The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Empire ( Sasanian) is the name used for the fourth Iranian dynasty, and the second Persian Empire (226 - 651). The Sassanid dynasty was founded by Ardashir I after defeating the last Arsacid king, Artabanus IV and ended when the last Sassanid Shahanshah (King of Kings), Yazdegerd III (632–651), lost a 14-year struggle to drive out the early Caliphate, the first of the Islamic empires. The empire's territory encompassed all of today's Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Afghanistan, eastern parts of Turkey , eastern parts of Syria, Pakistan, Caucasia, Central Asia and Arabia. During Khosrau II's rule in 590–628 Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon was also annexed to the Empire. The Sassanids called their empire Erānshahr ايرانشهر (Iranshæhr) "Dominion of the Iranians (Aryans)" Garthwaite, Gene R., The Persians, p. 2

The Sassanid era, encompassing the length of the Late Antiquity, is considered to be one of the most important and influential historical periods in Iran. In many ways the Sassanid period witnessed the highest achievement of Persian civilization, and constituted the last great Iranian Empire before the Muslim conquest and adoption of Islam. Persia influenced Roman civilisation considerably during the Sassanids timesJ. B. Bury, p. 109., their cultural influence extended far beyond the empire's territorial borders, reaching as far as Western EuropeDurant., AfricaTransoxiana 04: Sasanians in Africa, China and IndiaSarfaraz, pp. 329–330 and played a foremost role in the formation of both European and Asiatic medieval art.Iransaga: The art of Sassanians This influence carried forward to the early Islamic world. The dynasty's unique and aristocratic culture transformed the Islamic conquest of Iran into a Persian Renaissance.Durant. Much of what later became known as Islamic culture, architecture, writing and other skills, were taken mainly from the Sassanid Persians into the broader Muslim worldZarinkoob, p. 305..

History

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Origins and Early History (205-310)

The Sassanid Dynasty was established by Ardashir I (226–241), a descendant of a line of the priests of goddess Anahita in Istakhr, Persis (Pars) who at the beginning of the third century had acquired the governorship of Persis. His father Papag (also pronounced Papak and Babak), was originally the ruler of a small town called Kheir, but had managed, in 205 AD, to depose Gocihr, the last king of the Bazrangids (the local rulers of Persis as a client of the Arsacids) and appoint himself as the new ruler. His mother, Rodhagh, was the daughter of the provincial governor of Peris. The eponymous founder of the line was Ardashir I's paternal grandfather, Sassan, the great priest of the Temple of Anahita.

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I will never get tired of David Castriota bending over to represent the structural differences between Roman and Sassanian arches.
zeilend (Zeilend Powell) Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:45:02 -0000
I will never get tired of David Castriota bending over to represent the structural differences between Roman and Sassanian arches.

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