involving the dragon in which Islamic, Turko-
of the medieval Central Asian world often remains
Mongol, Jewish and Christian beliefs overlapped
incomprehensible for modern people Because
and amalgamated
of the refractory nature of the evidence, some
iconographic elements of the period are based
Since there are no previous comprehensive studies
upon a number of deductions while some others
of the dragon in the Islamic world,98 the present
necessarily remain elusive, even impenetrable It
exercise is prone to all the risks that are char-
is therefore the intention of the present study
acteristic of such an endeavour Depictions of
to locate certain iconographic details that so
dragons in the material culture of the medieval
far have not been understood or, perhaps, even
Islamic period have never been fully catalogued
recognised At the same time it has to be borne
as a corpus, hence in what follows only a repre-
in mind that what may be considered a symbol
sentative sampling wil be considered in which the
in the twentieth century may well represent an
selected objects are individually discussed Inevi-
authentic transfer of a reality for man in medieval
tably, numerous potentially relevant objects may
Central Asia and beyond Even so it is hoped that
have been overlooked or considered too briefly,
the following chapters will shed some light on the
and the aim of tracking down the exact symbolic
perception of the great dragon beast within the
significance of the serpent and its greater rela-
overall intellectual and visual universe of the
tive, the dragon, may not have been fully realised
medieval Irano-Turkish world
Nevertheless, the approach adopted here will
Finally, the path that has led to the realisa-
at least bring into focus the complexity of the
tion of this study has been long and tortuous:
semantic horizon associated with these images
the serpent is not called a dragon for nothing
This endeavour is particularly precarious since
Nonetheless, this study represents but a small
modern perception of the elements that determine
contribution to a better comprehension of the
different modes of interpretation will not neces-
complex multivalent symbolism of the dragon
sarily reflect the meaning and mental associations
in the medieval Islamic sphere Some proposi-
attributed to them by the medieval populations
tions consequently have a provisional character
studied Imagery that elicited clearly identifiable
that, with the help of new material, specialists
connotations and allusions in the cultural milieu
will confirm or invalidate
98 Giovanni Curatola’s thorough work on the dragon
scripts of the post-Timurid period Curatola, 1979; idem,
focuses on the overall relation of its iconography to Chinese
1982; and idem, 1989 Other previous studies cited above
and Central Asian sources as well as its appearance in manu-
have mainly focused on particular topics
the medieval islamic world from central asia to anatolia
15