185-223

Articles

• Samanian, Kouros
• Mohammadzadeh Mianji, Mahnaz
• Karimi, Masoumeh

Susa is a city in Khuzestan located in the Southwest of Iran. This city was the capital of ancient Elam and then became the capital of the Achaemenian dynasty afterward. One of the significances of Susa in this period , is that it has being the beginning of the Royal Road, the one that led Iran to Aegean sea. Susa hill has been one of the most important issues for researcher and archaeologists and continued excavations in the area from 1850 up to the present show its importance. Susa potteries have clarified this area’s ambiguous culture and civilization since around the fifth millennium BC and continued their life despite the restless history of the Susa city. The arrival of Islam introduced a new era in Susa pottery, and the new forms and decorative designs revived the pottery of this city. Despite its increasing popularity at the time, Islamic Susa pottery has been almost completely ignored by authors and researchers and rarely remarked upon by most Islamic sources. Susa potters were hard working, and most of the decorative techniques were done professionally. In this paper pottery motifs were extracted in a linear form by Rhinoceros 4.0 software and have been studied in four groups of geometric, floral, animal and inscription motifs separately in order to discover not only the design styles, but the importance and status of each genre, in addition to considering the influences of other centers or eras. The quantitative study on objects in this paper indicates that most of the motifs are geometrics, while the fewest are animals; the most common composition of motifs in a material is geometric-floral. Despite the considerable influence of previous periods and other centers of Persian pottery, as well as, the influence or imitation of contemporary centers and the significant importance of the “religious” factor, this paper also shows that Islamic Susa has best manifested its prehistoric traditions, and has deliberately used them along with specific Islamic styles

• History and Archaeology

• Αρχαιολογία

Islamic Art, Susa, Pottery, Motifs, Royal Road, Aegean

Corresponding author: samanian_k@yahoo.com, Includes tables of multiple motifs

1. Clowson, H.P. (1939) Pottery of Susa I. Parnassus, Vol. 11, No 4, 26-27.Crow, Y. (1974) Certain Type et Techniques des la Ceramique de Susa. Albisda, Atti VII,75-83.Dimand, S. M. (1944) Handbook of Muhammadan Art, Metropolitian Museum, New York.Fehervari, G. (2000) Ceramics of the islamic World in the Tareq rajab Museum, London and New York.Grobe, E.J. (1976) islamic Pottery of the Eighth to the Fifteenth Century in The keir Collection, Faber and Faber Limited, 3 Queen Square, London.Harper, O. and Prudence, A.J. (1992) The royal City of susa: Ancient Near Eastern Treasures in the Louvre, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.Hasan, Z. M. (1981) iranian Crafts in islamic Era, Darorraaed alarabi, Beyrouth.(In Arabic)Hillenbrand, R. (1999) islamic Art and Architecture.Jenkins, M. (1968) The Palmette Tree: A Study of Iconography of Egyptian Lustre Painted Pottery. Journal of the American research Center in Egypt, Vol. 7, 119-120,Karimi, F.and Kiani , M. Y. (1985) islamic pottery art of iran, Archaeology Center of Iran.(In Farsi)Kervran, M. (1977) Les Niveaux Islamiques du Secteur Oriental du Tepe deL’Apadana,II,Le Materiel Ceramique. Cabier de la Delegation ArcheologiqueFrancaise en iran 7, 75-161.Khazaee, M. (2002) A Thousand Motifs, Institute of Islamic Art Studies. (In Farsi)Koechlin, R. (1928) Chinese Influences in the Musulman Pottery of Susa. Eastern Art, 1-12. pls I-IV.Koechlin, R. (1928) Les Ceramique Musulmanes De susa Au Musee Du Louvre, Librairie Ernest Leroux, Paris.Kuhnel, E. (1970) islamic Arts, London.Lacam, J. (1950) La Ceramique de Suse (Iran),Campagnes de Fouilles de 1946,1947,1948. Musee de France, No Octobre 1950, 206-209.Lacam, J. (1949) Memories Sur La Ceramique Musulmane de Suse, Depose a LEcole du Louvre.Lane, A. (1947) Early islamic Pottery, Faberand Faber 3 Queen Square, London.Lane, A. (1971) Later islamic Pottery Persia, syria, Egypt, Turkey, Faber and Faber 3Queen Square, London.Negahban, E. (1996) susa or The oldest urban Center of The World, Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization.(In Farsi)Northedge, A. and Kennet, D. (1994) The Samarra Horizon, Khalili, N. The Nasser Khalili Collection of islamic Art, vol. IX, 21-36.Philon, H. (1980) Early islamic Ceramics Ninth To Late Twelfth Centuries, Islamic Art Publications, SA.Pop, A. U. and Ackermann, Ph. (1939) A survey of Persian Art, Vol. 1, Oxford.Rafii, L. (1998) Persian Pottery from Prehistoric Era to the Present, Yasavoli, Iran.(In Farsi)Rashidian, N. (1990) A Look at the Khuzestan History, Buo Ali, Tehran, Iran.(In Farsi)Razavi Dezfuli, A. (2001) shuoshestan or Khuzestan, Navide Shiraz, Iran.(In Farsi)Rice, D. T. (1975) islamic Art, Oxford University Press.Rogres, Y. M. (1976) Review of Myriam Rosen- Ayalon Ville Royale de Suse IV: La Poterie Islamique. Bibliotheca orientalis, Vol. XXXIII, No 5/6Rosen Ayalon, M. (1974) La Poterie islamique, Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, Paris.Tazhibi, M. and Shahbazi, F. (1995) Iranian Motifs, Soroush, Tehran, Iran.(In Farsi)Unvala, Y.M. (1935) Notes on The Lustered Ceramics of susa, Bulletin of The American Institute for Persian Arts and Archeology. 1935.Weill, D. (1951) Note Sur Deux Petites Cruches en Terre Cuite Provenant de Suse, D’epoque Musulmane. revue des Arts, 247-49.Wilson, E. (1925) islamic Designs for Artists and Craft people.Witcomb, R. (1985) Islamic Archeology at Susa. Paleorient, Vol. 11.2, 85-95.http://www.louvre.fr/en/recherché-globale? F-search-cles=Islamic+Susa&f-search-univers=date of access: 5/2 /2012Images Photographed by Marie-Lan Nguyen and Jastrow from Louvre Museum,http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Jastrow date of access: 20/11/2011