سرور خراشادی

The empowerment of Zoroastrian Magi as a social class was intertwined with the emperors’ power to the extent that the political power of Magi can be regarded as a discontinued historical process with ups and downs. This paper attempts to reassess an apparent contrast between historical narratives and archeological findings (e.g. rock reliefs) concerning the political empowerment of Zoroastrian Magi in the beginning of Sassanid Empire until the reign of Narseh. According to the historical narratives, the Sassanid founding fathers, Ardashir and his Successor Shapur I, emphasized ecumenism (i.e. the possession of political sovereignty and religious power by emperor.) However, according to the rock reliefs of the 3rd century, shortly after Shapur I, with the rise of Bahram I, a structural split occurred between the emperor’s power as the sovereign and the power of Magi. Bahram I’s reign is the first historical period in which Zoroastrian Magi, represented as a social class, obtained a political superiority. Roughly speaking, in this epoch which spanned for almost two decades (the reign of Bahram I, Bahram II, and Bahram III,) one institutionalized reading of Zoroastrianism developed by an elite Magi, i.e. “Kartir”, became dominant over others and turned steadily into the Imperial religion. The above contrast can be formulated, as follows: given the fact that an ecumenical power is the ultimate form of sovereignty in a monarch system, why and how a Kartir could gain authoritatively a significant share of power? Through adopting an historical approach, the authors pursue the roots of answer in three related political phenomena: First, the quarrel between Bahram I and Narseh; second, the trial and the execution of Mani the prophet; and third, the institutionalization of Zoroastrianism as the Imperial religion.

In its course of evolution, the Sassanian rule accepted a change in temporal exigencies, condition and manner of governance of each ruler where more attention was paid to the institutional establishment, grades/ranking, titles, symbols and administrative hierarchy. In a way, the organizational manner, to a larger extent, could engulf the period into a curtain of ambiguity. One of those ranks was Vuzorg Farmzar that apart from having equivalents in different periods of time, with respect to its real application, encountered with sectional and temporal confusion as well. As such, an increase or decrease in jurisdiction of the above rank was influenced more by policies of each emperor. According to this fact, the issues which are to be dealt with in this article are: Which title was synonymous to the word “grand vizier” or “Vuzorg Farmzar” in the early Sassanid era? In which era of Sassanid dominion, the title “Vuzorg Farmzar” was addressed as “Hazarpat” ? How was the factional evolution of the position of “Hazarpat”? This research is concerning to show that the word “Bidakhsh” , is a title that in the early Sassanid era was employed to endow titles of person such as “grand vizier” or “Vuzorg Farmzar” and after some time it was completely forgotten. The word “Hazarpat” was one of the other titles which was equivalent to “Vuzorg Farmzar” in the middle Sassanid era and we can distinguish three Functional phases for it: It was a militaristic position in the early Sassanid era, a militaristic- civil jurisdictive position in the middle era and a militaristic position once again at the end at of Sassanid era. Taking into account historical sources and epigraphic records, the current research tries to find out the basis and essence of “Vuzorg Farmzar” and titles synonymous to it as well as their actual or the honorary functions during the era In order to clarify, the extent of governance and administration establishment, on the top of which was the “grand vizier” (Vuzorg Farmzar). To achieve this goal, the connections of the titles such as “Bidakhsh”,“Hazarpat”, “Vuzorg Farmzar” and “Sepahbad” are questioned, by determining the existence, primacy and recency of these titles in epigraphic records and also in the historical sources in which the functional jurisdiction of these titles mentioned,the accuracy or inaccuracy of these hypothesis would be distinguished.

This article serves as a continuation of our exploration into "Achaemenid Phoenicia," following our previous work on "Persian influence on Phoenician architecture. In this research, we delve into additional available evidence concerning Achaemenid Phoenicia, along with pertinent historical sources. Our primary objective is to provide a more holistic view of Persian influence on Phoenicia. The next step is to offer possible corrections or complements to the results of previous paper, which focused on the presence and dominance of the Achaemenids in the region, the non-uniformity of Persian elements in the architecture of Phoenician city-states, and the absence of a connection between the importance of a city-state and the extent of Persian influence on it. By studying additional evidence, we surmise that Persian influences were popular among the upper class and, to some extent, the middle class of society. When it comes to royal art, the evidence from Sidon indicates a notable influence, whereas that from Tyre suggests a certain conservatism, despite the significance of the city-state. However, other movable findings discovered in the territory of Tyre reveal Persian influence, indicating the lack of conservatism among the elites of Tyre in contrast to their local royal court. Regarding the entry of Persian elements into Phoenicia, the available evidence suggests that the presence of Persian officials in Phoenicia, as well as Phoenicians who visited centers such as Susa and Persepolis, could have been two major factors in this cultural penetration. Overall, our findings support and enhance those of our previous study.  

The presence of the Achaemenid Persians and the archaeological materials that they left in their territories have always been regarded as important topics. Phoenicia was one of their prized dominions. Considering the historical importance of the pioneering universal empire of the Achaemenids as well as the significance of the Phoenician civilization, the study of their interactions would be invaluable. After a historicalgeographical introduction and an overview of the role and status of Phoenicia in the history of the Achaemenid Empire, the present research has focused on Phoenician architecture. The questions addressed in this study are: To what extent can Persian influence be observed in the architectural findings recovered from Achaemenid Phoenicia? To what extent did each Phoenician city-state adopt Achaemenid architectural elements? The study of available sources and reports indicated that the Persian influence on Phoenician architecture, despite its insignificance, demonstrates the presence and dominance of the Achaemenid style. Furthermore, the extent of Persian influence on different city-states was not equal, and did not depend on the prominence of a city-state. It even seems that there was no special requirement for the application of Achaemenid elements. It should be noted that architectural findings only constitute a part of the available material. Obviously, in order to achieve a more comprehensive result regarding the research topic, other data from Achaemenid Phoenicia should also be considered.