Journal of Ancient Iranian Studies
Volume:1 Issue: 4, 2022

The central part of Tafarsh is a mountainous area surrounded by mountains. This area is located next to the north-south highway that passes through the Kavir desert edges. In different historical and perhaps prehistoric eras, it has been an opinion; It has given a special position to this area. In the Parthian period, this area is believed to be one of the first areas. This was noticed after the advance of the Parthians to the west and on the eve of the conquest of Media because this difficult-to-pass area as a natural fortress could provide the necessary fields for military supplies and preparations during crises. In this area, several settlements and sites related to this period were studied and investigated. Its results show that these sites were created on the banks of the Qarachai River and its tributaries and on the side of the mountain roads that connect this area to other areas or pass through this area. The study of pottery, along with other factors, also shows the cultural and commercial relations and the importance of this region in these exchanges as a communication and strategy link. Generally, I have tried in this article. First, I will discuss the situation of the Parthian period and the historical geography of Tafarsh from the archaeological and historical perspective. Then to the areas belonging to this period, which include the settlement (village) and the castle. In the following, I have discussed the historical developments of the Parthian period in which these areas played a role, as well as the effective factors in the formation and location of the areas and the analysis and comparison of the surface and architectural findings obtained. the end , have tried to provide a conclusion of them.

The art of music has always been considered in Iranian cultural periods. According to written documents from the Sassanid period (AD 224-651), such as the biographies of Ardeshir Babakan, the Assyric tree, and Khosrow and Ridag, it can be seen that music flourished during this period. Among the various instruments that existed during this period, it appears that the Barbat instrument had a special privilege. Perhaps the name of Bārbad, the most famous musician of this period, also has a connection with the name of Barbat. The aim of the research is to present samples of Sassanid period engraved metal vessels with Barbat motifs, to investigate the features of this musical instrument in terms of form and the musician's relationship with other motifs in each scene. The question of what was the motivation of the Sassanid artist in engraving the motif of playing the Barbat on luxury metal vessels is the main issue of the research. The collection of research data was done by the library method and their analysis was done by the descriptive-adaptive method. The result shows that during the Sassanid period, the motif of the Barbat instrument was engraved on various forms of metal vessels in various scenes, most of the scenes showing parties, banquets, and court celebrations, and in general, the Barbat instrument has held a special and exalted position in the musical culture of the Sasanian era.

Numismatic study of Arab-Sassanid coins can be a turning point in the numismatic study of Both Sassanid and Islamic era. It provides us with extensive information about victories, conquerors, governors, political and administrative geography and etc. General motifs, themes, writings, and pictures on the coins show no different with the Sassanid Dirhams but according to the inscriptions they date back to the first centuries of lunar calendar and categorized as Arab-Sassanid coins. In winter 2012, Vali Zareie found 4 coins in a small shelter at Dūkohak, a small village near the town Arsanjān. The coins had undergone some erosion during the course of time. 2 of them were minted at Bishāpur and Dārābgerd in 34 and 75 A.H which carry the name of Muslim governers Abdollah-ibn-Amer and Mohleb-ibn-Abisofreh in Pahlavi alphabet. The other 2 do not have any Arab governers’ name and the name of Khosrow II (Khoasro Parviz) is readable on them in Pahlavi alphabet; they were minted in 33 and 50 A.H at Jay and Nahāvand. In the following research beside defining the spot where the coins are found the historical geography of the location Dašr-e Tavābec-e Arsanjān and Dūkohak village within Sassanid time and the first centuries of Islamic era, plus the location where they are minted will be studied.

Religion played a significant role in the political life of the Achaemenian Empire as the kings of this dynasty, with their special religious policies, could rule over this great empire, which consisted of different nations and religions, for over 200 years. Each king of this dynasty had a different view towards religion and tradition and so their treatment of this issue significantly varied; for instance, Cyrus and Darius exhibited more tolerance towards religion compared to other kings. However, in the middle period of this kingdom, some strictness was started, so that it is assumed that Xerxes intended to generalize and institutionalize the royal worldview in the Achaemenid kingdom. In the late period of this dynasty, a kind of deconstruction in the religion and revival of religious micro-currents is seen, starting from the time of Artaxerxes II. According to the traditional view towards the Achaemenid kings’ worldview, as a rule, the effect of Zoroastrian teachings on these kings should be observed and investigated, but contrary to the common method, the present paper attempts to study the influence of the Achaemenids on the Zoroastrian teachings in order to preserve and survive their Imperial, and track their innovations and heresies by comparing the Zoroastrian primary and secondary texts. Using a comparative study of the mentioned texts and a historical approach, the introduction of many pre-Zoroastrian religions by magus, as well as the influence of foreign cultures, were revealed to us, and the existence of secondary influences by the Achaemenid kings on Zoroastrianism became evident since during the Achaemenid era the Zoroastrian unwritten religion had easily provided a suitable context to accept the changes due to the domination of magus over this area. These deliberate influences of the government on the religion reached to the extent that the term "political religion" could be used instead of the term "religious policy" during this period.

Pendants known as double-spiral pendants have been discovered in the archaeological excavations of some sites of Iran and Mesopotamia. So far, there has been no independent research on this kind of pendants and a review of these findings in the present research in terms of gender, dating, use and distribution of their discovery in the two geographical basins above-mentioned can be used in the process of comparative studies, chronology and typology in the future. This and the studies of cultural and commercial exchanges between Iran and Mesopotamia are particularly influential in the field of metalworking art. The required information has been collected by library method and then processed by descriptive-analytical method. The sites of discovery of these pendants is Nush-i Jan Tepe in Malayer, layers II and III of Tepe Hissar in Damghan, layer II of Turang Tepe in Gorgan, Tepe Giyan in Nahavand and Lorestan region in Iran and layer XI of Tepe Gawra, Tell Brak, Ur royal cemetery and Assur tomb number 45 in Mesopotamia. There are also samples kept in the museums of Cincinnati and British, the place of their discovery is unclear. The double-spiral pendants discovered from the above-mentioned are made of gold, silver and copper and belong to the time range of the early 4th millennium to the early 1st millennium AD. It seems that these objects had a ritual and religious use and were used as amulets.

Iranian identity is one of the topics that some are happy to admit and few are merry to deny. The book’s author in question is one of the deniers. As the name of the book suggests, the book’s author wants to challenge Iran and the historicity of Iranian and national identity. He, who is under the influence of new theoretical and ideological debates, which are all unconcerned about the background and historical-cultural context of the countries under study, sees Iran and its national identity as the construction of orientalists and their servants and makes the historicity of the word Iran insignificant and unimportant. The author of the work believes that since Iran's national identity was formed in the West, presenting any historical background and origin for Iran and its national identity is an unforgivable misdeed and a clear injustice to many ethnic groups of this land. The author of the book Iran as Imagined Nation: the Construction of National Identity, which is interested in Edward Said and his Orientalism and benefited a lot from the book Imagined Communities written by Benedict Anderson, believes that some Iranian and non-Iranian writers who consider Iranian and national identity to be a historical matter, under the influence of Western methodology and based on racial and ideological orientations, narrated the past, presented an ahistorical and delusional reading and placed fake constructions instead of history. The present article does not criticize all the chapters of the book Iran as Imagined Nation: the Construction of National Identity, rather, those parts that have made weak and incorrect claims about the historical origin of Iran, the nature of Iran, and Iran's ethnic and linguistic diversity, will be put into perspective and shed light on them.