Ancient Iranian Studies
Year:2022 | Volume:1 | Issue:2|Papers Count:6

The Iron Age in the Central Zagros is contemporaneous by Assyrians, Kassite’s states, and other tribes and their presence in this area.  Archaeological studies of this period, almost regardless of the presence of these States or groups, have only studied graveyards and burial methods and other findings from them. However, archaeological evidence and reliefs obtained from this area along with Assyrian cuneiform tablets show the strong presence of Assyrians and Kassites. However, this issue has received less attention in Iron Age studies, The Aseman-Abad intermountain plain is no exception. Despite being difficult to cross and its small area, this area is significant in terms of archaeological data of this period, because it is the link between the northern regions to southern regions of Central Zagros. In the survey of this area, several graveyards’ belonging to the Iron Age I-III were identified and surveyed. The study of the findings and works of these graveyard’s shows that they belong to semi-nomadic or nomadic groups that have been created near or along the banks of Aseman-Abad Rivers. The study, analysis, and comparison of the architecture of the tombs as well as the surface pottery of these graveyard’s, in addition to clarifying the situation of this region in the Iron Age, shows this era with other areas of the Central Zagros have a relationship and homogeneity. On the other hand, some pottery evidence indicates the presence of Kassite in this area after returning from Mesopotamia.

The Achaemenid royal inscriptions, which are mostly trilingual (Old Persian, Elamite, Babylonian), except for the Bistun inscription, are empty of narrative aspects, reflecting the worldview and ideology of the Achaemenid kings and empire. One of the most important subjects of Achaemenid inscriptions is the connection of the king with god; This connection emphasizes the political and ideological aspect of the Achaemenid king with god more than it has a religious smack. The most important and greatest god mentioned in these inscriptions is Ahuramazda. Based on these inscriptions, the connection between Ahuramazda and the king is obvious, he has given the kingdom to the king and the Achaemenid king is taking steps to achieve the goals of God, but this is not the whole story. "The gods of the royal family, the gods, other gods, and all the gods" are also mentioned. Also, in the royal inscriptions of Artaxerxes II and Artaxerxes III, are mentioned the two gods Anahita and Mithra. what is their connection with Ahuramazda and the Achaemenid kings? What information does the Persepolis Fortification Archive provide in this regard? Can the Achaemenid tolerance be cited in their inscriptions? An exact analysis of the royal inscriptions and supporting documents, especially the ritual texts of the Persepolis Fortification Archive, shows that the Achaemenid king's connection with God was ideologically and legitimately very strong and that there were several gods in their worldview, in fact, they have received help from several gods, supplicated to them and sacrificed for them.

Mani, the Iranian messenger, founded a religion in the third century AD that spread from China to Europe a few centuries later. One of the reasons for Mani's success was his extensive propaganda using artistic tools such as poetry and allegorical anecdotes, calligraphy, gilding and painting, as well as the use of a variety of common languages ​​of the time. In order to perpetuate and influence his ideas and teachings and to preserve their authenticity, he wrote several books in different languages ​​of his time and his followers continued this tradition. Shapurgan was probably the first Mani book written in Middle Persian to be read and understood in the Sassanid court and Iranshahr. In this book, Mani wrote a description of his mission and teachings using familiar interpretations, terms, and ideas in the Iranian-Zoroastrian world. In this article, based on the original Manichaean texts and historical sources, first a description of Mani's life and teachings is provided, and then, based on excerpts from Mani's Shapurgan and references to historical and literary sources, it is shown what teachings has this book conveyed, what was its content and function and what was its fate and destiny in the time of Islam? This article notes that Shapurgan is the oldest book, parts of which have survived from the Sassanid era and is therefore a valuable testimony to the language, literature and cultural and religious ideas of early Sassanid Iran.

Textile industry reached great prosperity during Sassanid Empire. Sassanid fabrics were appreciated due to the quality and unique designs. Decorative patterns of Sassanid textiles are contained geometric, plant, human and animal motifs and among all of them, animal motifs are the most notable ones. The present study investigates the expressive, mythical and visual aspects of animal motifs of Sassanid fabrics, thereby answering these questions: How are bird and quadruped motifs illustrated on fabrics? What is the color of these motifs? And what are the other ornaments that used on textiles? The study is done by analytical-descriptive method by historical approach and the information is accumulated by means of library method. The authors attempted to identify and classify animal motifs of remained fabrics and inspect the importance of the existence of these ornaments. In this article, nine images of limited samples of Sassanid fabrics have been analyzed in terms of visual and cultural-roots features. In general, the results define that, the animal motifs of Sassanid design included quadrupeds and birds which are drawn by simple lines and geometrical shapes. Overall, artists tend to use animals which had spiritual and mythical massages. Quadruped patterns include ram, horse, lion and hog. Additionally, bird patterns contain eagle, peacock, rooster and duck. We can see both figurative and abstract motifs with primarily colors which have been mostly used. The drawings have been done by geometric and delicate lines, also artists used plant and geometrical shapes to design animals' bodies.

The fire temple has a special place in the Zoroastrian religion and as one of the necessities of worship, there is a fire temple wherever Zoroastrians are. However, given that we have information about Zoroastrian settlements in the first few centuries of Islam, we are equally less aware of their fire temples. For this reason, it will be helpful to study the historical sources to find the fire temples. Fars province, as the origin of the Sassanids during this period, was also considered by the kings from a religious point of view, and in addition, it was also the place of Azarfarnagh. With this importance, most of the Sassanid fire temples have been built in this province. However, with the invasion of the Tazians and the fall of the Sassanids, the religion of Zoroaster lost its former prosperity, and consequently, with the fall of the priests' base, the fire temples were largely affected and the process of their destruction or change of use became common. However, sources indicate that most Zoroastrians are still present in Persia. With this brief, so far little has been done about matching the names of fire temples mentioned in historical texts with the remains of fire temples identified in archaeological research. In this study, we seek to show that, contrary to popular belief, many fire temples attributed to the Sassanid period were probably still used by followers of the Zoroastrian religion long after the Sassanid period.

After killed Yazdgerd III the last king of Sasanian Empire and Decline Empire, Muslim rulers immediately mintage coins that called Kasravi that named Arab-Sasanian coins by scholars today. Investigation about Arab-Sasanian coins is an important archaeological subject and many scholars published some books and articles about that. This paper critically reviews the book entitled “A Special Coin, in the Transition period from Sassanid to Islamic”. This book is not a research book in the field of Arab-Sasanian coinage, but a catalog in this field that does not have much value and it does not provide valuable information to the academic and scientific community, and to the general public.