An Investigation of Lotus Design in the Art of Ancient Iran and Islamic Era

Lotus is one of the plants which has drawn attention to itself in many religions and creeds. From symbolic and mythical aspects, lotus conveys meanings like growth, birth and fertility. Studying lotus as a symbol in Achaemenian and Sassanian designs and its reflection in the arts of Islamic era is the aim of this article. Thus, to do this research, the place of this symbol in ancient Persia’s civilization and also its related myths in ancient Persia’s religions as well as its relation with Shah Abbasi flower have been analyzed.The primary questions of this study are as following: On what basis can lotus be considered as the symbol of creation and fertility in ancient Iran and its relation to water be justified? How did lotus enter into the context of Islamic art after the emergence of Islam?Considering that the method of research in this paper is descriptive-comparative and data collection is based on library method, we discuss the place of lotus in Persian myths in order to find an archetype and thus we can clarify the embedded meaning within this symbol and its relation with related symbols.The main result of this research is that lotus design, like other applied and visual arts, has a process of change and evolution through different ancient eras, especially in Islamic era, so that evolution of this flower design represents its transformation from a ritual art to an applied art.