A Hypertextual Interpretation of the Sun Motif in Seljuk Art (Case Study: A Clay Canteen of Seljuk and Parthian)

 
 
 
 
 
The motifs obtained from the early civilizations had a conceptual value and were not based on symbols, legends or religious rituals just to express beauty. These same values ​​and conceptual expression have turned the patterns into a kind of signs, and drawing them became a contract and symbol that the prehistoric tribes used to convey messages. From the very beginning of humanity's understanding of its surroundings, man has symbolically depicted the influential factors in his life in his handmade works. In most of the historical periods of ancient Iran, artists used the motif of the sun as a symbol and drew it on works of art, and this process can be seen in various works of art until modern times. The sun is the largest star in the solar system and is located in its center. The sun is a complete sphere made of hot plasma and is the main source of light, energy, heat and life on earth. This important fact has been revealed to man since the beginning of creation, that is why it has a significant presence in the mythology of all the nations of the world. Even in some ancient civilizations, the sun has been considered and worshiped as God and creator. When man turned to agricultural life and realised that the sun would make the earth fertile, grow plants, warm and give strength to man, they worshiped the sun. Also, in different eras, it has had different genders, so that sometimes the sun is known as the female sun and sometimes as the male sun, and it has been depicted and honored. The most popular prayer in the world is addressed to our Father who is in heaven. The sun star has always had its own special place in Iranian civilization and has had a significant and symbolic presence in culture and art in all historical periods before and after Islam. The sun is reflected in Iran's art as a symbol and symbol in different forms in the historical periods of Iran. This bold presence of the symbol of the sun in Iranian arts has always been beyond formal decoration with a belief support and the attitude of the living society. After the arrival of Islam in the land of Iran, the beliefs and teachings of the previous religions were removed or adapted to the Islamic religion with gradual changes and took place in the mysticism, thought and culture of the people of this land. The motif of the sun is considered one of the visual elements that still maintains its previous position in the art of Islamic Iran and has a special place in the art and culture of Islamic Iran, especially the Seljuk period. In ancient Turco–Mongol myths and legends, the sun is embodied as a man and a woman; That is, in one period based on ethnic beliefs, the sun was imagined as masculine and male, and in another period it was imagined as femal. Even the creation of mankind is attributed to the sun in this people. The researches conducted on the mythological texts of the Turk and Mongol people show that among these people, the sun is shown as the source of reproduction and creation. After expanding their rule from Central Asia to Egypt, the Seljuks created new conditions, a scientific-cultural renaissance in the Islamic world, especially in Iran. The cultural atmosphere of the society and the emergence of many scientists and artists made the sultans and the rich always patronise artists and craftsmen. These supports caused the emergence of a certain style and method in arts and industries. The period of Seljuk rule in Iran is another period of flourishing of Iranian-Islamic culture. During this period, Iranian art experienced a tremendous change and it led to the fact that the history of Iranian art recorded another of its most brilliant periods in this period. The art of this period has progressed in all fields and fields of art and continues and completes the art of the previous era. Art developed and expanded to its highest extent in Iran during the Seljuk period. Seljuk sultans always supported artists and scientists and tried to expand culture and art based on Iranian, Islamic and Turkish beliefs. The art of this period is influenced by the rich treasure of ancient Iranian art, Islamic art, and the art of immigrant Turks, which combined the special art of the Seljuk period. The Seljuk period is considered one of the most brilliant periods in the history of Islamic Iran in terms of the development of science and technology, art and literature. Persian language developed and spread more and more. The construction and establishment of military schools, caravanserais, monasteries, mosques, libraries and other scientific centers had a great impact on the development of culture and art of this period. In this period, great progress was made in most fields of arts and sciences. Seljuk sultans were great patrons of industry and art and gathered artists and professionals in their palaces and government headquarters in Merv, Nishapur, Herat, Ray and Isfahan. After accepting the religion of Islam according to Sharia, Iranians tended to live a simple life. Since the Islamic laws forbade the making of decorative works of gold and silver, the attention of Iranians was more focused on the making of clay works. Also, the progress of construction techniques, special elegance, skill and variety of pottery works caused the further development of Seljuk pottery art. With the development of Seljuk pottery, the golden age of Iranian pottery emerged. As a result, the potter was able to sign their name and the date of creation of his work on their pottery. The Seljuk period is one of the dynamic periods of the Islamic world in the field of culture and art. The Seljuks ruled in different regions (Iran, Central Asia, Türkiye). The support of the Seljuk rulers (presentations of Iranian scientific ministers) to artists and sages caused a remarkable expansion of culture and art in this period. Despite the extent of the political geography of the Seljuks and the occupied regions, art has made significant progress in all fields and has continued the path of ancient Iranian art. In fact, one of the prominent features of Iranian Islamic art is the continuity and evolution of different art schools influenced by the art of previous eras. In this way, the process of creating works of art in every school and period of history, in subsequent schools and periods, has continued and has taken an evolutionary approach. With this premise, examining and analysing works of art in the historical periods of Islamic Iranian art requires a theoretical approach to investigate and study the influence and relationships between works of art in different periods of this vast land. For this purpose, in this study, the intertextual approach was chosen to study and analyse the data. The primary purpose of man in making earthenware vessels was to store water and food, but over time, he gave importance to its beauty and the structure and surfaces of these vessels were a place to express aesthetics derived from their culture and worldview. Although the pottery of Iran has been studied and examined by Iranian and Western researchers in different historical periods, but the role of the sun on Iranian clay canteens has been independently studied for the first time in this research. In different historical periods of Iran, very beautiful and practical canteens were made, and in each period, the types of decorations and pictures drawn on them are different and sometimes repeated. This research seeks to understand the concepts of the motif of the sun drawn on Seljuk clay canteens. The main goal of this research is to know how the depiction of the motif of the sun in two Seljuk and Parthian terracotta flasks is related to Genette's hypertextual approach. In the intertextual relationship, it is not possible to create text (b) without the presence of text (a) or pretext. In this type of relationship, attention is paid not to the inspiration and partial influence, but to the overall impact of one text on another text. With this theoretical background, this research aims to investigate and analyse the role of the sun in two Seljuk and Parthian terracotta works. The main problem of this research is to understand the hidden meaning behind the motif of the sun on the Seljuk works, and the main goal is to understand the way and type of connection between this motif and the previous motifs from the perspective of intertextuality. This research is of a developmental type and a qualitative method. The method of data collection is using library sources and objective observation of the works, and the data analysis is descriptive and analytical with Gerard Genette's multitextual approach. This research seeks to answer two questions: Which type of hypertextuality tends more towards the influence of the drawing of the motif of Khurshid Khanum on the Seljuk terracotta canteen than the Parthian terracotta canteen? And in this process, what changes have been made in drawing this role?? In order to answer the research question, at first, two Seljuk and Parthian terracotta canteens inscribed with the motif of the sun were selected in a purposeful way and were studied and investigated in terms of thematic aspects of the period in question. Then, structurally based on Gerard Genette's dual indicators (function and relationship) it was examined and analysed and the research questions were answered. The results show that the effect of Khursheed Khanum drawing in Seljuk canteen from Parthian canteen based on Genette's typology of polytextuality in the category transposition and transposition have a serious function. The transpositions created in the bitext include changes (gender, shape, composition and color) and the Seljuk artist did not just look at imitation in creating a new and independent bitext and completed it very creatively.