مجله مطالعات باستان شناسی پارسه
پیاپی 21 (پاییز 1401)

Archaeologically, the northeast region of Iran is one of the least-known regions in the Iranian Plateau. The reasons for this situation is multifold; some of these include rarity of archaeological investigations, its vastness and the associated restrictions such as desert areas and impassable mountainous areas. The present paper deals with the chronology of and investigations at one of the key sites of the eastern Iran: Tappeh Mokhar. This is site is located to the east of the town of Torbat-e Jam, by the river of Jamroud. Archaeological finds from this site include a vast spectrum of items, including chipped-stone artefacts, ceramics, stone vessels, and clay figurines, of which ceramics are the most numerous. These finds have been recovered from delimitation soundings, and archaeological reconnaissance. The main objective of this paper is to introduce this important, multi-period site through the recovered materials before it suffers from further damage which at present made it as a depot of waster of modern construction materials. In this paper, a classification and typology of the ceramic collection from the site has been provided and then, based on comparative studies, their relative dating has been suggested. This research follows a historical approach and has been fulfilled with a descriptive-comparative method. The main queries are: which periods can be inferred from the studies of the recovered materials of Tappeh Mokhar. What are the characteristics of Mokhar ceramic assemblage and which types of ceramics of which periods can be identified in this assemblage? The preliminary studies of the ceramic assemblage, however, suggest that the site was occupied during Chalcolithic period, Bronze Age, Achaemenid and Parthian periods, and its ceramic types are comparable with sites of the northeast region, Turkmenistan and eastern region, and then with those of north, south, southwest and west of Iran.

The concentration of activities and sites Iron Age excavations carried out in Iran in the quarter-northwest Iran. It covers the west, northwest, north of the center, and the west bank of the Caspian Sea. The important point is that the chronological basis of the Iron Age in Iran is also based on the excavation of several sites in a small part of the northwest and its extension to the whole of Iran. Thus we see the Iron Age archaeological activities at the eastern part of Iran and especially North East is very unknown. Iran has long been the entry point for people without a nomadic component steppes of northeastern North Asia region is the Iranian plateau. According to written sources the oldest nations that have entered the Iranian plateau, known as the Indo-Iranian or Aryan tribes from the steppes of northern Asia to the south and in the land of the Pamir Mountains to Anatolia widely dispersed. Many scholars consider the gradual movement of these tribes to be from the second millennium. A period that is almost synonymous with the Iron Age in the region. But our knowledge of the Iron Age northeastern Iran today virtually all North Khorasan Province and the northern part of Khorasan Razavi province involved is negligible. This paper is based on the latest research picture of the Iron Age northeastern part of the country, with emphasis on the upper basin Atrak be provided. According to the study and identification carried out in this basin, the Iron Age of the upper Atrak basin is part of the Yaz 1 culture.

The northern plains of the Alvand mountain range in Hamedan are known as part of the Median land and the capital of this period. Research and study on Iron Age III settlements with the aim of identifying and drawing an accurate pattern of the sites of this period was one of the goals of the writers in this region, which was carried out in recent years. Qale-dagh Tepe is one of the areas that have been reviewed and studied in this research. Qale-dagh or Aghdash area is located at an altitude of 2009 meters above sea level in the foothills of Arjanī mountain overlooking the Hamedan plain. The height of the area is 41 meters above the level of surrounding rangelands. The site was first identified and registered in 1381 AH and in 1385 AH in the comprehensive plan of archaeological survey of Hamedan city was reviewed. Despite much destruction, the site has not yet been studied and archaeologically excavated. Qale-dagh is a single period from the Iron Age III. It consists of single and dense brick building that can be seen in parts of the main walls and its gates. There is evidence of filling in the gaps between the back and the outside of the walls at an unspecified time. The pottery obtained from the study is small and contains non-significant samples of this period. There are questions about the condition of the area and its function in the heights of the Hamedan plain that this study has addressed. The research method in this paper is based on archaeological studies and comparative studies. Preliminary results show that Qale-dagh area is located in specific geographical location, architectural style, pottery data and compared with other sites of Median period such as Nush-I-Jan Tepe, Moush Tepe and Haji Khan is a religious place overlooking the capital of Med (Hegmataneh).

