Assessment of Serpent Iconography in Cultural Zones of Iran and Central Asia in Bronze Age: Emphasis on Stylistic Changes and Mythical Concepts

Developments in the first half of the third millennium B.C. led to the formation of extensive urban cultures in different regions of the Middle East with special iconography in works of art, which originated from their beliefs and convictions. Cultural zone of Elam in southwest of Iran with a focus on Susa and Choghazanbil, cultural zone of southeast of Iran with a focus on Jiroft, cultural zone of Sistan with a focus on Shahr-e Sukhteh, cultural zone of Gorgan with a focus on Bazghir, cultural zone of Khorasan centered on Shahrake Firouzeh and Chelow, Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex in Central Asia, as well as cultural zones in southern coast of Persian Gulf, Makran, Pakistan, and the Indus Valley are among the most important cultural zones of this period. Each urban culture in this period is recognized as a cultural-artistic center with specific ideological beliefs, social systems, traditions, ¬and unique art of iconography. The serpent has manifested as a mythical animal of chalcolithic period in material-artistic works of the above mentioned cultural zones with a different iconography. The present study was an attempt to evaluate the stylistic changes and mythical concepts of this motif in prehistoric urban centers of Iran and Central Asia with a comparative methodology and iconographic approach. The results indicated that the serpent motif in Eastern Iran and Central Asia art has been inspired by western Iran and Mesopotamia art and gradually has been integrated with art, beliefs, rituals, Eastern Iran and Central Asia mythology, and changes in social, religious, and political levels of these communities; therefore, it has led to innovations in artistic concepts and styles of this motif.