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Chahar-taqi is a valuable form of Iranian architecture used in the construction of religious and other types of structures in pre-and post-Islamic periods.According to the available archaeological evidence, it has been used in pre-Islamic architecture, especially from the Median period as a plan for construction of fire altars. After a while, this form of architecture became more common, and was used in the construction of such structures as palace. The Chahar- taqi plan was also used during the Islamic period, although there are limited vestiges of its use in the first four centuries of Islamic period. However, with the rise of Seljuk dynasty, and the need to expand the architectural spaces like mosques, this construction plan was widely used in the construction of mosques, palaces and castles. Based on the archetype hypothesis by Jung, the authors set out to analyze the reasons for selecting this architecture form and its continuation from Sassanid to the Islamic period by mentioning evidences of its sacred aspect in Islamic sources. In other words, the question is whether chahar-tag (four-typed) architecture is a model derived from the common beliefs of the society or unconscious tribal mind of pre-Islamic peoples of Iran, found its way, gained ground and evolved in human mind in this land, and used in the construction of other structures such as palaces, castles, mosques and tomb monuments.    

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  From the ancient time, the land of Iran, because of its geopolitical location, played an important role in terms of cultural interaction between the East and the West. Infact, one of the most attractive parts of the world history is cultural communication and also political conflicts between Iran, Greece and Roman Empires, as representatives of the East and the West. According to historical and archaeological evidences, it can be claimed that, among the craftsmen of both nations, there was a clear understanding on mythical and religious characters of other side. So, on the basis of iconographical studies, this paper aims to focus on two mythical characters,Tishtar and Pegasus, as a sign of cultural interaction, appeared on two Sassanid silverworks. This study, finally takes a result that how Iranian artisan in Sassanidera had imitated the form of Pegasus appearance on the Western art and used it as a prototype to show Tishtar on his works.     

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Sassanid reign, as one of the most powerful Iranian dynasties, lasted for over four centuries before the Arab Moslems’ attack to Iran. The great Sassanid government managed to convert the Feudal Iran of Parthian era into a united and strong country thanks to its central government and Zoroastrianism nationalism; this not only recreated political power but also hugely revolutionized the cultural and social issues in Iran. However, different factors, after a while, led to the gradual weakness and suppression of this dynasty before the Arab Moslems’ attack. In this research, auditing the historians of all these four centuries of the early Islamic era including Abou- HanifehDinvari, Yaghoubi, Masoudi, Tabari, and EbneMoskouyeh exactly and from all aspects, many attempts have been made to figure out and analyze the reasons of this gradual weakness and overthrown of Sassanid Reign the emnloying a historical-descriptive method. The results of this research reveal that in the view of the historians of all these four centuries of the early Islamic era, the following factors were the most crucial reasons of Sassanid’s downfall and defeat before the Arab Moslems: religious prejudice, high position of Zoroastrian clergymen, well-borns’ increasing power, massacre of the royal family by Shirouyeh, the last Sassanid kings’ lack of authority, a military coup against the kings, long exhausting overseas battles, especially the constant wars against the Rome Empires, toppling the Ale-Lakhm by KhosrouParviz, economic pressures on people and heavy taxes, natural disasters like the Tigris and Euphrates rivers bursting their banks, and hidden helps.

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In ancient times, symbolic figures and badges in addition to decorative aspects represented important issues regarding culture, art and even social structures of a state and country. In the Sassanid period, symbolic figures (patterns) also boomed with respect to the interfusion of religion and politics, so that some examples of these symbolic figures can be seen in most of the artworks remained of the Sassanid period. The stucco art during the Sassanid era was one of the most developed arts which have reached the peak of its maturity in this period compared to the preceding periods and witnessed its widespread use in various symbolic forms in Sassanid buildings and palaces. The study of symbolic plant figures of the Sassanid period is a necessity that has unfortunately not been studied independently and extensively so far. With respect to the object of study, the present research is of a fundamental type and with respect to its nature and methodology, it is a historical study. The result of this research indicates that most of the symbolic motifs (patterns) found in the Sassanid stuccos religious origin; although these figures have been depicted in form of numerous and diverse plant figures, each of them is considered as a symbol of religious beliefs. Grapes and the tree of life are among the symbols symbolize fertility, blessing, and immortality in Iran and have always been seen in the stucco works during this period; also, the lotus figures represent one of the deities in Mazdisna religion.

