Ancient Iranian Pottery - (The Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies

Ceramic is perhaps the earliest and the most important invention made by man. For historians and archaeologists it is the most significant of the artistic manifestations. For historians and archaeologists pottery of a certain period manifests the contemporary social organisation, economic conditions and cultural stage of that particular region. By studying pottery one may form impressions about the life, the religion of people and their history, about their social relationships, their attitude towards their neighbours, to their own world and even to their interpretation of the universe as it was then known to them. Other media, e.g. metal and textiles can be destroyed, or re-used, but pottery is indestructible, and even small fragments reveal a great deal of information for an expert.

In Iran pottery manufacture has a long and brilliant history. Due to the special geographical position of the country, being at the crossroads of ancient civilizations and on important caravan routes, almost every part of Iran was, at times, involved in pottery making. Yet, recent excavations and archaeological research revealed that there were four major pottery-manufacturing areas in the Iranian plateau. These included the western part of the country, namely the area west of the Zagros mountains (Lurestan), and the area south of the Caspian Sea (Gilan and Mazandaran provinces). These two areas are chronologically as far as is known today, the earliest. The third region is located in the northwestern part of the country, in Azarbaijan province. The fourth area is in the southeast, i.e. the Kerman region and Baluchestan. To these four regions one may also add the Kavir area, where the history of pottery making can be dated back to the 8th millennium BCE.

Prehistoric period

One of the earliest known and excavated prehistoric sites that produced pottery is Ganj Darreh Tappeh in the Kermanshah region, dating back to the 8th millennium BCE Another great discovery was made south of the Caspian Sea in a cave, in the so-called Kamarband, (Belt cave) near present day Behshahr. Here again the pottery finds date to 8000 BCE. This type of pottery in known to experts as the “Kamarband Neolithic pottery”. This pottery was fired at a low temperature, and its body is very soft. Not far from the above-mentioned cave there was another, called Huto. The pottery there, from a technical point of view, shows similarities to that of Cheshmeh Ali in Ray, near Tehran.

The second phase of development in pottery-making in Iran is represented by the wares that were discovered at Cheshmeh Ali, Tappeh Sialk near Kashan and at Zagheh in the Qazvin plain. The pottery of these centres is different from that of the earlier periods. Their paste is a mixture of clay, straw and small pieces of various plants, which can be found and collected in the desert. When mixed with water they stick well together and form a very hard paste. All these vessels were made by hand rather than on a wheel. As the potters were unable to control the temperature of the kilns, there was no stable colour for these wares. It varied from grey and dark grey to black, occasionally even appearing with a greenish colour. The type of vessels produced was limited, mainly bowls with concave bases and globular bodies. Their surfaces were painted mostly in red depicting geometrical patterns. The date of these wares is ca. the 6th and 5th millennium BCE.

In the subsequent periods pottery-making became more and more refined. Although the wheel still had not been introduced, the shapes of the vessels became somewhat more varied and more carefully executed .The temperature in the kilns was better controlled and the decoration of the vessels now included animals and stylised floral designs. Numerous examples of these have been unearthed at Sialk. To achieve a finer paste, the potters added fine sand-powder to the mixture that has already been mentioned. Thus they were able to produce vessels with a very thin body.

With the invention and the introduction of the potter's wheel, ca. the 4th millennium BCE, it became possible to produce better quality and symmetrically-shaped vessels; the number of pottery types made was greatly increased as well. The decoration of these objects was drwith much greater care and artistic skill, and the designs used were greatly enriched and carefully selected. By that time this more advanced type of pottery was produced in several parts of Iran. Thus it reveals the close economic and cultural ties that must have existed then amongst prehistoric communities. Ideas, techniques and artistic trends must have travelled great distances and were freely exchanged. A good example to demonstrate this connection is the pottery types that were unearthed at Tappeh Qabrestan in the Qazvin plain, which are comparable to those from Sialk and Tappeh Hessar near Damghan, all of the same period. The location of these three places forms a kind of triangle. One may presume that further archaeological work will produce more evidence for the close ties that existed amongst these communities.

