Dissecting the Motifs of Susa’s Pottery Based upon Semiotic Approach

Of the most important visual themes in ancient Iranian culture is the role of water in a variety of concepts. Water is the main foundation of the human creation and the life substance, it is fruitful in all aspects of human life and has a special prestige and dignity. Water symbolizes life, fertility, purity and is the manifestation of cleanness. Humans have been associated with this pristine element since the beginning of creation. Decoding a visual design with the concept of water provides a context for an in-depth understanding of the artwork containing this symbol. These motifs express specific meaning, so by examining the motifs taken from the experience of the ancient artist, one can easily derive many meanings from the thought and belief of the culture of that time.Of the main early centers in Iran whose people were engaged in manufacturing earthenware are the people of the Susa. The visual elements in Susa’s pottery are one of the richest pieces of Iranian culture, with many hidden clues and symbols therein.Susa’s potteries are of the most valuable works of Iran where water symbols are abundantly decorated on them as various visual elements.Susa’s pottery is part of the burial objects obtained from the “City of the Dead” at the lowest layer of Susa Hill, with an average height of 25 meters.The motifs on containers are taken from nature and contain various plant, animal, human, geometric, abstract images that are ornamented in isolation and combination. The drawing of the textures was done with just a smooth, balanced pen movement. This research investigates the visual water element with the semiotic approach. Semiotic classifies the signs by specifying them in terms of the specificity and organization rules as well as particular symbolization processes, and identifies the meaning and concepts of the work. This article is an endeavor to recover codes of some motifs and explain their meaning in relation to the water element, while classifying and identifying different species of visual cues by analyzing the shapes and recognizing the signified meaning of images via comprehending their implications. The method in this research is descriptive-analytical by studying library resources and collecting images in books and museums.Fifteen works of Susa’s Pottery presented by these sources have been studied to answer the questions; What symbols of Susa’s ancient pottery are adorned with? How is the classification of visual elements based on the semiotic approach? What are the symbolic themes of these visual cues?The results showed the visual elements are divided into plant, animal and geometric categories. The structure of pottery motifs consists of a variety of schematic, indexical, symbolic, and hybrid symbols that are related to the signifier and signified and have a direct and sometimes indirect relationship with the concept of water, blessing, and fertility. Meanwhile, most of the symbols and the visual element of water have a symbolic indexical relation.
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