Parthian Period

Abstract
This article examines the longstanding rivalry of Rome and Parthia, which began as an unintended consequence of Crassus’ decisive defeat at Carrhae in 53 BCE. It synthesizes the accounts and opinions of numerous Graeco-Roman writers from the Augustan Age to late antiquity in order to help illustrate the new and interconnected post-Carrhae world and its legacy. The rivalry of the Romans and Parthians became a primary focus of their foreign policies and drastically expanded their perceptions of the world in which they interacted. Even after the fall of the Parthians to the rebellious Sassanid Persians in the 220s CE, the Romans continued to find their three-century-long rivalry with the Parthians of interest and relevant to the changing world of late antiquity.

Since the ancient times, burial practices have displayed certain characteristics among different Iranian ethnic groups and regions were influenced by the local religious orientations, traditions and environments, and are regarded as part of the spiritual culture of any given population. Indeed, religious beliefs play the main role in this diversity. Because of the empire’s long endurance and vast extent as well as its exceptional cultural diversity, various burial customs prevailed during the Parthian period. Large number of cemeteries with a plethora of different burial practices has been excavated at different Parthian sites lying both within and outside modern Iran, including jar burial, cellar burial, mausoleum, coffin burial, well burial, parallelepiped graves, simple pits and cairns.
Unlike the most area in the Iranian central plateau, the vast plain around Tehran have no been the focus of any serious archaeological surveys or excavations thus the historical setting, archaeology and burial patterns of the region during the Parthian period remained totally unknown. However, a number of burials have recently been discovered and excavated during two seasons of excavations at Veliran. Their preliminary study has revealed important information on burial practices and religious attitude of the residents of Damavand area during the Parthian period. The results of this study are described in the present paper.

A lo largo de su historia, el ejército sasánida se convirtió por derecho propio en una de las fuerzas bélicas más importantes de su época y que logró enfrentarse de igual a igual con la todopoderosa máquina bélica que suponía el ejército romano-bizantino, obteniendo numerosas e importantes victorias. Su grandeza radica no sólo en haber sabido mantener y fomentar los aspectos clave del tradicional ejército parto, sino el haber imprimido su propia seña de identidad en él para convertirlo en una garantía tanto del mantenimiento como de la expansión del imperio. La caballería catafractaria se convirtió así en legendaria por su efectividad o maniobrabilidad, pero no era el único elemento importante del ejército sasánida pues éste también incluía expertos arqueros cuyas nubes de flechas provocaban estragos en los ejércitos enemigos. Si a ello sumamos la habilidad táctica de los soberanos sasánidas y la estrategia defensiva que emplearon mediante fortalezas y murallas, destinadas a proteger el imperio, veremos que tanto la fama como el miedo que inspiraba la maquinaria bélica sasánida estaban justificados.

Northeastern Iran has been considered a connecting bridge and natural passageway for the entry of different tribes from the past to the present time, yet despite such importance, it has rarely been studied by archaeologists and researchers. Dargaz plain in northeastern Iran, due to its special geographical location and environmental conditions, as well as its proximity to major settlement centers of the Parthian period in South Turkmenistan, contains many remains and settlements of that period. In the surveys conducted in this region, 84 sites belonging to this period were identified and analyzed. As a result of these studies, it was discovered that the area has been among the most important and populated centers during the Parthian period. Moreover, based on the pottery evidence, it was revealed that the region has been a center of activity from the onset to the end of this period. The present research dealt with categorization and typology of the pottery based on the studies carried out on 425 pieces of pottery, and it was found that the Parthian pottery of this region is divided into two groups of simple and painted pottery; however, the painted pottery class is divided into several subclasses, such as engraved, added, grooved, marked, and painted. Red pottery has been the most common pottery of the region during the Parthian period. Common forms include crocks, pots, and skillets, small and big bowls, and long-neck and short-neck jars and cups. Comparative studies indicate that the most cultural interactions in the study region were related to cultural areas in neighboring regions such as the northeastern and eastern Iran and the western parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan so that almost 70% of the cultural relations of this region was with the above-mentioned areas and about 43.54% of these relations has been with South Turkmenistan and the sites of Marv, Nisa, Sarakhs oasis and Shar-tappeh Chapeshlou.

Hamadan province in western Iran is one of the most important areas in historical and archeological studies that in different historical periods it had special importance. By studying the historical texts it becomes clear that almost whenever the name of Hamadan is mentioned, immediately has been mentioned Alvand Mountain. In fact, the name of Hegmataneh or Ecbatana has never been mentioned without its mountain, it is clear that before the name of Hamadan appeared on the pages of history, Alvand Mountain has been attention. In view of this necessity, important questions can be asked: what are the most important Parthian artifacts identified in the Alvand Mountain? What are the reasons for the formation of these monuments in the highlands of Alvand? The nature of the present study is descriptive-analytical and the method of data collection is field and library studies. The most important monuments identified in the Alvand Mountain are the reliefs of Mydan Mishan and Yakhchal Valley. These reliefs resemble various monuments of the Elymais region, including; Tang Sarvak II, the relief of the oriental side of Tang Sarvak IV, and Sang e Mahi. Another monument is the Qizlar Qale Si that located at the eastern end of the Alvand Mountain with a strategic location and has dominated communication routes from the south to the central plateau towards Hamadan.

As both epic and history express some stories of the past, their existing similaritiesand dissimilarities and their relation have attracted the attention of scholars.These two kinds of stories have been so similar that previous experts could notdistinguish the historical events from epics. In Shāhnāme, as an excellent samplewhich Iranians consider as their pre-Islamic history until the last Qajar, theline between historical events and epic cannot be drawn. Finding the roots of many of Iranian national epic stories in Avesta and observing theircontradictions to the works of foreign authors, inscriptions and archaeological findings, aroused many serious questions about the existing relation betweenepic and history in the field of Iranian studies. This essay is generally studying the relationship between epic-history and its ratio to Iraniannational epic specifically.

In this article, the Eastern Iran defines a region where situated between northeastern (equal Khorasan Razavi Province) and southeastern Iran (approximately equal Sistan & Baluchestan, Kerman and Hormozgan Provinces). The eastern Iran coincides with Southern Khorasan province. The archaeological research in Eastern Iran is very poor particularly in prehistory and historical periods. Unfortunately, any historical periods site such as Parthian Dynasty has been excavated and published therefore there are not material properties and characteristics of Parthian period in this region. In this article, Nehbandān castle is introduced as one of the most important evidence of the Parthian period in the Eastern Iran where located suburb of Nehbandān town according to new data. This area is mentioned in history texts as Neh. However others had previously insisted about the importance of the ancient Nehbandān town but they had proposed another ancient archaeological site in the region as ancient Neh. In this paper, based on archaeological excavations and restoration works were carried out which resulted in the recognition of diverse cultural material, Nehbandān castle is suggested as ancient Neh.