Sassanid Culture

Persian art during the Sassanid period developed from the Achaemenid traditions and blended ancient Eastern and Western styles. The ruins of the royal palaces in Tesfon and other places show the grandeur of the architecture of the time, and the cliff reliefs in Naqsh-i-Lustam and other places show the sacred dignity of the kings in a rough and bold way. Exquisite gold and silver work was also famous. Sassanid silk fabrics were luxurious and colorful, painted with birds and animals, hunting and various plant motifs, which had a considerable influence on Byzantium, Egypt and China.

Architecture of the Sassanid dynasty generally popular vaulted structure of the house, hemispherical dome within the corner of the arch or cornice arch support cover on the square house. The barrel-vaulted building "Iwan", which had already appeared in the era of the Sabbath Dynasty, was widely used in the entrances and audience halls of the royal palace buildings at this time. The urban architectural remains of the Sassanid dynasty include the city of Tesfon and the palace built by Khosrowas II, the city of Firuzabad, Bishapur, etc. The city of Tesfon was originally built during the Sabbatical period. Tesfon, originally the capital of the Ansarid dynasty, was rebuilt in the 4th century during the Sassanid era and is famous for its imposing palace. The center of the palace is a vaulted hall about 37 meters high and 25 meters across the arch, surrounded by a dark building with a vaulted ceiling. The palace was built in masonry. Twenty fire-worshipping temples remain in the city. The temples were square in plan with rounded roofs and the houses were surrounded by corridors with vaulted ceilings. Many temples were built on top of rocky peaks, and the "sacred fire" burning in front of the temple could be seen from several kilometers away. The walls of the various buildings are decorated with stucco or inlays with carved designs. The site of Firouzabad is circular in plan, symbolizing the solar disk worshipped by Zoroastrianism. There are three circular walls with four gates on each of the two outer walls. In the center of the city were the royal palace, the government residence, the temple and the beacon tower. The buildings are all square with domed roofs. Sculpture of the Sassanid dynasty, especially rock reliefs, was highly developed. The vast majority of the reliefs were carved within the first 150 years of the dynasty. They were widely distributed throughout the Sassanid Empire, with more than 30 in present-day Iran alone. The reliefs depict the divine granting of kingship, the victory over enemies, and the tribute paid to the emperor by various peoples. Its content is clearly characterized by the glorification of the royal family. The form of expression both absorbed the Roman high-relief techniques, but also created a typical Persian ornamentation style. Unlike the frontal reliefs of the figures in the era of the Sabbath Dynasty, there are both frontal and lateral images. The most famous is the nearby Rostam rock relief. It uses the traditional Roman technique of high-relief carving to represent a scene from the investiture of Ardashir, with both the emperor and the god on horseback. The art of carving was also widely seen on gems and seals. The most outstanding gemstone carving is a rock crystal depicting the accession of Khosroes I to the throne, which is today in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. Metal objects are an important element of the Sassanid relics that have been discovered. The style, decoration and craftsmanship of metal objects reached a high level. Oval plates, bowls, jars and flasks made of gold, silver and bronze were the most common objects. Among them, silverware was particularly popular. Describing the emperor's hunting scene is the main content of metalware decoration, many of the surface of the artifacts are also hammered out to show the emperor's accession to the throne and the celebration of the scene or a variety of animal images.

The archaeological materials of the Sassanid dynasty prove that the culture of this period reached the highest achievement of the ancient Persian civilization in many aspects. The culture of the Sassanid dynasty inherited and maintained the cultural traditions of the two river valleys and ancient Persia, and at the same time was influenced by Roman and Byzantine culture. It was not only the Persians who created this culture, but also the inhabitants of various ethnic groups in historical West and Central Asia.