Thread by @PersiaAntiqua

۲۴ طرح و نقش ایرانی که از چین تا روم برای چند صد سال استفاده میشده |

Iranian Identity: 24 #Iranian motifs & designs used for centuries from ancient China to Rome. |

1: 3-dot or 3-pearl motif: Very popular in Sasanian Iran...

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It's likely an aniconic representation of the Iranian, Zoroastrian deity Tishtrya | تیشتَر , though at times it could have taken a simple astronomical meaning as well

Spot it on clothing!

https://twitter.com/On_Persia/status/1493016588412461065?s=20&t=Lh2euJaUvmlgzvKtAaXhjA

1: 3-dot or 3-pearl motif

Undoubtedly, this design is Iranian, #Sasanian or possibly pre-Sasanian in origin.

Representations at Taqe Bostan, including on clothing of Ahura Mazda. These parts of Taqe Bostan are associated with Khosrow II (570-628)

Given internal...

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conflict towards end of his reign, these depictions ought to be from early 7th C.

We also have depiction of 3-dot symbol on numerous Sasanian coins

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1: 3-dot or 3-pearl motif

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1: 3-dot or 3-pearl motif

More Sasanian depictions on clothing, other elements

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Possibly as part of 1: armoured horseman rhyton, 8-9th C, Central Asia

2: ancient Luristan object: clothing of person on bottom sitting down

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1: Sasanian-era textile found in Egypt, @MuseeLouvre
2: from Astana cemetry, @V_and_A
3: Termez, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
4: #Roman Depiction: church of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy [source: Canepa]

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2) Crescent, Other astronomical signs: not that everyone couldn't see the moon in the sky, but in a particular pattern & design, of Iranian origin

Perhaps some of the earlier crescent designs

1: Parthian Orodes II-Star & Crescent
2-3: Achaemenid era
4: Persis king, Manuchtir

1: likely Parthian era jewellery
2: Sasanian era, @ present day Rome

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Sasanian seals used the crescent design extensively

It was part of numerous Sasanian crowns, standards etc.

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Here as part of more complex monograms

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Even on some helmets, and as I mentioned as part of crowns in Sasanian era

1: @RGZM_Freunde

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As architectural element

1: Taqe Bostan
2: ancient Khwarazm
3: ancient Khwarazm
4: Vakhsh Kafir Kala, 5-7C

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And on clothing as part of design of "roundels", sometimes in pearl-shape, sometimes not. I'll get to this design later.

1-2: @V_and_A
3: From Egypt, Sasanian era, 6-7 C, also note the winged horse: another very ancient Iranian design and mythological creature
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With some of oldest depictions of winged horse/pegasus being from Iran.

We in fact have this very crescent design at Taqe Bostan, Iran

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Same design:

1: Kizil caves, Hephthalites or Sogdians, or other Central Asians
2-4: #Sogdian : note the crescent in between other, bigger roundels

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The same design in #China

1-2: Northern Dynasties period, @cnsilkmuseum

Also note the crescent inside the largely accepted Iranian pearl roundel design (e.g., Compareti, Gasparini)

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3) Hearts

Importantly, we see these designs & motifs across media, here hearts on metal objects, Sasanian era

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3) Hearts

In architectural elements

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As part of numerous seals, monograms

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In depiction of clothing

1-2: @ Ghulbiyan
3: now @ Greece, from Sasanian-era Egypt

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And on textiles

1: now @ Aachen Cathedral treasure, Germany
2: Museo Sacro, Vatican, 6-7C, for border decoration
4: from Egypt (Antinoe), now @MuseeLouvre

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1: from Egypt, now @ Louvre

2-3: REMARKABLY, textile from China, with Middle Persian inscription "king of kings, the great and glorious"!!!! Confirming another Iranian, Sasanian piece of silk samite

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4) Derafsh Kaviani: Quadriform Cross Motif

