درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Ziwiye, as one of the key sites for Iran’s North West Iron Age (Median kingdom), has many masterpieces kept in different museums and a long list of publications. The main part of this list consists of monographs that are written based on one or more limited objects from an out of context collection. There are few articles that comprehensively include the findings “attributed Ziwiye” and “came from excavation”. However, many articles have been published about Zavieh’s findings, but parts of this collection still remain unknown and do not receive enough attention. The corpus of bone arrowheads is one of them, some of which were found during archaeological excavations while others came to museums from antiquities dealers. These include: the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Musée du Louvre in Paris, the National Museum of Iran in Tehran, and the Sanandaj Archaeological Museum. This article aims to introduce and categorize 51 bone arrowheads. Some of these were registered as ivories, but our research concluded that all of these were made of bone. In few instances, the production manner prevented the proper identification of bone versus ivory. Another examined point in this research is whether such arrowheads were produced for actual warfare or for prestige and symbolic use in ceremonial events considering their bone material. The examined samples from other sites show that bone can be hard enough to penetrate game and human body even with light protection such as archery. Bone for making arrowheads was used for hunting big games and some tribes still use them.

The article reviews chivalry traditions, developed in ancient Iran, and their transition and transformation to the country’s post-Islamic history. The author analyses the cultural mechanisms, which provided this movement, and argues that its roots and prerequisites should have taken place in Great Khorāsān at the very turn of the ‘Abbāsid revolt in the middle of the century CE. This was a period when an external call activated forces and facilities, preserved in the stratum of Iranian knights, to become the basis for the later military evolution within the new circumstances. The cultural importance of Khorāsān for the Iranian state and rule at the turn of the Muslim era is reflected in written texts. The early muslim period in Great Khorāsān was a special time as Iranian predominance mingled with multicultural traditions in the boundary region. The topic is presented in a wide context including Irasnian literary, artistic, and artisanal sources, helping to visualize the historical backdround of Iran. This is based on philosophical doctrines for Iranian cultural developement proposed by contemporary scholars.

In the 1980s, Polish researcher Maria Składankowa promoted in her publications a theory stating that the representatives of the Sistani family described in Ferdowsī's Šāh-nāma were reflections of the rainy and sunny steppe shamans. The four main representatives of this lineage were said to alternately represent these particular shamans beginning with the primordial and rainy shaman personified by Sam and ending with the solar shaman in the form of Sohrab. Another rain shaman according to Składankowa was to be Rostam. This article aims to introduce Składankowa's theory to the international research community and to subject it to verification. The battle between Rostam and White Dīv, which was the seventh trial in Rostam's cycle of seven trials, was used for verification. This is a clash between two national heroes and the circumstances of this battle blur the boundaries between what is commonly understood as good and as evil. Thus, this is an example that perfectly demonstrates Składankowa's theory of rejecting religious notions of good and evil and focusing on the primeval connection between man and nature when it was man's greatest ally and enemy. Neither Rostam nor White Dīv, according to Składankowa's theory, are therefore completely good or completely evil, like any element of nature, which can be a life-giving or destructive force. Identified with good forces, the sun warms the earth and causes vegetation but can also cause drought and the death that follows. Identified with evil forces, rain can cause floods, but without it, vegetation will die. There is no absolute good or absolute evil in nature. Nor is there one in the battling Rostam and White Dīv. Ferdusī's description of this combat in Šāh-nāma clearly goes back to this primeval myth leaving the story universal.

The artistic background of the Good Shepherd motif can be traced to ancient eras of the East and the West. This motif later gained prominence in early Christian art. The ram-bearer (carrying a sacrificial or an offering animal) first appeared in Near Eastern art and later became an important motif in Greco-Roman art to represent certain roles of the god Hermes. This motif was considered by Christian converts as a symbol of Jesus Christ, as they represented him in the figure of a young shepherd caring for his flock. This theme can also be seen on some Sasanian seals, which can be considered as the Good Shepherd motif. In this article, the authors introduce the aforementioned motif depicted on these seals and examine their possible connection with the Christian communities. The motif of the Good Shepherd, as seen on the seals, demonstrates modifications in the original iconography. These changes can be observed in the longer dress of the ram-bearer or the engraving of celestial symbols. These modifications are probably a sign of the localization process of an imported motif in the Sasanian Empire.

The ability to recognize and compare shapes and understand the concept of proportions is one of the first human findings from environmental geometric data. And certainly the formation of geometry as a science of recognizing the arrangement of lines, shapes and levels and proportions leads to the definition of golden proportions in the mathematical sciences as a new way of organizing shapes and forms. Golden and geometric proportions are effective as a determining element in the scale of spatial forms, and the formation of spatial forms by not using or misuse of geometric proportions is due to functional and psychological interactions on human perception and cognition. Which causes the construction and formation of scales and proportions of the environment and the emergence of psychological effects due to human activities in the environment. And then the abnormal effects and environmental dysfunction on the saccade system of the human eye and as a result the feeling of fear and lack of belonging to the place interacts. On the other hand, nature as the raw material of creation, and the principle and mother of man, which causes him to model the proportions in nature. Understanding the laws governing the relationships between elements and spatial shapes leads to the formation of geometric and golden proportions in the spending of space. Because knowing the symbol of shapes, proportions and scales in the world of meaning and kingdom is reminiscent of the divine order in all dimensions of the world (even in astronomy). Therefore, evaluating the values ​​of spatial proportions in nature as the bedrock of human life and the pattern of psychological perceptions, leads to the adoption of human activities. Also, the study of human needs on a mental and psychological scale from the perception of the environment causes the recognition of scales and dimensions by human visual senses, which leads to the perception of the correct golden and geometric proportions through Sakadi eye movements and psychophysical sciences. . Certain ratios can also be observed in the creation and design of various shapes in nature. These relations are those geometric relations that have immaterial roots and follow the spiritual and supernatural principles, believing that their subject is sacred, and have a symbolic language and spiritual characteristics. In the traditional world, geometry was inseparable from the other four Pythagorean sciences, namely arithmetic, music, and astronomy. And traditional geometry is also associated with the symbolic composition and shapes of space. To this end, the study of the effect of golden and geometric proportions on human visual perception of the architectural environment based on the sense of belonging to the place, causes visual quality to increase the sensory richness of the place and achieve human values ​​and criteria in the sense of belonging to the place and human needs. To be considered by the architect. In this research, with the perspective of this identity and the interaction of geometric and golden proportions and the sense of belonging to the place, the criteria and indicators of the research have been studied and the results have been presented in the form of tables and diagrams.

