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Amini F, Beik Mohammadi K. (2022). Al-Tariaq Book is an Iranian Manuscript or...?. Parseh J Archaeol Stud. 6(20), 221-246. doi:10.30699/PJAS.6.20.221
URL: http://journal.richt.ir/mbp/article-1-790-en.html

Abstract
Since there are few works of painting from the Seljuk period, and on the other hand, most of them were written without data and place, so there are no common opinion about most of the painting works of this period. On the other hand, because most researchers, do not use the correct scientific method in their research, it adds to the existing problems in this field. One of the painting works of this period, which is the subject of this research and has a writing data, is the Al-Tariaq book attributed to Galen, which has written in 595 AH/1199 AD, written and kept in the National Library of Paris. Due to the fact that the place of its writing is not included in this manuscript, there is a difference of opinion about where the said version was written and illustrated. This version has been attributed by different people to different places such as Iran, Jazireh, Dyarbakr, Mousel and Baghdad. Therefore, the basis of the main problem of the current research is the location of the place of writing and illustration of this manuscript, which is analyzed and criticized by descriptive-analytical and comparative methods based on library studies, and the views of researchers will be examined with comparison, it will be shown that the version of Al-Tariaq cannot be attributed to any other country than Iran. By examining and comparing the illustrations of this book and other Iranian works of arts, especially pottery and metalwork, it can be said that the view of most researchers of the illustrations of Al-Tariaq book is more similar to the way of recording Iranian art than to Iraq, so, it can be said that the origin of this manuscript is Iran and other views are incorrect. 
Keywords: Al-Tariaq, , Iran, Jazireh, Baghdad Method, Mosul.

Introduction
Since there are few works left about book painting and illustration in Seljuk period Iran, and on the other hand, most of them are without date and place of writing, so most of the works of painting of this period are discussed and disputed. Apart from these problems, the failure to apply the correct scientific method and also the involvement of some prejudices, which of course are not worthy of a scientific research, have caused the existing problems in the field of painting in this period to be added, one of the works of this periods, which fortunately has a writing date, is a copy of the Al-Tariaq book attributed to Galen, which was written in 595 AH and is kept in the National library of Paris. Due to the fact that the place of writing is not mentioned in this manuscript, most of the researchers, if it is found in the text in its entirety, argued with very weak reasons and without scientific basis that this version was written in the Jazireh or Mosul and has nothing to do with Iranian art, so the purpose of this the research is a complete review of the writing and illustration of the Al-Tariaq book.
Research question and hypothesis: The main proposition of the research is to locate the place where the manuscript of Al-Tariaq was written and illustrated in Paris, and by examining the artistic style and the role of the materials used in the illustrations of the Al-Tariaq book, the question is raised, which one of the most similar styles and materials of this book are there art school? By assuming the connection and compatibility of the motifs illustrated in the mentioned book with various works of art, including the paintings of Iran’s enameled and gold-colored pottery, as well as the motifs used on the metal works of the Seljuk and Khwarazmshahi periods, it is possible to determine the place of its writing and illustration, attributed to Iran. 
Research Method: The research method in this research is a descriptive-analytical and comparative method based on library studies in criticizing the views of the researchers about the Al-Tariaq manuscript, which is related to the enameled and golden pottery and also the role of the materials used on the metal works of this period in Iran. The research problem has been discussed. 

Inroduction of the Manuscript of Al-Tariaq
The book of Al-Tariaq is a translation from the book of Galen, a Greek physician and pharmacist who lived in the second century AD. This book was translated from Greek to Arabic by Ibn-Ishaq in the 9th century AD. The subject of the book is written about toxicology and antidotes, which the author narrates with legendary stories. There are two illustrated versions of this book. The first version was written in 595 AH and is kept in the National library of Paris. The second version is undated and it is attributed to the middle of the 13th century. This manuscript is kept in the Vienna National Library. In this research, the dated version of the National library of Paris will be examined. This version has 12 images, the first of which begins with an image that is repeated twice. In the middle of the painting, a woman is sitting holding a moon crescent and two people are standing on either side of her. This page is surrounded by a frame made of intertwined dragons. 4-winged people can be seen on the four sides of this frame (Fig 1). After that, nine doctors of the period, including Galen himself, have been settled along with their names and biographies (Fig 2).

Conclusion
Based on the investigations and the comparison made between the pictures of Al-Tariaq book with the paintings of Zarinfam enamel pottery and Iranian metal vessels, it was found that there is a complete similarity in terms of stylistics, the way the pictures are drawn and the composition between the Al-Tariaq book and these works. Therefore, attributing this manuscript to the Jazireh is incorrect. The only reasons mentioned by some researchers are human monographs and other interwined dragons, however, if it is mentioned in full, similar to it has been seen in other regions, the image of two interwined dragons, a completely similar example of which is depicted in Mianrodan, but on the golden bowl from Kashan, so based on what has been described, this manuscript is Iranian and has the characteristics of Iranian art of Seljuk and Khwarazmshahi periods. The titles of the book are also written in Kufic script, which all researchers agree that it is Iranian. It is appropriate to attribute ir to Iran rather than to the Jazireh. It is necessary to remember that based on the available evidence, it has sometimes been seen that a copy has the artistic characteristics of one region but was illustrated for ruler another land. In such examples, the issue is not out of two situations, or that the copy in question was made outside the territory of the said ruler and was given to him or written on his order. There are many examples of this type. Like Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, which was written in Tus and sent to Sultan Masoud’s court in Qazneh. Or, an artist migrated from one place to another and painted there, in which case he followed the style of his origin and his art shoud be attributed to his origin, to the place where the art is performed. Apart from all of these, the examples of paintings that are attributed to the Mousel or the Jazireh, were mostly influenced by the style of Baghdad, although the influence of Seljuk painting can also be seen in some of them, like the ways of drawing clothes, there are two ways of working in the paintings of this area, one is Baghdad style and the other is a combination of Baghdad style and Iranian painting. This method is mostly seen after the Mongol attack on Iran. In this method, some clothes are made in the style of Baghdad, which are pleated and shaded and others are drawn in the Iranian way. In Iranian paintings, the clothes are mostly simple or geometric and plant designs can be seen on them, however, in some examples the influence of Baghdad style pleated clothes can be seen. The faces are also influenced by Iranian art, but they are drawn a little more formally and seriously. As mentioned earlier, among the examples of mixed works illustrated in Mosul, we can mention the copy of Al-Aghani’s book, in which the clothes of the clothes of the courtiers are painted in the style of Iran. The expression of the faces is also influenced by Seljuk art, but it has differences from it, which can be clearly seen by comparing them with the Al-Tariaq version. Therefore, if this version was painted in Mosul or on the Jazireh, these clothes or a part of them should be pleated in the style of Baghdad, if such a thing is not visible in them. (Fig 28). But where was this version written and painted, finally, it can be said that it was during the Seljuk and Khwarazmshahi periods, according to the illustrations in the Al-Tariaq book and the examples compared with Iranian pottery and metal vessels. It is believed that this version was mostly likely painted by an artist in the Isfahan region, especially Kashan, less likely elsewhere in Iran.