Sociological Analysis of the Sassanid Reliefs from the Embodiment Perspective: The Case of Shapur I

The body of the individual is like a small realm within the world that belongs only to that individual. Only through a physical vessel can a man be present in the universe. Our embodiment or physical and mental experience of existence is the modality through which we connect to the world around us. But when we speak about a king (in this case, Shapur I), we must know that the body of the king cannot be regarded the same as the body of other people, because kings have two bodies, the physical body and the symbolic one. The king's physical body disappears after his death and falls to the ground, but his symbolic body will continue to live upon the death of his physical body. It is possible to understand this through a reading of the King's images using an embodiment perspective lense. There are two ways to study archaeological evidence from the perspective of embodiment. First, to look at bodies as a theatrical scene in which social concepts and power relations are depicted. Secondly, to interpret the body as an object and part of the material world using a phenomenological approach. In this study, we will define and interpret the two bodies of the king and explore the question of how the second body of a king is created through the empodiment approach to the depiction of Shapur I's in reliefs and a reading of his behaviors in them. Secondly, to interpret the body as an object and part of the material world using a phenomenological approach. In this study, we will define and interpret the two bodies of the king and explore the question of how the second body of a king is created through the empodiment approach to the depiction of Shapur I's in reliefs and a reading of his behaviors in them.