location of Ghāzān Khān’s innovations, which we enumerate
below. Our treatise begins where Sayılı left off and appears to give dependable information
that we can use to illuminate the later period at the Marāgha observatory, during which very
little is known concerning the type and extent of astronomical activity.
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