The King and his Astrologers: A Comparison of the Shāhnāma and the Zhou Li (周礼)

It is well known that astrology and astrologers play an important role in Firdawsī’s Shāhnāma. Even if some Western technical elements, such as astrolabes are mentioned, the social context in which astrologers appear differs from Western models. While in Western narrative contexts astrologers generally appear as individuals, in the Shāhnāma astrologers enter the stage almost always in groups. In the groups of experts, called by the king for making predictions, they are often differentiated. The astronomers/astrologers (akhtar-shināsān) appear together with the priests (mūbadān) and the the wise men (bikhardān). Their predictions concern mostly the fate of the reign and the king. These characteristics are shared by role of astronomers and astrologers at the Chinese court. The Zhou Li (周礼), written between 200 BCE and 200 CE, became one of the Confucian classics, and describes in detail the post in so-called “astronomical bureau” one institution at the imperial court, in which several groups with specialized tasks provided predictions for the emperor. It is very likely that this system was formed after a Western model, eventually from Ancient Iran. It might have had its roots in the Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian kingdoms. There, numerous astronomers/astrologers in different towns sent their reports to the king in the capital of the empire. Such a system of cooperation was unparalleled in the Greco-Roman world.