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The Avesta and Zoroastrian manuscripts, in Pahlavi language, have been studied, interpreted and translated numerous times over the past century. The study of sacred numbers, only based on the above-mentioned texts, has also been a part of printed scholarly works. The reference to the Indo-European background of the numbers can be seen frequently in past works.Although in the background of this research, reference has been made to textual studies such as Indo-Iranian sources, but archaeological evidences have received less attention.This paper deals with a specific topic that is the sacred Zoroastrian numbers and entanglement with Sasanian coins. For this purpose, the author stresses on the number of pearls (beads) of the necklaces, headbands, hangings of the royal hat, and shoulder stripes based on the coins. The author will focus on the known sacred numbers such as 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 21, 24…to prove the claim. Also, the article draws a clear line between necklaces worn in the batllefield, on coins and in bas- reliefs (Royal Scenes). In addition, the presence or absence of the beads of the pearl stripes on the shoulders or chest have been suggested as gender sign as a key question of this article. This restudy will show a new part of religious aspects on the royal Sasanian art.The author believes that the number of the pearls on the kings’ necklaces or headbands have followed a systematic structure from a single string to the two strings, from the rise to the fall of the empire. Also, I will briefly refer to texts to support archaeological evidences

Obviously, the Sasanian era is one of the most magnificent historical periods of Iran. However, the collapse of the Sasanian Empire and the migration of thousands of Sasanian musicians and artists along with the royal dynasty (Yazdgerd III) became a new chapter in the influence of Iranian art on China and then on Silla and Japan. The title of this article deals with a critical note on “based golden cup” of the Asian Civilization Museum of Singapore. This cup has been called the “golden shipwreck” object, attributed to the Tang period China, in scholarly published works. The object has been the subject of articles, catalogs, conferences, extensive media and even political programs abroad. The cup reflects eight musicians with eight different musical instruments in hands; each dancer-musician is separated from the next by a string of pearls. According to reports, the golden shipwreck cup was found from a sunken Chinese ship near Sumatra Island (Indonesia); the date of this event is attributed to the Tang period, the sixth century AD. Also, the destination of the ship has been announced to be Iran, but later the creator of this story changed it to Baghdad during the period (9th AD.) of the early Arab caliphs! In this paper, challenging this story, the author will evaluate this work as a fake object!

Three Sasanian Silver Bowls at the National Museum of Iran, known collectively as the “dancer-musician scenes,” have been considered as one of the museum’s most iconic works for the past 70 years. Only bowl No. 1 has been examined by numerous Western and Iranian scholars. Based on the catalog of the exhibition “7000 Years of Iranian Art Exhibition” in Vienna (2001-2002), these dishes have been tentatively dated to 8-9th centuries CE. All subsequent exhibitions have followed the same pattern. In addition, the dark heart-shaped decorations on two dishes have been called minā (enameling) in most of the previous publications. The importance of these three bowls (and also the famous Sasanian silver cup) has been the main reason for their selection for technical analysis, X-Ray fluorescence (XRF), and spectroscopy. However, a well-known Sasanian cup (called also “a silver musician-dancer” piece) was only subjected to a semi-quantitative investigation using XRF analysis. The XRF has been extremely helpful in determining a more exact dating for the three bowls indicated above, but it has also raised serious concerns about the dark heartshaped embellishments. Moreover, the dating of the artifacts has been called into doubt by an XRF study of Arabo-Sasanian coins (early Islamic periods) and a comparison of the metal compounds of these objects with those of the three dishes. Additionally, the authors of the present article have proposed niello for the dark ornamentation on the bowls based on these two technical evaluations. Indeed, spectroscopy was not able to answer the main question about the heart-shaped decorations on bowls No. 1 & No. 2, but it has opened a new venue to challenge the term minā, which was widely used in printed works. However, these two chemical analyses expose the possibility that the items may have been created in a workshop of the same artist (or a group of artists).

The Sasanian Empire was one of the most important periods in ancient Iran and one that experienced flourishingof the Zoroastrian religion. As the official religion in the Sasanian to post-Sasanian period, Zoroastrianism can beunderstood better by studying evidence of the religion’s impact on artifacts such as glassware, coins, silver vessels,pottery, and textiles. This paper shows the importance of “Zoroastrian sacred numbers” on glass fabrication andits impact on a specific type of glassware. Based on his assumption that glassware designs reflect the beliefsof artisans, the author focuses on the number of the facets on the related glassware. To test this hypothesis, theSasanian glassware is compared to other concomitant objects such as royal necklaces and flower petals used inthe Zoroastrian Pahlavi manuscripts. This religion-inspired decorative technique continued into the Early Islamicperiod, during which Shiism strongly preserved the Zoroastrian legacy in glassware.

