Analysis of the miniatures of the work Kitāb fī ma'rifati'l-ḥiyal al-handasiyya (TSMK A.3472)

The manuscript examined in this study is registered in the Treasury Library of the Topkapı Palace Museum under the inventory number III. Ahmed 3427. The work in question was written in 1206 and was authored by the renowned scholar Bedi'uz-Zaman Abū'l-'Izz Ismā'īl ibn ar-Razzāz al-Jazarī. Al-Jazarī prepared this work during the period in which he served the Artuqid ruler of Diyarbakır, Sukmān b. Artuq. Al-Jazarī entered the service of Sultan Sukmān b. Artuq in 1181 and continued in this position for approximately twenty-five years. Before this period, he had also served his father and brother, who were members of the same dynasty. After the work was examined, extensive information was provided regarding the political and artistic environment of the period in which the manuscript emerged. In the study, the miniatures and technical drawings contained in the work were analyzed in detail one by one, and the relationship between the images and the text was evaluated. In addition, the themes the artist intended to emphasize, the sections he highlighted, and his choices of color and design approach were examined, and all these elements were explained in a systematic manner. The aim of this study is to investigate the period miniatures in the work from both an art-historical and a technical perspective, and to obtain comprehensive information about the artistic conception and cultural context of the period in question Keywords: Cezeri, Miniature,Science