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Iranica Antiqua

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ISSN (Print) 0021-0870
Published by Peeters Publishers

[38 journals]

Sailors, Soldiers, Priests, and Merchants
- Authors: poj@peeters-leuven.be
  Abstract: This article reinvestigates the history and historiography of early contacts between Iranians and Ceylonese (now called Sri Lankans), mainly from the fifth century BCE to fifth century CE with some extensions into later times. Why and where those connections occurred and how they shaped each groups understanding of and influence on each other are scrutinized. This analysis also will examine how and why ancient and early medieval Ceylonese records can augment Iranian history and historiography.
  PubDate: Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:37:24 GMT
Some Sassanian Silver Coins Discovered at Axiopolis (Cernavodă, Constanţa County, Romania)
- Authors: poj@peeters-leuven.be
  Abstract: Five Sassanid drachms were discovered around Axiopolis fortress before 1981. There are 2 Shapur I, 1 Yazdgerd I and 2 Khusro II. Despite the total absence of Sassanid coins in Dobruja, they could be stray-finds from the period of Valerianus I campaign against Shapur I, the others arriving maybe during the Hunnic attacks from the beginning of the 5th century or with the Armenian and Byzantine troops coming from the Persian front after 591. In spite of the strange structure of our lot, we cannot exclude completely the possibility to have a small sample of the currency of the period, arriving at the beginning of the 7th century. The most recent coin was struck in the year 11 of Khusro’s II reign (601-602 AD). The final date coincides with the military revolt against Emperor Maurice in 602, suggesting a presence of some Armenian soldiers at Axiopolis and reflecting the local impact of the mutiny.
  PubDate: Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:35:11 GMT
And Man Created God'
- Authors: poj@peeters-leuven.be
  Abstract: An inscription on the Naqsh-i Rustam I rock relief identifies the two protagonists in the investiture scene as Ardashir I and Ahura Mazda. All investing authorities on the royal Sasanian reliefs are therefore commonly identified as Ahura Mazda. In view of conflicting historic information and unexplained variations in the iconography of 'Ahura Mazda', a re-interpretation of the investiture reliefs is made. The inscription on Ahura Mazda’s horse at Naqsh-i Rustam appears to have been added at the end of Ardashir’s reign or early in Shapur I’s reign and the earliest reliefs are now considered to depict an investiture by a priest, instead of by Ahura Mazda. Once the inscription had been added to the Naqsh-i Rustam I rock relief, it changed from an investiture by a priest to one by a god, Ahura Mazda. Iconographic details that conflicted with this transformation (such as the barsum, attendant and possibly the 'royal' tamga) were left out of the divine image in later representations of the investiture on horseback. The late Sasanian Taq-i Bustan III investiture on foot, up to now considered to be the investiture of Khusrow II by Ahura Mazda and Anahita, is equally interpreted as an investiture by clergy, in this case by representatives of the cults of these two gods, rather than by the gods themselves.
  PubDate: Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:32:26 GMT
Religiöse Ikonographie auf parthischen Münzen
- Authors: poj@peeters-leuven.be
  Abstract: Coins are the most important primary source for the study of Parthian religious beliefs. The religious development as illustrated by contemporary coins runs parallel with political and cultural changes which also leave their iconographic imprint. In the first phase (247-171 BC), the rise of the Empire, coins make no religious reference. The absence of pictorial representations of gods seems to be an indication that there was as yet no relevant religious or artistic tradition. In the second phase (171-51 BC), goddesses on interregnal type coins (Bagasi) from ca. 127 BC to Mithradates II (118 BC at the latest) represent Tyche. The 'Hellenistic Tyche', as I call her, is a goddess with no Parthian traits and therefore not be interpreted in a syncretic way. Her Hellenistic traits, which correspond with the overall Greek orientation of the Parthian kings, survive the death of Mithradates I for approximately 20 years. After the Hellenistic Tyche’s last appearance on the tetradrachms of Mithradates II, the coined image of the goddess disappears for fifty years. The third Phase (70 BC-51 AD), beginning with Phraates III, surprises with a completely new image of Tyche in relation to the king. Now standing behind him, the goddess symbolically transfers divine glory and fortune (khvarrah) to the king and is thus a clear reference to Zoroastrianism. Tyche’s new status and function have definitely made her a 'Parthian Tyche'. In this phase, the goddess’ syncretic character is readable for Greeks and Parthians alike. The religious changes have once again strong temporal, if not immediately causal links with the time’s socio-political history characterised by the consolidation of the Parthian empire and the achieved status of self-sufficient nationhood. The last phase of the empire’s history (51-247 AD) saw a yet more distinct turning-away from Hellenism. Tyche has become a purely Parthian goddess with an unmistakable Iranian-Zoroastrian background. It is most likely that this Parthian Tyche was looked upon as a personification of Anahita or Ashi. In the light of what is known about the Commagene, it can be assumed that the function of the Parthians’ goddess was not restricted to the transference of divine glory and fortune (khvarrah) to the king alone, but was meant to guarantee the well-being of the Parthian empire as a whole.
