Journal of Archaeological Studies

Abstract The migration of Alid’s Sadat to Tabaristan and Daylam that was the result of pressure of the Abbasid caliphs, along with the subsequent uprising of Yahya bin Abdullah in Daylam led to the spread of Zaydi Shia in northern Iran. Taking advantage of the geographical isolation of these provinces and their distance from the central states, Alids succeeded in forming the first Shi’ite state of the Islamic caliphate without the permission of the Abbasids by attracting the support of the Ispahbads and local people. Hassan ibn Zayd became the leader of this new government, i.e. the Alids of Tabaristan, after the victory in Amol. Amol, Sari and Gorgan, along with the Daylam, were among the areas ruled by the Alids for about 20 years. Hassan ibn Zayd declared the Zaydi Shiite as the official religion of his government. One of the tools used by the Alids to legitimize their rule was their coins. Since coins are amongst the most authentic and significant archaeological evidences, this study has attempted to answer the question of how the Alid themes used on the coins differed from those used on the standard coins of the Abbasids and how the new verses were multiplied? The studying of the coins and historical sources indicates that the Alid of the Tabaristan with the aim of proving their political and religious legitimacy, deliberately minted coins containing verses of the Holy Quran, which were capable of interpreting the position of the Ahl al-Bayt and Jihad against the Abbasid caliphate. Thus, despite the fact that the Alid coins were quite similar in design to the Abbasid coinages, they were quite distinct as they conveyed such concepts as the support of the Prophet's Ahl al-Bayt, Shiite propaganda, and the opposition to the Abbasid caliphate.

Abstract So far, many researches have been done about clergy, their hierarchy, role and position in the Sassanid era and there is considerable information about them. Most of this awareness comes from textual evidence, including religious and non-religious books. The only archaeological evidence related to this important stratum of the society of this period is the seals, the seals impression and also the reliefs of Kartir. The reliefs of Kartir, due to their predominance of individuality, do not help us much in understanding the role and position of this class in the Sassanid period, but the second group, the seals and, seals impression discovered belonging to the Sassanid period, is a first-hand source for studying this important and influential group. Although many of these seals, in particular the seals that were discovered on the Takht-e Soleyman, were introduced by scholars as Magi seals, only a small part of them are based on inscriptions into this stratum. This means that only a small part of them clearly have the phrase magician or priest. In the present study, this seals have been studied and in fact, they have been selected from all the seals attributed to Magies. The motifs on these seals are very diverse and include almost all the motifs on the seals of the Sassanid period, including human, animal, plant, symbolic and monogram. In this study, with the iconographic approach, only animal motifs depicted on Magi's inscriptions are inscribed. For this purpose, after collecting the desired designs from various reports - which are generally in the form of catalogs and introducing seals - and providing a brief description, they were analyzed based on Zoroastrian texts. This article has reached the general conclusion that there are no exclusive and special motifs of Moghan in painting, and this group has followed the same taste and general aesthetics

Abstract Bulbous domes are among discontinuous double-shell domes and has been developed in Iran since the middle of the 9^th century AH/ the 15^th century AD, concurrent with Timurid period. In this shape of domes, the dome profile was changed so that it began a return below the base of the arch, producing thereby a slight bulge that. The terminology for bulge in Iranian architecture is Avgun. Bulbous dome is considered as a part of Iranian architectural culture and the architects of this land have used this complex structure in a way that has been developing ever since its formation. It seems that this shape of dome requires a precise assessment in terms of design, mechanism of power transmission, and features of structural elements. The main purpose of this paper is to show the role of Avgun as an architectural structure in the bulbous domes, which supposed to have just an aesthetic function. In this study, the bulbous dome of Shah Mosque was simulated using Abaqus software. Then, its responses to the static and dynamic loads were tested. In order to show the Avgun role, this dome was compared with another dome, without Avgun, that possessed all similar architectural characteristics. The analysis revealed that Avgun is not just an aesthetic feature and that its prevalence had a structural reason too; So that Avgun reduces the amount of the dome's weight pressure on the dome chamber bases.

Abstract The Topheth (in Ancient Jerusalem), considered as a holly land in Canaanites period, it was the altar of human sacrifice in honor of Baal. The history of the ritual, human sacrifice and the ceremonies accompanied with, among Jewish people returns back to when the land of Canaan in Jordan Valley was occupied by the Israelite people leading by Joshua (ca.1426 B.C.). On these Altars the new born children especially males were consigned to fire! Jeremiah, the prophet in 6th century B.C., in opposition to this ritual called the Topheth region the Valley of Death. In Islamic sources this area has been mentioned as the place of doom. This article is to study the way this ritual, offering of first-born children especially of male children adopted by Jewish people, in specific time span of their history under the Canaanites influence.