درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

In archaeological finds, seals are generally considered as one of the most important data bearing important economic, political and even artistic information of relevant time periods. Moreover, the iconography of seals plays an informative role to explore the main characteristics of seals or sealing in order to better understand the social, economic or even the administrative contexts of the societies to which they belonged to. Different styles in the different space and times are known in terms of pictography that can help researchers understand the characteristics of a time period better in the absence of sufficient information. The ancient city of Susa with a rich collection of seals related to different historical-cultural periods is one of the most important ancient sites in Iran which have been used as clues to decipher or interpret that can guide researchers in the stylistics and iconology of seals from its neighboring areas. The cylindrical seal No. 1841 has been registered in the catalogue of the National Museum of Iran with an “unknown” location. The similarity of the image engraved on this seal to those found on seals obtained from Susa was the reason the author came up with this article in order to introducethe seal and specify iconography and stylistics and finally its date and origin with a comparative study. The present study tries to answer the research questions: “What style and time period can be considered for the iconography of the cylindrical seal in the National Museum?” and “Is it possible to prove that it belongs to the city of Susa according to the iconography of the image of the relevant seal?” Studies that have been conducted with the comparative method and with the approach of the image analysis, the IVA style of Susa is considered for it leading to the conclusion that this seal probably belonged to Susa itself.

Diodorus Siculus, Quintus Curtius Rufus, Polyaenus, and Arrian are the primary historians who have written about the Battle of the Persian Gates but their accounts differ in some details. Much research has been done on the cause of differences between these historians, their method of historiography as well as their sources; but in this article, the main focus has been on the identity and political status of Ariobarzanes, the general who led the Persians in the aforementioned battle. As this essay argues, the clarification of this issue hinges on a large extent understanding Ariobarzanes’ end at the Persian Gates. Of course, due to discrepancies between classical sources and the absence of any Iranian evidence in this regard, this is not an easy task, but this article tries to find the most reasonable answer by identifying the most accurate classical account, and then presents essential historical results to be drawn from it. It should be noted that so far, various researchers, have speculated on the identity of Ariobarzanes with skepticism, but in this article, with detailed criticism of classical resources, the identity and political status of Ariobarzanes are clarified.

Guitty Azarpay was born in Tehran, Iran in 1934. She graduated with a PhD in Art History in 1964 from UC Berkeley.She taught at UC Berkeley until her retirement in the early 2000s. Her research on the ancient Iranian and Transoxiana (Central Asia) art, especially about Urartian Art and Sogdian Painting, is highly commendable, as she wrote two valuable books such as Urartian Art & Artifacts (1968) and Sogdian Painting: The Pictorial Epic in Oriental Art (1981). The publication of the book of Sogdian Painting introduced many art scholars to Sogdian art. Azarpay played a valuable role in introducing Sogdian paintings and Sogdian art. She was the recipient of the Book of the Year Award from the University of California Press for Sogdian Painting, and received the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement award.About 20 years ago, Azarpi donated her personal library to Golestan Palace in Tehran.Guitty Azarpay passed away in early April 2024.

Philippe Gignoux was born in Solaize (Isère) on 1 March 1931. He completed his secondary education at Dominican College of Oullins (Rhône) near Lyon. He graduated in Persian Language from École nationale des langues orientales vivantes, and studied at Ecole pratique des hautes études (EPHE) (IVth and Vth sections) and at the Catholic Institute of Paris. 

Amlash is one of the most important parts of Guilan Province in northern Iran. It has endured unending political and military turmoil due to its special geopolitical and geostrategic position, during the early and middle Islamic eras. The establishment of numerous castles in the area is one of the manifestations of this state of affairs during that period. This study, based on library and field study, is aimed at analyzing the factors that might have led to the formation of the castles. The library studies included a review of literature on military castles and fortresses for an analysis of the factors that might have contributed to the castles in the Amlash region. The field studies included direct observation of the locating, photographic imaging, and numerical measurement and topographical features of those castles.