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Kartir
Kartir (also spelled Karder, Karter and Kerdir; Middle Persian: šŖš«š²š©š« ''KardÄ«r'') was a powerful and influential Zoroastrian priest during the reigns of four Sasanian kings in the 3rd century. His name is cited in the inscriptions of Shapur I (as well as in the '' Res Gestae Divi Saporis'') and the Paikuli inscription of Narseh. Kartir also had inscriptions of his own made in the present-day Fars province (then known as Pars). His inscriptions narrates his rise to power throughout the reigns of Shapur I (), Hormizd I (), Bahram I (), and Bahram II (). During the brief reign of Bahram II's son and successor Bahram III, Kartir was amongst the nobles who supported the rebellion of Narseh, who overthrew Bahram III and ascended the throne. During Narseh's reign, Kartir faded into obscurity. Name Kartir's name is spelled in several ways in the engravings; Middle Persian , Parthian , Greek ''Karteir'', and Coptic ''Kardel''. The name was also used in the north ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bahram II
Bahram II (also spelled Wahram II or Warahran II; ) was the fifth Sasanian King of Kings (''shahanshah'') of Iran, from 274 to 293. He was the son and successor of Bahram I (). Bahram II, while still in his teens, ascended the throne with the aid of the powerful Zoroastrian priest Kartir, just like his father had done. He was met with considerable challenges during his reign, facing a rebellion in the east led by his brother, the Kushano-Sasanian dynast Hormizd I Kushanshah, who also assumed the title of King of Kings and possibly laid claims to the Sasanian throne. Another rebellion, led by Bahram II's cousin Hormizd of Sakastan in Sakastan, also occurred around this period. In Khuzestan, a Zoroastrian factional revolt led by a high-priest ('' mowbed'') occurred. The Roman emperor Carus exploited the turbulent situation of Iran by launching a campaign into its holdings in Mesopotamia in 283. Bahram II, who was in the east, was unable to mount an effective coordinated def ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kartir's Inscription At Naqsh-e Rajab
Kartir, the influential Sasanian priest, has left an inscription in Naqsh-e Rajab in the Chamgan mountain. The inscription is located about one kilometer south of the ancient city of Istakhr, and about three kilometers north of Persepolis. In Naqsh-e Rajab, there are also some figures of Ardashir I and Shapur I. Kartir's inscription is incised next to a relief of Ahura Mazda appointing Ardashir I as the Shahanshah of ÄrÄnshahr. Kartir is the only non-king person who was granted the right to have an inscription. Kartir's inscription contains 31 lines in and in the left side of it, a portrait of Kartir himself is incised. The text introduces Kartir and briefly d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sasanian Empire
The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign over ancient Iran was second only to the directly preceding Arsacid dynasty of Parthia. Founded by Ardashir I, whose rise coincided with the decline of Arsacid influence in the face of both internal and external strife, the House of Sasan was highly determined to restore the legacy of the Achaemenid Empire by expanding and consolidating the Iranian nation's dominions. Most notably, after defeating Artabanus IV of Parthia during the Battle of Hormozdgan in 224, it began competing far more zealously with the neighbouring Roman Empire than the Arsacids had, thus sparking a new phase of the RomanāIranian Wars. This effort by Ardashir's dynasty ultimately re-established Iran as a major power of late an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bahram I
Bahram I (also spelled Wahram I or Warahran I; ) was the fourth Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 271 to 274. He was the eldest son of Shapur I () and succeeded his brother Hormizd I (), who had reigned for a year. Bahram I's reign marked the end of the Sasanian tolerance towards Manichaeism, and in 274, with the support of the influential Zoroastrian priest Kartir, he had Mani imprisoned and executed. Bahram I's reign was brief and largely uneventful. He was succeeded by his son Bahram II. Name The theophoric name "Bahram" () is the New Persian form of the Middle Persian ''WarahrÄn'' (also spelled ''WahrÄm''), which is derived from the Old Iranian ''Vį¹Īøragna''. The Avestan equivalent was Verethragna, the name of the old Iranian god of victory, whilst the Parthian version was ''*WarĪøagn''. The name is transliterated in Greek as ''Baranes'', whilst the Armenian transliteration is ''Vahagn/VrÄm''. The name is attested in Georgian as ''Baram'' and Latin as '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Narseh
Narseh (also spelled Narses or Narseus; ) was the seventh King of Kings of Sasanian Iran from 293 to 303. The youngest son of Shapur I (), Narseh served as the governor of Sakastan, Hind and Turan under his father. Shapur I was eventually succeeded by his son Hormizd I (), who died after a reign of one year. Shapur I's eldest son Bahram I, who had never been considered as a candidate for succession to the throne by his father, ascended the throne with the aid of the powerful Zoroastrian priest Kartir. He then made a settlement with Narseh to give up his entitlement to the throne in return for the governorship of the important frontier province of Armenia, which was a persistent cause for war between the Roman and Sasanian Empires. Narseh held the title of ''Vazurg Å Äh ArminÄn'' ("Great King of Armenia"), which was used by the heir to the throne in the early Sasanian times. Nevertheless, Narseh most likely still viewed Bahram I as a usurper. The succession of Bahram I's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hormizd I
Hormizd-Ardashir, better known by his dynastic name of Hormizd I (also spelled Hormozd I or Ohrmazd I; ), was the third Sasanian King of Kings (''shahanshah'') of Iran, who ruled from May 270 to June 271. He was the third-born son of Shapur I (), under whom he was governor-king of Armenia, and also took part in his father's wars against the Roman Empire. Hormizd I's brief time as ruler of Iran was largely uneventful. He built the city of Hormizd-Ardashir (present-day Ahvaz), which remains a major city today in Iran. He promoted the Zoroastrian priest Kartir to the rank of chief priest ('' mowbed'') and gave the Manichaean prophet Mani permission to continue his preaching. It was under Hormizd I that the title of "King of Kings of Iran and non-Iran" became regularized in Sasanian coinage; previously, the royal titulary had generally been "King of Kings of Iran". Hormizd I was succeeded by his eldest brother Bahram I. Etymology The name of Hormizd (also spelled ''Åhrmazd'', ''H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Middle Persian
