Isolated rams or a couple of rams beside a central tree represented the most popular subject on Sasanian sphragistics. This animal could have been a religious symbol in Sasanian art especially when embellished with ribbons or a necklace. By focusing on contemporary parallels in Sogdian art and much earlier specimens in Mesopotamian art, this paper argues that the ram could be the symbolic animal of a deity associated with the planet Venus among ancient Iranian peoples. The best candidate in Sasanian Persia seems to be Anahita, the Zoroastrian goddess of water and fertility whose name is still connected to the planet Venus in modern Iran.
Compareti, M. (2022). The Beribboned Ram in Sasanian Art and Its Possible Religious Associations. Journal of Archaeological Research in West Asia (JARWA), (), -. doi: 10.22059/jarwa.2022.333534.16
MLA
Matteo Compareti. "The Beribboned Ram in Sasanian Art and Its Possible Religious Associations". Journal of Archaeological Research in West Asia (JARWA), , , 2022, -. doi: 10.22059/jarwa.2022.333534.16
HARVARD
Compareti, M. (2022). 'The Beribboned Ram in Sasanian Art and Its Possible Religious Associations', Journal of Archaeological Research in West Asia (JARWA), (), pp. -. doi: 10.22059/jarwa.2022.333534.16
VANCOUVER
Compareti, M. The Beribboned Ram in Sasanian Art and Its Possible Religious Associations. Journal of Archaeological Research in West Asia (JARWA), 2022; (): -. doi: 10.22059/jarwa.2022.333534.16
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