۱.
Bari Castle is located on the western side of Urmia Lake. The castle enclosed with stony walls measuring several meters high, encompasses a widespread area. It was used in the first millennium BC considering the castle’s architectural features and potsherd remains found on its surface. For almost 150 years, from the middle of the 9 th century to the end of the 8 th century, the Urartian areas in Iran did not witness any attack from Assyrians. It was only during the reign of Sargon II, clashes erupted between Urartu and Assyria. The reason was that Urartu interfered more and more in the affairs of the kingdom of Mannea, which Assyria considered a tributary. The first half of the 7 th century is when Mannaean seized the power in that area. It was the time which saw the expansion of Mannean more than ever, especially its dominance on the Urmia plain, hence; the Bari castle was of the Mannaean Empire.
۲.
Natural events and disasters always have a devastating impact on human settlements and incur economic and social effects on societies by destroying buildings and infrastructures. One of these destructive phenomenons is landslide that could damage communities, meadows and forests, communication lines, and monuments extensively in many parts of the globe, especially in mountainous countries such as Iran. Some information is currently available about the morphological cause and effects of some apparent cases. However, the destructive effects of this phenomenon on ancient settlements have not adequately been mentioned. This study examines an ancient landslide by combining data from two seasons of archaeological excavations of Tepe Mehr Ali, located in Fars province, and related interdisciplinary studies. The results of the excavations, geological evidence and morphology of the site indicate that the southern slope of the mound (about 35 degrees) to Balangan River, represent a landslide event leading to the abandonment of this site for some time during settlement periods.
۳.
Jews of Medina once asked Prophet Muhammad about a man named Zolqarnein. Verses 82 to 97 of Surah al-Kahf, the 18 th chapter of the holy Qur’an, give description about this king who believed in God and the Day of Judgment. According to these Verses, God provided opportunities for Zolqarnein to be victorious over his enemies and bring justice to the territory under his jurisdiction. These Verses do not mention the place, time, or his name, and Zolqarnein that is his title has been referred as Qarnayeem in Jewish Pentateuch.These uncertain issues have caused many commentators of the Qur'an and Islamic scholars to introduce different individuals as Zolqarnein. Among these, Cyrus, the Achaemenid king and Alexander, the Macedonian king, could be seen more than others. This study aims to determine the character of Zolqarnein, by taking the historical approach. For that matter, religious and historical documents such as the Quran, Torah, Cyrus Charter, and writings of classical Greek historians were studied and corroborated with archaeological evidences. Based on the results of preceding studies, Zolqarnein is found to be Achaemenid king, Cyrus the Great.
۴.
The Sassanid era is one of the most brilliant in the Iranian civilization in terms of various arts development. The coastal areas of the Caspian Sea, especially Mazandaran, has long been the site of artistic manifestation with countless examples of art works kept in different museums inside and outside the country. The Sassanid art particularly depict life and glory of the kings. With a deep insight into the works, one can easily find the use of a vast array of birds, animals, plants, gods and mythological beings in symbolic ways. After reviewing and researching all the works created in the Sassanid period, a common feature attracts opinions, and that is the similarity and harmony of decorative motifs in all of these works, especially bas-reliefs, metal wares, fabrics and seals. The purpose of this research is to investigate the images of sacred animals on the Mazandaran artifacts of the Sassanid period, in response to the question of what is the relationship between the designs of sacred animals and the motifs on discovered metal works of Mazandaran. The results of this study clearly show that in most of the concepts and representations in the works produced in every part of this civilization, a common goal was pursued, and it is a struggle against evil forces. The symbolic emblems of sacred animals in Iran can be found in close connection with the beliefs and religions of that era, some of which are manifested in the form of boar and lion in the body of gods and goddesses.
۵.
Archaeology of children and childhood is rather a new field of study within archaeology and anthropology. However, it is very difficult to trace the presence of children in archaeological material. Their manifestation is mainly limited to mortuary, artefacts or objects considered to be toys or built environment that too may have been either in connection with specific items used by or were in relation to children or iconographic evidence from past. The present study tries to examine depictions of children in Sasanian rock reliefs which have long been the subject of extensive research, nevertheless it seems such depiction on art objects was not a matter of attraction by itself. On the other hand, lack of coherent literary evidence about social status, roles and realm of children and childhood in the Sasanian society leave many questions unanswered. Hence, despite a large number of researches in the field of Sasanian history and archaeology, one cannot postulate a coherent research background specific to the aforementioned subject. Children are displayed in a number of Sasanian rock reliefs which are introduced and presented in chronological order. Identity of these children and purpose of their depiction is discussed based on available works. Although, the historical identity of these children may never be certainly established, but those shown in investiture and parade reliefs of Ardashir I, Shapur I and Narseh at Firuzabad, Naqsh-e Rajab and Naqsh-e Rustam are certainly the children of high status or having royal lineage. In two of Shapur I reliefs, a putto is depicted and a probably captive child –enemy’s son- are seen in Bahram II/Shapur II relief in Tang-e Chowgan.
۶.
In the early 21 st century, during an excavating of a village on Farahan plain, some remains of an important monument including part of a large brick column and several walls were discovered. For a decade, despite national registration, no scientific and comprehensive study was performed on these remains until the time when the remains captured the attention of the authors of this paper during their archaeological study of the Farahan plain. Therefore, considering two main objectives, the chronology of the discovered pieces and determining their real identity, initially, a comprehensive archaeological survey was carried out on the Fardaghan region and samples were collected from different areas of this plain; afterwards, the cultural data were typologically compared. At the next stage, historical evidence was sought in written sources using a historical approach in order to determine the identity of the site. The results indicate that the current building belonged to the Sassanid period that has been also used during the Islamic era after a functional change. It is highly probable that this building is the one mentioned in some written sources such as Ibn Yaghoubi’s Mokhtaser Alboldan . In early Islamic centuries, this fire temple was changed into a fortified castle.