Middle Persian, also known by its endonym PÄrsÄ«k or PÄrsÄ«g ( Inscriptional Pahlavi script: , Manichaean script: , Avestan script: ) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle Persian continued to function as a prestige language. It descended from Old Persian, the language of the Achaemenid Empire and is the linguistic ancestor of Modern Persian, the official language of Iran (also known as Persia), Afghanistan ( Dari) and Tajikistan ( Tajik). Name "Middle Iranian" is the name given to the middle stage of development of the numerous Iranian languages and dialects. The middle stage of the Iranian languages begins around 450 BCE and ends around 650 CE. One of those Middle Iranian languages is Middle Persian, i.e. the middle stage of the language of the Persians, an Iranian people of Persia proper, which lies in the south-western Iran highlands on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shapur I
Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; ) was the second Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The precise dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardashir I as co-regent until the death of the latter in 242. During his co-regency, he helped his father with the conquest and destruction of the city of Hatra, whose fall was facilitated, according to Islamic tradition, by the actions of his future wife al-Nadirah. Shapur also consolidated and expanded the empire of Ardashir I, waged war against the Roman Empire, and seized its cities of Nusaybin, Nisibis and Harran, Carrhae while he was advancing as far as Roman Syria. Although he was defeated at the Battle of Resaena in 243 by Roman emperor Gordian III (), the following year he was able to win the Battle of Misiche and force the new Roman emperor Philip the Arab () to sign a favorable peace treaty that was regarded by the Romans as "a most shameful treaty". Sh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manichaeism
Manichaeism (; in ; ) is an endangered former major world religion currently only practiced in China around Cao'an,R. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''. SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century CE by the Parthian prophet Mani (216ā274 CE), in the Sasanian Empire. Manichaeism teaches an elaborate dualistic cosmology describing the struggle between a good, spiritual world of light, and an evil, material world of darkness. Through an ongoing process that takes place in human history, light is gradually removed from the world of matter and returned to the world of light, whence it came. Mani's teaching was intended to "combine", succeed, and surpass the teachings of Platonism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Marcionism, Hellenistic and Rabbinic Judaism, Gnostic movements, Ancient Greek religion, Babylonian and other Mesopotamian religions, and mystery cults.Arendzen, John (1 October 1910).Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mani (prophet)
Mani (; ā 2 March AD 274 or 26 February AD 277) was an Iranian peoples, Iranian prophet and the founder of Manichaeism, a religion most prevalent in late antiquity. Mani was born in or near Ctesiphon (south of modern Baghdad) in Mesopotamia, at the time part of the Parthian Empire. Seven Scriptures of Mani, Seven of his major works were written in Syriac language, Syriac, and the eighth, dedicated to the Sasanian Empire, Sasanian emperor Shapur I, Shapur I, was written in Middle Persian.Henning, W.B., ''The Book of Giants'', BSOAS, Vol. XI, Part 1, 1943, pp. 52ā74: "...Mani, who was brought up and spent most of his life in a province of the Persian empire, and whose mother belonged to a famous Parthian family, did not make any use of the Iranian mythological tradition. There can no longer be any doubt that the Iranian names of SÄm, NarÄ«mÄn, etc., that appear in the Persian and Sogdian versions of the Book of the Giants, did not figure in the original editio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mobad
A mobed, mowbed, or mobad (Middle Persian: š¬š¢š„šÆš²) is a Zoroastrian cleric of a particular rank. Unlike a '' herbad'' (''ervad''), a ''mobed'' is qualified to serve as celebrant priest at the Yasna ceremony and other higher liturgical ceremonies. A ''mobed'' is also qualified to train other priests. Usage In lay use, the term is also used as an honorific to denote any Zoroastrian priest of any rank. Hormizd I appointed Kartir ''mowbadÄn-mowbad'' "high priest of ''priests''". The term mobad is a contraction of Old Persian ''magupati'', the first half of the expression derived from and . The word was borrowed as ka, įįįį£-į ''mogu-i'' and and from Parthian as . Through and , proto-Iranian ''*magu-'' is also identified as the origin of the Latin word ''magus'', a " magi''an''". Through the Greek adjective and , mobed is distantly related to the English language word " magic". Mobedyars Priests in the community in India, the Parsis, are requi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shapur I's Inscription At The Ka'ba-ye Zartosht
Shapur I's Ka'ba-ye Zartosht inscription (shortened as Shapur-KZ, Å KZ, SKZ), also referred to as The Great Inscription of Shapur I, and ''Res Gestae Divi Saporis'' (RGDS), is a trilingual inscription made during the reign of the Sasanian king Shapur I (240ā270) after his victories over the Romans. The inscription is carved on the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht, a stone quadrangular and stepped structure located in Naqsh-e Rustam, an ancient necropolis located northwest of Persepolis, in today's Fars province, Iran. The inscription dates to . Content The inscription is written in Middle Persian, Parthian, and Greek, containing 35, 30, and 70 lines, respectively. The Middle Persian variant is partially damaged, while the Greek and Parthian versions are better preserved, although they are not exactly the same as the Middle Persian text. In this inscription, Shapur introduces himself, mentions his genealogy, enumerates the provinces of his empire, describes his campaigns against the Roman Emp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
