Hung-i Nauruzi 2 Rock Carving and comparing it with other Elymean Rock Carvings

In archeology، rock carvings have always been an important source of data، representing parts of the ancestors’ tradition، history، culture، civilization and art in every community. They have been used as representations of ancient concepts، thoughts، rites and rituals. Rock carvings are also used to tell the stories of ancient victories، major achievements، artistic delicacies، as well as the political، religious and social situations of any given civilization. To the same effect، they have been used as a means to satisfy the desire for immortality of any given past ruler. Making rock carvings has always been one of the most frequent occurrences throughout the ancient Near East. Prevalence of this tradition in Parthian times led to the creation of a lot of rock carvings in Parthian territories، the major part of which is located in autonomous reigns of Elymeans (162-3 BC to 224 AD). The main part of independent Elymaean territories was in Bakhtiari Mountains and the central part of Zagros mounts. Rock carvings in that area are thus considered as the most prominent artistic works of the Parthian era and are mostly characterized by several features including frontality، spirituality، linearity، solidity and comparative realism. Izeh plain، in Khuzestan province، is one of the major Elymean sites which contains several works of this period. Around 13 kilometers away from Izeh، Hung-i Nauruzi 2 rock carving is located which bears several key features of the Elymaean art. Hung-i Nauruzi 2 rock carving is located in the vicinity of Hung-i Nauruzi 1 rock carving and adjacent to Yar-Alivand and Kamalvand rock reliefs. This rock carving is among the religious rock carvings and presents a ritual scene. Severe erosion and a lack of inscriptions have made it difficult to determine the date of this site. In order to discover the theme and exact date of this rock carving، experts have utilized pictorial concept studies and compared it to similar Elamite، Parthin and Elymaean rock carvings. By extracting the similarities in stylistic and artistic features، the implicit content of the rock carving and carving techniques and stylistic features of this site as a local art have been analyzed. Furthermore، based on its ritual theme and its comparison with similar.