A Walk through the Iranian Heavens: Spherical and NonSpherical Cosmographic Models in the Imagination of Ancient Iran and Its Neighbors by Antonio C. D. Panaino

Abstract

A Walk through the Iranian Heavens is an innovative and focused study by the well-known scholar Antonio Panaino. This monograph looks at cosmography in ancient Iran and adjacent cultures, with attention to the problem of sphericity in antiquity. We might take for granted that the Greeks, after a point, operated with the model of a spherical Earth, but what about Iran, which had its own Mazdean mythology and worldview but was still influenced by Hellenic culture? At what point did ancient Iran become exposed to and/or adopt a spherical Earth as well as the model of a cosmic sphere? How did this model of the universe affect the Zoroastrian worldview? These are the questions that come to mind when approaching A Walk through the Iranian Heavens.