700 research outputs found
AfarinNameh: Essays on the Archaeology of Iran in Honour of Mehdi Rahbar = آفریننامه: مقالههای باستانشناسی در نکوداشت استاد مهدی رهبر = Maqālahʹhā-yi bāstānʹshināsī dar nikūdāsht-i ustād Mahdī Rahbar
No full textInteractions between religious minorities and the Zoroastrian fire temple in the light of new clay sealings from Taḵt-e Solaymān
No full textThis article addresses, for the first time, seal impressions of four bullae, discovered by Yousef Moradi at the World Heritage site of Taḵt-e Solaymān, showing Jewish and Christian iconography in the context of the economic and administrative activities of a major Zoroastrian fire temple of Sasanian Iran. The stylistic origin of the iconography is examined, and the symbolism displayed on these bullae is interpreted in the light of both archaeological evidence and textual sources. It is argued that the original seals belonged to authorities of the Jewish and Christian minorities and point to their significant economic activities in the Sasanian fire temple of Ādur Gušnasp. Despite differences in religious beliefs, traditions, and practices, the new sigillographic evidence suggests that religious minorities readily and successfully acculturated themselves within the relatively pluralistic and generally tolerant Sasanian Empire, and participated in the social, cultural, political, and religious institutions of the ruling powers. The sealings discussed here constitute significant evidence for the acculturation of minority groups in thespace of imperial and religious institutions
A new sealing of Pērōz from Tak̠t-e Solaymān and its historical context
No full textThe fragment of the bulla under discussion here (inv.no. 10917) is one of 824 clay bullae recovered from the World Heritage site of Taḵt-e Solaymān during archaeological excavations conducted in 2002–2008 by an Iranian team under the direction of Yousef Moradi. Of unusually large size, the obverse of our bulla shows a male figure on horseback extending a beribboned diadem with his right hand. The obverse also bears two lines of a Middle Persian inscription on its circumference. Examining the iconography and the inscription of the bulla, this article argues that the horseman represents king Pērōz (r. 459–484) and that the inscription is a fragment of the royal titulary characteristic of this particular Sasanian king. The iconography depicted on the bulla is interpreted as further evidence for the equation of the king and the god Ahura Mazdā, and for the Zoroastrian notion that the material world mirrors the spiritual world. Moreover, it is suggested that our bulla with the impression of Pērōz’s seal would have been attached to a document or a wrapped commodity sent from Pērōz’s court to the fire temple of Ādur Gušnasp and would have guaranteed its authenticity. The bulla is located in the wider historical context of imperial Sasanian Iran and interpreted as testifying to royal gift-giving within the context of Zoroastrian pilgrimage as well as to the king’s devotion to and respect for the fire temple of Ādur Gušnasp
Administrative Seals from the Fire Temple of Ādur Gušnasp at Takht-e Solaymān
No full textThis paper examines three Sasanian bullae, to date unpublished, from the fire temple of Ādur Gušnasp at Takht-e Solaymān, located in the Northwestern Azerbaijan province of Iran. The bullae, excavated in 2003 by Yousef Moradi and his team, feature impressions of administrative seals with Middle Persian inscriptions. Additionally, these bullae display impressions of so-called "witness seals", used by individuals who were required to authenticate the validity of the documents or objects to which the bullae were once affixed. The administrative seals represent juridico-religious, clerical, and civil administrations. The article discusses the significance of each office within the Sasanian administrative structure. Furthermore, it argues that, unlike other bullae archives, which were predominantly 'local' or 'provincial' , the archive at Takht-e Solay-mān functioned as a 'supraregional' archive. It contained impressions of both personal and administrative seals from not only Ādurbādagān but also from other provinces. The article also provides evidence for the first time, that the šahrab of Ādurbādagān held two different administrative seals
The Ritual Drama of the High Priest Kirdēr
No full textTwo Middle Persian inscriptions (KSM and KNRm) of the Great Priest Kirdēr
describe an eschatological “vision”, which the Great Priest Kirdēr had during his life. The
framework within which this “event” took place is unclear and its determination has given
room to controversial interpretations. Some scholars have assumed that the “vision” belongs to
a shamanic performance or suggest other forms of esoteric ceremonies. The present study on the
contrary analyses the context of the described performance in the framework of the liturgical
Mazdean doctrine and suggests that the text was referring to a ritual drama, in which the afterlife
travel of the Great Priest Kirdēr and the meeting with his feminine double, here named
