Evolution of the Zoroastrian Iconography and Temple Cults

SUMMARY A network of 27 GPS sites was implemented in Iran and northern Oman to measure displacements in this part of the Alpine‐Himalayan mountain belt. We present and interpret the results of two surveys performed in 1999 September and 2001 October. GPS sites in Oman show northward motion of the Arabian Plate relative to Eurasia slower than the NUVEL-1A estimates (e.g. 22 ± 2m m yr −1 at N8 ◦ ± 5 ◦ E instead of 30.5 mm yr −1 at N6 ◦ E at Bahrain longitude). We define a GPS Arabia‐Eurasia Euler vector of 27.9 ◦ ± 0.5 ◦ N, 19.5 ◦ ± 1.4 ◦ E, 0.41 ◦ ± 0.1 ◦ Myr −1 . The Arabia‐Eurasia convergence is accommodated differently in eastern and western Iran. East of 58 ◦ E, most of the shortening is accommodated by the Makran subduction zone (19.5 ± 2m m yr −1 ) and less by the Kopet-Dag (6.5 ± 2m m yr −1 ). West of 58 ◦ E, the deformation is distributed in separate fold and thrust belts. At the longitude of Tehran, the Zagros and the Alborz mountain ranges accommodate 6.5 ± 2m m yr −1 and 8 ± 2m m yr −1 respectively. The right-lateral displacement along the Main Recent Fault in the northern Zagros is about 3 ± 2m m yr −1 , smaller than what was generally expected. By contrast, large rightlateral displacement takes place in northwestern Iran (up to 8 ± mm yr −1 ). The Central Iranian Block is characterized by coherent plate motion (internal deformation < 2m m yr −1 ). Sites east of 61 ◦ E show very low displacements relative to Eurasia. The kinematic contrast between eastern and western Iran is accommodated by strike-slip motions along the Lut Block. To the south, the transition zone between Zagros and Makran is under transpression with right-lateral displacements of 11 ± 2m m yr −1 .

The Urartian Kingdom, as is well known, played a major power role on the stage of history in eastern Anatolia in the second half of the ninth century BC and remained powerful until the second half of the seventh century BC. With their highly advanced architectural traditions and organised state structure, the Urartians take their place among the most exciting civilisations of the first half of the first millennium BC in the Near East.Extensive detailed research and publication has been carried out on Urartian civilisation for over a hundred years, but the origin and dynamics of the development of this civilisation are still obscure. The Assyrian annals, which start from the 13th century BC, are at present the only source for understanding the early periods. These records were intended as propaganda and their accuracy is in many instances thus questionable.

Iran is one of the countries facing high water risk because of its geographical features, climate variations, and uneven distribution of water resources. Iranians have practiced different water management strategies at various periods following the region's geo-climatological features, needs, tools, available resources (surface water and groundwater), political stability, economic power, and socio-cultural characteristics. This study is a brief history of water management in Iran from pre-civilization times to the end of the Islamic Golden Age (1219 AD). This study pointed out geo-climatological features have consistently been crucial intrinsic properties controlling water regime, settlement patterns, and other socioeconomic issues. These factors caused the early agricultural communities to emerge in water-rich regions of northwestern, western, and southwestern Iran. By the 4th Millennium BC, while water access became more difficult as population growth, economic activity, and urbanization progress, water resources' systematic development appeared in west and southwest Iran under the Mesopotamian civilization. However, despite all benefits, Mesopotamian water-based technology and administration could not meet all water demands in Iran's arid regions. For these reasons, qanats were developed in Persia by the First Persian Empire (Achaemenid Empire). No doubt, the Achaemenids (550–330 BC) should be regarded as one of the early civilizations that emerged in a land without sufficient rainfall and major rivers. In this time, idle and marginal lands of Iran and neighboring regions of the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia could be cultivated through the spread of qanat technology, enabling large groups of peasants to increase crop yields and incomes. After a period of recession during the Seleucid Empire (312–63 BC) and the Parthian Empire (247 BC–224 AD), water resources development gained momentum in the Sassanid era (224–651). In this period, the progress of urbanization was expeditious. Consciously, water resources development in Khuzestan plains (Shushtar and Dezful) was crucial for agricultural intensification, economic expansion, and civilization development. The Sassanids wisely adapted Greek watermills to the complicated topography, limited water availability, and variable climate of Iran to produce food. Although the Iranians practiced a new era of water governance under the Sassanid rule (224–651 AD), chaotic Iran in the Late Sasanian and Early Islamic Period led to severe weaknesses in water-related sectors. After Islam's arrival, the Muslim rulers turned their attention from fighting to set up an Islamic civilization to break the socioeconomic stagnation. To achieve the goal, they opened their scientific doors to science and technology centers. Despite all efforts made during the 8th–12th century, the lack of creativity and investment in promoting water technologies, prioritizing political considerations over social benefits, occurring wars, and poor water management have induced the Iranians to lose their power in developing water resources. In today's Iran, the past water-related problems have aggravated by uneven climate change, population rise, rapid industrialization, urban development, and unprecedented changes in lifestyle. Undoubtedly, solving these problems and moving towards a better future is not possible without addressing the past.