Around the 2nd millennium BCE in most parts of Iran we have evidence of local pottery manufacture. The vessels usually consist of bowls, pitchers, jugs, and jars. Most of these wares are simple, without any surface decorations. The colour of these wares varies from grey to dark grey, red to buff. Some of these have burnished surfaces and are decorated with geometrical patterns.

The most beautiful wares of that period, however, are the zoomorphic vessels (humped bulls, camels, rams, etc.) (pls. 29-33) or human figurines, which were mainly discovered in the Gilan region (Marlik, Amlash and Kaluraz). The zoomorphic vessels and figurines must have had two distinct functions: some of them were utility vessels, used in everyday life, while others, probably more important, were used in religious ceremonies or in burials. Quite a wide variety of shapes is known today. Their actual function may be determined by the shape of the vessels and by the gesture of the figurines. The manufacture of these zoomorphic vessels and figurines continued until the middle of the 1st millennium BCE.

Median and Achaemenid Dynastic Periods (728-330 BCE)

Our knowledge of Median pottery is rather limited. Recent excavations, however, particularly at one of the most important Median sites, Tappeh Nush-i Jan near Malayer, produced a great variety of vessels. These are still under study and examination. It is hoped in the near future a great deal can be learnt about the pottery of that important period. At other sites, e.g. Bisotun, in several places in Gilan and in Kordestan provinces have also been recovered. Recent excavations at the site of Ziwiyeh conducted by the Iranian Centre for Archaeological Research produced a good sampling Median pottery. One of the most important innovations in ceramic technology appeared during the Median period, i.e. the introduction of glazed ware, although the earliest evidence for the use of glaze on bricks was the discovery of glazed bricks in the Elamite Temple at Chogha Zanbil, dated to the 13th century BCE.

With the coming of the Achaemenid Dynasty in the 6th century BCE great advances were made in pottery manufacture. The simple ware became more popular and widespread. It was nevertheless in the finer wares that progress is most noticeable. New shapes were introduced, e.g. the rhyton. The surfaces were now decorated with incised and moulded designs. Certain prehistoric traditions have survived and continued. This is perhaps best observed in the application of animal figurines. These are attached to the handles of jars and rhytons. It is widely accepted that these figurines had iconographic significance.

Shapes and decorations of Achaemenid pottery disclose close connections between pottery-making and metalworking. Frequently metal shapes and decorations are produced, and one may add, successfully, in pottery. It is during the Achaemenid dynastic period that glazing was introduced generally into Iranian plateau. Excavations at Persepolis and Susa revealed that the walls of palaces were covered with glazed bricks, which included elaborate decorations, depicting animals and soldiers. The practice of glazing must have been introduced from Mesopotamia.

Parthian Dynastic Period (248 BCE-224

Until quite recently information on the arts of the Parthian period was rather meagre. At the time when the late Professor Arthur Upham Pope and his team were collecting material for the Survey of Persian Art, hardly any Parthian site was known and none was excavated. It was only during the last fifty or sixty years that a few extremely important Parthian sites were investigated by archaeologists. Some of these are beyond the present borders of Iran, e.g. Nisa, the former Parthian capital in Central Asia, or Dura-Europos in Syria. More recently in Iran a number of Parthian sites have been located and are, at present, under excavation. These sites are Kangavar, Shahr-e Qumis, Valiran, Ecbatana and several sites in the Gorgan plain, in Gilan and Sistan.

From these new archaeological discoveries we have learnt a great deal about Parthian art and Parthian pottery. In a recent study it has been pointed out that pottery was not the same throughout the Parthian Empire and the wares of Iran proper were different from those of Syria and Mesopotamia. Even in this area several differences are recognisable. In general, Parthian pottery can be divided into two major groups: unglazed and glazed wares. The unglazed wares can be further subdivided into two categories: namely grey and red wares. The grey pottery consists of bowls, small cups and large jars, all with convex bases and without any surface decoration. Some of them, nevertheless, have a polished body. The red ware, which was perhaps the most popular, also included large jars, bowls and jugs, similar in shape to those of the grey wares. They have everted rims. Under the red ware another type, the so-called "clinky ware" should be mentioned. This ware has a very fine thin body which is red outside and dark grey inside; when tapped it gives a clinking sound, hence its name.