Mehr-Narseh is known as one of the most important character of the middle Sassanid era. Based on the written historical sources, the construction of some buildings has been attributed to him, among which the most outstanding ones are five fire-temple monuments built in the southwest of Fars. Although various theories have been put forward regarding the location of the structures, by far, the nature and qualitative value of them are unknown. In this study firstly, the political-religious personality of this Sassanid minister in various ways was investigated, then besides recognizing their religious nature and value via analysis of the sources related to Mehr-Narseh fire temples, the Chahar-Taqis attributed to him was also studied, according to the current theories,  so as to reveal some features of  the religious architecture of Sassanid era. This is a fundamental or basic research, and the nature and method of which is historical and descriptive-analytical. The data is also collected from library and fieldwork. Based on the results of this study, it seems that the fire temples built by Mehr-Narseh included two separate types and four fire temples attriuted to him located in Abruwān area were related to family fire meaned “Dādgāh”. According to the field studies and similarity, the previous theories can be criticized and a new group of religious temple of Sasanian period in Farashband can be introduced that contains one or several fire temples, which are attributed to Mehr-Narseh. It seems that these kinds of fire temples have a complex plan with additional architectural and probably had a number of attendants to do the work related to the fire temple. Overall, this research can provide a correct understanding of the fire temples of “Dādgāh” Fire during the Sassanid period. This also provides a new grouping manner for such these temples and can be known as a pattern for reviewing of usage and religious value of other similar Chahar-Taqis.

In the last two decades, as a result of the significant increase in archaeological field activities in Iraqi Kurdistan, some important sites and artifacts from the Sassanid period have been discovered. Even though during the Sassanid period, the northern region of Mesopotamia was considered a part of the Sassanid Empire, many archaeological features of this region in the Sassanid period have remained unknown. In this research, which was carried out using a library method, we have studied 42 ancient sites or monuments in Iraqi Kurdistan belonging to the Sassanid period, which have mainly been identified in recent years. This research aims to find an answer to some questions about the location of the Sassanid settlements in the region and the geographical and environmental factors affecting their formation. The Sassanid remnants of Iraqi Kurdistan include settlements, monuments, government complexes, fortifications, water channels, cemeteries, and the local production centers of textiles and pottery. The results of this research show that Sassanid settlements in Iraqi Kurdistan have mainly concentrated in three areas: 1. Shahrizur plain and the area around Dukan Lake 2. Erbil plain, 3. Garmian region. These areas, which are in the form of open plains and vast inter-mountain valleys, had importance in the Sassanid period due to having characteristics such as suitable height, abundant water sources, fertile soil, and being located on the important communication routes and therefore they were as a place for the formation of the settlements in the mentioned period.

The ancient site of Dinavar, known by the locals as the city of Khāvarān, is located northeast of Kermānshāh, on the Kermānshāh-Sonqor road. The importance of the site is still evident despite environmental damage such as floods and earthquakes and agricultural development. Historical findings and archaeological evidence show that the central hill and the surrounding areas were inhabited from the Seleucid period to the present day. This site is the city of Dinavar. A city that was one of the cultural centers of western Iran in the first centuries of Islam and this issue is received from the list of thinkers attributed to Dinavar. During the surveys, in addition to the potteries, a collection of mills and large weights were observed, which indicates a pressing workshop in the site. The typology of the pressing method in this workshop and its chronology is the main issue of this research, which is addressed by asking two questions: first, what period does this data belong to, and second; What products have been produced in this workshop? Given the needs of urban communities and the need to manage and plan workshop activities, a hypothesis based on the data belonging to the time of the flourishing of the city of Dinavar and the production of oil and grape syrup is proposed. Based on the comparison and study and study of environmental data, written sources and documents of archeology and ethnoarcheology, Dinavar workshop to the time of growth and prosperity of this area in the 2nd to 4th AH. It is attributed and in addition to the production of grape syrup, the possibility of oil-pressing is also raised. Since known specimens from central and western Iran belong to the late Islamic centuries, the site data reveal part of the history of this activity.