hangirb, were represented. Then, this ceremony was a particular kind of esoteric performance,
in which Kirdēr was shown his future destiny
Analysis of two mortar samples from the ruined site of a Sasanian palace and Il-khānid caravanserai, Bisotun, Iran
No full textTwo mortar samples were collected from the ruins of the Sasanian Palace and Il-Khānid Caravanserai at Bisotun to establish whether lime was used in their building and, given the sites’ heterogeneity, to make a basic evaluation of their research potential for understanding both production methods and usefulness for dating and correlation with the site’s different build phases. Standard polished thin sections at 30 microns were analysed using a polarising transmitted light microscope and an initial characterization of the historic mortars is reported discussed
Analysis of two mortar samples from the ruined site of a Sasanian palace and Il-khānid caravanserai, Bisotun, Iran
No full textTwo mortar samples were collected from the ruins of the Sasanian Palace and Il-Khānid Caravanserai at Bisotun to establish whether lime was used in their building and, given the sites’ heterogeneity, to make a basic evaluation of their research potential for understanding both production methods and usefulness for dating and correlation with the site’s different build phases. Standard polished thin sections at 30 microns were analysed using a polarising transmitted light microscope and an initial characterization of the historic mortars is reported discussed
Yousef Moradi, Almut Hintze. “The main administrative seal of the sanctuary of Ādur Gušnasp and some other sealings from Taḵ-e Solaymān”
No full textLa découverte d’une nouvelle série de 824 bulles lors des fouilles entre 2002 et 2008 à Takht-i Solaiman par la mission iranienne dirigée par Y. Moradi est venue notablement enrichir la première série de 270 bulles, souvent fragmentaires, publiée par R. Göbl en 1976. Ces très importantes données nouvelles font l’objet d’un programme européen animé par les deux auteurs à la SOAS de Londres. Ensemble, ils s’emploient à publier peu à peu une partie des résultats dans la collection des Res Orien..
Hellenistic Impact on the Iranian and Central Asian Cultures: The Historical Contribution and the Archaeological Evidence
No full textHellenism formally indicates the historical-cultural period within the ancient Mediterranean and Near East worlds, following the death of Alexander the Great. Among the distinguishing cultural features of the period, a more modern spread of the western civilization with the cultures of North Africa, Asia Minor, Syria and Phoenicia, Mesopotamia, Iran, India and Central Asia, and vice versa, played the most important role in creating a new socialeconomic and political system. The consequent birth of a new kind of civilisation constituted a model for other cultures in relation to different aspects of the human society, economics, politics, science, art, philosophy, and religion. The Hellenistic world, from a geographic point of view, comprised a vast area, ranging from Sicily and southern Italy (Magna Graecia) to India and Central Asia, and from the Black Sea to Egypt. After the Macedonian conquest of the Persian Empire, new kingdoms arose in North-Eastern Africa, the ancient Near East, Central and Southern Asia. The central event of this new historical phase was certainly the crisis of the ancient western “urban” and “political” model of the poleis, which invested large sectors of the society, from the eminently economic-social to the civil and cultural. If one thinks of the importance the poleis had assumed within the Greek society and history before, it is easy to imagine what its profound crisis caused to the Hellenic culture. For a long time, Hellenism was considered a period of transition between the magnificence of classical Greece and the rise of Roman power. Politically, the most important consequence of this revolution was the change from a political domain of the city-state to that of the great political unities, already dominant in the “Orient”, strongly centred on the divinised figure of the sovereign. The transformation of the political-state formations was accompanied by an economic and social evolution. The intensification of trade between the various political entities and the eastern regions, the flourishing of artisanship and the demographic increase brought an economic wellbeing that encouraged the growth of new urban areas
Do you not consider how Allāh ... made the sun a burning lamp?
No full textA Khurasanic 12th century oil lamp made in cast and engraved copper alloy preserved in the Louvre Museum (Inv. OA 7890) includes a rare iconography. The unique feature is a charioteer holding a pair of horses by the reins, made in the form of a large thumb-rest for the lamp. This image could be reminiscent of the sun chariot and, consequently, of a solar symbolism, connected to the Qur’ānic concept of sirāj, i.e. the burning lamp representing the sun
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