Evaluation of Status of Calligraphy and Inscription in the Decoration of the Tomb of Sahl Ibn Ali in Astaneh city (Markazi Province)

The shrine of Sahl Ibn Ali is one of the religious buildings in Iran that is located in Astaneh city in the southwest of Markazi province. It was founded for a man who was one of the descendants of Zein al Abedin. Although many historical documents give us little information about this building, there isn’t any evidence about the exact time of construction. However, according to historical studies  there was a tombstone and a wooden case above it with the date of seventh century AH and they had inscriptions that description this grave belongs to the Sahl Ibn Ali. Unfortunately, the wooden case has been missing and the tombstone inscription is illegible. Consequently, according to the oldest historical document we can deduce that it was built before the Safavid dynasty. Nevertheless, similar to other religious buildings, it has many historical decorations that occupy a significant part of it, which consists of inscription, mural, mirror work, tile, and woodwork that belong to Qajar and Safavid era. Although a few contemporary studies on the religious characteristics of Sahl Ibn Ali have only indicated the art decorations, there is no any specific research on the artistic characteristics. These sources prove that there were many decorations especially calligraphic that are missing and for this reason it is important to study the architecture and its decorations. Besides mural, mirrors and other decorations, inscriptions are remarkable for vary executive technique, location and information. For this reason, this research focuses on inscriptions and calligraphies to find their functions among other decorations. One of the remarkable characteristics of these inscriptions is their complexion. Three of them have dark-blue background colors with white or yellow inscriptions on them that made them for viewers legible in the distance. Two of these three inscriptions is including a Sura of Qoran located under the dome that it had written with Tholth. unfortunately, the one situated in the highest part under the dome  has been damaged since of the water that leak from the dome. One of these dark-blue inscriptions is located in the loggia which is a poem that described the restoration that had been done by Hesam Alsaltanah, who was one of the Princes of the Qajar dynasty. This inscription has written in Nastaligh and has a kind of plasterwork technique that is painted with blue and yellow. Unfortunately, by the destructed of the loggia, the first and last part of this inscription has been removed. Another group of inscriptions is those engraved and located above the main door that belongs to the Qajar era and the other one is located above the loggia door from Safavid era. This inscription inclouds hadith of Mohammad, the prophet of Islam who authentic Ali as his successor. And this inscription with its date and names of artists could be important evidence of the importance of this building because this hadith usually used as a political-religious motto by Safavid kings in their religious buildings to develop Shiites. It includes the name of Ali Akbar Isfahani that who may be the person who was a great architect in the Safavid era and Mohammad Reza as it’s calligrapher. If the architect of this building(Ali Akbar) is the same as the architect of Imam Mosque of Isfahan it could be remarkable as an unknown work of Ali Akbar Isfahani. The other group of inscriptions is several small pieces of paper that maintain under the glass in the loggia. These papers with their information about artists, supporters, and the date of repair could be a historical document about this building. They are written with black, green, and red ink and have only just a simple pattern of birds with several thin lines around words as a border. In summarize , one of results in this research is finding the lost scripts belonging to the Qajar dynasty. The inscriptions in this tomb have been written with two kinds of calligraphies, Nastaliq and Tholth and based on their content we can divide them into two groups, historical and religious. The religious inscriptions have been written with Tholth, do not have any information such as date and artist’s name, they are with fresco and they are located under the dome and the roof of the porch. The historical inscriptions have been written with Nastaliq with various techniques such as petroglyph, calligraphy on paper and are located on the west porch. Also they give us much information about artist’s and sponsor’s name and the date when the building was repaired. After considering all inscriptions in this tomb we can say that main cause of used historical inscriptions is their information, and their aesthetic functions is of second importance. These inscriptions form an important evidence that proves that this building was remarkable for the government and that the officials ordered to repair and decorate it.