Historical Sciences Studies

Abstract The Sasanian era marks a period of significant transformation in administrative, cultural, and religious frameworks. The interpretation of concepts such as sin, justice, and punishment was particularly crucial within the framework of religious and customary laws. An in-depth analysis of the sins and punishments of women offers a realistic view of the social and legal attitudes of the time. This study seeks to examine, analyze, and explain the most important sins of women and their punishments in Sasanian Iran, using historical and legal sources. The primary goal is to clarify what behaviors were considered female ‘sins’ in the Sasanian legal, religious, and historical texts, what factors determined the punishments, and what the social and legal consequences of these regulations were for women in the Sasanian social structure. The research method combines textual and historical analysis. The results show that in Sasanian society, the system of sin and punishment for women extended beyond religion and morality and was deeply influenced by social attitudes. This system served as a symbolic tool to maintain order and strengthen the structure of family and religion. Women’s sins ranged from minor disobedience, such as not observing the dāshtanistān ritual, to major crimes such as abortion, prostitution, and witchcraft. Punishments varied according to the severity of the sin, from flogging and fines to death or eternal torment. Ultimately, this system was more about gender control, the reproduction of social hierarchies, and the preservation of a ‘sacred order’ than legal rights.

Abstract divine test refers to a kind of ritual verification was used in ancient civilizations like Iran, Mesopotamia, Egypt and Cاina. before Aryans arrival this ceremony was prevalent in ancient Elam under the influence of Mesopotamian courts. the oldest signs of the ceremony has been shown in Avestan texts. using library tools and historical analysis methods through a functionalist approach the author's goal is to conduct an analytical study of the role of divine test ceremony in proving claims against women in Sasanian judicial procedure. the main question is what divine tests were available in Sassanian jurisprudential texts for the evidence of a crime and what function did they have in Sassanian society? the functional study of legal jurisprudential texts showed that criminal offenses in the Sassanid era were divided into three general categories: crrimes against God, the King and others. women legal status had been improved. enjoying property and social rights women had the right to sue and testify in courts alone and own their own dowry. if a woman was accused of adultery and disobedience by her husband and she did not confess, the Judge would rule that woman was innocent. and also in this era women were exempt from divine verification ceremony.

Abstract In the narratives of Aristotle's life, it is mentioned that he traveled and stayed in the cities of Atarneus and Assos in northwest Asia Minor, under the rule of a local ruler named Hermias, after the death of Plato. At the end of the Achaemenid period and after the changes of the era of Artaxerxes III (359/58 - 338 BC), Hermias was able to gradually expand his power in that region and through Aristotle and some other students of Plato's Academy, he became an important factor in Philip II - the ruler of Macedonia - becoming aware of the internal condition of the Achaemenid Empire; to the extent that his political alliance with Philip faced a harsh reaction from the Persians and he lost his life over that pact. Although Aristotle praised Hermias and slandered Persians in his writings, by carefully examining the political and diplomatic developments between the ruler of Atarneus and the king of Macedonia, it can be concluded that the Achaemenid Empire had accurate and clear information about the political events of the Greek city-states and Macedonian kingdom and by removing Hermias, and probably Philip himself, has helped the Greeks a lot to gain their lost independence. However, the Greeks did not take advantage of the opportunity for unity and lost the independence of their city-states to Philip's son, Alexander, shortly after. In this research, it has been tried to show, based on the analytical method and using library sources, that the Achaemenid Empire, to strengthen the Treaty of Antalcidas, made its efforts to maintain the independence of the Greek city-states against the Macedonian hegemony before the emergence of Alexander by removing the Macedonian-oriented elements, but the conflicts among the Greeks and Alexander's promptitude and violence in suppressing his Greek opponents caused the loss of this historical opportunity.

