نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
نویسندگان
1 دانشجوی دکتری پژوهش و تاریخ هنر، دانشکده هنر و معماری، دانشگاه تربیت مدرس، تهران، ایران، نویسنده مسئول.
2 گروه تاریخ و پژوهش هنر، دانشکده هنر و معماری، دانشگاه تربیت مدرس، تهران، ایران
چکیده
کلیدواژه‌ها
موضوعات
عنوان مقاله [English]
نویسندگان [English]
One of the most significant characteristics of the civilization-building efforts of Iranians throughout history has been their endeavor to consolidate a comprehensive and universal thought. This ideology integrates all dimensions of individual and societal life, including politics, religion, ethics, and art, responding to the comprehensive needs necessary for the establishment of Iranian civilization. Iranshahri political thought, by shaping the Iranian epistemological framework and addressing various social and individual necessities, is regarded as a pivotal component in the formation of Iranian identity, particularly during critical historical periods like the Sassanian era.
Key concepts such as the struggle between good and evil, the divine cosmic order, the sacred nature of power, the integration of politics with religion, justice, essence, the tripartite social classification, and the theory of utopia are fundamental to Iranshahri political thought. This conceptual system, articulated by Javad Tabatabaei based on the ancient Iranian political system, posits that Iranshahri political thought matured from the pre-Zoroastrian era to the Zoroastrian era and found practical application during the Achaemenid and especially the Sassanid periods.
In essence, Asha can be equated with truth and righteousness, sanctity, divine law and ritual, and purity. Asha, known as Rate in the Vedas, in the Avesta as Asha, and in ancient Persian inscriptions as Arte, was a specific Indo-Iranian concept understood as the sustaining force of the world order and the eternal honor of nature. Asha represents the sacred cosmic order, perceived as a divine law. In ancient concepts, law encompassed cosmic, natural, and eternal rules and limits that humans were compelled to accept and follow. Consequently, virtue and goodness were defined by greater conformity to this eternal honor. This concept shaped the perception of life and the universe, creating a systematised whole.
Asha is also seen as a symbol of nature, the order of social and religious life, and at the highest level, the sacred cosmic order, influencing the life and orderly levels of natural beings and all aspects of existence. This sacred order, being the measure and rule for all that exists and is true, fundamentally embodies truth and righteousness, encompassing all beings. As a result, the concept of essence, which links the basis of existence at both the macro and micro levels, is understood through this sacred order. Accordingly, understanding the concept of good and evil, emerging from the sacred cosmic struggle, is also based on essence and gains meaning in relation to it. By accepting the world as a battleground for good and evil forces, where humans must choose and participate in this cosmic struggle, we approach another level of understanding the essence of human and cosmos.
This thought was founded on the understanding of law as the sacred order of existence, further strengthened by emphasizing justice. In this thought, law is considered divine, and justice signifies its implementation. Justice, as the core characteristic, determines the scope of each individual's mentality, speech, and behaviour by making actions obligatory, thus shaping the social system. Beyond this, justice, through various transformations and expansions, imparts meaning to the conceptual structure with an essence-derived understanding, rendering it valuable. Consequently, this structure also defines the methodology and criteria for valuation in Iranshahri thought. Hence, the aesthetic values and Iranian ethics can be seen as derived from the Iranian comprehension of essence and commitment to justice as the primary model of individual action. In this system, artistic forms should epitomize justice and result from just human behaviour. Such coherence, particularly in the early Sassanian era, highlights similar aspects in various social and artistic structures.
The city plan of Ardashir Khoreh, established by Ardashir I, founder of the Sassanid dynasty, exemplifies a lotus motif in social life. Similarly, the lotus motif appears prominently in Sassanian decorations and significant reliefs, such as the coronation of Ardashir II and the victory of Shapur I, as an aesthetic form. This special similarity underscores the importance and necessity of this research, visible in the aesthetic and social forms of this period. Hence, the study raises the question: what is the relationship between the appearance of the lotus motif in the social and aesthetic forms of the Sassanian era and the Iranshahri conceptual system?
In ancient Iran, mythology and religion portrayed the dualistic perception of existence based on the forces of truth and falsehood, shaping political order as a reflection of cosmic order and the overarching conflict between the good and the evil. The necessity of the king's justice within the concept of utopia positioned the Iranian king as a symbol of sacred, political, and ethical aspects of Iranshahri thought. Given the expectation to establish order and combat demonic forces in Iranshahr, the ideal king was the principal agent of the political system, transforming thought into action and ideals into reality through his justice. Since justice, as the king's primary duty, means the implementation of divine law Asha, the religious role of the king was intrinsic to Iranshahri thought and inseparable from his position. In other words, the king's status was equivalent to the shadow of God on earth. The actions of the ideal king were understood as a repetition of divine acts in creating and organising the cosmos. With the king's presence, Asha permeated society, establishing social order such that Iranshahr, embodying utopian qualities, would align with Asha. Hence, the ideal and sacred model of Iranian understanding of the regular repetition of actions, essential for life's continuity and survival, manifested in the king's justice, aimed at creating social order in the utopia, and was a binding sacred law impacting all affairs.
The research employs a descriptive-analytical and historical method, with data collection through documentary and library sources. The study analyses the role of the lotus motif in the reliefs of Ardashir II's coronation, Shapur I's victory, and the maps of Darabgerd and Ardashir Khoreh cities. The sample selection is purposeful, and data analysis is qualitative. Based on documents and library resources, the concept of justice is elucidated according to Iranshahri thought. Subsequently, in relation to the conceptual structure arising from the understanding of justice, the appearance of the lotus motif in the studied examples (aesthetic forms of reliefs and social forms of Sassanian cities) is analysed.
The research concludes that in the Sassanian era, the lotus motif, as a symbol of Asha, was a fundamental model in aesthetic and social forms. Its realisation was linked to justice for acquiring divine favour. This is significant because in the context of Iranshahri political thought, justice, in acting on the Asha, was obligatory, and the crystallization of the lotus motif was considered a social and aesthetic law. The Iranshahri political thought system proposed essence as a model of sacred cosmic order and comprehensive law. Every action and behaviour were understood within the essence framework, defining individual duties by justice, and the just king was deemed worthy of divine favor. This understanding simultaneously influenced the formation of aesthetic and social forms in Iranshahri. Since, the lotus, conceptually and formally is closest to Asha, this motif was chosen as the primary aesthetic model, and the city map pattern as the most important social model. Thus, shaping artistic and social forms based on the lotus motif as Asha's symbol was just and binding, also declaring the just king's worthiness for divine grace.
کلیدواژه‌ها [English]
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