the influence of sasanid simurgh on the islamic, byzantine and western art

in this article, i tried to study the influence of sasanid simurgh on the islamic and western art. the immigration of this mystic (simurgh) started from the sasanid period and continued after the fall of sasanid by the arabic invasion. this deportation happened through the cultural and commercial exchanges, and the imperial presents sent to the other empires by sasanid kings. sasanid simurgh is different from what was describing in the persian literature. the physical composition of sasanid simurgh is very considerable: traditionally the simurgh’s head was not like an eagle’s one but a dog’s ,a camel’s and lion’s, and it’s legs resemble to the lion’s legs, and it’s wings look like the feather of the bird and it’s tale resembles the peacock’s tail. in my study i offered the classification of simurgh according to its tail only, other features are not included. these pictures can be classified in four main groups, and each one has sub-groups.the peacock tail is seen in four types within the artistic senses. the first type of peacock tail shows a simurgh drawn as a volume filled with the geometric motifs. it is almost similar to an ornamental hemicycle which its top side is getting larger that the bottom. the byzantine artists were interested in this type of simurgh image. a huge number of artistic senses were created in their period presenting the sasanid simurgh in an ornamented form; the byzantines silky materials are of its clear samples. this sort of simurgh image permeates armenia too. it is appeared in the form of the ornamental wall paintings over the armenian church. in addition, the christian artists used this sasanid simurgh in decorating and drawing on the religious scriptures. the effect of the peacock tail on the religious scriptures is observed within some of the paintings drawn in them. the sasanian simorgh type one has also found a high position in the art of mediterranean countries. a number of various artistic senses such as materials, poultries, metallic vases, coffins, etc. with images of simorgh on them being discovered in italy, spain, egypt, syria, and morocco, confirm this hypothesis. on the other hand, the islamic art has widely used this imaginative creature. the art of the islamic countries around iran, and the art of the islamized iran after the sasanian period held the heritage of sasanian simurgh on such artistic senses as metallurgy, drapery, and pottery. the sasanian peacock tail is observed within the miniatures of the ascension of the prophet mohammad, particularly in some of the miniatures of his steed.the second type is almost similar to the former. the difference is that some sorts of decorative and ornamental elements including herbaceous patterns and abstract forms were added to the peacock tail. the third type shows a sort of simurgh that has an imaginative appearance. the forth type has a tail which is like feathers and fire flares.consequently the simurghs on the first group that is, those with peacock curved tail to the upright position are more in number in comparison with the other groups. this is a good evidence for more popularity and effects upon the arts and civilization of the other peoples