Abstract Plato in the Menexenus dialogue describes a conversation between Socrates and a young Athenian citizen, named Menexenus . In this dialogue, Socrates narrates a funeral speech in praise of Athenian warriors that killed in the battle and attributes it to Aspasia, lover of Pericles, prominent Athenian politician. In this speech, the courage and heroic actions of Athenian warriors in several wars against the Achaemenid forces are extolled as a golden chapter in the history of this city-state. The contents of Aspasia's speech, above all, an accepted and central narrative regarding the Greco- Persian wars one that was particularly endorsed by Athenian orators and politicians. In other words, it is clear according to the available evidence that this speech was composed following the common structure of funeral orations for Athenian soldiers, reflects the Athenian-approved perspective on Greek military engagements with the Achaemenid forces. therefore, this text presents a unique portrayal and specific to its time and place, of the military and political structure of the Achaemenid Empire as perceived by the people of Athens during its existence. This study uses a descriptive- analytical methodology to examine facts of this Athenian point of views, offering a critical interpretation of the accepted image of the Achaemenid Empire in the political thought of Athenian contemporaries with other available sources."

Abstract The art of metalworking was very common in Iran during the Sasanian Empire (224-651/2 AD), and making silver vessels with various images and scenes on them, was more common than previous periods. For this reason, silver works became one of the main artistic characteristic of the art in the Sasanian period. Royal hunting as one of the most common themes in the art of Sasanian period, has decorated a large number of silverware of this period. On the surface of these vessels, Sasanian rulers are seen hunting and killing different animals in the hunting ground. In this article, human and animal icons on one of these plates have been studied, which belongs to Ardashir II, one of the kings in the fourth century AD in the Sasanian dynasty which is kept in the National Museum of Ancient Iran in Tehran. After describing the images on this plate in the first step, the meanings and hidden concepts in the scene have been analyzed using the iconography method. Finally, the application of visual techniques by the artist and their relationship to the basic concept of the scene has been studied. The research method in this article is descriptive and analytical, using library resources.

Abstract Sasanid Empire fell in 651 AD, with the invasion of the Arabs, however, the literary and archaeological evidence left by them shows that their jurisprudential-legal heritage remained in Iranshahr for centuries.  Preserving the continuity of the generation and wealth in Zoroastrian religion is of great importance, and the continuity of the era could be maintained through a male child. Without a son, a person could solve this deficiency through some means: an adopted son, or surrogate marriages were arranged in that man's name. The children from these marriages also belong to the deceased. Stūrīh was one of the types of surrogate marriage and was organized to provide a successor and an heir. Stūrīh has two aspects, financial and religious, and the woman's motivation for taking up Stūrīh was mostly its financial aspect. This research aims to study the issue of Stūrīh based on the 11th and 28th post-Sasanian documents of Tabaristān and show women's financial matters in Stūrīh. Thus, these documents introduce us the process of accepting financial issues in the periods after the fall of the Sasanids in areas still influenced by the legal culture of the Sasanid period. The method of the research is  descriptive-analytical, based on a case study of Tabarestān, post-Sasanian documents and library study. Studies in these documents show that jurisprudential laws in Zoroastrian society benefited a certain coherence and order. Zoroastrian society had not severed its connection with the past, and the same laws remained in force and were implemented in the post-Sasanian society

Abstract Odes is a collection in four books of poems by Quintus Horatius Flaccus, the Roman writer and poet of the first century BC. The poems cover a wide range of topics about human relationships, everyday issues, and historical events. Parthians as one of the most important neighbors and rivals of the Roman Empire, and Achaemenids as Parthians’ descendants have been mentioned in different parts of this collection. Considering the shortage of sources on some parts of the history of Ancient Iran, especially the Parthian period, that has made the researchers encounter problems, this literary work would be a good source for contemporary historians who intend to study the foreign relations of Parthians with the Roman Empire, and the viewpoints of Romans on Iranians in the Achaemenid period. This research adopts an analytical-descriptive method to study how the Ancient Iranians are depicted in Odes of Horace and to compare critically the historical materials contained therein with other historical texts of the ancient world.