This essay attempts to do a typological study on one of the most applicable lighting devices -i.e. Oil Lamps- of the early Islamic period from Iran. Although introduction of Iranian ceramic Oil Lamps goes back to the pre Islamic period of Iran, the most remarkable changes in the design process of these products appeared during this period. Therefore, the main goal of this research is to study and follow design process of Iranian ceramic Oil Lamps of early Islamic period. This essay enquires about the most important developments on the history of Oil Lamps design. In order to reach the goal of this study and to do this research I have used descriptive analytical methodology of research and collected a great deal of needed information by desk study methods of data gathering. In addition, in order to delineate as good as possible the changes and developments appeared on various types of Iranian ceramic Oil Lamps from early Islamic period, here in this study I decided to use a specific framework for systematically studying history of objects’ design suggested by an Indian university professor named Kumar Vyas. According to Vyas, in order to be a major landmark a moment in the history of an object should indicate five kinds of changes: changes in design and structure of devices; changes in appearance of them; changes in methods of manufacturing; changes in the ways they have been used; and finally changes in objects’ relationship with their users. Therefore, one can categorize the most important developments in designs and types of Iranian ceramic Oil Lamps in three main groups. The first group includes those ceramic Oil Lamps with open, bowl shaped bodies and projected wick holders; Second group have globular enclosed bodies with elongated tubular wick holders. Finally, footed lamps with central stem on a plate shaped stand recognize the last group of our typology of Iranian ceramic Oil Lamps from early Islamic period.

Among the most eye-catching features observable on the cultural materials of 12th-14th centuries, are painted or drawn scenes which narrate a specific story and can be classified as “narrative motifs”. One of these narrative motifs are scenes which depict Faridun’s victory over Zahhak. These motifs bring the famous story of Zahhak in Firdowsi’s Shahname to the mind. Most researchers consider these motifs exactly in the same vein i.e.  as part of “Shahname-related motifs”. But this author is doubtful on asttributing these motifs to Firdowsi’s grand masterpiece. The main question here is to understand that how and in which regard this motif can be related to Firdowsi’s story of Faridun. To reach to an answer two kinds of evidence have been studied: pictorial narratives; and written narrative which describe the story of Faridun. For this reason, in the first step, all the depictions related to this story from the 12th through the 14th centuries, have been described. The repeated and distinctive motifs in these depictions have been discussed under the thematic subject termed the “Mace-wielding bull-rider”. In the second step, this thematic subject has been compared with written narratives from Firdowsi’s Shahname and the other historical sources. considering the fact that the main data used here are depictions that lack any written descriptions, the earliest illustrated manuscripts of Shahname were also studied so that we can reach a more comprehensive conclusion. In the last section, the author, by collating the pictorial and written documents, refutes the theory that takes the Shahname as the origin of the depictions of Faridun’s victory over Zahhak, and explain its as an independent and distinct narrative of Faridun’s Story.

Since during this era, Yazd involve less social vicissitudes and because of the training performance in the middle ages of Islam, the tradition of school building that started from the Seljuk dynasty in a quiet environment. Being away from security concerns and creating relative peace during the middle ages and the high acceptability of building a school has provided the emergence of its construction in the city of Yazd. Therefore, considering the numerous references to the schools of this era in Yazd historical texts and the absence of research on the architecture of the historical schools of this city, the article describes the building features of these ones. Answering this question is the purpose of this article: what are the features of school mentioned in the historical texts and what were components of spatialization and arrays of these schools? The research method of this article is based on historical documents and library studies. This is a historical-analytical research and its main reference is historical sources such as books of Ta’rikh-e Yazd (History of Yazd), Ta’rihk-e Jadid Yazd (New History of Yazd) and Ja’me’ Mofidi. Historical schools are explored in this article from the aspects of architecture, decoration, function and constructers. The results of this research show that schools in Yazd have local and indigenous features that were prevalent in this area, before Ilkhanate dynasty, and the influence of local architectural and decoration methods on the school building is undeniable according to historical sources. Schools have a lot in common with the architecture of mosques, houses and Khaneqahs (monasteries) considering that schools are usually used as a graveyard, these buildings can be classified as burial schools, and finally, various classes of people have played a major role in building these historical schools as founders.

