Multiple Identification Alternatives For Two Sassanid Equestrians On Firuzabad I Relief

Download or read book Multiple Identification Alternatives for Two Sassanid Equestrians on Fīrūzābād I Relief written by Reza Kalani and published by Tarikh Negar Monthly. This book was released on 2017-11-28 with total page 55 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unlike the king himself, the identity of other figures carved out of Sassanid reliefs has mostly been controversial. This study attempts to resolve one of such controversial discussions on the identity of two Sassanid equestrians depicted on the Fīrūzābād I relief and thus on other Ardašīr I's reliefs. In a bid to cast light upon obscured Sassanid genealogical topics, the heraldic concept was took precedence in the course of investigations. To the best of the present author's knowledge, historical texts (mostly Arabic sources), numismatic evidence and visual analysis of ornaments probably related to ranks were all employed for this purpose. In some cases, however, the author was forced into an argumentum ex silentio against his will due to a lack or shortage of historical evidence. There are two premises central to this investigation: first, the fact that the early Sassanids followed the lead of the late Arsacids in several political and cultural aspects, and, second, the existence of a sort of a heraldic system in both early Sassanid and late Arsacid periods.