FIRST PART

THE ART OF IRAN PREISLAMIC

The period of the "Plenipotentiary Ministries

In the last years of the third millennium fundamental changes took place in the Mesopotamian political structure. The empire Sumerian he had disappeared and with him the ancient order he represented: a new order was on the horizon. However, the change was accompanied by political and institutional turbulence. Sumerian culture disappeared with the Sumerians, and was replaced by the Akkadian culture and language, a Semitic language. While Accadians and Elamites, who for a long time lived alongside the Sumerians, had government claims, the nomads of the Amuri desert had descended from Syria and from the Mediterranean coasts to Mesopotamia, having established small states in Syria. In southern Mesopotamia, cities like Isin, Larsa, Eshnunna or Babylon were eager to resurrect the dead empire. To succeed instead were the Simash of Elam, who renewed the power and the Elamite unity and - either with weapons, either peacefully or by means of agreements - they restored peace and tranquility, intervening in a very active way in the Mesopotamian affairs.

When the Akkadian language was adopted throughout Mesopotamia, Susa could only accept Semitic elements. For this reason many immigrants of Semitic origin were welcomed in Susa and in Elam, whose genius allowed to simplify and perfect the Sumerian writing, used for the documents in Akkadian and Elamite used in commercial and international exchanges. With the exception of Anshan (or, more correctly, in Elamite Anzan), in the current Fars region, which maintained its own Iranian-Elamite originality, the rest of the Elam was linked to Mesopotamia, a bond that is quite evident in artistic production.

The Elamites, after the defeat suffered by Larsa in the nineteenth century a. C. and the end of the Simash dynasty, established a new dynasty with a different form of government. From then on the title of reign was replaced by that of the Great Ministry (or Plenipotentiary Ministry), which in Akkadian sounded "Sukkal-mah". Each Sukkal-mah appointed his younger brother as his successor, and reserved the title of Prince of Susa to his son, whom he generated with his sister. This information is based on consistent historical documents and can also be deduced from the lines of other texts of the same period.

Of this long period, which lasted six centuries, there were no architectural remains, except a large building discovered by Roman Ghirshman; most of the objects found come, as in the past, from tombs. In this period the corpses were wrapped in shrouds, on which golden strips were sewn, in the Mesopotamian way. The corpse had a silver hat, a silver bra, earrings with relief motifs, gold and silver bracelets for women, a bronze mirror and a bronze cup in one hand. Toys were also placed in the children's graves. During the period of the great minister Adapakshu, in the tombs of the notables was also placed a cart with the horse and all its vestments.

Many of the containers that were discovered in these tombs are in terracotta; the most beautiful are conical or cylindrical vases with small handles. Some of these vases are decorated with bright and vivid colors, but most are colored in gray, with the designs etched on the surface, while the interior appears decorated with a white colored paste, sometimes decorated with red stripes saddles. The similarities between these vases and those found in Larsa and dating back to the same period demonstrate the connection between the two civilizations.

Other types of containers have been found in which the elamite originality is more evident; it can even be said that they are completely elamitic. They are inspired by animal forms, but unlike in past centuries, in which the container had an animal form, the animal is now metamorphosed into a container. In this style, the front of the container, which serves as a handle, is modeled as an animal head, while its body becomes the actual container. In the beautiful cups with three feet, the feet are formed by the head of three kneeling chamois, with eyes formed of shells, and shells are fixed to the outside of the cup with golden rivets. Or, in other containers, two small goddesses are side by side to form the handle, while the real cup is decorated with shells. The expertise in modeling animal or human forms reveals that to manufacture these containers were skilled and experienced craftsmen, who first modeled the figure and then juxtaposed the container. All these containers come from tombs.