Ardebil’s Jomeh Mosque is located on an ancient beat that has been the city’s cemetery for centuries. All written sources and archaeological evidence state that the mosque has gathered artistic and architectural innovations from the early Islamic centuries to the Qajar era. Today’s remnants of the building are located in the northeast of Ardabil city and due to measures to preserve the building, it still maintains its firmness. The main purpose of this research is to identify the structural, physical and decorative characteristics of the building in different historical periods. The present study seeks to answer the following questions. What changes have been made to the spatial structure and structure of the mosque from the beginning of its emergence to the contemporary period? And in terms of map and archaeological evidence, which buildings are comparable to the Jomeh mosque? The research method is interpretive- historical and analytical. In addition, documentation and comparative studies have been the basis of the work. The data collection tool is library and field. Based on the results of the research and according to the narratives and writings of researchers and the results of archaeological studies, it can be concluded that its original building dates back to the early Days of Islam, which has been destroyed and rebuilt several times during different periods and has elements of Deilami, Seljuk, Ilkhanid and Qajar architecture and contemporary era. The current persistence of the Jomeh Mosque has Seljuk architecture, but the interior and decorative arrays of the building are in contrast to its façade. In terms of architectural structures, this building has a combination of four arches with porch, which is very similar to seljuk-like, comprehensive and comprehensive buildings of Uremia. Also, the pillar discovered in The Nave have a clear similarity with the historical mosque of Damghan and Jomeh Nain.

The more specialized and technical studies of historical paintings are the greater will be the history of Iranian art and, in fact, Iranian art and the identity of Iranian culture. Therefore, each of the historical cases will be valuable and influential. The purpose of this article is studying the nature of a destroyed paining on canvas and its overall shape, subject and identity which found in the storeroom of Mary Church of Isfahan. Accordingly, this article tries to answer the question of what is the nature of the painting discovered from the Mary Church of Isfahan? In order to achieve this goal, the library and field studies as well as laboratory studies including microscopic imaging and elemental analysis (SEM-EDS) was used for data collecting. In the following, it is attempted to prove the identity of the painting as Canvas-Marouflaged mural by comparative study of it with similar murals of the three churches of Vank, Maryam and Bethlehem. One of the main results of the research is the recognition of the painting from a technical and thematic point of view as well as its identification as a Canvas-Marouflaged mural and its presentation place at the time of the creation of the painting in front of the altar of Mary Church Isfahan.

The reign of the Qajar dynasty is one of the most important eras of the evolution of Iranian art, especially in the form of murals. In the geographical area of Iranian cities, the connection between religion and art according to the Shiite religion of the society of this era is obvious. In the present article, an attempt has been made to identify the effective factors of geographical territory in the way of reflecting Shiite themes in the mentioned works in the important Shiite cities of the Qajar era. The authors seek to answer these questions: What are the influential factors of the geographical territory in the way of reflecting Shiite themes in the murals of religious Monuments of the Qajar era? Which cities of the Qajar era had the greatest influence in the way of reflecting Shiite themes in the murals of religious buildings of the Qajar era? The present research is developmental in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of nature and method. The method of collecting information was library and field and the method of qualitative analysis. Findings indicate that the effective factors of geographical territory in how these murals are reflected are included in these sections: the refuge of the Prophet’s family in mountainous areas, the rule of the Zaidi Alawites, the rule of Sadat Marashi, the formalization of the Shiite religion in the Safavid era, religious architecture Iran, the support of princes for Shiite art, pilgrimage to places on pilgrimage. The results of the research show that the geographical territory of each religious building is a link between indigenous architecture and the religious view of Islam to the Shiite religion.