  PubDate: Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:29:05 GMT
The Median Logos of Herodotus and the Persians' Legitimate Rule of Asia
- Authors: poj@peeters-leuven.be
  Abstract: In Histories 1.95-130, in a narrative about Cyrus the Great and the rise of the Persians to the hegemony of Asia attributed to Persian sources, Herodotus relates how the rule of (Upper) Asia, first held by the Assyrians, passed to Persian hands following Cyrus’ conquest of the Medes, whose power had grown to encompass the near-entirety of the territories formerly controlled by the Assyrians. This representation of Persian rule over Asia as a successor to former Assyrian and Median regimes, which is also attested in Ctesias, has long been presumed to reflect a Persian view of history that sought to promote the legitimacy of Persian imperial rule as heir to preceding major Near Eastern powers. On the other hand, one long-traditional view of Herodotean historiography has continued to hold that this interpretation of the history of Asia could have been, more than anything else, a reflection of Greek, possibly Herodotean, historical thought. This paper aims to clarify some of the historiographic ambiguities that have so far stood in the way of a straightforward recognition of the historical sequence of three Asiatic kingdoms as a Persian construct.
  PubDate: Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:18:16 GMT
Potters' Marks in Urartu on the Basis of New Evidence from Ayanis Fortress
- Authors: poj@peeters-leuven.be
  Abstract: Potters’ marks are one of the major topics deliberated by the scholars in the Near Eastern archaeology. There are some explanations about the meaning of these marks which are still under discussion. The excavations in the Urartian sites demonstrate that the application of pot marks were taken place in the Urartian culture. In this paper, I will debate the meaning of the pot marks in Urartu mainly focusing on the archaeological results from Ayanis Fortress in Eastern Turkey.
  PubDate: Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:15:56 GMT
Hasanlu Period III
- Authors: poj@peeters-leuven.be
  Abstract: Hasanlu Period IVb has remained a focus for Iranian and near eastern archaeology since excavations started half a century ago. The latter period III, attributed to the Urartian period, was never extensively researched. After getting access to the Hasanlu archives from 2007 onwards, it turned out that several assumptions, published before, were without foundation. Published architecture plans show mistakes, the 'triple road system' is in fact a double building. Period III should be divided into IIIc, IIIb and IIIa. There was never a fallen Urartian fortification wall that separated period IIIb from IIIa. Two seals published as period IVb should better be assigned to period IIIb as they have no recorded archaeological context in period IVb.
  PubDate: Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:12:35 GMT
Archaeometallurgical Studies on the Bronze Vessels from 'Sangtarashan', Luristan, W-Iran
- Authors: poj@peeters-leuven.be
  Abstract: In this paper, an analysis is presented of some bronze vessels from recent excavations at the first millennium BC site of Sangtarashan in eastern Luristan, Iran, according to metallography (OM), ICP-OES and SEM-EDS methods to identify alloying as well as manufacturing processes. This study provides new evidence for a better understanding of the bronze archaeometallurgy during the Iron Age in Iran. It concludes that the artifacts contain homogenous and single phase tin bronze (Cu-Sn) alloy. The Sn content in the artifacts also allowed to apply mechanical operations on the vessels without causing brittleness. Apart from tin, other elements that are classified as trace elements were present, such as zinc, iron, lead, phosphorus and arsenic. Metallographic observations indicated that the microstructures of samples are typical worked grains, composed by the mechanical process for shaping vessels throughout a cycle of cold working and annealing.
