Palaeo-ethno-musicology in the Sasanian period:A case study of Musicians motifs based on metal containers

The civilization of Iran in the Sassanid period (224-650 AD), reached its peak of prosperity in many ways and the art of this period is of special value and importance compared to other periods of ancient Iran. One of these arts is music, which can be searchable based on archaeological findings.This research tries to analyze the motifs of Sassanid musicians on metal utensils based on the following questions: A) The motifs of Sassanid musicians on which species of metal utensils is seen more and what is the reason? B. How do metal utensils with motifs of Sasanian period musicians help to understand the music of this period? In this research, it studied 147 metal utensils belonging to the Sassanid period and finally found 24 utensils with the theme of the motifs of sasanid musicians belonging to this period.. The method of conducting this research is descriptive-analytical and the collecting of information is based on library studies and virtual visit of works in museums of the world. The purpose of this research is the typology of Metal utensils with the motif of musicians, determining the species with the most motifs of musicians and also determine the types of instruments used on metal utensils in the Sassanid era. The results of the research show that Plates have the most motifs of musicians and the reason is the flat surface of the plates and having more uniform space to depict scenes and show some details than other species of utensils and the purpose of making plates can be more Be political rather than their practical use. Among the instruments depicted on metal utensils of the Sassanid period, Sorna with 7 works and then lute, horn and pan flute each have 6 works.