Ancient civilizations-2

Art and literature

Perhaps the most characteristic and certainly among the most impressive relics of Sāsānian art are the great rock sculptures carved on the limestone cliffs that are found in many parts of the country. The best-known groups are at Naqsh-e Rostam and Naqsh-e Rajab, both near Persepolis, and at Bishāpūr, an ancient city a few miles north of Kāzerūn in Fārs. At Fīrūzābād—the ancient Gūr, also in Fārs—are two reliefs of Ardashīr I, one depicting the overthrow of Artabanus V, the other depicting an investiture scene. Not far away, in the valley at Sar Mashhad, a representation of Bahrām II shows that king in the process of slaying two lions. At Dārābgerd, about 180 miles (290 km) southwest of Shīrāz, Shāpūr I is shown triumphing over three Roman emperors—Gordian III, Philip the Arabian, and Valerian. At Naqsh-e Bahrām, north of Kāzerūn, Bahrām III is depicted enthroned. The same ruler appears at Qaṣr-e Abū Nasr, near Shīrāz, and at Gūyom, not far from there. Sāsānian sculptured reliefs are less numerous outside Fārs, but a Sāsānian equestrian that once existed at Rayy (ancient Rhagae), southeast of modern Tehrān, was replaced in the 19th century by a representation of Fatḥ ʿAlī Shāh, a member of the then-ruling Qājār dynasty. At Salmās, near Lake Urmia, Ardashīr I is shown on horseback while receiving the surrender of a Parthian personage. There are also later Sāsānian sculptures at Ṭāq-e Bostān, near Kermānshāh, showing Ardashīr II, Shāpūr III, and Khosrow II. In many of these representations the Sāsānian kings can be identified by their individual crowns.

The most ambitious and celebrated architectural achievement of the dynasty is the vast palace at Ctesiphon, built by Khosrow II (590; 591–628), a part of which is still standing. It is known as the Ṭāq Kisrā and is notable for its great barrel vault in baked brick, a typically Sāsānian architectonic device. Many Sāsānian buildings can also be seen in Fārs, where the characteristic construction is of limestone blocks embedded in strong mortar. The most important of these are near Shīrāz: the palace of Ardashīr I to the south at Fīrūzābād and a small, well-preserved palace at Sarvestān, southeast of Shīrāz, in which the rooms are roofed with domes and squinches, features often found in Sāsānian architecture. Excavations at Bishāpūr, or Shāhpūr, have revealed some mosaic floors and other features of this important Sāsānian town. Numerous fire temples of the period survive, especially in Fārs; these are square buildings roofed by a dome over four arches. Sāsānian remains of considerable extent also exist at Qaṣr-e Shīrīn, on the road from Baghdad to Tehrān, and at Gondēshāpūr, modern Shāhābād, south of Dezfūl.

Generally speaking, the Sāsānian era was one of a renaissance in Iranian art, which, if not quite on the same level as the Achaemenian achievement, was of no small importance. Metalwork reached a high level of artistry and craftsmanship; its most characteristic decorative themes are hunting scenes portraying the Sāsānian kings in action. A gold and enamel drinking vessel (now in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris) from the time of Khosrow I—known as the Cup of Solomon and, according to one tradition, a gift from the caliph Hārūn al-Rashīd to Charlemagne—is perhaps the most sumptuous specimen of Sāsānian metalworking. The art of gem engraving produced many fine intaglio stamp seals and cameos. The coins invariably bear a Pahlavi inscription; on the obverse (see photograph) is the head of the king, wearing his characteristic crown, accompanied by his name and title, while on the reverse is the fire altar with its guardians and a legend such as “Fire of Ardashīr” or “Fire of Shāpūr” or, in the later period, an abbreviated mint name and the regnal date. (For additional discussion of Sāsānian visual arts, see art and architecture, Iranian.)

Khosrow II, coin, ad 590–628; in the collection of the American Numismatic Society.Courtesy of the American Numismatic Society

The acquaintance with Greek language and literature maintained by the Arsacid court had begun to decline during the last century of that dynasty. Greek versions nonetheless accompany the Parthian and Middle Persian texts of the inscriptions of Ardashīr I and Shāpūr I, as in the case of the Kaʿbe-ye Zardusht inscription. Later inscriptions, however, are only in Parthian and Middle Persian, as in the case of the inscription of Narses at Paikuli.

Most of the comparatively few remaining examples of literature in Book Pahlavi—a form of Middle Persian somewhat different from that used in the Sāsānian inscriptions—is of late or post-Sāsānian date in its actual form, if not in content. This is partly due to the fact that the transition from an oral to a written literary tradition (both religious and secular compositions) took place in the latter part of the Sāsānian era. A passage in a religious text states that “it is proper to consider the living spoken word more weighty than the written.” It should be added that most Sāsānian literary remains are primarily of religious and historical rather than of literary interest. Just as foreign learning appears in religious works, likewise foreign prose works of entertainment came to Persia, where they were translated; among them, in the time of Khosrow I, were Hellenistic romance literature and Indian books of tales, such as Kalīlag and Dimnag, based on the Indian Pañca-tantra, or the legends of Barlaam and Josaphat (Balauhar and Budasaf).