Iran is one of the countries facing high water risk because of its geographical features, climate variations, and uneven distribution of water resources. Iranians have practiced different water management strategies at various periods following the region's geo-climatological features, needs, tools, available resources (surface water and groundwater), political stability, economic power, and socio-cultural characteristics. This study is a brief history of water management in Iran from pre-civilization times to the end of the Islamic Golden Age (1219 AD). This study pointed out geo-climatological features have consistently been crucial intrinsic properties controlling water regime, settlement patterns, and other socioeconomic issues. These factors caused the early agricultural communities to emerge in water-rich regions of northwestern, western, and southwestern Iran. By the 4th Millennium BC, while water access became more difficult as population growth, economic activity, and urbanization progress, water resources' systematic development appeared in west and southwest Iran under the Mesopotamian civilization. However, despite all benefits, Mesopotamian water-based technology and administration could not meet all water demands in Iran's arid regions. For these reasons, qanats were developed in Persia by the First Persian Empire (Achaemenid Empire). No doubt, the Achaemenids (550–330 BC) should be regarded as one of the early civilizations that emerged in a land without sufficient rainfall and major rivers. In this time, idle and marginal lands of Iran and neighboring regions of the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia could be cultivated through the spread of qanat technology, enabling large groups of peasants to increase crop yields and incomes. After a period of recession during the Seleucid Empire (312–63 BC) and the Parthian Empire (247 BC–224 AD), water resources development gained momentum in the Sassanid era (224–651). In this period, the progress of urbanization was expeditious. Consciously, water resources development in Khuzestan plains (Shushtar and Dezful) was crucial for agricultural intensification, economic expansion, and civilization development. The Sassanids wisely adapted Greek watermills to the complicated topography, limited water availability, and variable climate of Iran to produce food. Although the Iranians practiced a new era of water governance under the Sassanid rule (224–651 AD), chaotic Iran in the Late Sasanian and Early Islamic Period led to severe weaknesses in water-related sectors. After Islam's arrival, the Muslim rulers turned their attention from fighting to set up an Islamic civilization to break the socioeconomic stagnation. To achieve the goal, they opened their scientific doors to science and technology centers. Despite all efforts made during the 8th–12th century, the lack of creativity and investment in promoting water technologies, prioritizing political considerations over social benefits, occurring wars, and poor water management have induced the Iranians to lose their power in developing water resources. In today's Iran, the past water-related problems have aggravated by uneven climate change, population rise, rapid industrialization, urban development, and unprecedented changes in lifestyle. Undoubtedly, solving these problems and moving towards a better future is not possible without addressing the past.

Metallography and microstructure interpretation of some archaeological tin bronze vessels from Iran

This article examines the Tannaitic conception of the worship of avodah zarah. The term is commonly translated as »idolatry,« but the definition of what constitutes worship of avodah zarah, in m. Sanh. 7:6, is based on a more nuanced notion than simply worship of foreign gods. For the Sages of the Mishnah, worship of avodah zarah involved misuse of objects and rituals associated with the Temple cult, which constituted a betrayal of covenantal loyalty. This means that although the rabbinic laws against the worship of avodah zarah were based on the biblical prohibitions against worshiping other gods, the actual rules for how these laws were to be enacted were extrapolations of the laws against the misuse of Temple objects. This explains why some activities that might seem like idolatry – such as decorating a cult statue or dedicating a child to Molech – are not considered avodah zarah.

