Semiotics and the origins of the motif of Cow in the Neyshabur potteryRelying on historical texts

"Symbol"is a collection of signs, indications, and words that denote a higher meaning and concept than its appearance. In other words, symbols are used to express concepts that roots of many of them can be found in the history of predecessors and myths. Artwork is one of the most suitable platforms for the emergence of the symbol. In the meantime,"pottery"is one of the most important art works in early Islamic centuries, which it contains many symbols among the"cows", and can be traced its implications in the myths of historical and Islamic periods. The aim of this study, semiotics of cow with regard to social conditions, religious and the idea and beliefs of the people of the early Islamic centuries through analysis of historical documents. Hence, following the semiotics of cow, the following question is raised: What is the origin of the cow symbol on the Neyshabur pottery? The research method is historical-analytical and based on library studies. In the process of research, we first began to collect statistical samples from museums, designing motifs with CorelDraw software; and in the following, library studies have been conducted to identify the subject matter of the cow in historical documents. The achievement of studying the cow symbol and its conception in the pottery of Neyshabur suggests that, considering the importance of cow in livelihoods of people in different historical periods and using of: meat, skin, milk, fats (for domestic heating and cooking) along with its efficiency in portage and plowing, can be imagen such icons as: power and strength, fertility and fecundity, which these symbols can be traced from prehistoric times to the aforementioned period in different artistic works and have common concepts. In addition to the above mentioned concept, other symbols, such as the combination of cattle with humans, the composition of cows with birds, are found in Neyshabur's pottery with astronomical and religious concepts and their origin is specific to Islamic beliefs.