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  Khaveh plain in the township of Delfan is considered as one of the important plains in the Central Zagros Mountain situated in Eastern Pusht-i Kuh and located between Garin and Sefid-e Kooh Mountains. In general, 36 archeological sites have so far been identified in this plain: the oldest of which relates to aceramic Neolithic Age, and the newest one belongs to the Late-Islamic Age. Among them, 20 sites contain relics related to the Parthian Period. The noteworthy discussions in the present study are mainly based on the activities performed at this plain during 2009-2010 in order to register and determine the boarders of archeological sites, and those carried out in 2011 aiming to identify and analyze the settlement patterns of the Parthian reign in this region. General perception and understanding of the settlement pattern in this region during the Parthian period is the results of this research, which represents demographic or settlement dispersion changes compared with the previous eras. Also it became clear that most of the settlements in the region were small villages or temporary settlements and no evidence of urban centers was recognized. Finally, the present study deals with the investigation and interpretation of the settlement patterns of the Parthian period in this plain.    

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Undoubtedly, Parthian coins are considered to be one of the important sources in history of Iran during 3^rd century B.C. till end of Parthian empire (224 A.D.). For more than 400 years, these coins provide information about the kings, mint houses, eco-political conditions, clothes etc. for that time. In this research, the PIXE results of 9 Drachma coins belong to  Gozartes II and 6 coins belong to Khausro II are given. Different percentages in coins were observed. Eco-political analysis of Parthian era shows that high silver percentage in Gozartes II coins implies the good economical conditions in his period, and less silver percentage in Khausro II coins implies the economical weakness of his period due to 5-years war between Iran and Rome, which led to defeat of Iran.  

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A Study on the Pictures of the Gods, Deities and Greek Goddesses on Seleucid and Parthian Seals and Seal Impressions Abstract With the fall of the Achaemenid Empire and the arrival of the Greeks in Asia, vast changes occurred in all aspects of life in the countries conquered by Alexander and his successors. These changes can be seen in different shapes in all social, political, cultural, art architecture aspects and even in religious beliefs. Seleucid and Parthian seals and seal expressions clearly show such changes. The mythological and religious pictures include Hellenistic themes such as images of Deities, Gods and Greek Goddesses. The most famous of these designs are Athena, Aphrodite, Zeus, Apollo, Tikkeh (Tikheh), Hermes, Eros, Nike (god of victory) and the god of justice. The samples were taken from centers such as Seleucia on the Tigris , Tel Kedesh, Uruk, Nisa and Saleh Davoude Khuzestan. The presence of these elements on the seals is not identical due to different demographics and the influence of Greek culture. In this paper, the effect of the Greek ideology on belief evolution in conquered territories were comparatively studied by evaluation of seals and seal Impressions. The seals and seal Impressions are historical materials whose pictures can clearly reflect the levels and trends of the changes. Keywords: Seleucid and Parthian periods, Seal and seal Impressions, Greek gods and Goddesses, Hellenism.

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Parthian Empire ,Khosrow II ,Silver Coins ,XRF Method

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Hamid Reza Ardestani Rostami, PH.D.
Abstract
The legendary poet of Iran, Ferdowsi, in the prelude of his collection of poems, Shahnameh, has sincerely praised the former ruler of his hometown, the city of Tous, Abu Mansour Mohammad ibn Abdul-Razzaq. The author of this article believes two cultural and political factors have led to this development. Culture-wise, Abu Mansour has gathered the poems of Ferdowsi in the framework of Shahnameh. Also, based on the descriptions rendered by Ferdowsi on Abu Mansour, the latter must have been a Parthian. Abu Mansour maintained feudal ideals, such as non-centralized power and compromise in religion. Hence, given that Abu Mansour intended to revive the feudal traditions of his forefathers, and was against the centralized ruling systems of Ghaznavid and Abbasid caliphs of his era, he has been praised by Ferdowsi. Hence, it can be said that two cultural and political factors have led Ferdowsi to praise Abu Mansour.
 

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The Parthian and Sasanid sites of Valiran are situated in the suburbs of Damavand, a city in the east of Tehran. The discovery of burials along with the cereal and animal remains have made the situation apt for investigation of the pale diet. This research aimed at investigating the nutritional condition of the ancient inhabitants of Valiran site in Parthian period in order to understand the ancient geographical situation in the mentioned region. XRF method was used to analyz the archaeological skeletons.

