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Vol. 10 No. 2 (2025)

Articles

Dual-Trunk Wāq Tree in the Demotte Shāhnāma: Kabbalastic Reflections in Zaragoza Bible

https://doi.org/10.55831/ajis.v10i2.871

Published 05.09.2025

  • Fariba Azhari
    • ,
  • Mehdi Mohammadzadeh
Fariba Azhari
Tabriz islamic art university, Iran

Mehdi Mohammadzadeh
Ataturk University, Turkey

Abstract

This study explores shared Jewish-Islamic thought through the dual-trunk Wāq tree in the Demotte Shāhnāma (circa 735 AH/ 1335 CE) and the Trees of Life and Knowledge in the Zaragoza Bible (806 AH/1404 CE). Ilkhanid religious tolerance fostered Jewish-Muslim cultural exchanges, while Sephardic Jews in Iberia, influenced by Islamic thought, produced manuscripts like the Zaragoza Bible, where the trees’ common trunk reflects the concept of unity found in a 13th century text, Shajarat al-Kawn. In Persian literature, the Wāq tree symbolises fate, appearing in the Demotte Shāhnāma with dual
trunks bearing human fruits. Using a descriptive-analytical and comparative approach, this research examines Iranian literary texts, Islamic sources (Qurʾān, ḥadīth), Jewish texts (Torah, Zohar) and Islamic philosophies like Ibn Sīnā and Ibn ʿArabī to uncover Kabbalistic influences on an Islamic artwork. The dual-trunk motif underscores a shared moral framework of good and evil, reflecting broader Jewish-Islamic symbolic thought. This analysis highlights a medieval Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cultural dialogue, addressing a gap in scholarship on Jewish-Islamic artistic interactions.

Keywords

Jewish-Islamic dialogue, Ilkhanid art, Wāq tree symbolism, Trees of Life and Knowledge, Demotte Shāhnāma, Zaragoza Bible

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