Symbolic and mythological elements in the discovered metalwork of Sasanian Era in Mazandaran Province

Subject Areas : Journal of History (Tarikh)

ali mahmoudi alami ¹ , mohammad karim yosef jamali ² , mehdi musavi kohpar ³ , Naser Jadidi ⁴

1 - Department of History. Najaf Abad Branch ,Islamic Azad University., Isfahan, Iran
2 - Department of History. Najaf Abad Branch, Islamic Azad University., Isfahan, Iran
3 - Department of Archeology, Tarbiat Modares University.Tehran, Iran
4 - Department of History. Najaf Abad Branch, Islamic Azad University., Isfahan, Iran.

Received: 2016-04-04 Accepted : 2016-08-10 Published : 2017-04-21

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Abstract :

One of the glorious historical eras in Iranian culture and civilisation, from the aspect of promoting art, is Sasanian era. The coastal areas of the Caspian Sea, especially Mazandaran , have always been where artworks emerged and countless examples of artworks are seen in different museums of Iran as well as outside Iran. The splendid art of Sasanian era has demonstrated the life and magnificence of kings. With a deep look at the artworks in this era, one can easily realise that the extensive use of shapes such as birds, animals, plants, gods, and mythological creatures (fantasy creatures) were depicted. By examination and investigation of the collected Sasanian artworks, a common feature among them catches one's eyes. That common feature is the similarity and harmony of decorated shapes in all these artworks especially reliefs, metal dishes, fabrics and stamps. This study aims at investigating the symbolic and mythological elements in the metalwork of Sasanian era by examining the shapes on the discovered metalwork in Mazandaran Province. This study is an attempt to answer the following question: What is the relationship among the mythological themes in Sasanian era based on the discovered shapes of their metalwork in Mazandaran Province.