I wrote about this symbol in detail before. This design is very ancient

1-2: Pazyryk carpet
3: On Scythian or Thracian helmet
4: from ancient Luristan

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1-2: Achaemenid
3: ancient Luristan, @ Louvre

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On pants of Yingpan Man, found in China

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1: Bagadates of Persis, depicted as part of standard/flag

2: Possibly depicted on fabrics from Parthian era Palmyra

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Sasanian-era

3: in border decoration , now @ Boston

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1-3: from Egypt, 1: @DumbartonOaks , 2-3: @MuseeLouvre
4: See design of fabric "saddle" on Sasanian plate

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Same design in Sogdia, Varakhsha

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Same design @ Hagia Sophia from Roman era + in decoration of silk door hanging @ church of San
Vitale, Ravenna, Italy [see Two Eyes of the Earth, 2009, Canepa; Distant Displays of Power, 2010, Canepa]

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5) Stylized Wings & Leaves

This is likely an evolution from Near Eastern via Achaemenid "Fravahar" symbol, or the falcon standard, or combo of both

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Used in numerous crowns in Sasanian era

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As part of at least one standard/flag (photo 4)

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Then also in decorative arts

With some animals, especially ram/similar animal as symbolizing royal glory/ Farr/ Khvarenah

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Even in multiple seals under human heads

With the famous boar in photo 4 which I will get to soon

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In Architecture

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Stylized leaves and wings were later used from China to Rome in various architectural and decorative elements

More Sasanian examples

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3 more Iranian, Sasanian pieces [1 could be pre-Sasanian as well]

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And as decorative element in textiles

1: from Egypt, @ Louvre
2: Eastern Mediterranean, 6-7 C, @DumbartonOaks

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More stylized wings/leaves in textiles

3: Louvre, from Egypt
4: Eastern Mediterranean, DumbartonOaks

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6) Pearl Appliqué, other Appliqué & Plaques

The focus here is on the design we see multiple times on clothes of Khosrow II at Taqe Bostan

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We see the same design on a textile from Egypt, now at @V_and_A

and 2-3: on clothing of middle person on this piece I talked about before

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In terms of other Appliqués & Plaques, we see these from Achaemenid era, especially photo 2 also at sites in Russia related to other Iranian groups

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and 2 possible reps of decorative pearls or other Appliqués from Parthian era

By Sasanian era, "Sasanian court art and architecture had become hugely popular in the Near East and Central Asia by the sixth century." [Two Eyes of the Earth, 2009, Canepa]

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"It replaced Hellenistic art as the new Eurasian aristocratic visual common culture and, with Hagios Polyeuktos, [Hagia Sophia] and representations of textiles as evidence, its popularity was rising in the Roman empire as well."

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"The meeting and melding of Roman and Sasanian practices of kingship shaped the expression of power in the Mediterranean, Near East, Central and South Asia, and China from the Middle Ages to the seventeenth century."

"Ornamental motifs, often found in the margins of sacred architecture, luxury objects, palaces, tombs and court costumes, offered a subtle means to control an emperor’s identity and manage the economy of courtly hierarchy." [Canepa, Distant Displays of Power, 2010]

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7) Lozenge & Roundel, with humans, animals etc.

Perhaps some of earlier designs are from Achaemenid era

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More Achaemenid era reps (1-2)

And Parthian era, bird inside a square or lozenge

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By very early #Sasanian era, we have similar designs to "pearl roundel" as well as other roundels on coins which then circulated across Eurasia, for example coins of Peroz and others

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One more coin (Shapur II)

And the design was then used across media, including on textiles from China to Rome

We'll see more examples of it when I talk about other motifs too, but here will show some specific examples

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Design on Sasanian metal objects

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One example of roundels on clothing (1: Taqe Bostan)

And design in architecture

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More examples of roundels from Sasanian architecture

"Scholarship has especially explored the craze for “western” luxuries in the early Tang dynasty, including food, fashions, and entertainments largely imported from the Iranian world." [Canepa]

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1: Likely Sasanian, @GWTextileMuseum
2: also GWTextileMuseum
3: pearl roundel + hearts + ducks! super Sasanian!

