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Sep 2, 2022 21 tweets 12 min read Read on X
Against the wrong view there are no #Sasanian #silk including samite textiles, here are 8 examples!

هشت نمونه از منسوجات ابریشمی از دوره ساسانی

1: The David Collection, 650-750, Inv. no. 9/1996

⤵️ https://www.davidmus.dk/en/collections/islamic/materials/tex
Possibly just slightly post-Islamic, though the motif did not reach Arabs from Mars! It existed in Iran for centuries! From Iran or Iraq, "Samitum-woven textile with confronted birds in medallions, silk"

2: 6th–7th C, @metmuseum, Accession Number: 2000.624.1

⤵️ https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/328829?ft=sa
Note the motifs on these examples. These should not be called "Central Asian"... whatever that means!

At the very least, these should be called Iranian, or Sasanian-Sogdian

3: Textile Medallion: 6C, Attributed to Iraq or Syria, @metmuseum , Accession #: 90.5.10

⤵️ https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/443591?ft=sa
If there is an objection these haven't been excavated, please note there is only 1 plain, non-silk child's kaftan excavated in Sogdiana

4: #Sasanian silk, 241-430 C, @GWTextileMuseum , Accession #: T-1166

⤵️ https://collections-gwu.zetcom.net/en/collection/item/48654/
Please again note the motifs, for example this one @metmuseum

"bird wears a pearl-studded crescent on its breast & holds a jeweled necklace in its beak—an emblem of Sasanian royalty."

This is EXACTLY same motif later repeated by #Sogdians, all the way to China!

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It cannot be anything but Iranian, and Sasanian! What some scholars and pseudo-scholars are doing to separate these from Iranian identity is truly damaging to ancient Iran and needs to stop!

also see:



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5: Unfortunately poorly photographed piece @metmuseum , 6-7 C, silk, samite, Iran, Accession Number: 2000.624.4

⤵️ https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/328832?ft=sa
6: Another poorly photographed piece @metmuseum

textile fragment, silk, damasee, 6-7 C, Sasanian, Iran, Accession Number: 2000.624.5

⤵️ https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/328833?ft=sa
7: Sassanian Iran/Iraq, 5th–6th c.; #: BZ.1939.33.1–2

Weft-faced compound weave (samite) in polychrome silk

@DumbartonOaks

⤵️ https://www.doaks.org/resources/textiles/catalogue/BZ.1939-3
8: Sassanian Iraq/Iran, 6th–7th c., #: BZ.1972.10

Weft-faced compound weave (samite) in polychrome silk

@DumbartonOaks

Also see:



⤵️ https://www.doaks.org/resources/textiles/catalogue/BZ.1972.1
Also see: Disproving the hypothesis of "Reorienting Sasanian textiles" once and for all

Also see: textiles in ancient Iran, with post-Islamic, other later examples



And excavated pieces from salt mummies in #Iran: Chehrabad salt mines, Zanjan:

And since we're on the topic of textiles, see the amazing details of this piece, in multiple sources noted as having Iranian/Sasanian influences, including in clothing of riders, also @DumbartonOaks, Eastern Mediterranean, ca. 6th or 7th c.

⤵️ https://www.doaks.org/resources/textiles/catalogue/BZ.1939.1
"The art of Sasanian weavers is often mentioned in Roman and Byzantine sources, with the clothing of Persian men in one source described as “gleaming with many shimmering colors.” [Ammianus Marcellinus 23.6.84: A. Gonosová, “Exotic Taste: The Lure of Sasanian Persia,”]

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"some woolen but mainly silks, found in the Byzantine graves of Antinoë in Egypt were also assumed to be Sasanian primarily on the basis of their exotic patterns and their similarity to the Taq-i-Bustan reliefs.

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Comparisons of the late antique weaving techniques has confirmed that many of the Antinoë silks belonged to the costume worn by the Sasanians."

"Many of these motifs were imitated in a variety of media outside the Sasanian culture, from floor and wall mosaics to

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architectural sculpture and silver vessels, in the late Roman and Byzantine periods." [A. Gonosová, “Exotic Taste: The Lure of Sasanian Persia,”, Antioch: Lost Ancient City, ed. C. Kondoleon (Princeton, 2000); reprinted in Late Antique and Medieval Art of Mediterranean, 2007]
I should add 2 more:

9: Kaftan fragment, #Alanic, 7th to 9th century CE; woven samite silk, @hermitage_eng

But note the 3-dot, or 3-pearl symbol on neck! Could be Sasanian export or imitation of Sasanian textile, though possibly from 8-9 C

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10: Gorgeous design with similar pieces at 3 museums.