1.Introduction Kuš-nāma (501-04/1108-11) is one of the most important books dealing with Iran-China and Silla historical relations. A unique manuscript of the work (by M. Abullah-al-Qari) is found in a collection held in the British Library (OR 2780). The manuscript is dated Ṣafar 800/October 1397 (Matini, 1997, p. 47). This manuscript of the Kush-nama is composed of 10,129 lines. It contains a number of gaps and a relatively large number of errors, which escaped the notice of the scribe. The text narrates “a community of Iranians who escaped to China due to the Arab invasion; Iranians received maltreatment and hostility of Chinese Emperor in a specific period of time. So, Abtin, commander of the community, wrote a letter to Taehur, Silla’s king, and asked for asylum. Taehur welcomed Iranians. Irano-Sillians fought Chinese king jointly. Abtin married Franak, the daughter of Silla king and the friendship converted to a family transplant. After a while, Abtin and Franak decided to return back to Iran to secure the country from the Arabs. Faridun, Zoroastrian mythical hero, was born in Iran (the fruit of this marriage) and finally saved the country. According to the text, Faridun contacted his Sillian grandfather through letters and also sent several armies to support Silla against Chinese troops.” From a specific chapter (verses no. 6000), Silla lost color and disappeared from the text and other tales replaced it. As I (Akbarzadeh, 2014, p. 6) previously noted the coming back of Abtin from Silla to Iran can reflect only a historical wish against the Arabs; it means that wishing to return back as an expected savior (from China-Silla) was achieved mythically in Persian texts but it was never practiced historically. Lack of the information on destiny of those Iranian migrants to Silla was a reason that the tale was interrupted and the story rerouted by other tales. Furthermore, parts of the content can be seen in other Islamic texts (cf. Mojmal-al-Tawarikh, 2010, p. 27). However, the book has three different chapters; the first one focuses on an introduction and the second one on the tales of Hellenic kings like Alexander. The third one or the main chapter stresses on relations between Iran and Silla proper (Akbarzadeh, 2014, p. 2-4). While Master Matini referred to “Silla” as main topic of the text but he suggested the term “Ba/eSilla” of the text (for the term Ba/eSilla> Beh-Silla” see Akbarzadeh and Lee 2018, p. 55) as Japan in another work (1990: 160-177); this suggestion traced his introduction (Kush-nama) by recommendation Mr. Rajabzadeh (1997, p. 75). Also Rajabzadeh (2002, p. 65-71; 2002, p. 82) mistakenly supposed the term Ba/esilla as Japan where he missed Sasanian objects of Gyeongju National Museum, philology, art history and texts studies (Sino-Iranian) (also see Vossoughi 2014, p. 23-45). 2. Methodology This study is based on comparative research by using mythology, text studies, historical records and archaeological evidences. In the study, I have tried to challenge Master Matini’s opinion about a verse (no. 1813) of Kush-nama where he explained the toponym of Kabul as mistake in the manuscript. For this issue, I frequently will refer to historical events of the fall of Sasanian Empire. Meanwhile, in this paper, I stress on the correctness of the verse and prove the text is very correct based on historical events. 3. Discussion: However, a chapter of Kush-nama is dedicated to a military deployment by Chinese king to attack Abtin, Iranian prince, and his troops. In the verse no. 1813, the Chinese King and his troop arrived from (the way) of Kabul to siege and attack Iranians while the text has not cited the toponym Kabul in previous verses. Master Matini, the editor of the text, wrote (footnote no.2 of the page) that “the use of the toponym is incorrect (here) “surly.” Master Matini explained the toponym as a mistake by the poet! The author believes that the verse is correct based on some events related to the collapse of Sasanian Empire where “southeast of Iran” was entangled with China. For this issue, we are facing with the two important events; the first one was Yazdgird III’s escape to Sistan then to the Central Asia with intention to apply asylum from Chinese king. Secondly, escape of Piruz (Yazdgird’s son) to China, supports of Chinese Emperors of Tang dynasty to him (and other his relatives) against the Arabs. Late Sasanian and Post-Sasanian texts frequently have referred to these two events. Obviously Gaozong, Tang Emperor, welcomed Piruz as the legitimate monarchy of Persia as well as supported him against the Arabs. Piruz, his son Narse, his brother Bahram and a Sasanian prince by the name Khosrow (?) received Emperors’ supports against the Arabs (Compareti 2009, p. online). It seems that supports of Chinese Tang Emperor (Gaozong) to Piruz, his stay in Zirang (southeast of Iran), battles over the Arabs, traffics of Sasanian princes between the southeast and China can be comprehensive in the verse. In this specific period southeast of Iran linked with China meaningfully. At this time, the southeast became the cradle of the conflicts with the Arabs, to defend the national identity and secure the country while China was mingled with these issues. Despite Persian sources, Chinese texts also referred to Zirang (Pulleyblank, 1991, p. online). Most probably, a series of epic Persian texts (Post-Sasanian), where heroes played roles from Sistan to China, can be influenced by those events; Garshasb in Garshasb-nama, Faridun Tales (Kush-nama and others) and Sam-nama can be cited in support of the claim. The author raises this question as to why heroes such as Faridun, Franak, Garshasb, Zahak and Sam played role in China? Obviously those heroes are related to Zoroastrian resurrection! Other chapters of KN testify the relationship between China and southeast of Iran where the Chinese king asked for help from Mukran king (verse no. 6228). Also I would like to raise this question “who is Firuz, the king of Zabulistan, in Masalik-al-Mamalik?” May I suggest a connection between this king and Piruz, the son of Yazdgird? 4.­Conclusion The author believes that expeditions of Sasanian princes from China to the southeast (corridor) are reflected in Chinese king’s campaign in the verse. Also, the time of Hakim Iranshan, Zirang probably was not an important city for political and economic issues. Maybe Kabul overshadowed the toponym this time. Meanwhile, both cities were located in the southeast of Iran. In fact, the coming of a troop from the way which goes to Kabul, cannot be strange. Definitely, the economic situation of Kabul cannot be important for this issue when China and Silla entangled with sacred Zoroastrian elements! Furthermore, the author suggests that meaningful connections between mounts of Sistan and China according to Bundahishn can be influenced by those historical events. While BD knows well paths from Khorasan to China, the text has used two separate terms as “China” and “Chinestan” to describe the Far East. In the late Sasanian to Post-Sasanian texts there is a clear line between two terms which it has never studied (Akbarzadeh, 2020, p. in print). However, using Persian “be” (toward) in the meaning of Persian “az” (from) frequently is seen in the Persian texts. In Old Persian period (i.e. Avestic text in the north and the Royal Inscriptions in the south) also dative-ablative was a normal function in grammatical structure (Abolghassemi, 1996, p. 287). Clearly the preposition of “be” does not mean “inside” (locative) in the verse.

