Comparative study of hybrid animals in Achaemenian and Assyrian art With focus on reliefs and stamps

Hybrid animals are the products of human imagination and had been appeared in masterworks which can be in form of architectural elements ad decoration, utensils, stamps, jewelries and accessories. The purpose of this research is to study hybrid animals as symbols of two cultures and civilizations, one in the Iranian plateau (Achaemenian) and the other in Mesopotamia (Assyria) and also finding the similarities and differences between hybrid animals of mentioned regions with having a comparative approach. For doing so the spread range of these hybrid animals in reliefs and stamps in Achaemenian and Assyrians art has been investigated and compared based on their visual characteristics and related contents. In this research, data collection has been done by using documents, the research method is descriptive-analytical one and the analysis has been done qualitative.
The results of this research which highlight the similarities and differences of hybrid animals in these two civilizations also indicate that in displaying the hybrid animals in Achaemenian era, a side view had been used but in Assyrian era, a frontal view had been applied. In Assyrian era, it was more common to show hybrid animals in human postures such as using full-length size and characteristics of human body, while in Achaemenian era we can only see the combinations with human head. The important characteristics of images of hybrid animals in Achaemenian art are their simplicity, discipline and the avoidance of focusing on so much details. Achaemenian Hybrid animals have a sense of "immobility and peace" and "arid and formal" but Assyrian Hybrid animals have a "mobility and dynamic" mode which present a sense of "fear". The most notable feature of Hybrid animals in Assyrian era is their reflection symmetry. In terms of content, it should be noted that the application of the most of the symbols has their roots in the culture and civilization of the people from both regions.