  PubDate: Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:10:14 GMT
Les cultures «à céramique modelée peinte» en Asie Centrale
- Authors: poj@peeters-leuven.be
  Abstract: This article, The 'Painted ware cultures' in Central Asia: an overview of the ceramic assemblage of the 2nd half of the IInd millennium BCE, is based on the examination of a large corpus of first-hand data and summarizes current knowledge about the ceramics of the early Iron Age Central Asian 'Painted ware cultures'. It exposes, at a macro-regional scale, the important diversity of the ceramics production, including its various technological, morphological and stylistic aspects. It discusses the conditions of production, the degree of complexity and the analyses of the distribution of the different categories of ceramics, which allows to identify three distinct technological provinces. It is suggested that these regionalisms are partly connected to regionally different Bronze Age culture influences.
  PubDate: Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:08:01 GMT
Report on Selected Human Remains from Lama, Southern Zagros, Iran
- Authors: poj@peeters-leuven.be
  Abstract: During two seasons of excavations (2009-2010) at the Lama cemetery, the archaeological team directed by Mohammad Javad Jafari explored 12 graves dated to the late 2nd and early 1st millennium BCE. Most of them contained multiple burials and the total minimum number of individuals is 90 according to the fieldwork documentation. From this number, remains of at least 55 individuals were studied in order to reconstruct diet, living conditions and activity of the local population, as well as trace some elements of the burial customs and post-depositional history of graves using taphonomic data. Youngest children buried at the Lama cemetery had been separated from adults, but adults of both sexes had been likely buried together. Many of the bodies decayed in the empty space and most graves were re-opened for several subsequent burials. It may be deduced from ecological context that the people buried in Lama were nomadic pastoralists and this observation is confirmed by possible high general level of terrestrial mobility, especially in males, and low intake of fermentable sugars in the diet. The environmental stress was quite high, although diet rich in animal products prevented megaloblastic anemia. No signs of violence were observed, and periodontal disease was quite common due to poor oral hygiene.
  PubDate: Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:04:37 GMT
An Early Bronze Age Tomb near Khorramabad (W-Iran)
- Authors: poj@peeters-leuven.be
  Abstract: Ernst Herzfeld made mention of the discovery in 1928 of a Bronze Age tomb at Gilviran, some 5 km from Khorramabad in Luristan. He discussed the site briefly and illustrated some of the finds; two of the bronze vases were later acquired by the British Museum. Since it was one of the few tombs in Pish-i Kuh, Luristan on which some reliable information was known, the Gilviran discovery is mentioned in most studies on Luristan. Nevertheless, little more than a description and a few illustrations of some of the finds were available. A more complete picture of the Gilviran tomb is now presented based on Herzfeld’s original notes and the identification of a preserved section of the tomb on the outskirts of present day Khorramabad.
  PubDate: Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:02:33 GMT
Zwischen Hunden und Löwen
- Authors: poj@peeters-leuven.be
  Abstract: Two stone troughs with sculptured decorations were seen at Susa in the first half of the 19th cent. AD and are now lost. Ker Porter and Loftus published drawings of them respectively. For a long time they were regarded as one and the same piece, differentiated only through the styles of the drawings. But it is obvious that the organization of the relief and the species of the animals are different. Both troughs show naked men lying on their backs, the animals, dogs resp. lions, touch them on their heads. It seems that this imagery allows a glimpse at the idea of human after-life in early Elam.
  PubDate: Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:00:23 GMT
Did the Arabian Oryx Occur in Iran'
- Authors: poj@peeters-leuven.be
  Abstract: The Arabian Oryx is traditionally considered to have occurred in the Arabian Peninsula, Jordan, Syria and Iraq. No data suggest its presence east of the Euphrates and yet the species is occasionally found in the art of south-western and south-eastern Iran. The examples discussed come from glyptic material from Susa and from the chlorite vessels of the Jiroft region. These representations could be the indicator of small relict populations of Oryx trapped on the Iranian side of the Persian Gulf by the rise of sea levels in the early Holocene.
  PubDate: Wed, 20 Feb 2013 10:57:07 GMT