According to historical and archaeological sources, the ancient city of Esfarayen was one of the important settlement centers of the Islamic era. During its existence and prosperity, this city was a link between the two famous and big cities of Nishapur and Jurjan, but from the end of the Safavid period onwards, due to various reasons, it declined and its inhabitants gradually moved to the new city. So far, parts of the ancient city of Esfarayen have been excavated by archaeologists during several different seasons. In the meantime, choosing a suitable place for archaeological excavations in this area has always been one of the most important issues for its explorers, because due to the limitation of financial resources and the large area of the area, it was necessary to determine suitable places for excavation in advance. so that its archaeological exploration can be done with more certainty. For this purpose, at the beginning of the third season of excavations, six hectares of the city were investigated with the help of magnetometric method. Then, based on the results of magnetometry, the excavations of this season were carried out. According to these explanations, the main goal of the current research is to present the results of magnetometry and compare it with the findings of the archaeological exploration of the ancient city of Esfarayen. In the current research, the descriptive-analytical method has been used using the results of field and library studies. As a result of these studies, many evidences of industrial activities were identified in the site, including architectural remains of a pottery kiln and many evidences of pottery production, which are important in the archaeological studies of the Islamic era.

In recent decades, cultural heritage-related concepts have been widely investigated, and agricultural heritage has been adopted as a concept of cultural heritage because of its contribution to livelihoods, food security, and the world economy. This consideration from 2002 to 2018 led the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to develop a framework known as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) and to introduce global agricultural heritage sites accordingly. The GIAHS committee presented five criteria for incorporating the sites in the list of globally important agricultural heritage. Biodiversity, local awareness and techniques, socio-cultural values, food and livelihood security, and visual landscape were included in the five categories; thus, this article aims to evaluate historic farmsteads in the central Iranian regions. Historic farmsteads were thought-about an efficient agricultural production system characterized by architectural, economic, social, and cultural features in the past, the traces of which are still available. The main research subject concerns the growing destruction of farms following climate changes, the migration of owners and beneficiaries, and the lack of community knowledge about their nature. The research main goal is to introduce Iranian historical farmsteads as a globally vital agricultural heritage system. Thus, the research seeks to investigate the issue through an interpretive approach and an interpretive strategy and to use field studies and document research to respond to research questions on Iranian historical farmsteads in conjunction with global agricultural systems. This research concludes that the potentials of historical farmsteads meet GIAHS standards. The GIAHS secretariat can also identify the Iranian historic farmsteads in the first stride and then register them internationally. It will help many historical farmsteads as a large part of the Iranian agricultural heritage to be dynamically conserved.

In the past decades, archaeology has turned toward research on societies that lie temporally between the industrial age and the present, what can be considered a “late historical  archaeology.” The cultural materials for the study of this branch of archaeology include archival written sources, audio and video sources, and eyewitnesses, all of which are analysed together with the findings of archaeological excavations. Studies of the modern period in archaeology, which includes the industrial age and the era of globalization, document both individual and collective processes. Archaeology of modern times requires an interdisciplinary perspective, drawing on the disciplines of art history, history, sociology, anthropology, and even criminology in analysing and interpreting its findings. The present article is the result of a study in the archaeology of modernity, in which the authors investigated a World War II Nazi training camp in Wustrau, located in the German state of Brandenburg, about 70 km northwest of Berlin. The camp was built to “retrain” - or brainwash -non-Russian members of the Red Army such as Ukrainians, Muslim Tatar prisoners as part of a plan to send them into the territories of the Soviet Union as trained Nazi administrators. The archaeological excavation in Wustrau was conducted jointly by members of the Free University of Berlin, Isfahan Art University and the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Research Institute.