A Study on hunting elements in the Sassanid era Case study: silver plates and the hunting scene of Taq-e Bostan

According to human history, it is obvious that age of hunting is as long as life of human. The existence of human until today depends on hunting. Hunting was not only an act for human first acquires but also it made human to grow his abilities. Subject of hunting, in different ways, with all the handmade object of human since the most developed of them, is shown in whole history. And just the meaning of it changes during passes of time. The concept of hunting in Sassanid era, as last period glories of culture of Iran before Islam remained lots of noticeable Golden and Jasmine monuments. Which these monument could be account as the most meaningful of Iran’s culture. Because, generally, Sassanid art is symbol of glories of Iran’s kings so the Golden and Jasmine monuments which remained from this period contain subjects and concepts that related to the king, especially king’s hunting. The concept of hunting in all of the art’s monuments from this period is clear. One of them is inscription, Taq-e Bostan inscription is one of the most important ones. This inscription declares the importance of this matter. The subject of hunting has manifested in various ways in the most human constructs, even the most evolved of them, in all historical periods, and the only meaning is that it has changed over time. In the Sassanid period, this concept takes on a concept beyond hunting. Since the Sassanid era, a significant part of the golden and silver works has been remembered. Since Sassanid art is mainly courtly and represents the divine glory of the Sassanid kings, most of the gold and silver artifacts left over from this period covering the themes related to the king, including royal hunting. So the theme of hunting is reflected in all the artworks of this period, including the high-reliefs. One of the most important high –reliefs is the hunting ground scene of Taq-e Bostan. The purpose of this article is to compare the hunting elements between Sassanid artworks, especially Sassanid silverware, and the scene of the hunting grounds of Taq-e Bostan, in a descriptive-comparative manner and by examining seven cases of silverware with the theme of hunting. There is no difference of opinion between the motifs of Sassanid silverware and the decorations created on the hunting scenes in Taq-e Bostan. It seems these elements to be common almost in all artworks. In the Taq-e Bostan, the hunting scene is derived from similar combinations, with this difference that the elements of the scene are more and simultaneous. The examples of these common features and elements are, as the case may be: the king, the characteristics of the riders' figures, the royal horse, the characteristics of combination of the riders, and the general composition of figures, realism in iconography, weapons, drawing common hunting animals, special perspective, symbolic concepts, precise description of scenes and characters, narration, emphasis on the power and invincibility of kings, attention to detail and the existence of dynamism in the scenes.