Iran - Dry Climates
Iran
Map of Persia, modern-day Iran, highlighting different mountains and towns.
The most eastern part of western Asia is deeper into the continent and has more dry land. Here, we find mountains, hills, plains, plateaus, deserts, and oases. The weather is cold and semi-arid up in the high mountain ranges, like the Zagros, and hotter in the lower regions. Although there are large expanses of semi-arid regions, there were also a few rivers spread across the landscape, along with larger bodies of water like the Caspian Sea and Persian Gulf. Forested areas mostly surround the Caspian Sea. The animals of early Iran included goats, Ibex, sheep, cattle, horses, camels, donkeys, and birds, such as pheasants, eagles, and falcons. By the water there were aquatic birds, including seagulls, ducks, and geese. Tigers once inhabited the forests of the Caspian, but today they no longer frequent this part of the world. The flora in the forests included various types of shrubs, wild fruit trees, and nut trees. Palms, shrubs, juniper, brush, and date trees existed in the desert and plains areas.
Central Iran is dominated by desert and grassland plains regions, and is flanked with mountain ranges. Animals in this area include ibex, gazelles, wild boars, cheetahs, leopards, the desert fox, rabbits, and many species of birds. Let’s focus on two specific sites from early central Iran called Tepe Mushalan and Tepe Sialk. “Tepe” comes from the Turkish word meaning hill or mound.
Tepe Mushalan is located in the Tehran-Qazvin plains region in central Iran called Esmailbad. The people of this settlement lived in the region during the late fifth millennium BCE. There has been archaeological research in the area, and large quantities of painted pottery have been identified and studied. LACMA has one such ceramic vessel, and it is one of the oldest art objects in the museum’s collection.
Prehistoric Painted Pottery Vessel, central Iran, Cheshmeh Ali-Esmailabad, c. 5000–4500 BCE, ceramic, 7 × 9 in. (17.78 × 22.86 cm), LACMA, gift of Nasli M. Heeramaneck (M.76.174.156), Art of the Middle East: Ancient, https://collections.lacma.org/node/184796\
The black-on-red painted pottery of this early period is called Esmailbad ware, named after the village of the same name. The design patterns were inspired by the artistic style of the people of the early Iranian Plateau. The pattern on this vessel is of ibexes and goats framed in geometric designs.
Ibex in Armenia, which borders Iran, photograph by Alexander Malkhasyan, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:8_Bezoar_Goat.jpg#filelinks
The ibex, a species of goat that now lives in the Zagros Mountain Range, is often referenced in art from this region. Nomadic farmers tended the ibex, who were the first type of goat to be domesticated in the world, around 10,000 years ago.
A common style in ceramics of central Iran during the fifth to fourth millennia BCE featured combinations of animals in silhouettes, alternating these with geometric patterns. Many vessels of this type were found in tombs, indicating a possible social or religious significance for the communities that produced these objects. Let’s look at another example, from the MET museum:
Storage Jar Decorated with Mountain Goats, central Iran, Chalcolithic, c. 4000–3600 BCE, ceramic and paint, 21 in. (53.3 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1959 (59.52), https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/324917
Questions to Think About: Are there items in your house that resemble these ceramics? How are they similar, and how are they different? What do you use them for?
Bridge-spouted Painted Vase, Central Iran, Tepe Sialk, circa 800-600 BCE, Furnishings; Accessories, Buff ware, creamslip, reddish-orange painted decoration, 7 7/8 × 7 7/8 × 6 in. (20 × 20 × 15.24 cm), Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William T. Sesnon Jr. (M.47.2.2). Art of the Middle East: Ancient. https://collections.lacma.org/node/229403
The style of portraying animal silhouettes carried on through the first millennium BCE. We see this continuity reflected in this early ceramic pot from the site of Tepe Sialk, c. 800–600 BCE. This object from LACMA’s collection, Bridge-spouted Painted Vase, portrays a horse in a dark silhouette shape and is surrounded by various geometric shapes on a light colored background.
Southern Iran
Some ceramics in southern Iran share similar styles to ceramics in central Iran. This ceramic cup was excavated from Tall-i Bakun in the Zagros Mountains of southwestern Iran, which was a trade site for nomadic herders and farmers of the plains. The vessel is decorated with stylized ibex horns and geometric designs. Because there is no base, this conical cup could not be set down. One possibility is that the cup could have been set in a stand. Another possibility is that the cup would have been driven into the earth.
Bowl with Radial Design of Ibex Horns, Iran, Tall-i Bakun A, Chalcolithic, c. 4500–4100 BCE, ceramic and paint, diameter: 7.38 in. (18.75 cm); height: 4 in. (10.2 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund and gifts of Lucy W. Drexel, Theodore M. Davis, Helen Miller Gould, Albert Gallatin, Egypt Exploration Fund, and Egyptian Research Account, by exchange, 1950 (51.25.24), https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/324138
Question: How would you use this bowl? What would you drink from or eat out of it?
This vessel was found at the Tepe Yahya site in Iran. It was made from a mineral called cholite, found in hills of the area. The artist who made this vessel was inspired by the fronds of palm trees, and included them along with geometric designs. Palm trees were cultivated in this region of Iran, specifically the date palm, and have become an important cultural symbol. Many vessels of a similar style have been found in the region, from Syria to the Indus Valley, which verifies widespread trade or shared artistic styles. The vessels are often identified in palaces, temples, or in the graves of important individuals.
Vase with Overlapping Pattern and Three Bands of Palm Trees, Persian Gulf region or southern Iran, Early Bronze Age, c. 3000–2500 BCE, chlorite, height: 9 1 /4 in. (23.5 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 (17.190.106), https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/322483
Question to Think About: What are some reasons a culture might bury objects with their dead?
Relief of a Gift Bearer from Persepolis, southern Iran, Persepolis, 500–450 BCE, stone, 20 × 11 1/2 × 4 in. (50.8 × 29.21 × 10.16 cm), weight: 68.5 pounds (31.1 kg), LACMA, gift of Carl Holmes (63.36.17), Art of the Middle East: Ancient, https://collections.lacma.org/node/173518
Other important forms of material culture include walls, carvings, and reliefs. In this example, the relief portrays a man bearing gifts to the king Darius I at a palace in Persepolis, an early city in southwestern Iran during the Achaemenid period of the Persian empire. He carefully carries a closed tribute item while wearing a headdress, indicating he might be an important person. This wall relief was likely placed alongside staircases in the palace. Above the gift bearer are lotus flowers arranged diagonally. Archaeological research on this site has shown that the lotus design was a common motif for the palace. This style of lotus decoration on this bowl has also been depicted in many other parts of west Asia.