Animal motifs and "hybrid animals" in the stone relics of Jiroft civilization

Jiroft civilization is one of the most ancient civilizations in the Iranian plateau in the realm of the HalilRud. The containers and objects from this region not only represent the rich culture and civilization of this land, but they also have considerable capacity for research on the lifestyle and culture of the people of this region for having beautiful and exquisite images. Containers and objects from the area of Jiroft, provide new and original documents from the distant past and show the role of culture in shaping the civilizations of the East. Animal and hybrid animal-human motifs are the original designs of Jiroft stone dishes. These containers that belong to five thousand years ago are a milestone in the history of ancient Persian civilization, and exhibit a rich and diverse culture from other advanced civilizations such as the ancient Mesopotamia. Mythical characters in this area on the basis of their beliefs appear as "Human-animal" while fighting with the animals or taming them. There is a direct relationship between motifs and life of people of Jiroft. From the motifs we realize the way of living, climate, and the way of dressing, the relationship between man and nature and other features. It seems that all these motifs show the ancient man trying to achieve supernatural forces, which has led to the creation of myths, as well as man’s dominance to nature and world around him making it his own unbounded power. The aim of the study is introduction, recognition and symbolic expression of creatures depicted on the stone vessels in area of Jiroft. Therefore, in this research, which has been developed based on descriptive and analytical method, and assuming that the processing method of this motifs are influenced by nature and religious attitudes of people of Jiroft, a number of animal and human motifs carved on stone vessels are investigated. The results of this study suggest a significant impact of the way people lived and thought of ancient people of Jiroft on the way of designing some special motifs, including animal motifs, humane motifs and hybrid animal motifs. These designs show a creative imagination, an imagination that led to formation of images, which can be a result of the beliefs or opinions of this country's people. This image represents a typical view of the world around. Jiroft artist shows his inner philosophy with the help of mythical images. It seems that at the time, when the Mesopotamian were thinking about the concept of a supreme principle and showcased it implicitly and through the presence of worshipers and gift creators, the Iranian thinking was inclined to seek a balance between the forces of good and evil and pursued the search for human happiness. Pictures carved on stone relics of Jiroft can be the starting point for the valuable and precious way of dualism thinking the impact of which on the religion of Ancient Persia in later periods, is pretty obvious. Also, motifs can be a creative display of conquering powers of these animals.