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Work #1857

Shahnameh (Book of Kings)

Ferdowsi
c. 977–1010 CE · Persian (New Persian / Dari)
Epic poem in masnavi couplets (c. 50,000 couplets) · Persian epic and Zoroastrian mythological tradition

I revived the Persians with this Persian language — fifty thousand couplets against the erasure of a civilisation

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute Shahnameh (Book of Kings)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Both
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Finite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature not engaged
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Finite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Mediated
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Active
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Cosmic-ordering
Observer · Moral Authority Tradition
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Finite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Shahnameh (Book of Kings)

Cosmic time from creation to the fall of the Sasanians: linear, forward-moving, and degenerative. The golden age of the first kings gives way to the tragic decline culminating in the Arab conquest.

Space

Shahnameh (Book of Kings)

Iran is the sacred centre; Turan the chaotic periphery. Geography is morally charged: the border between Iran and Turan is the frontier between civilisation and barbarism.

Matter

Shahnameh (Book of Kings)

Swords, crowns, horses, armour, thrones — the material world is the arena of heroic action, vividly present and never dismissed.

Observer

Shahnameh (Book of Kings)

The narrator mediates between the ancient past and the present audience. Knowledge comes through chronicles and oral tradition. The divine farr is the cosmic-ordering principle that selects and abandons kings.

Energy

Shahnameh (Book of Kings)

The farr functions as a quasi-energetic principle: it empowers legitimate kings and departs from the unjust. Physical energy is finite and irreversible.

Information

Shahnameh (Book of Kings)

The poem is itself the supreme act of information conservation: Ferdowsi wrote to prevent the loss of Persian history and language.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

Shahnameh (Book of Kings)

Fate versus agency: heroes choose bravely yet are destroyed by forces beyond their control. Islamic faith versus Zoroastrian nostalgia: the poem opens with praise of God but mourns the pre-Islamic world.