Ritual-Narrative Illustration of the Mythology of the Gods in Prehistoric Iranian Paintings

Some of the parts of Iranian ancient arts are constituted of pictures stamped on various tools. The historical analysis shows that this art is related to prehistoric times and ancient people. There are some particular pictures of which, some have been drawn based on special thoughts to show specific cultural contents. These drawings show simulated figures, which are performing a kind of meaningful rhythmic movements. Careful consideration of the maps, pictorial elements, simulated figures, and the actions performed in these paintings reflects the important fact that these works require scientific and artistic study to be read. They also have a deep culture. This study attempts to address this important point. According to these studies and in an in-depth interpretation, the mentioned figures are performing dance-like, superhuman, and mythical movements, and on this basis, these manuscripts are called illustration drawings. It is remembered with the dance of the gods. Accordingly, the present study, reads the historical-artistic and semiotic reading of the illustrated images of human beings, according to its mission, in the state of performing special rhythmic movements, called the dance of the gods, as a cultural-artistic text. The main question in this study will be how the production and cultural-artistic permanence of such paintings can be justified in prehistoric Iranian visual arts? The main purpose of this study is to assess some parts of Iranian culture and art, relying on historical-artistic documents and adopting the new scientific methods. The results of this paper will show that these pictures are profoundly related to symbols, beliefs, and religious-cultural symbols of those days. The present study, which is qualitative in nature, employs historical genealogy and a semiotic approach to the phenomena. The method of this study is analytical-interpretive and data collection were based on the bibliographic method.