It also should be noted that zoomorphic vessels, in the shape of rhytons, were still very popular in Parthian times. These were made both in grey and in red, occasionally even in buff earthenware.

One of the greatest achievements in pottery-making during this period was the introduction of alkaline-glazed vessels. The body of these glazed wares was a fine white paste on which the alkaline glaze could be easily applied. Two of the most common types of vessels in this group were the "pilgrim flask", and large bowls. The latter usually rest on three or four short legs. These types of vessels may have been produced under Far Eastern influence, since their forms recall contemporary Chinese bronzes.

In addition to glazing, most of these Parthian glazed vessels reveal some kind of surface decoration, mostly simple incised lines or strokes. Another, rather important, group of Parthian glazed pottery were the large coffins which became widely used at that period due to a change in religious beliefs concerning burial.

Sasanian Dynastic Period (224-651 CE)

In general it could be stated that Sasanian pottery is, strictly speaking, a continuation of Parthian traditions, with two exceptions; The grey ware was practically discontinued, as were the glazed coffins, since Zoroastrian burial customs were re-introduced.

Sasanian pottery thus can be subdivided into two major groups: unglazed and glazed wares. The unglazed wares were mainly of heavily potted red wares. These include large jars, jugs, and various types of bowls. They have thick, everted rims and their surfaces now reveal intricate incised or stamped decorations, including wavy lines, geometrical patterns, rosettes, or occasionally, even Pahlavi inscriptions. The number of these Sasanian red wares is constantly increasing. They have been discovered at a number of sites, such as Bishapur; Siraf, Kangavar, the Gorgan plain, Turang Tappeh, Takht-e Soleyman, at Ghubayra near Kerman and Takht-i Abunasar in Fars Province.

Glazed pottery, although the alkaline glaze was still used, has in fact considerably advanced technologically. Instead of the Parthian dark green or brownish-yellow glaze, the most important colour now becomes turquoise green, or turquoise blue. This is to be found on a number of pilgrim flasks, bowls and particularly on large storage jars. These storage jars, which had been unearthed at Siraf and also at Ghubayra in late 1970s, in addition to glazing, were also decorated with appliqué patterns, most frequently with cable patterns, which run around the upper part or on the shoulder of the vessels.

Terracotta figurines were also produced in Sasanian times, of which a great variety are known today. Some of these are partially glazed.

The Post-Sasanian and Islamic Period)

With the |advent of Islam during the first half of the 7th century CE, pottery manufacture gradually started to change all over the Islamic world. At the beginning Iranian potters continued their pre-Islamic traditions, and in Iran some of these early wares are known as "Sasano-Islamic". It has been suggested that due to contact with the Far East, particularly with China, on one hand and to the restrictions of orthodox Islam on the other, considerable changes gradually took place in pottery-making, and several new types of wares were produced. Potters of the Near East made several experiments, partly imitating imported Far Eastern wares, partly using their own skill and imagination in inventing new types.

In general the history of Iranian-Islamic pottery can be divided into three main periods Post-Sasanian or Early Islamic Period (9th - 10th centuries CE) Middle Islamic Period (11th - 15th centuries CE) Later Islamic Period (16th - 19th centuries CE).

In these three periods, which lasted for more than a thousand years, numerous pottery centres were established, which produced innumerable types of wares. Recent excavations in famous Islamic cities, e.g. Samarra, Siraf, Nishapur, Jorjan, Fustat, etc., together with the discovery of pottery kilns at several sites, provide us with considerable information on pottery manufacture in the Islamic world. It is worthwhile to emphasize that in pottery manufacture Iran and the Iranian world was always ahead of the rest of the Islamic worlc, and it was always Iranian potters who experimented most widely with new types and new ideas.

The most important information on early Islamic pottery was, for a long time, provided by the German excavations at the short-lived early Abbasid capital of Samarra. Recently, several other Islamic sites have been investigated and these have considerably altered, and at the same time enriched our knowledge of the subject. In our investigation we are restricting our interest to Iran and accordingly, we shall deal only with the pottery of two early Persian dynasties, namely that of the Buyids and the Samanids.

TOP OF PAGE