Four shades of black: Non-invasive scientific studies on the painted potteries from Shahr-i Sokhta, eastern Iran

This paper deals with some problems concerning divine images in ancient Semitic religions. As an introduction, it presents a survey of information from primary sources. The archaeological evidence of Semitic cult statues is very sparse. We can find their representations only in some stone reliefs and in the presentation scenes of cylinder seal motifs. There are some written materials: sporadic references in royal inscriptions, a small number of cultic texts with a complete description of the purifying rituals for a new or renewed divine statue (the so called «mīs pî» texts in Mesopotamia), other references can be found in mythic and ritual texts (for ex. in the Epic of Erra, in the Ugaritic and in the Emar ritual texts) or anti-idolatrous polemics in the Old Testament. According to the literary documentation, the „idolatry“ (from the Greek eidōlon, image, portrait) of pre Judaic and pre Islamic Semites might be defined as the worship of an object considered as a legitimate substitute for the divine in the cult, but not as a „living“ entity. These vehicula of the divine presence played an essential role in many important rituals and regular religious ceremonies in the temple area and sometimes even outside the sanctuaries. However, the donation of food and drink to the images of gods (i.e. the presentation of sacrifices and libations), the giving of votive gifts, the anointing with oil and washing the mouth of statues, their ritual fashioning and clothing, and finally, their taking to bed on purpose to evoke either symbolic divine rest or „sacred marriage“ (hieros gamos) represent the core of this ritual complex in the temple. In the final part of this paper, the question of finding some correlates of these forms of idol’s worship in a sphere of social ethics is treated. For example, the two first tablets of the Gilgamesh Epic reveal that fundamental ritualised concomitants of interpersonal communication (the common consummation of food and drink; the exchange of conventional gifts; the anointing with oil and washing of the guest; the provision of clothes; the offering of „sexual favours“) correspond to the cultic rules of communication with the sacred through idolatry.

This paper briefly reviews some of the excavated evidence for decorated boxes found at sites from Mesopotamia to Central Asia in the late 3rd millennium BC, and concludes that one published from an Akkadian grave at Nippur is a Harappan import. Similar types of box found at Gonur depe were used to contain mirrors, and this also provides a new explanation for the Nippur box. Remains of other types of decorated box are also known from elite graves at Gonur and Ur, some of a size consistent with trunks or chests, but others much smaller and employing iconogra- phy peculiar to their cultural context. This paper draws attention to the fact that the boards for the “Game of Twenty Squares” were originally hollow in order to hold the pieces, and that the so-called “Standard of Ur” was also a box, rather than the solid object it has been reconstructed and known as. In other regions, such as southeast Arabia and Iran, small compartmented boxes were also carved from chlorite but larger examples were probably also made of wood. The fired clay boxes also known from eastern Iran and southwest Central Asia may well have had wooden counterparts which have not survived. In short, a much greater variety of boxes of different types and sizes were used at this period than is generally acknowledged.

Investigation of metal is important for understanding relationship between production and ideology in ancient Near East. Metal production in the Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age stimulated transformation of egalitarian society into stratified one. The author traces relation of objects of social and religious significance (interior decorations, anthropo- and zoomorphic sculpture, symbolic weapons and implements) with certain types of sites. From the Neolithic onward metal was used in mortuary practice. In the Early Bronze Age metal production shows relationship with the process of urbanization and formation of early polities. The Middle Bronze Age sees dramatic rise of metal production; valuable and symbolically important finds originate from royal tombs, temples, and treasures. When considering metal finds’ context, the author concludes that in the Near East in the late prehistory, urban civilization, and early states metal actively functioned in sacral sphere. Moreover, ideology to a great extent determined development of metal production.

Documenting the initial appearance of domestic cattle in the Eastern Fertile Crescent (northern Iraq and western Iran)