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Same designs for textiles

1: 8 C, @ClevelandArt
3: 7-8 C, GW Museum
4: 8 C, @metmuseum

"Set against a larger Eurasian context, #Sasanian courtly images enjoyed an exceptionally wide prestige, popularity, and utility, used and reinterpreted in Constantinople and Chang’an

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even after the Persian empire’s demise." [Canepa, Distant Displays of Power, 2010]

More textile examples

Undoubtedly the roundel design is also Iranian in origin, though other nations could have used a similar idea at times

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Same design in Central Asia, Sogdia

1: Balalyk Tepe, likely with boars inside roundels

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Same design was used for a few centuries in China

Here's an example from Tomb of Xu Xianxiu

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And Same design in Rome: north wall, church of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy

"In the San Vitale mosaic, Justinian displays silk decorated with a duck in pearl roundel medallion pattern. He incorporates this global symbol of wealth and prestige into the shoulder appliqué of

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his white tunica and most notably into the segmentum/tablion of his purple chlamys, the metonymic symbol of Roman imperial power." [Canepa, 2010]

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Also see:

The role of the Sogdian Colonies in the diffusion of the pearl roundels pattern, Matteo Compareti

Sino-Iranian Textile Patterns in Trans-Himalayan Areas, Mariachiara Gasparini

Textiles and Elite Tastes Between the Mediterranean, Iran and Asia..., Canepa, 2014

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8) Hunting, Combat

We of course see these themes on a number of Sasanian plates and other media

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These were important themes across empires as well.

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More examples of combat and hunting motifs on textiles

1-2: @metmuseum
3-4: @ V&A, from Egypt

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More examples of combat and hunting motifs on textiles

1: Church treasure of St Servatius, Maastricht, 7C
2: from Egypt, @MuseeLouvre
3: @ V&A
4: 8c, Kiev Museum of Fine Arts

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More examples of combat and hunting motifs on textiles

1-2: from Egypt, depicting the famous Parthian Shot, @HarvardMuseums
3: Collection Kofler-Truniger, 7C

4: Parthian shot depiction from China

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9) Humans

Briefly, humans weren't super common on Iranian textiles based on surviving depictions. But we have examples of subjects in Iranian-Sasanian clothing from various areas

1: @hermitage_eng
2-4: from Egypt, 3 @ Brooklyn Museum; 4: @ DumbartonOaks

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10) Bird Holding 3-dot symbol or with Necklace

I'll add one more here and do the rest in a separate thread as this one is getting really long!

This motif is also undoubtedly Iranian. As we saw, the 3-dot motif itself is Iranian and based on Zoroastrian beliefs and deity

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this motif is also part of larger animal motifs which were together with plant motifs very popular in #Sasanian Iran

3-4: with a Middle Persian inscription, confirming Sasanian identity and origin

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Sasanian textiles

1: Sarikhani Collection
2: from Viking ship of Sasanian, Iranian origin
3-4: @metmuseum, 6th C, Iran

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Same design among Alanic Iranian people

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Same design in Central Asia, #Sogdia

1: Afrasiyab murals (Samarkand)
2: Iran or Central Asia, Lampas Robe, 8C, Christie's
3: 8th C, Iran, GW collection
4: Carlo Cristi, central Asia, 7-8 C

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Same design farther east in #China

1: Kizil Caves, cave 60
2: Tang dynasty in China, @cnsilkmuseum

To Be continued in another thread :)

See Part 2:

https://twitter.com/On_Persia/status/1568394884415111168?s=20&t=KVu9JD-9Bjg-naTdiOr5rw

And Part 3:

https://twitter.com/On_Persia/status/1569749639968002048?s=20&t=itQKVMManMCPz_zNpm8ZPQ