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ART IN IRAN, History of vi. Pre-Islamic Eastern Iran And Central Asia Geographical and historical background. Eastern Iran and Central Asia comprise that vast tract of land, referred to as Turkestan, that extends from the Caspian Sea to the Kansu province of China. The present political boundaries of Central Asia…

ART IN IRAN, History of vii. Islamic pre-Safavid This article will present the broad history of artistic development in Iran from the Islamic conquest to the advent of the Safavids in four chronological sections. The first section will deal with the artistic heritage of the region and its effect on…

ART IN IRAN, History of viii. Islamic Central Asia Under Islam the sculpture and mural painting previously displayed in Central Asia almost completely disappeared, and ornament took pride of place. In the 2nd/9th to 5th/12th centuries artistic handicrafts—ceramics, metalwork, jewelry, and textiles—flourished to an exceptional degree. In the ceramics of…

ART IN IRAN, History of ix. Safavid to Qajar Periods The unity of Safavid art. The arts of the Safavid period show a far more unitary development than in any other period of Iranian art. This characteristic is due not simply to the political domination of one family but also…

ART IN IRAN, History of x.1 Art and Architecture of the Qajar Period The Qajar period is now increasingly recognized as a time of significant change in Persian society. Perhaps the most obvious influence was the impact of Western ideas and technology, which accompanied the diplomats, military and technical advisers,…

ART IN IRAN, History of x.2 Qajar Painting The Qajar artistic style, like the Timurid style centuries before, had its origins outside the historical period from which it derives its name. It was in the late Safavid period that a thoroughgoing Europeanized style began to oust the old native traditions,…

ART IN IRAN, History of xi. Post-Qajar (Painting) Chronological survey. The beginnings of modern art in Iran can be traced back to Moḥammad Ḡaffārī, also known as Kamāl-al-molk (A. H. 1268-1319 Š./1852-1940) the last court painter of the Qajar shahs. During the latter half of the 19th century, when Iranians…

ART IN IRAN xii. IRANIAN PRE-ISLAMIC ELEMENTS IN ISLAMIC ART Numerous Iranian pre-Islamic elements have contributed significantly to the formation and development of Islamic art, and they can be easily recognized in various contexts, from town-planning to architecture, from the continuity of techniques of both manufacture and decoration to iconography…

ARTABANUS (Parth. Ardawān), name borne by several Arsacid kings. Artabanus I Artabanus II Artabanus III Artabanus IV A king supposed to have reigned from 211 to ca. 191 B.C., is mentioned quite frequently in the older literature as Artabanus I (e.g. G. Rawlinson, The Sixth Great Oriental Monarchy or the…

ARTABANUS (Achaemenid personal name, Greek Artábanos, Akkadian Atarbanuš, Elamite Irtabanuš, Aramac ‘rtbnw, Lydian Artabãna, Mid. Pers. Ardawān), Latinized form of an Old Persian proper name *Arta-bānu “the glory of Arta.” (On the etymology of the name see E. Benveniste, Titres et noms propres en iranien ancien, Paris, 1966, pp. 107-08.)…

ARTABAZANES, autonomous ruler of Armenia who submitted to the Seleucid king Antiochus III in 220 B.C., when the latter invaded his country (Polybius 5.55. 2). This satrap was presumably of Iranian lineage. His name is attested in the Achaemenid period as Artobazanes, borne by one of Darius’ four sons by…

ARTABAZUS (Gk. Artábazos, Elam. Ir-du-masda. Av. Ašavazdah from Old Iranian *Ṛta-vazdah; cf. Artavasdes), Old Iranian personal name. 1) Son of Pharnaces, commander of the Khwarezmian and Parthian contingent in Xerxes’s campaign against Greece. After the battle of Salamis (480 B.C.) Artabazus accompanied Xerxes to the Hellespont with 60,000 men. Then…

ARTABĒ, the Greek form of a Median and Old Persian measure of volume. The word appears as a loanword in Achaemenid Elamite (irtiba and variant forms, often preceded by the determinative GIŠ “wood”), Akkadian (ardabu), Aramaic and Demotic (ʾrdb, also irdabb in modern Egypt). To judge by the Persepolis Fortification…

ARTACHAIĒS, Greek rendering of an Old Iranian name *Ṛtaxaya (Elamite Ir-da-(ak-)ka-(a-)ya, Aramaic ʾrtḥy), containing Old Persian arta “truth” and perhaps (the weakly attested) Avestan haya- (nom. haēm) which Bartholomae (AirWb., col. 1781) connects with Mid. Pers. xēm, NPers. ḵīm “character.” The name is attested for several Achaemenid officials (G. G….