A note on sasanian-buddhist object of Gyeongju National Museum Although Korean and late Sasanian texts are silent about mutual relations, archaeological evidences provide a different perspective. This paper deals with an object known at Gyeongju National Museum of the Republic of Korea. The loop was discovered in Bunhwangsa Buddhist Temple in Geun-jik (Gyeongju) region in 2001. Gyeongju’s loop includes a round form made of clay, with a pearly chain (running) in the border and two birds (ducks most probably) appearing in the center of the motif while they are trying to hold a stalk of a herb. Many scholarly works have been published about it and interpreted it as the ‘tree of life.’The author believes that this herb (as distinct from a plant) is a sacred lotus. In fact, the birds try to hold it in their beaks. So, an expert creator of the object used known Sasanian artistic elements on the one hand and combined them with a famous Buddhist element on the other hand. It ispossible the creator attempted to immortalize his work with this sacred lotus: in a Buddhist temple, only such an element was allowed to be introduced.

AbstractZahhak’s Myth is one of the oldest and most well-known myths in the Persian literature from ancient times to new periods. The myth is known through the Avestan text; however, in Zoroastrian Pahlavi texts, it is a prominent myth and clearly, it had influenced Post-Sasanian texts, too. A comparative study of the myth based on Post-Sasanian texts shows a close similarity in Arabo-Persian texts. Yet, in Kush-nameh, by Hakim Iranshan ibn Abal-Khayr, an Indian physician has been mentioned-- with respect to treatment of Zahhak’s illness-- to whom there is no reference in other known Arbo-Persian texts. With reference to the developments of the early Islamic centuries, I have tried to explain why Zahhak’s myth has been mingled with an Indian physician. I compare Zahhak with Harun the Caliph, and the Indian physician with Manka, the great Indian physician.It is known that Manka, a famous scientist and translator of some Sanskrit texts into Persian, arrived in Baghdad, most probably around 193 Hegira, to treat the Caliph. His stay in Baghdad is a brilliant period with regards to translation of scientific texts from Indic to Iranian and later into Arabic. Muslim writers have highly respected him such as Abu-Rayhan Birun’s report.Keywords: Zahhak, Kush-nameh, India, Manka, Post-Sasanian texts.

The coinage of the Sasanian Empire (224-651 CE) is not only the most important primary source for its monetary and economic history, but also of greatest relevance for its history and art history.Coin hoards are of pivotal importance for studying Sasanian coinage. On August 29,2007,two jars were unearthed during the construction work for the new border sentry post of “Havār-Barxāh-loh” in the Piran-Shahr region (close to the frontier village of Tamar-Chin, about 35 kilometres away from Piran-Shahr).The work was carried out by military personnel belonging to the frontier guard’s regiment. The jars contained altogether 1267 Sasanian silver coins, mostly from the Khusro II (590–628) period. Also numerous drachms of Khusro I (531–578) and Ohrmazd IV (578–590) were present, as well as a few late pieces of Ohrmazd VI, Queen Azarmigdukht, and one early Arab-Sasanian drachm.