dragons’ snouts revealing a long tongue which
tral medallion set within an arch-shaped frame
nearly touches the tail of the preceding dragon
The latter contains an interlaced infinite star
Wil iams refers to an ancient Slavic version of a
pattern, in turn outlined by an interlaced pearled
Byzantine epic of the city of Babylon87 which may
band which extends at its apex into a smal medal-
further elucidate the imagery of the dragons encir-
lion It is touched on either side by the sinuous
cling the city According to this story, thought
tongues projecting from the gaping mouths of
to be of Indo-Iranian origin,88 Nebuchadnezzar
the dragons whose scaly serpentine bodies with
rebuilt a new city on top of “seven rocks and seven
raised slender wings wind tightly around the
stations,” the entire city being surrounded by the
medallion Their bodies form a pretzel-like knot
body of a giant dragon whose mouth and tail
and then two loops, the tail tips tapering to a
unite to form the gate 89 Nebuchadnezzar also had
point to form a tight curl at the base On account
a large sword made for himself in the form of a
of the surface wear of the door only the frame of
dragon which had magical powers and could act
the small medallion is extant, one can therefore
autonomously 90 The image of the dragon was,
only speculate what it was that the dragons were
in addition, chosen by the king as coat of arms
protecting or threatening
of the city, and as such was applied to garments,
A similar conceptualisation governs the depic-
weapons, military standards, horse harnesses and
tion on a large bas-relief stone fragment carved
saddles, roof beams, doors and windows, vessels,
with a pair of antithetical y arranged dragons that
plates, bowls and spoons 91 In case of war all the
frame a large mutlilayered composite rayed orb
“heraldic” dragons would come to life and devour
which carries clear solar associations, discovered
the army of the enemy 92 In the same account of
near Alaeddin Tepe in Konya, now in the İnce
Babylon it is said that following the king’s death,
Minare Müzesi in Konya (fig 154) It was prob-
failure to observe his commandments led to an
ably part of a thirteenth-century Saljuqid monu-
inversion of the protective powers of the dragon
ment, which no longer exists Only the dragon
The narrative later reveals that the singing of a
head to the left is complete, portrayed with a long,
hymn in praise of God made the initially hostile
curved wide-open snout revealing sharp teeth and
dragons recoil as if to form a knot 93
fangs along with a prominent sinuous tongue the
This version of the epic thus makes it clear that
tip of which touches the edge of the star rosette
the dragon was seen not only as a creature that
The head is punctuated with almond-shaped eyes
struck fear in people’s hearts, but as guardian
framed by long, curved lashes and crowned by a
of the city with inherent apotropaic powers 94 It
small, rounded ear At the back of the head the
suggests that the encircling dragons performed
dragon’s neck is clasped by paired “collars,” the
a protective function as well It is interesting to
upper part braided, the lower marked with verti-
consider, moreover, that the conspicuous knot-
cal hatching The long scaly ophidian bodies form
ting characteristic of many dragon representa-
a loop and then a pretzel-like knot The bottom
tions, a topic examined in the following chapter,
section of the stone is broken off so the tail tips
may be an indication that the fierce aspect of the
are lost Likewise, only part of the pretzel-like knot
dragon is contained once its body forms a knot
of the dragon to the right has survived
The encircling dragon iconography is also
A more complex form which may be related
found on architectural elements such as a carved
to the encircling motif graces the small “Kiosk
wooden door, once possibly part of a mauso-
Mosque” situated in the courtyard of the dou-
leum 95 The door, dated to the first half of the thir-
ble-section caravanserai Sultan Han, near Kayseri
teenth-century, is thought to come from the Tigris
(between 629/1232 and 633/1236) discussed in
region, and is now preserved in the Museum für
detail in chapter 2 Here the confronted serpent
Islamische Kunst in Berlin (fig 153) 96 It is carved
festoons end in small dragon heads, the necks
with a pair of large dragons surrounding a cen-
bent inwards and the open jaws holding the tips
87 Idem, vol 1, p 60, n 64 The epic is known from six
90 Idem, pp 133, 135
slightly varying text fragments of ancient Russian histories
91 Idem, p 133
Wesselofsky, 1876, pp 129–43, esp 133
92 Idem, pp 133–4
88 Idem, 1876, p 308
93 Idem, p 141, n 28
89 Idem, p 133 and n 11 It may further be noted that in
94 Idem, p 142
another ancient Russian epic a dragon, his head touching the
95 Cf Hauptmann von Gladiss, ed , p 95
tip of his tail, is described as surrounding the city of Antioch
96 Cf Meinecke, 1989, pp 54, 58, detail
