A Comparative Study of Troupe Carnival of Carrying Divine Statues in Ancient Elamite, and Symbolic Coffin-Carrying Ritual in Post-Islamic Era (A.H.)

This article is a comparative archeological study of the troupe carnival of carrying divine statues in ancient Elamite and symbolic coffin-carrying ritual of post-Islamic era. This paper describes troupe carnival of carrying Elamite divine statues in a religious ceremony on the basis of carvings of “Kol Farah Malmir” & “Korangan”. Carvings No. 3 of Kol Farah Malmir show the religious ceremony of carrying divine statues on the shoulders of Elamite people. On these rock carvings, an Elamite king along with numerous Elamite people is carrying a statue to dedicate it to a holy place. The carvings also show some animals in front of the crowd that are going to be sacrifices by king’s hunters at the sacrificing place while musicians are playing and singing probably religious songs with special formality, and also there are divine sculptures carved on the rocks. The people, marching and carrying a divine statue, are heading for the pilgrimage of a holy place such as Korangan temple. The religious ritual of coffin-carrying such as the Nakhl (a symbolic coffin for Shi’a) shows a remarkable similarity with carnivals of carrying a statue. To analyze these carved illustrations, the iconography method of Erwin Panofsky, performance theory of Shekner and nine-category formations of Nazerzadeh-Kermani have been implemented. Carnivals for carrying the statues in ancient Elamite not only are one species of the nine-category of Iranian formations, but also have similar theatrical aspects with symbolic coffin-carrying ritual (Tābūt Gardānī).