Ancient India and Iran Trust Lecture: Dr Yousef Moradi

The Zoroastrian Sanctuary of Takht-e Solayman in the Light of Newly Discovered Sasanian Bullae and Seal Impressions

Friday 18 March, 5:30pm

Refreshments from 5pm

Ancient India & Iran Trust

23 Brooklands Avenue

Cambridge

CB2 8BG

In 2002-2008, an Iranian archaeological team, directed by Yousef Moradi, discovered an impressive corpus off Sasanian clay bullae at the World Heritage site of Takht-e Solayman, which is identified as the fire temple of Adur Gušnasp, one of the three most sacred Zoroastrian fires of the Sasanian Empire. On the basis of these new sources, this talk discusses seal and sealing practices in Sasanian Iran, and what the seals tell us about the relationship between the Sasanian state and the Zoroastrian priesthood, and about the role of religious minorities in the administrative system and economic transactions od Sasanian society.

Yousef Moradi is a Marie Curie Research Fellow at SOAS University of London. He takes interest in the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East and Central Asia in the Sasanian and early Islamic periods, in Zoroastrian studies, sigillography and urban and landscape archaeology. He has conducted several seasons of fieldwork at a number of Parthian and Sasanian archaeological sites in Iran including the World Heritage site of Takht-e Solayman.