represented here as the “Master of the Dragons ”
sented a victory commemoration on a triumphal
The motif gives visual form to the idea of the
gateway, which also served as entrance to the
cosmic ruler wrestling with and subduing threat-
caliphal palace Significantly, by employing the
ening forces, represented by the dragons What
time-honoured symbolism of the dragon-tamer
is more, the iconographic expression portrays
this victory commemoration aimed at invoking
the ruler as dragon-tamer whose supernatural
supernatural talismanic defences as a psychologi-
powers enabled him to subdue, contain, tame
cal safeguard against dangerous forces or cata-
and transform the dragons rather than annihilate
strophic events
them Since this iconographical theme was used as
The associated royal charisma may moreover
decoration on a wide range of artefacts accessible
be rooted in the celestial,114 and possibly astrologi-
to a larger part of society (the Bobrinski bucket,
cal, realms Hartner sees in the central figure “the
for instance, was perhaps given to a religious
new-born child – symbol of the new moon ”115
dignitary), it seems probable that its semantic
However on account of the confronted seated
meaning was not seen as exclusively confined to
lions in profile, which are carved in relief onto the
the art of the court and the upper classes but
imposts below the arch, the central figure could
rather that it was a multivalent symbol, transcend-
also be interpreted as a personification of the Sun
ing any specific level of society 120 This was made
whose house is in Leo 116 However, irrespective
possible by the fact that the ethos of cosmic rul-
of the visual conflation of the figure with either
ership was understood to comprise the idea of
the Sun or the Moon, its striking imagery prob-
victory over adverse forces as a synthesis of the
ably represented the triumph of the “heavenly
fundamental royal virtues and hence itself served
ruler” over his enemies by employing a highly
as a visual metaphor imbued with a more gener-
potent symbolism of great antiquity 117 On yet
alised auspicious and apotropaic significance 121
another level, as has been pointed out by Herzfeld,
It is moreover tempting to propose that a bust
the popularly used appellation “Talisman Gate”
or a head flanked by two dragons represented an
(Bāb al-Ṭilasm) is certainly no mere coincidence
abbreviated reference, which has close analogies
but, as noted above, may be associated with the
to the semantic meaning of the dragon-tamer,
overall propitious and apotropaic content of the
and whose al egorical content was clear to a medi-
iconographic visualisation 118 This is further
eval audience The emblematic significance of
cor ro borated by the inscription, which refers to
the allegorical imagery that omitted the visual
the caliph as “the imām, to whom the whole of
manifestation of the bodies would have con-
humanity has to submit,” as well as “the caliph
veyed the same meaning as the examples of the
who is initiated by the master of the world and
dragon-tamer motif on Khurasani metalwork or
who is a proof for Allāh of the entirety of beings,”
the Bāb al-Ṭilasm in Baghdad yet another pos-
representing a further talismanic aspect allud-
sibility may be considered, namely that a twofold
ing to defeated or yet to be defeated rivals of the
approach was possible in reading this imagery,
caliph 119
and that a literal as well as an allegorical concep-
It has been shown that the emblematic rep-
tion was attached to the “abbreviated” form
resentation of the cosmic ruler flanked by and
What is more, as already noted above, the rep-
often grasping dragon-headed staffs, so ubiq-
resentation alludes to a mythical vision of the
uitously employed on works of art, in particu-
ruler and refers to the age-old portrayal of the
lar on metalwork, from the mid-eleventh to the
archetypal royal hero overcoming dangerous
early thirteenth century, was associated with the
creatures in a mythical-heroic manner It may
ancient concept of the “Master of the Animals,”
be suggested with a degree of certainty that to the
monument was still relevant in not too distant memory
ciation with the sun, which can be traced back to remote
which is reflected in the symbolic act of the Ottoman sulṭān
antiquity, as far as the fourth millennium bc (Hartner, 1938,
Murād IV ibn Aḥmad I (1032/1623–1049/1640) who, after
pp 115, 119), apparently originated in a purely mytho-
his occupation of Baghdad in 1638, walled up the gateway
logical or metaphysical conception ( idem, p 138) The
in order to prophylactically curtail the potency of the gate
personification of the planets is discussed in chapter 8,
as victory monument, in other words, to preclude any future