Analysis of motifs of the Niello art of the Ahwaz Mandaean people Based on the theory of cultural reflection

The Ahwaz Mandaean people in Khuzestan province are one of the religious minorities in Iran and they are monotheistic. Their job is goldsmith and Niello work and the Niello art is their ancestral industry and occupation. The religious system of this nation is a closed system with no propaganda feature. It should be noted that there is a relationship between the art of this nation and their beliefs and therefore the importance of nation culture and art and the significance of studying these two cases in the social sphere has made this research necessary.The purpose of this study is to identify the indigenous culture and national beliefs of the Sabeine Mandae people and introduce of their Niello art and identify the decorative motifs of the Niello art and relationship between these decorative motifs and Sabeine nation culture. Therefore, the research questions are these: 1- What are the cultural characteristics of the Ahwaz Mandaean nation? 2- What are the decorative motifs of the Ahwaz Mandaean Niello art? 3. What is the relationship between the decorative motifs of Mandaean Niello art and their indigenous culture? In this research library information and field data were analyzed using a descriptive-analytical and comparative approach. The results show that there is a direct relationship between Mandaean Niello art and their indigenous culture and the subject of migration and biogeography (along with running water and desert environment) is one of the most important decorative motifs of their art.