Comparative Analysis of Gilgamesh Images in the Artworks of Jiroft Soapstone and Lorestan Bronze

Gilgamesh is the oldest epic poem in the world, one of the most popular heroes of Mesopotamia and the semi-celestial kingdom of the second millennium BC in Mesopotamia. The image of this legendary king, after showing its power in Sumer, became one of the gods in Ilam and was accepted in other parts of Iran such as Lorestan. Apart from these basins, the new discoveries of the Jiroft Halilrud and the discovery of traces of soapstone engraved on Gilgamesh, which is more than five thousand years old, return the presence of this legend to an earlier period. The significance of the discoveries of this ancient region is due to the discovery of soapstone, which testify to the cultural connection between the two regions of Lorestan and Jiroft over a period of several millennia. Despite the importance of this issue, identifying the visual relationship between the role of Gilgamesh on the works of Jiroft and Lorestan in order to explore the common intellectual heritage between the two rich ancient regions in Iran, has received less attention. For this purpose, the research question is formed on the basis of: What is the connection between the role of Gilgamesh in the Soapstone works of Jiroft and the bronzes of Lorestan? And what are its distinguishing features?
The general results of the research showed that in terms of structure and content between the role of Gilgamesh in the two civilizations of Jiroft and Lorestan, there is a close relationship that shows a common knowledge of the myth of Gilgamesh and has been present in their lives and beliefs. The role of Gilgamesh in two civilizations is in the form of a horned man and a combination of animals with open arms and a symmetrical and balanced combination. The distinguishing features of the two regions show the logical and emotional approach of their artists. In the Jiroft soapstone, Gilgamesh has a serious, mythical and powerful, extroverted and idealistic state, but in the primitive Lorestan Bronze, images of Gilgamesh are expressive, imaginary, surprised and smiling, disturbed, introverted, skinny and religious. The representation of the figure of Gilgamesh in the two ancient civilizations of Jiroft and Lorestan, is irrigated by a single intellectual and cultural source that shows many similarities despite the differences in the method of representation.