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"Haftwad" story is a multilayered story of shahnameh, Although it included in a section called historical section of shahnameh, but it has been interwowen with mythologic elements and constructed in margin of myth and history. this story with it's origin came back to "Ardeshir Babakan Works", is a section of Ardeshir life befor reaching Iranshahr kingdom. Historical-mythic nature of Haftwad story and its collection of textual and intertextual elements required in various reading and pave the way to reading religious, historical, political and even economic topics with semiological approaches, discourse analysis, and new historicism. The present research aims to review This story from both new historicism and discourse analysis point of view (perspective) having a deep connection with authority and ideology, and to represent its neglected and unsought aspects. In sum, struggle between Parthian and sassanian, contrast of legal and illegal authority, hegemony of financial system and contrast of both Zoroastrianism and Mithraism is motif of Haftwad story in each of such reviews. Also study of elements and signs available on shahnameh narrative and another source of Haftwad story show that source of political and ideological authority has played an important role in formation events in primary source of shahnameh narrative (Ardeshir Babakan Works) and following it in shahnameh itself.

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Silver coins of Alexander of Macedonia, until the arrival of Parthians in the 1st century BC, have been put in WDXRF in order to determin Ag, Cu, Pb and Au as major and trace elements for fineness, debasement and refinement of silver in ancient Persia. Seleucid kingdom from 4th to 1st century BC was succeeded by several dynasties and kings. But the chemical composition of their silver coins and their fineness shows there was no changes in technology and economic policy.

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Hundreds of stray coins are being donated every year to different Iranian museums but it is difficult to establish their authenticities due to lack of knowledge about places of their findings. Part of these stray metallic pieces is related to Parthians. Due to their lengthy rule, of about five centuries, Parthian coins form important part of numismatic collection at the museums. Authors have taken Reza Abbasi Museum at Tehran as case study to review the authenticity of those coins. A comparison between statistical data and available historical records give a vivid idea about the genuineness and forgery of these metallic pieces. As such, this article attempts to show the genuineness of some of the coins by taking into account statistical data from early Parthian kings and their comparison with the available historical documents.

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The first season of survey at Qeshm, carried out during the winter of 2006, resulted in the identification of nine sites from the Parthian and Sasanian periods. The surface pottery from these sites suggests their trade and cultural relations with contemporary sites in the southern Persian Gulf and other areas. For instance, the Parthian and Sasanian glazed types in Qeshm Island are closely related materials found from Khuzestan as well as northern and southern coasts of the Persian Gulf, including ed-Dur, Suhar, Kush, Failaka and Qalat Bahrain. Parthian painted ware reveals close similarities to monochrome and bichrome painted pottery of southeastern Iran, Oman coasts and the southern Persian Gulf, specifically ed-Dur, Suhar, Kush and Tel-i-Abrak. The so-called Indian Red Polished Ware is the other diagnostic type widespread in the northern and southern coasts of the Persian Gulf from the middle Parthian up to the early Islamic period. The material was being widely produced in the Indian region (Gujarat) and Indus, and exported to different places around the Persian Gulf. The Coarse Black Ware (ceramic noir epaise) with decorative raised bands recorded in Qeshm compares with coarse-black material from the southern Persian Gulf, also occurring at sites such as ed-Dur and Abu Dhabi Islands. Plain, common Parthian and Sasanian pottery from Qeshm shows parallels with known materials of this period in the northern and southern Persian Gulf.

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Khanghah Gilvan cemetery is located in Khalkhal, in the Iranian province of Ardebil. This cemetery came into light during a highway construction project in Khanghah village. Until now, three archeological excavations, under the author’s supervision, have been carried out in this cemetery that has resulted in burials from the Middle Bronze Age up to Parthian period.   Among the excavated burials, four of them belong to the Parthian period. These burials are pit graves containing gifts such as potteries, bronze and iron materials, metal ornaments and beads with different forms. Grave usually containing single body had different conditions such as open or closed burials in different directions. Samples of pit graves of Parthian period, apart from Khanghah Gilvan cemetery, have also been discovered at Sad Eskandar in Gorgan, Sang Shir at Hamadan, Cheshmeh Sar at Takht-e-Jamshid and Vaskeh cemetery. The burial samples with open-pit were prevalent during Parthian period that apart from Khanghah Gilvan cemetery have also found at Sang Shir tepe at Hamadan, Kangavar, and Cemetery at Susa, Cheshmeh Sar at Takht-e-Jamshid, Sad Eskander at Gorgan, Veskeh and Mianrud in Talesh. Likewise, samples showing closed-pit burials of Parthian period, apart from Khanghah Gilvan cemetery, have also found at Sang Shir at Hamadan, Kangavar, Tagh Bostan, Germi, Vaskeh and Mianrud cemetery.

