Abstract

The present book constitutes an interdisciplinary work in the fields of Byzantine Studies and History of Science. The main object is the study of an astronomical handbook, precisely a Byzantine commentary on Persian astronomical tables, entitled Παράδοσις εἰς τοὺς περσικοὺς κανόνας τῆς ἀστρονομίας, i. e. Instructions for the Persian tables of astronomy. It is a new source on the history of astronomy and on the transfer of knowledge occured between Persia (Ilkhanate) and the Byzantine Empire between the 13th century and the Renaissance. The features of the text have been discussed in the frameworks of the general history of astronomy and more carefully in the cross cultural contexts of the scientific practice in Byzantium. While the text was aimed to be used as a practical tool, it is an important source to discuss and reconstruct the epistemic value of astronomy in Byzantium, a task it is tackled in the present work. The textual transmission was reconstructed and a critical text was established. The edition provides a critical text and a fine-grained exposition of the variants and the recensions occurred in the history of this Opus (editio princeps of the "Paradosis eis tous persikous kanonas tes astronomias" and of the third book of Theodoros Meliteniotes’ "Tribiblos astronomike"). A translation of the original Greek text into German is added for a better comprehension of the Greek mathematical language. A commentary of the contents and the stylistic features in the framework of the history of mathematics and a glossary on the Greek and on the Persian or Arab astronomical terms are provided to help the understandings of the text. Eventually, a series of small biographies of the Byzantine scholars who wrote and modified the text is offered to help the readers not acquainted with the Byzantine Studies.