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In its course of evolution, the Sassanian rule accepted a change in temporal exigencies, condition and manner of governance of each ruler where more attention was paid to the institutional establishment, grades/ranking, titles, symbols and administrative hierarchy. In a way, the organizational manner, to a larger extent, could engulf the period into a curtain of ambiguity. One of those ranks was Vuzorg Farmzar that apart from having equivalents in different periods of time, with respect to its real application, encountered with sectional and temporal confusion as well. As such, an increase or decrease in jurisdiction of the above rank was influenced more by policies of each emperor. According to this fact, the issues which are to be dealt with in this article are: Which title was synonymous to the word “grand vizier” or “Vuzorg Farmzar” in the early Sassanid era? In which era of Sassanid dominion, the title “Vuzorg Farmzar” was addressed as “Hazarpat”? How was the factional evolution of the position of “Hazarpat”? This research is concerning to show that the word “Bidakhsh”, is a title that in the early Sassanid era was employed to endow titles of person such as “grand vizier” or “Vuzorg Farmzar” and after some time it was completely forgotten. The word “Hazarpat” was one of the other titles which was equivalent to “Vuzorg Farmzar” in the middle Sassanid era and we can distinguish three Functional phases for it: It was a militaristic position in the early Sassanid era, a militaristic- civil jurisdictive position in the middle era and a militaristic position once again at the end at of Sassanid era. Taking into account historical sources and epigraphic records, the current research tries to find out the basis and essence of “Vuzorg Farmzar” and titles synonymous to it as well as their actual or the honorary functions during the era In order to clarify, the extent of governance and administration establishment, on the top of which was the “grand vizier” (Vuzorg Farmzar). To achieve this goal, the connections of the titles such as “Bidakhsh”,“Hazarpat”, “Vuzorg Farmzar” and “Sepahbad” are questioned, by determining the existence, primacy and recency of these titles in epigraphic records and also in the historical sources in which the functional jurisdiction of these titles mentioned,the accuracy or inaccuracy of these hypothesis would be distinguished.

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With the formation of local and national governments during the 3^rd-5^th centuries A.H. [9th - 11th A.D.], the circumstances were prepared for adaption and recreating cultural and artistic traditions of Sassanid period. In this regard, Samanid governors played a key role. Amir Ismail Samanid came up with a style which became a pattern for numerous mausoleums and on the other hand connected the architectural elements and designs of Sassanids with the Islamic era. The Mausoleum of Amir Ismail Samanid itself shows how the Sassanid architectural elements appear in a new format. Both the design and construction of this building appears to have been carried out objectively, and Amir Samanid had somehow intended to follow the Sassanid dynasty. Studying the architectural elements and features of the Ismail Samanids Mausoleum as well as adaptions from the Sassanid architecture, and also its historical and cultural contexts (the revival of Iranian identity and returning to the traditions of Sassanian, during the 3rd – 5th centuries A.H.) are the main objectives of the present paper. 
 
 

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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.
 

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The Sassanid era is one of the most brilliant in the Iranian civilization in terms of various arts development. The coastal areas of the Caspian Sea, especially Mazandaran, has long been the site of artistic manifestation with countless examples of art works kept in different museums inside and outside the country. The Sassanid art particularly depict life and glory of the kings. With a deep insight into the works, one can easily find the use of a vast array of birds, animals, plants, gods and mythological beings in symbolic ways. After reviewing and researching all the works created in the Sassanid period, a common feature attracts opinions, and that is the similarity and harmony of decorative motifs in all of these works, especially bas-reliefs, metal wares, fabrics and seals. The purpose of this research is to investigate the images of sacred animals on the Mazandaran artifacts of the Sassanid period, in response to the question of what is the relationship between the designs of sacred animals and the motifs on discovered metal works of Mazandaran. The results of this study clearly show that in most of the concepts and representations in the works produced in every part of this civilization, a common goal was pursued, and it is a struggle against evil forces. The symbolic emblems of sacred animals in Iran can be found in close connection with the beliefs and religions of that era, some of which are manifested in the form of boar and lion in the body of gods and goddesses.

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The Sassanid era is one of the brightest periods of art and civilization in Iran. There are major remains of many different types: monumental rock reliefs, silver vessels, stucco architectural decoration, and seals.
Sassanid art and culture could affect on the Islamic arts in Iran, including in the field of urbanism, architecture, textiles, metallurgy, painting, pottery. There are a lot of motifs that are very similar to the Sassanid ones.
 The Sassanid Empire had an enduring legacy in the Islamic period. On the one hand, the continuation of certain artistic techniques, such as silk production, plate, and stucco, may be attributed to the caliph’s practical marshaling of Sassanid artists to the service of the new state. In some cases, motifs on the artwork of the Islamic era do not show only a simple pattern of previous art, but we see full compliance and a copy of the Sassanid motifs. The pottery as well as cultural and artistic works belonging to the Islamic period too show that they were not unaffected by the Sassanid period. Here, an attempt is being made to study the transition of culture and art of the Sassanid era to the Islamic period. The study of the pottery motifs in the Islamic period can specify the amount of influence and the reasons for the transfer of Sassanid art. This research focuses on the designs of Islamic pottery that are much similar to the Sassanid motifs.