Rethinking Sasanian Iconoclasm

Bibliographic Data

ID3963430
AuthorsMichael Shenkar (0000-0002-3604-4481, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume135
Issue3
Pages471
Publication date2021-12-16
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of the American Oriental Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0003-0279 • E-ISSN: 2169-2289
PublisherAmerican Oriental Society (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.7817/jameroriesoci.135.3.471
OpenAlexW2750971558
LanguageEN
Citations received8

This article presents a detailed reconsideration of the well-established and canonized theory of "Sasanian iconoclasm" postulated by Mary Boyce in 1975. The Sasanians did not develop any prohibition against anthropomorphic representations of the gods, and in the surviving Zoroastrian literature and inscriptions there is no evidence of either theological disputes over idols or of a deliberate eradication of them by the Persian kings. Sasanian cult was aniconic, but the historical and archaeological evidence clearly demonstrates that Sasanian visual culture was anything but iconoclastic. It seems that the Persian iconoclastic identity was constructed in the early Sasanian period as a response to the challenges posed by Christianity. By joining the common monotheistic discourse against idolatry, the Zoroastrian clergy adopted the conventions of the world in which they lived. Attacks against "idols" and "idolatry" should be understood in the context of internal and external polemical discourse against beliefs deemed to be erroneous by the Zoroastrian priesthood

Aesthetics · Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Art history · Context (archaeology · Cult · Iconoclasm · Identity (music · Idolatry · Islam · Literature · Period (music · Persian · Theology · Zoroastrianism · Ancient Near East History · Byzantine Studies and History · Eurasian Exchange Networks · History · Philosophy · Religious studies

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