The Effect of Iran’s Architecture on Mortuary Buildings of Rome’s Seljuk Era

In the course of Islam’s history and, especially, Seljuks Era, Iran has always been one of the primary loci of Islamic Art. On the other hand, ottomans have taken long leaps in the area of architecture through being inspired by Iranian and Byzantine Art. Due to Iran and ottoman adjacency as well as their cultural exchanges and the common governmental aspects, the art and architecture of these two territories have borrowed ideas from one another and share similarities. The goal of the present article is the comparative investigation of the architectural indices and elements of the memorial and mortuary buildings constructed during Seleucid Era in Rome and inspired by the mortuary and mosque buildings of Iran. The study theoretical framework is laid on the foundation of the perspective that the past architectural spaces are influenced by the cultural phenomena and the cultural exchanges have played roles in their formation. The present study’s research methodology is historical-interpretive and it deals with the investigation, exploration and comparison of the volumetric combination of the buildings, types of decorations and tile works’ images and paintings in the mortuary buildings of Seleucid Era’s Rome and the Seleucid Era’s Iranian edifices so as to reveal the effect of culture and cultural exchange in architecture. The present study’s findings underline the issue that the art and architecture of Seleucid Era’s Rome have been influenced by Damascus Art before the presence of the Iranians; however, it was with the arrival of the Iranian artists that parts of the architecture were constructed by Iranian images and decorations. The interaction between Iranians and rulers of Seleucid Era’s Rome and the auspicious conditions provided by them caused the Iranians to promote culture, rites and traditions and distinct signs of science, art and knowledge that were prevalent in the then Iran upon their entry into Rome.