The final goal of this research is to investigate the design of Qajar women's clothing in different periods. In the first step, the question arises whether the cover can be a language. Then this research seeks an answer to the question of what messages in the form of language mean. Therefore, in the current research, the above issue has been analyzed by a case study of Qajar women's clothing and using a descriptive-analytical qualitative research method. Findings: This study shows that the clothing of Qajar women can be considered a single language of signs. In deciphering this language, concepts such as women's attention to religious foundations, gender inequality, and patriarchal view in society, the value of wearing Iran's old traditions, as well as the desire to move towards westernization and fashionism of Europeans can be inferred. The results of this research show the importance of the role, color, code, sign, symbol, and finally language in the field of women's clothing in the Qajar period.  

This article addresses and re-examines Marc-Anthony Karantabias’ analysis of factors that contributed to the defeat of the Sasanian Spāh by Heraclius by 627-628 CE. Karantabias’ analysis may be categorized into four (military) misconceptions with respect to the Spāh: (1) the notion that the late Sasanian Spāh lacked stirrups for the Savaran cavalry (2) the alleged refusal or lack of knowledge of the Mongolian draw which is proposed to have been of greater efficacy than the Sasanian (3-finger) bowshot (3) the notion of “Persian conservatism” leading to the Spāh’s refusal to adopt new military technologies and (4) the alleged supremacy of Steep/Central Asian and/or Hun-Turkic cavalry warfare over the Sasanians. These four misconceptions fail to be supported by a close examination of archaeological sites (e.g., Taghe Bostan) and artifacts (e.g., Sasanian stirrups, metal works, etc.), primary sources and pertinent research studies. A fifth misconception pertains to the lack of consideration of the shortcomings of the Sasanian four-Spadbed system which Heraclius was able to successfully exploit against the Sasanian empire. In conclusion, Heraclius’ successes are attributed to his exploitation of the weaknesses of the four-Spāhbed system as well as the Byzantine willingness to adopt Steppe/Central Asian technology (e.g., compound bow, iron stirrup).

A study of the arrow guide or nāvak in Iran. It covers the technical aspects of arrow guides and how they may have entered Iran. In Persian, arrow guides are called nāvak and their projectiles are called tīr-e nāvak. However, sometimes nāvak is used for the arrow as well, and even the bow. It also covers how outside cultures viewed Iran as a source of innovation in the further development of these devices. In Arabic they are called majrā and this is the term most familiar in the west due to two important translations of Arabic archery manuals into English, Arab Archery and Saracen Archery, but they were mentioned earlier as nāvak in an English translation of part of the Hidāyat ar-Rāmī, where they were mistakenly described as crossbows. Essentially, an arrow guide is a partially closed tube used with a bow to shoot a short arrow drawn much farther than its length would normally allow. This produces a projectile that has increased velocity and less friction through the air than a regular arrow. The arrow guide has had a long history in Iran, probably entering in the last years of the Sasanian Dynasty, surviving the Arab conquest and persisting until the gradual takeover by firearms. It was fertile ground for invention with many variations being spread across the Islamic world. The persistent association with Iran in Arabic archery manuals reflects the perception that much of its development was tied to Persian users. Here, Persian and Arabic sources are examined. Reference is made to original artefacts and reconstructions.

In recent years there has been a growing interest among historians, historical martial artists, reenactors, and those who are interested in Eastern culture as well as in Persian offensive and defensive weapons to have a more detailed study of armor. The change in the paradigm of defensive weapons throughout Western Asia (the last quarter of the 15th to the first quarter of the 16th century) has not yet been fully investigated. Reconstruction of mail-and-plate armor from a period between 1540-1650 CE is quite challenging as most museums or major private collections do not have a complete set. Based on a detailed study of existing sets of joshan armor and several technical assumptions related to the design of this type of armor, the present study tries to reconstruct a fully protective complex of a joshan armor that was worn by a noble Persian warrior. The purpose of the following article is to reproduce a Persian mail-and-plate armor from a period between 1540-1650 CE in its original size and design with its inherent properties and qualities. Different existing sets of this type of armor from museums are studied and compared to different miniatures and literary sources. Based on the collected information gained from theoretical and practical research, the article presents a historical armor design and provides advice on the practical reconstruction and production of such a set of armor. Armor masters were looking for the best combinations and ratio of plates and mail armor in one set. They were experimenting with the shapes and sizes of plates, the number of holes, diameters, geometry, and method of ring interconnections. Characteristic of the armor of this period is rather large plates and a small number of their rows (3-5 rows on the chest/back), a small overlap of the plates in a row, basically only the same standard plates are used, large mail rings (inner diameter about 10 mm).