Another statuette, about ten centimeters tall, is made of ivory and represents a woman standing upright. The head, which was attached to the neck with a wooden nail, was not found. Instead, an enamelled head was found, missing the body, with a handle and perhaps part of a game, since it was placed in a child's grave. It is possible that the head belonged to that body. The head is charming and resembles neo-sonic artifacts, but considering the fact that it appears to be inlaid with precious materials and colors, such as emerald, lapis lazuli and silver, there is no doubt about its elamite origin. Recently, other similar inlays have been found in parts of statues found separately in Shiraz, which would demonstrate either the profound influence of Elamite art in much of the plateau or the fact that this type of processing of Iranian art was introduced into Elam, where it was later adopted, by Iranian merchants and traders.

This type of statues and vessels and even decorations were produced for the wealthy elamites, while for the working and humble classes, simple and unadorned terracotta statuettes were produced. They were not molded by hand, but were produced by means of molds in order to limit costs, since starting from each mold numerous copies could be produced. This practice is rather old, probably introduced at the end of the third millennium to last until the beginning of the second. Most of them are "sacred representations", used as auspicious amulets. The statuettes were produced for the people and, although somehow rough, present a degree of sincerity that shows the vigor of the Elamite spirit and the state of a civilization that is as rich and advanced as the Babylonian one.

A fragment found is made up of a stone table that dates back to the end of this period and which was probably a tablet commemorating the conquests of kings, as it presents the image of bodies lying on the ground. The decorations are not very rich and it is detectable a Babylonian influence, as in the image of the goddess Ishtar, deity of war, love, abundance and fortune, represented standing on the back of a lion, an image that is similar in numerous Babylonian seals or in the designs of Kakh Mari. In this image, however, the goddess holds a royal scepter with flowers and has a beard on her face. The angel Ishtar, in fact, in this period is represented both as a male and as a female. Also in the Assyrian texts there is a bearded Ishtar and there is probably some relation between this figure and the bearded Venus of Cyprus. Among the bronzes of Luristan there are statues of the double gender, male and female, which - being more recent - are most likely influenced by the Babylonian figure of Ishtar.

Many metal, stone or terracotta statuettes representing tutelary deities on horsebacks of beasts like lions, or on carts, or even accompanied by animals such as snakes or other beasts, were inspired by mythological Mesopotamian and Babylonian episodes. However, they retain purely elamite characteristics, such as the four-wheeled car, originally from Iran. Also, bronze statuettes have been found with gold plating which, unlike the representations of the deities on wagons, are made with remarkable grace; they show that the technique of gold plating was introduced by the Elamites, although the procedure is not known exactly.

Some of these goddess statuettes were made in such a way as to take on their own decorative peculiarities. For example, the angle of a chair was left incomplete, or you see half of an animal's statue, perhaps a fish. It is perhaps an element inspired by an ancient belief: in Mesopotamia, in fact, the deities of the species could be men-fish or men-wave and were gods of the kingdoms of the waves, the vortexes and the abysses, but only in the Elam were represented as a woman-fish.

On a tablet we find the following image: the deity is represented on a goat or a dragon, surrounded by aquatic and sacred beings. In some drawings of the Sukkal-mah period one sees a god seated on a snake knotted and set in the shape of a circle; often this animal is represented with a human head and in this case the snake-man constitutes the throne of divinity. One of the most beautiful examples of this representation is found on the seal of Kuk Nashur, prince of Susa. Sometimes the seals, especially those intended for common use, were made of bitumen and their decorations were very basic. The design was often a simple and stylized tree, or a jumping animal in a simple religious scene. The subject of these scenes is borrowed from Babylon and was meant for the notables. In this period there are very few representations of the whole Elamite, the design being Mesopotamian, even if with elamite characteristics.

In the middle of the fourth millennium the Cassites of central Iran and the Zagros attacked Mesopotamia and installed their own government in Babylon which lasted nearly three centuries, bringing its influence to the heart of Elam, which was spared from the destruction carried elsewhere probably to some sort of feeling of Iranian national proximity. This is why in Elam the Sukkal-mah system continued and the Elamites, due to the weakness of the Cassite government, restored their former glory and their independence. So, with their primary genius, they made changes to the Akkadian writing, simplifying it and adding elements and syllables, and they transformed it to the point to eventually create a new elamite script, able to adequately develop the language and culture of Islam. .