@MuseeLouvre , noted as from Egypt, but from #Sasanian era in Egypt, silk samite, E29212

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Complete piece from Louvre

See those design elements again, 3-dot/pearl symbol and even wings above the birds' heads! Amazing!

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And these similar pieces

1: Lyon, France
2-4: Abegg-Stiftung, Switzerland

Also see paper on it: Reconstruction of a Persian Silk from Antinoë, Flury-Lemberg, 1989 http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/004049689793700310  Reconstruction

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More from @iran_antigua

Mar 30
Rhytons are rather rare in Sasanian Iran. But one known shape shared with others in Central Asia as well is the compact horn & gazelle's head protome

This one only entered the Smithsonian in the 80s, though it was known since the 60s ... ⤵️ https://asia.si.edu/explore-art-culture/collections/search/edanmdm:fsg_S1987.33/
Based on the analysis in "Ancient Iranian metalwork in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and the Freer Gallery of Art" it's likely early Sasanian

In any event, similar ones were used for centuries in West & Central Asia

Partho-Sasanian rhyton, excavated @ Babylon ... Image
Rhyton in private collection, Russia ... Image
Read 7 tweets
Jan 7
Achaemenid amphora & amphora-rhytons

Depiction: Armenian delegation, Persepolis

⤵️🧵 Image
Other depictions @ Persepolis:

1: Armenian
2: Lydian
4: Medes


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Amphora with griffin handles, Karaburun ...
Image
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Read 15 tweets
Sep 13, 2023
Some additional notes on Sasanian instruments, from the MP text Khosrow and Ridak:

A) This instrument is the barbat (with later changes called oud (photo 3)), not "win"/ ون, I made detailed notes on it in multiple threads



Image
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B) Some sources note "win" and "win-kenār" are types of harp, e.g.,

بررسی ابزار موسیقی دوره ی ساسانی بر پایه ی متن پهلوی خسرو قبادان و ریدگ

Although some sources note these could be instruments from India

Azarnouche translates the first 3 to French as... Image
"Le joueur de (petite) harpe, le joueur de harpe (droite?), le joueur de lyre"

C) An interesting consideration is this: could we use the maxim of interpretation/ construction Noscitur a Sociis: “know a thing by its associates”?

It would make sense for tambur and barbat Image
Read 7 tweets
Jun 18, 2023
Achaemenid Royal Audience Scene, inside shield of Persian soldier on so-called 'Alexander Sarcophagus'

4th C BCE, from Sidon, @ Istanbul Archaeology Museums, Photos: Fluorescent UV & Reconstruction

⤵️ Imagehttps://www.metmuseum.org/a...
An older drawing without some of the details (1);

There are parallels, precedents to #Achaemenid royal scenes in Assyrian, Elamite, other Near Eastern art. Drawing in photo 2 for example is likely of an older, Elamite seal which continued to be used in Achaemenid court

⤵️ ImageImage
We see examples of this royal audience scene @ Persepolis, here reconstructed from the fuller image @ Apadana, and another modern recreation @ Zinat al-Molk House

⤵️ ImageImage
Read 9 tweets
Jun 17, 2023
History of Dogs in Iran

Treatment of dogs was very different in ancient Iran. They were considered beneficial, helpful animals and were to be treated well.

Photo: Persian hound or Saluki, 16th C CE

⤵️🧵 Image
I started this research to show Simurgh should not be called the "dog-bird". Along the way, I found ancient & modern breeds across the Near East and Central Asia regions, with a lot of continuity

For example see these Assyrian (1-3) & old Babylonian examples (@britishmuseum) ImageImageImageImage
likely hounds and the last one in the last tweet being an older type of mastiff

Also consider this Kassite Mastiff, @metmuseum

⤵️ ImageImage
Read 30 tweets
Jun 10, 2023
Study of Colour in #Sasanian Iran

We have enough reference materials for study & recreation of colours in Parthian-Sasanian eras

Photo: Etchmiadzin Gospels, likely 6-7 C CE depiction of 3 magi

⤵️ Image
Together with refs to royal colours, like Hamza al-Isfahani's Tarīk̲h̲ sinī mulūk al-arḍ wa ’l-anbiyā, we can work on recreating colours of that era

I've talked about colours in Achaemenid era, though that needs updating. Previous threads on motifs etc:
Some references from Parthian era: we can certainly assume the colours did not change in Sasanian era, and like many other ways, the same colours were used later on as well

Ref 1: Parthian era textile with colours like purple

⤵️ Image
Read 43 tweets

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