Idem, pp 325–6, n 51
vestiges of ancient dragon iconographies
153
of the outer festoon-band They thus appear to
composition is encircled by an interlaced band
“swal ow” or “deliver” their own tails (fig 13) An
formed of six pairs of dragons terminating in
analogy may further be drawn to the interlaced
paired confronting heads with gaping mouths
dragons that enclose the ogival arches carved with
and projecting tongues (composed of very fine
figural compositions on the portals of the Imām
flame-like lines) Their alternately spotted and
Bahir Mausoleum in Mosul (fig 19) and the Mār
finely scaled bodies form evenly spaced circular
Behnām Monastery southeast of Mosul (fig 18)
enclosures containing vegetal motifs The ser-
The ouroboros aspect is further evident in
pentine interlace is in turn framed by epigraphic
the double frontispiece of the Kitāb al-diryāq
bands in Kufic and cursive script in Arabic and
(“Book of the Theriac,” often referred to as “Book
Persian (fig 155) The main theme of the inscrip-
of Antidotes”), dated 595/1199, in the collection
tions is love, the longing for the beloved and the
of the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, on which
anguish and suffering occasioned by love 99 These
the encircling dragons are juxtaposed with the
sentiments are reflected by the two human fig-
personification of the Moon (fig 176), examined
ures whose thoughtful interaction is underlined
below in chapter 11 Although of course realised
by a distinctive right-handed gesture with delicate
in an entirely different medium, the represen-
finger movement by one of the figures, while the
tations in stone and on paper probably share a
other has folded hands 100 The introspective expe-
relatively close geographic provenance and period
rience of personal love was perceived as a cru-
of production The astral personification on the
cial element in following the path to virtue and
Pseudo-Galen double frontispiece, moreover,
attaining moral perfectibility 101 This microcos-
might provide a link between what appear to
mic ideal is aptly framed by the interlaced drag-
be composite stellar symbols on the Berlin door
ons The tall cylindrical body of a Kashan-style
(fig 153) and the Konya architectural stone frag-
ewer of the same period and in a closely related
ment (fig 154)
style, now preserved in Paris, Musée du Louvre,
The motif also features conspicuously on sev-
is similarly encircled by eight pairs of intertwin-
eral Kashan-style ceramic vessels that are over-
glaze painted with lustre; here the encircling
ing dragons whose heads with wide-open mouths
imagery is rendered in the form of interlacing
and projecting tongues confront each other on
bands comprising multiple pairs of “Saljuq-
the rounded shoulder The bodies of the fabulous
style” dragons with smal pointed ears and gaping
beasts define five horizontal registers filled with
snouts with thin projecting tongues circumscrib-
cursive epigraphic bands in Persian written in
ing a central composition 97 On one bowl, now
reserve on a lustre-painted ground 102 It may
preserved in Chicago, in the Harvey B Plotnick
be inferred that, although generally perceived
Collection, the ophidian bodies of the mythical
to be a mere decorative device on Saljuq-period
creatures encircle a well-known motif, often por-
objects, the iconography of encircling dragons
trayed on early thirteenth-century Kashan-style
may well have conveyed some cosmological and,
ceramic bowls, of two seated human figures con-
possibly, mythological significance
versing Portrayed with three-quarter facing large
The encircling dragon motif is also found on
“moon-shaped” faces with long almond-shaped
textiles, which were a key luxury item for circu-
eyes, arched eyebrows and gently smiling lips,
lation Their eminent portability and high status
flanked by long tresses embellished with diadems
within the medieval Islamic and Eastern Christian
and flowing over the shoulders, the figures con-
cultures assured their important role in estab-
form to the standards of ideal beauty that pre-
lishing an international visual vocabulary 103 This
vailed in Islamic lands ruled by Western Asian
led to shared decorative themes in Islamic and
dynasties from the tenth century onwards 98 The
Byzantine textiles, and consequently to frequent
97 Grube, 1965, pl 28 (dated 607 H/1210, New york,
101 Cf Meisami, 1987, pp 237–98
Metropolitan Museum of Art) Enderlein et al , 2001, p 51
102 L’Islam dans les col ections nationales, 1977, p 148, cat
(Berlin, Museum für Islamische Kunst, inv no I 1996 2)
no 293 Watson, 1985, pp 104–6 and fig 76 L’Etrange et le
Pope, 1945, p 121, pl 84 (Kelekian Collection)
Merveil eux en terres d’Islam, 2001, p 110, cat no 75 Paris,
98 Cf Holter, 1937, pp 11–2
Musée du Louvre, Département des Antiquités orientales,
99 Pancaroğlu, 2007, p 133, cat no 86
Section Islamique, inv no MOA 444
100 Cf eadem, p 133, cat no 86
103 Cf Hoffman, 2001, p 26
154