The Sasanians in Context: Art, History, and Archaeology.

Between the third and seventh centuries CE, the Sasanian Empire became one of the most dominant powers in the ancient world, extending geographically from Western to Central Asia. From monumental buildings and impressive rock reliefs to elaborately designed metal vessels and finely carved seals, these structures and objects provide a glimpse into the empire’s artistic diversity and its rich material culture. Recent scholarship has further expanded our knowledge of the Sasanian empire and has confirmed its enduring legacy beyond its geographic borders, long after the Arab conquest in the seventh century.

The Sasanians in Context: Art, History, and Archaeology gathers some of the most renowned national and international scholars to share their recent work on the Sasanians and their lasting artistic and historical contributions.

This symposium is generously supported by the Tina and Hamid Moghadam Fund and is organized in collaboration with the University of California, Irvine.

Schedule (all times are presented in EDT)

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2022
Freer Gallery of Art, Meyer Auditorium, Washington, DC

10:15 a.m. Welcome
Massumeh Farhad

10:20 a.m. Introduction: Sasanian Studies in Context
Antonietta Catanzariti and Touraj Daryaee

10:30 a.m.–12:15 p.m. PANEL 1: Art and Archaeology
- Mehrnoush Soroush (University of Chicago, Oriental Institute): A Remote Sensing Perspective on the Sasanian Hydraulic Systems: Reexamining the Irrigation Discourse
- Anca Dan (National Centre for Scientific Research); Frantz Grenet (Collège de France): Central Asiatic Silverware in Sasanian Times: A Reinterpretation of the Freer Bowl
- Negin Miri (Shahid Beheshti University): A New Contribution to Sasanian Sigillography: The Bullae Collections at the Reza Abbasi and Money Museums, Tehran

12:15–1:30 p.m. Break

1:30–3:00 p.m. PANEL 2: Religion and the Senses
- Shervin Farridnejad (University of Hamburg): “Theologia Symbolica”: Dream, Allegory, and Imagining the Afterlife in Sasanian Art and Ideology
- Touraj Daryaee (University of California, Irvine): A Fragrance for Every Woman, Man, and Child: The Smell of the Sasanian Empire
- Ani Honarchian (Saint Louis University): There is Blood on the “Zarbāft” Silk

3:00–3:15 p.m. Break

3:15–4:00 p.m. Keynote
The Sasanian Enigma: Answers and Questions from the Last Half-Century
Prudence Harper (Curator Emerita, Metropolitan Museum of Art). The paper will be read by Antonietta Catanzariti

4:00–5:00 p.m. Tea and Cookies

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22 2022
Freer Gallery of Art, Meyer Auditorium, Washington, DC

10:15–12:10 p.m. PANEL 3: Looking Out
- Giusto Traina (Sorbonne Université): More than Connected Histories: Sassanid Persia, Rome, and the Caucasus, 364–87 CE
- Derek Kennet (Durham University), presenter; Seth Priestman (Durham University); Rebecca Darley (University of Leeds): Sasanian Maritime Trade?
- Matthew P. Canepa (University of California, Irvine): Situating Sasanian Art within Art and Archaeological History and within Global Context
- Kianoosh Motaghedi (Iran): Reviving the Concept of Sasanian Kingdom in the Qajar Rock Reliefs

1:30–3:00 p.m. PANEL 4: Sasanian Legacy
Vesta Curtis (British Museum): The Power of the Royal Image: Sasanian Iconography and Its Legacy
Judith A. Lerner (Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, NYU): Transitions in the Visual Culture of Iranshahr: Post-Sasanian Metalwork
Mariachiara Gasparini (University of Oregon): Through the Turanian Lands: Post-Sasanian–Tang Aesthetics of Early Tibetan Material Culture

3:00–3:10 p.m.

Conclusions
Touraj Daryaee, Massumeh Farhad, and Antonietta Catanzariti

For registration and more information: https://asia.si.edu/research/scholarly-programs/the-sasanians-in-context-art-history-and-archaeology/