THE ORIGIN OF THE SERPENT MOTIF IN CULTURAL MATERIALS OF SOUTHEASTERN IRAN DURING THE THIRD MILLENNIUM BC: A SIGN OF RELATIONSHIP WITH ELAM AND MESOPOTAMIA

In the case of the Archaeology of southeast Iran, many archaeologists have paid attention to the objects that were produced there and considered them as commercial items in Susa and Mesopotamia. This commercial relationship, in its trans-regional form, caused the transference of beliefs and Ideologies. The evidence of such relationships can be seen in the evidence of Tepe Yahya, Shahdad, South Konar Sandal, and Shahr-i Sokhta all are located in southeastern Iran. However, there is some evidence of a kind of relationship between Mesopotamia and the inhabitants of southeast Iran, but there is no evidence of direct contact between them. Based on the classic interpretation of the intercultural material it seems that this relationship was not limited only to raw or processed materials and meantime some ritual and ideological notions were transferred directly or indirectly between these two worlds. A good example is the presence of the serpent motif in southeast archaeological sites in Iran that comes with different forms and concepts over seals, metal vessels, painted and plastic pottery, and other products of the existing cultures like Tepe Yahya, Shahdad, Jiroft, Bampur, and Shahr-i Sokhta. The serpent-like motifs have been seen from the 6th and 5th millennium BC as a sign or symbol of the underworld god. Perhaps no other motif like the serpent can represent the transference of beliefs and thoughts from low to high lands and it seems as we move farther from the borders of cultural Iran, it declines in importance and presence.