Looking for a missing relief in Behistun; An investigation on the unfinished surface of Farhad Tarash area from the point of view of archaeomythology and the content of written sources

Firouzi, Sorena; Mehrafarin, Reza; Mousavi Haji, Seyyed Rasool

doi:10.22103/jic.2022.19842.1107

Looking for a missing relief in Behistun; An investigation on the unfinished surface of Farhad Tarash area from the point of view of archaeomythology and the content of written sources

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Ph.D. Student, Archaeological Department, Faculty of Arts and Architecture, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran

² Professor, Archaeological Department, Faculty of Arts and Architecture, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran

10.22103/jic.2022.19842.1107

Abstract

Farhad Tarash is one of the most controversial works left from ancient Iran. Why this work was left unfinished has caused questions in the minds of different generations of Iranians. According to local stories and with the help of national historical reports, some establish a connection between it and Farhad, the rock art man of Khosrow II' era. Some consider it to be a part of the unfinished projects of the mentioned Sassanid king, which they assume after his murder, and others consider it an unfinished Achaemenid work. In this article, by using the content of written sources and field studies, an attempt has been made to provide a logical and documented answer to the historical documents and archaeological findings about the ancient identity of this unfinished surface. The following research states that in the place where Farhad Tarash is now located, there used to be a relief related to the beginning of the second millennium BC, in which, according to the common pattern of reliefs art in the third and second millennium BC, there was a figures of the goddess Inanna besides of some other reliefs and an inscription on Behistun.

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