Thread by @PersiaAntigua

24 #Iranian motifs & designs used for centuries from China to Rome: Part 2 |

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

Talked about 10 motifs before. The rest fall in category of animals & plants, besides geometric patterns

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11) Boars: widespread among Iranian groups. It's likely where Zoroastrianism or more generally Iranian religions have been practiced, that at least boar heads could be symbols of deity Verethragna (Bahram: بهرام):

Previous thread on first 10 motifs:

https://twitter.com/On_Persia/status/1567685818826821634?s=20&t=RAZ9WnCgfgkzbB38CjJJHw

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It's remarkable that at least 2, if not more Iranian motifs of deities have spread so widely across Eurasia.

For example bird holding a pearl necklace with 3 pearls could be related to Farr/Khvarenah as a concept or deity as well...

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https://twitter.com/On_Persia/status/1493009210853969922?s=20&t=sX-3d9TBtZTpVLMbETAUYQ

Depiction of boars was very popular across media in ancient Iran. It didn't just have one meaning. When a king is hunting a boar on a plate for example, it's highly unlikely to be depiction of deity Bahram.

But some do appear to have significance when added to clothing etc.

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Now in #Sasanian era, metal objects

Note 3 could be an imitation of Sasanian style, but we see 3 boar heads on bottom

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More Sasanian era depictions of boars

2: possible
3: @mihomuseum
4: @ al Thani Collection

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More Sasanian era depictions of boars

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More Sasanian era depictions of boars: on hunting plates

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in Sasanian seals and sealing

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One more Sasanian sealing

Here we also have the spread wings motif I talked about before, and a little crescent and MP inscription

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In architecture: Bamiyan, Afghanistan

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Boars in architecture

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In architecture and other arts, Sasanian era

Don't have details of photo 1, could be a different period

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1-2: likely rhytons for drinking

3: #Sogdian

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On Clothing

@ Taqe Bostan, Iran

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1: @metmuseum , Iran or China
2: al Sabah Collection, Samangan Province, northern Afghanistan
3: @GWTextileMuseum

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Later on we see the same boar design in Sogdia, here at Afrasiab site

3: from Central Asian Clothing book, Maitdinova

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Once again, this motif is nothing but Iranian, depiction of an Iranian deity and for various positive meaning put on clothing. It should not be called only "Central Asian". That is a crime against ancient Iranian history and identity. It's erasing Iran's name

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We also then have numerous depictions from China, for example this one: excavated from Tomb 138, Astana,
Turfan, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, 1969

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More Iranian boar motif/ designs found in China

1: from Astana, @NMnewdelhi
2: Likely partial, same design, @V_and_A
3: Astana
4: Turfan

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More Iranian boar motif/ designs from Central Asia or China

2-3: now in Japan, from Central Asia

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Now among Avars of Caucasus

A mug and its design. Likely borrowed from Iranian Alans in area, or other Iranian groups

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Among Iranian Alans

Interestingly, among Alans usually the symbol is more abstract (photo 2)

It's transformed into what's called the double-axe symbol in Russian literature, or you could think of it as somewhat like the Batman logo!

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It was Very popular among Alans on all sorts of clothing and even other objects of daily use

1 & 3 @metmuseum

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Some more examples of abstract boar motif among Alans as the "double-axe" symbol on clothing

Most 7-9 C, from Moshchevaia Balka

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12) Animals with ribbons or streamers

2 of most important of these were rams & stags. Rams, especially with ribbons, were associated with divine glory/ Farr in Sasanian era

But we see rep of stags & rams from Achaemenid era, & among Scythians too

1-2: seals from Gordion

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2: related, gold reindeer plaques, circa 400 to 300 BC, al Thani collection

3: Pazyryk, Scythian
4: Pazyryk carpet, likely from Achaemenid world

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1-2: Parthian era, Orodes II
3-4: Sasanian era

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Sasanian era seals

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Sasanian era sealing

Note also stylized wings in photo 1

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In Other Sasanian art

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In Other Sasanian art

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Textile specifically from Sasanian, Iranian lands

1-3: al Sabah Collection
4: Sasanian Iran or Iraq, 5-6 C, @DumbartonOaks

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And from Iran, Central Asia and Egypt

2: @ metmuseum

3-4: @ Lyon

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1: 3-5 C, @GWTextileMuseum
2-4: @ClevelandArt, all 8-9 C

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1: Egypt or Iraq, 7-9 C, @ROMtoronto
4: @ Belgium, 400-500 C

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2 examples of horses with streamers/ribbons

