Document Type : Review Article

Authors

• Ebrahim Raiygani ¹
• Meissam Aliei ²
• Hossein Sapidnameh ³

¹ Associate Professor of Archaeology, University of Neyshabur, Iran

² Assistant Professor of Archaeology at Gonabad Higher Education Complex

³ Graduated with a PhD in Archaeology, Isfahan University of Arts,

Abstract

Burial is considered one of the most important aspects of culture in the Sassanid era. Roman/Byzantine historical texts in the field of burials in the era of Sasanian rule have provided various materials that can be analyzed in parallel with archaeological findings. The purpose of the upcoming research is to compare the Sassanid era burial information included in Roman/Byzantine historical texts with archaeological discoveries. This importance has been neglected in the studies of Sasanian period culture until now. This research has tried to answer the question of the information provided by the historians of the Roman Empire period as well as Byzantium in the field of burial in the Sassanid era; To what extent is it consistent with archaeological evidence and religious/historical texts of this period? The result is that the Roman/Byzantine historical texts have provided relatively significant information on Sasanian burials, depending on the conditions and time frame of writing. Still, the fanatical religious/national spirit governing these texts has resulted in the formation of relatively similar and sometimes distant works. It has become a fact that the contradiction of the content is considered its most obvious aspect. The authors of these texts had little knowledge of various burials due to differences in social class, various religions, and geographical and climatic conditions in the Sassanid era, but they were well aware that the Zoroastrian Sassanid were against burial in the soil and vigorously opposed it.

Keywords

• Roman/Byzantine texts
• burial
• archaeological findings
• Sasanian period
• Zoroastrian religion

Main Subjects

• Social history