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From the middle of the first millennium BC, there witnessed a gradual bilateral relation between Iranians and Greeks. These people to people attachments also resulted in interactive influences between these two cultures and arts. Qualitative and quantitative investigation on these interactions is a basic issue in identifying both cultures. The current paper, among all miscellaneous influences of Hellenism on the culture and the art of the Parthian realm, attempts to analyze only the influences of basics and rules of the Greek aestheticism on the Parthian sculpture and come to a historical conclusion based on an inductive method.               

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The archaeological site of Afalleh is located in the north of Khachak village, in the intermountain plain of Kojour, in southern end of Nowshahr District, Mazandaran Province. Drawing on the available evidence, the site is dated to the Parthian period. Afalleh is clearly an archaeo- metallurgical center in the area, and by virtue of its relatively large size (more than 5 ha) might be one of the most significant and/or important archaeo- metallurgical sites of the Parthian period in the entire region. Large and dense scatters of slag and kiln wasters, especially in southern and western quadrants, hint at extensive and/or long-termed archaeo- metallurgical activities at the site. The surface slag could be divided into two groups of sponge and dense with a dark color near to black. Most slags are seen on southern part of the site. A stone building is partially exposed in western side of the site, where a dirt road has cut a part of the archaeological deposits. Macroscopic and microscopic analyses indicate that the slags are rich of fayalite and wustite, ferrous silicate and iron oxide minerals, respectively. Inside one of these slags a thick prill of iron is observed that has been largely replaced with secondary iron oxides. This observation indicates an indirect reduction of iron from its ore-producing carbonized iron (steel and cast iron)-and refers to its separation from silicate melt more probably outside of furnace. In this paper we describe the site and data has produced concerning the probable extent of the smelting activities, this is a comparative study and is a discussion on possible provenance of ore deposits.     

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From the middle of the first millennium BC, there witnessed a gradual bilateral relation between Iranians and Greeks. These people to people attachments also resulted in interactive influences between these two cultures and arts. Qualitative and quantitative investigation on these interactions is a basic issue in identifying both cultures.
The current paper, among all miscellaneous influences of Hellenism on the culture and the art of the Parthian realm, attempts to analyze only the influences of basics and rules of the Greek aestheticism on the Parthian sculpture and come to a historical conclusion based on an inductive method.
 
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Alashtar is one of the prominent valley plains in central Zagros Mountain Range. The main focus of this study is based on the activities performed in this plain in 2006-2007 periods with the aim of identifying and studying the ancient relics as well as the studies conducted in 2010  to identify and analyze Parthian settlement patterns in this area. Archaeological survey in the area identified 72 historical sites and ancient monument. The current studies suggest that first settlements in this area date back to Copper and Stone Age and the most recent settled sites belong to the later centuries of the Islamic period. Among the historical relics found in Alashtar plain, 42 relics contained remnants of the Parthian.  The overall perception of the settlement pattern in this plain during Parthian period reflects variation in population or distribution of settlement patterns compared to the former and later periods. The distribution pattern of the identified historical sites suggests that the settlements were mainly in the form of rural units with no evidence of urban centers. Overall, the distribution pattern of Parthian settlements has been strongly influenced by climatic characteristics, environmental capabilities and the special geographical position of the region. This paper attempts to study the Parthian settlement pattern in this plain; moreover, it seeks to examine these historical sites and interpret the settlement patterns in the Parthian period.
 



 

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Kuh-e Khajeh in Sistan, a mesa 120m height in respect of Sistan plain flat, is located 20 Km south-west of Zabol. This is one of most important historical area in Sistan. In account of its religious and political importance, a series remarkable of structures were built on its flat surface and eastern slight slopes since very ancient times. Despite of the studies of archaeologists and scholars, there have been provided no certain chronology about it and a few studies which have been done are merely based on the architecture of this site.
In this research, based on the pottery data it is tried to make a relative chronology on palace of Kuh-e Khajeh. In doing so, the required data was gathered under systematic survey method in the castle’s area. Considering that the recognizing the potteries’ specifications is an important task in the archaeological studies, therefore, the study of potteries’ specifications was given a specific priority. And in doing so, the collected remarkable potteries from the site were classified and typologically studied, accordingly.
According to the results obtained from the typology of potteries, Kuh-e Khajeh palace has had three different settlement phases: the first was Parthians, the second was Sassanids and the third was known to be the Islamic phase (6-8 AH centuries), respectively.