1: early post-Sasanian era
2: Sasanian

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Birds

1: Alanic Children's toy, possibly with Sasanian-style streamers

2-3: Parthian era, bird motif on clothing of king

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Sasanian era

1: From Christie's auction
3: Khalili Collection

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Sasanian era

1-3: @ Taqe Bostan

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1-2: 2 more from Sasanian era

3-4: from finds in China

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13) Confronted Animals

I think the motif started long ago in Iran. See for example these examples from Jiroft civilization, eastern Iran

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Confronted Animals in Elamite (1) and Achaemenid era (2-4)

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More confronted animals from #Achaemenid era, among other examples

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And #Sasanian era confronted animals

1: @GWTextileMuseum

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And on more textiles

1: 7-8 C
2: #Sogdian
4: Iran or Iraq, 650-750, David Collection

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2: al Sabah Collection
3: Sogdian
4: Cluny Museum, Paris

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And a few more examples of confronted animals on textiles

2-3: Alanic
4: Tang China, @cnsilkmuseum

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1-4: confronted animals in textile from China, @cnsilkmuseum

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14) Lions

Not that lions were not depicted in art of other nations, but as we will see, the forms used in Iranian art were used elsewhere like in China

1-4: #Achaemenid

3: textile found @ Pazyryk, of clear Achaemenid origin

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More Achaemenid examples

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More Achaemenid examples

And from Jiroft civilization (3), and Elamite (4)

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Sasanian era

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More lion depictions from Sasanian era

2-3: Christie's auction
4: @metmuseum

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1: Byzantine, National Museum, Ravenna, 9-10C
2: 00-1000-Iran or Central Asia, @V_and_A

And we see confronted lions too

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1: Sogdian
2: From Egypt, @MuseeLouvre
3: from China
4: from China, @ cnsilkmuseum

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15) Striding Lions or Lions Procession

Just a few examples here, I previously did a thread on this motif

Achaemenid era examples

https://twitter.com/On_Persia/status/1512897092368404483?s=20&t=oNwl1b-9qlmUTK6wAQ_n8g

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Achaemenid era, 2: #Elamite

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16) Lion-Bull Combat

Very important Iranian motif, from Scythians all the way to Achaemenids and post-Sasanian eras

Also see previous thread on it:

https://twitter.com/On_Persia/status/1482761602797649927?s=20&t=oNwl1b-9qlmUTK6wAQ_n8g

Achaemenid era, we could think of photo 3 as another interpretation of motif

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A few more examples of lion-bull combat motif

1: Sasanian era
2: Sasanian or post-Sasanian
3-4: textile from Egypt, likely post-Sasanian, Abbasid period
3: @ClevelandArt

17) Mythological Creatures: Sphinx

Sphinx doesn't appear to be common on Iranian textiles

Though it was present in Iran since pre-Achaemenid eras, see previous thread

1: Achaemenid era, western Achaemenid lands
2: Elamite
3: from Amarlou, Iran
4: Luristan

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1-2: Achaemenid era
3: post-Sasanian, 10th C
4: from Pazyryk, Scythian

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18) Mythological Creatures: Griffins

As I talked about before, properly griffins are divided into lion-griffin & eagle-griffin, and we see both in Iranian art

https://twitter.com/On_Persia/status/1506064516970332162?s=20&t=y1YsUpgQUXVbSD1-7DMl-g

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Griffins:

1-3: Achaemenid era
4: from Pazyryk, Scythian

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Parthian era

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Sasanian era griffins on textiles

1-2 are most likely lion-griffins and not "dragons": al Sabah collection
3: GWTextileMuseum

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1-2: post-Sasanian, 11th C
3: Alanic

I'll do another thread for the remaining motifs and designs, including Simurgh, tree of life, paisley, and winged horse :)

As I said before for lion, I'm also not claiming griffins or sphinxes were only Iranian in origin

I just included them for sake of completeness. There are very ancient depictions of these animals in Iran

Same thing for some plant motifs, geometric patterns

Some other sources for those interested:

Exotic Taste: The Lure of Sasanian Persia, Anna Gonosová, 2000

Transcending Patterns... , Mariachiara Gasparini, 2020

Study of Animal Motifs of Sassanid Textile Design (in Persian), Panjehbashi et al, 2022

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بازیابی طرح و نقش پارچه های ساسانی با نظر به سنگ نگاره های طاق بستان, صابری

نمادشناسی نقوش جانوری در پارچه های مدالیونی عصر ساسانی

among other papers and books.