The Art of Ancient Iran, Pre-Islamic
Cultures

Sasanian Art [cont.] - Notes for this chapter

The second fragment represents a different style. The drawing is cursory; the forms are thin and pointed. The neck of the bull on the fragment rises sharply, [p. 68] then the line runs horizontally to the sharp bend of the horn. In contrast to this the curve in the neck of the griffin on the first fragment is smoothly rounded and terminates in the slight countercurve of the griffin's crest. Moreover, the colour of the second fragment is much duller than that of the first, although here accidental factors may have played a role in changing the original colours of the tile. [53]

The two styles represented here can scarcely belong to the same period. The cursory one is probably later and may be tentatively assigned to the tenth or ninth century B.C., which means that it would be Neo-Elamite. Another fragment from Susa which seems to belong to this later style shows a similar cursory treatment of the guilloche pattern. The rendering of the horned animal in this third fragment is interesting because it shows a curvature of the neck and an abstract division of the body which are reminiscent of the Luristan bronzes to be discussed below. The style here represented also seems to be reflected in Elamite cylinder seals, for the bull in the tile recalls the slender bulls with sharply bent horns in Figure 28. Moreover, the uncertain position of the bull's forelegs is comparable to the insecure postures of the demon and the animals in the cylinder seal. Such painstaking comparisons of small details are necessary in order to obtain some tentative outline of the development of Elamite art at the beginning of the first millennium B.C.

Somewhat later works of Neo-Elamite art can be recognized in several faience vessels and objects hammered in bronze, called repoussÚ work. The faience vessels are small jars similar to the small round boxes of ivory made in Syria in the ninth and eighth centuries B.C. One of them even has the same pattern of rosettes and double lotus-blossoms found in the diadem of an ivory head of the eighth century B.C. excavated at Nimrud. [54] These Syrian ivories probably indicate the date at which the Elamite jars were made. The jars rarely have a figured decoration, but one example has designs in flat relief and also heads worked in the round in place of the bosses seen on other jars for fastening the lid to the vessel. The reliefs show on one side a griffin and on the other a winged and bearded sphinx. The horned mitre of the sphinx has a curious shape; the horns are bent forward with the tip pointing down. At the back of the cap there is an inexplicable oblique strip, like the end of a band. Above the cap rises a globe. These three characteristics are found again on the horned mitres of bull-men seen on a bronze quiver of which the lower half is reproduced here. Again a small detail has led us from one work of art to another. The fact that we are not mistaken in assuming that the faience vessel and the bronze quiver belong to the same general style is indicated by the composition, which shows rosettes and other fillers placed in the larger intervals between the figures. In both the jar and the [p. 70] bronze, the figures are characterized by fleshy noses, large eyes and round mouths. Perhaps one may relate this striking facial type and the Syrian elements in this stylistic phase of the ninth to the seventh century B.C. with the presence of many Arameans in Elam at the beginning of the first millennium B.C.

A group of Neo-Elamite bronze objects which should be associated with the bronze quiver and the ivories are the so-called situlae, slender buckets of bronze with a conical base. The shape of these vessels was originally Egyptian, like the lotus pattern on the base. The style of the decoration of this group of situlae, however, is Neo-Elamite. [55] Our example shows a winged ibex with bearded human face beside a tree. Although the heavy forms and the fleshy nose of the demon remind us of the style of the quiver, the lines of the situla are nevertheless somewhat more fluid and the space is not as tightly filled. Conceivably this [p. 71] marks a slightly later date for the situlae, but it is also possible that these variations are due merely to different workshops.

The situlae and the quiver were usually dubbed 'Luristan' because no comparable object of bronze has so far been found at Susa, while many bronzes of different styles were found in the mountainous region of Luristan, north-west of Elam. The reason why no metal objects of the early second millennium were found at Susa is surely to be found in the thorough pillaging of the town by the Assyrians in about 640 B.C.

It is more difficult to explain how Elamite bronzes came to Luristan. They could have been pillaged by robbers from Luristan, for the people of these mountain regions must have been as difficult to control in ancient times as they have been until very recently. It is also possible that Elamites seeking refuge in Luristan from Assyrian attacks brought some of their valuables with them. Modern tourists who know the searing heat of Susa in summer like to assume that the Elamites moved to the cool mountains in these months. Reasons against such a hypothesis are the above-mentioned custom of the modern townspeople to seek protection from the heat in subterranean chambers and, secondly, the disinclination of the inhabitants of ancient towns to venture into such dangerous regions as open and mountainous country. It is possible, however, that the Elamite rulers did not belong to the same urban tradition as their townspeople, if we are right in ascribing to the kings burial rites which involved cremation in contrast to inhumation in various types of graves for the townspeople. The royal family and the court may therefore have followed a different pattern of life from the common people and may have enjoyed hunting in the mountains during the summer. For such royal hunting parties valuable objects could have been brought to Luristan and kept there. [p. 72]

Lastly, it may be suggested that there were sanctuaries in the mountains of Luristan in which Elamite works of art could have been deposited as offerings, either by Elamites themselves or by people who obtained Elamite objects for votive purposes. This possibility seems the most likely for two reasons: one, the objects which have been found, such as bronze coverings of quivers, were not objects of actual use, since it has been shown quite conclusively that bronze sheathing offers poor protection in comparison to leather [56] and two, a sanctuary with votive objects was actually excavated near Surkh Dum in Luristan. [p. 73]