Political and religious analysis of the decorations and symbols of Sassanian coins

Abstract

Coins are considered important and valuable documents in various historical eras, as their importance is no less than the importance of stone inscriptions and carvings from a historical perspective. Coins, through the symbols, decorations and signs they contain, can show us the political, religious, social and economic conditions that prevailed at that time in their era. In fact, most of the Sasanian coins contained various images, symbols, decorations, and signs, such as crowns of kings, titles of kings, images of fire, stoves of fire, the moon, stars, sun, and gods (Ahuramazda, Anahita, and Mehr), which expressed, in one way or another, the political and religious ideas of the kings who ruled. The state at that time, the signs and symbols on the coins were not always fixed, but rather changed with changing situations and circumstances, as some of them were deleted during defeat in wars and new symbols and titles were added to them during victory in wars. During the Sasanian period, the Sassanian kings respected fire and worshiped it as a symbol of Ahura Mazda, Because of their great love and glorification of the god Mehr, they always demanded that the fire and those responsible for its preservation be engraved on the coins minted with their names.

        In our research below, we will study in some detail the Sassanid coins in a new way and methodology, by analyzing the signs, decorations, and political and religious symbols found on them, clarifying what their purpose is, and trying to know the relationship between the symbols and coins found on these coins with the political and religious goals of the Sassanian kings that they sought to achieve during The periods of their rule, and in fact, some of these symbols, decorations and signs expressed the ideology of the Sassanian kings in managing the state and gaining legitimacy for rule, as they considered themselves the shadow of God on earth and made themselves on an equal footing with gods such as Ahura Mazda and Anahita.