Ãminences grises: Emergent Antiquities in Seventeenth-Century Iran

Lindsay Allen; Moya Carey

Jump to Content

Chapter 8 Ãminences grises: Emergent Antiquities in Seventeenth-Century Iran

In: Afterlives of Ancient Rock-cut Monuments in the Near East

Authors:

Lindsay Allen

Lindsay Allen
Search for other papers by Lindsay Allen in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed

and

Moya Carey

Moya Carey
Search for other papers by Moya Carey in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed

Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 272â344

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004462083_009

Purchase instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):

â¬42.00â¬35.00Â excl. VAT

Add to Cart

Redeem Access Token

Abstract

This chapter proposes new evidence for the active, multimedia reception of pre-Islamic antiquity in early modern Iran, found in a select group of manuscript paintings produced in Safavid Isfahan between 1605 and 1655. We argue here that some seventeenth-century narrative manuscript illustrations deliberately depicted figural stone reliefs inspired by Persepolis, the Achaemenid monumental capital. To support this thesis, we first trace a precursor mode of representing pre-Islamic monuments in earlier (thirteenth- to sixteenth-century) manuscripts of poetry and cosmology, which use Sasanian monuments at á¹¬Äq-e BostÄn to represent âMount Bisutun.â We then reassess direct engagements with the site of Persepolis in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, leading up to the reign of Shah Ê¿Abbas I. Examining contemporary political circumstances under Ê¿Abbasâincluding his 1590 re-conquest of Fars province and his establishment of Isfahan as his capitalâwe conclude that this artistic evidence exemplifies a creative, Safavid reframing of Iranâs pre-Islamic monuments. Although this chapter focuses primarily on Iran (in its fluctuating, early modern territorial forms), we suggest our case study has international resonances. The embedding of Persepolitan reliefs in pre-Islamic narratives precedes and coincides with increased foreign mercantile access to Fars, Persepolis and Isfahan. We suggest that this shows urban elites of Iran contributing to dispersed global dialogues about antiquity in the early modern period.

Citation Info

Save
Cite
Email this content

Share link with colleague or librarian

You can email a link to this page to a colleague or librarian:
Email this content
or copy the link directly:

https://brill.edhh.ma/abstract/book/edcoll/9789004462083/BP000017.xml
The link was not copied. Your current browser may not support copying via this button.

Link copied successfully

Collapse
Expand

Afterlives of Ancient Rock-cut Monuments in the Near East

Carvings in and out of Time

Series:Â Culture and History of the Ancient Near East, Volume: 123

Cover Afterlives of Ancient Rock-cut Monuments in the Near East

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004462083

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 15 Sep 2021

Subjects

Front Matter

Back Matter

Metrics

	All Time	Past 365 days	Past 30 Days
Abstract Views	4006	2641	81
Full Text Views	113	11	3
PDF Views & Downloads	100	10	2

African Studies	Education	Media Studies
American Studies	History	Middle East and Islamic Studies
Ancient Near East and Egypt	Human Rights and Humanitarian Law	Musicology
Art History	International Law	Philosophy
Asian Studies	International Relations	Religious Studies
Biblical Studies	Jewish Studies	Slavic and Eurasian Studies
Biology	Languages and Linguistics	Social Sciences
Book History and Cartography	Life Sciences	Theology and World Christianity
Classical Studies	Literature and Cultural Studies

Subjects

Authors

Open Access

Product Information

Company

Contact

Chapter 8 Ãminences grises: Emergent Antiquities in Seventeenth-Century Iran

Abstract

Citation Info

Share link with colleague or librarian

Afterlives of Ancient Rock-cut Monuments in the Near East

Carvings in and out of Time

Table of Contents

Metrics

Metrics

Chapter 8 Ãminences grises: Emergent Antiquities in Seventeenth-Century Iran