the monologue of Sassanian kings: aninterpretation of Iranian historical reliefs

Sassanian empire

•Were Sassanid totalitarians?

• Raffaele Pettazzoni (1954:213) Essays on the history of religions "And like Zoroastrianism, which ended by becoming the totalitarian State religion in Persia under the Sassanids, as Christianity did in the Roman Empire." "Islam and Conflict Resolution: Theories and Practices" edited by Ralph H. Salmi, Cesar Adib Majul, George George Kilpatrick Tanham (1998) , The roots of western Europe: an essay on interpenetration of cultures during the first nine centuries, A.D. : with an epilogue covering cultural developments from the 10th to the 20th century (Jacques Rassel 1995).

Bahrani, Zeinab, Rituals of War: the body and

violence in Mesopotamia, New York:

Zone Books, 2008.

Ardeshir I– 224-241

AD

SHAPUR I– 241-271

AD

Hormoz I– 272-273

AD

Bahram I- 273-276 AD

Bahram II- 276-293 AD

Narse-293-302 AD

Shapur II- 310-379 AD

Bahram V-421-439 AD

Bahram V-531-579 AD

Khosrow Parviz – 591-628 AD

Yazdgerd III– 632-651 AD

Kartir inscriprions (3th Century A.D.)

Naghs rajab:

kartir: I destroyed the temples of

Ashmough, the ones who were not

Zorastorians

Sarmashhad

inscription :

I helped the clergy

men to build

Zoroastrian temples..…

Naghsh Rostam :

the story of Kartir’s

travel to heaven and his

attempts to omit all Ashmoug

hs

Shapur I

Valerianus

Philip

Kartir in Sarmashhad: I changed the minorities religion

to Zoroastrian in a region where "the horses and the men of the

king existed "

Kartir and Shapur about the victories

on Romans and Ashmough

• …and in Aniran shahr: from antiyukhous, Syria, Kilikia, Qeysaria, Capadoukia…to Alan Gate , king of kings Shapour and his men and their horses took all these regions. Shapour marauded slaves, fired and ruined everywhere. I,Ketir, obeying king of kings , supported moqan and fires…

Two words • Ashmough: in Kartir inscription , the Jews,

Christians, Buddhists, and Zenadigh have been called Ashmough

• Anirani: used by Shapur I to name the foreigners

Shapur II/III – Tagh Bostan :This is me! Lord Shapour, worshiper of Ahouramazda, the king of Iran and Aniran king of kings, the son of the gods…to recognize our name ,bravery, heroism and our reign after this, we commanded to write these points…

Firoozabad- Ardeshir and Ahuramazda

Naghsh Rajab- Shapur and Ahuramazda

Khosrow and two gods- Tagh Bostan

21

Ardaviraf name (a religious book about a :travel to heaven)

In heaven, I saw the spirits of soldiers where they had

golden weapons….

•Thank you