Panthera pardus tulliana - Caucasian Leopard

 Salvete Omnes,

detail from Shahnama Ad 1525

Shota Rustavelli's Knight in the Panther Skin 

We are in la Semana Santa (Holly Week) leading to Jesus Christ Great Friday Crucifixion, and then the pinnacle of Christianity - the  Resurrection on  Easter  Sunday.

There is also the illegal war in western Asia, US & Israel bombing Iran and Iran sending missiles and drones against the American and Israeli assets...  Awfully dangerous conflict, that could lead to the nuclear world war III. There is also war against Christians, war in Ukraine (Russian aggression against the Ukrainian state).

Ad rem, the title of this post is the Latin name for a Caucasian leopard, the Western Asia- Southern Europe subspecies of the great cat. Here about the cat in present day Armenia. eg Pakistan here, 

while looking at the Ilkhanid, Timurid, Safavid and Ottoman miniature illuminations we often see light spotted skins worn by heroes and warriors or soldiers. 

I think the many of these leopard skins in these paintings were made from the hides of the Panthera Tulliana leopard. 

. the hero of Shahnameh

Rustam astride Rakhsh in his leopard hat and tiger fur kaftan 

Rustam in his leopard hat, tiger coat/kaftan and his brave horse Rahksh

even horses were covered in these pelts

Turkish Deli

from Raalamb Costume book - Ottoman Turkish soldiers Janissary Corps

Georgian warrior in Rusatvelli's Knight in a Panther Skin

finally our Polish and Hungarian hussars who adopted the leopard hides as part of their panoply 

enjoy

Valete

East Iran in Late Antiquity - oldies but goldies

 Salvete Omnes,

 

     I have been shifting between subjects in my studies, and recently the ancient and early medieval topic popped out. Namely, I listed to two lectures from 2016 -  hence 'oldies but goldies' - :) 

The Silk Road and the Iranian Political Economy in Late Antiquity - by prof. Richard Payne
and
East Iran in Antiquity: Silk Road and Central Asia outside the Paradigm of Eurasian Trade -  prof. Khodadad 

Rezakhani .

and to go along with the lectures, there are some Sogdian images (including Rustam) or the Sogdians and their famous traders in the Han, Tang Chinese etc art, especially the sculpted figures of the land cruiser of the Eurasian land trade routes - the  camel, the Central Asia context it is the Bactrian camel.
On the Silk Road foundation site   you can read a rather intriguing article by Daniel Potts on the Bactrian Camels and Bactrian-Dromedary Hybrids.

valete

Rustam and Rakhsh - epic poetry

Salvete Omnes,

today let us read, in verse, from the Ferdowsi Tusi's Shahnameh about  the  truly epic hero Rustam/Rostem and his equally epic stallion Rakhsh - and how they came about to be together. The book of Kings or Shahnameh is like the Iliad of Homer - perhaps sung in the Achaemenid Empire (some book of kings was allegedly  already  in existence  according to the now lost works of Ctesias - V century BC Greek writer) and then  composed and written down by the poet from Tus almost 2000 years after the Homer's epic.

This epic English translations was done by the Warner brothers (Arthur George and Edmond) -  volumes available on archive.


and some Islamic miniatures from archive and the Wiki Commons about this warlike pair


 to be continued
Valete

Spring & Nowruz

Zaroastrian eternal Bull (the Moon) and eternal Lion (the Sun)

Salve,
Spring has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere - finally  - :)
Marzanna has been drowned - :)

... happy New Year as it is Nowruz time!
Rustam, the hero

The Sogdians of Sogdiana

enjoy
ps
all pictures courtesy WikiCommons

On the Sogdian painting and Sassanian connections

Salve,
 I am always interested in all things pre-Islamic and early Islamic greater Persia, this time I want to share with you a link to an article titled  'Sasanian traditions in Sogdian paintings: hunting and fighting scenes' by Geri Della Rocca de Candal, available for reading or download at academia.edu (or a link via this interesting Facebook page titled Eran ud Turan ). Sogdiana or Transoxiana or Turan  was the land of Silk Road traders, horse breeders, artists and sometime warriors living in the shadow of the great empires of Persia and China and roamed by the Saka and later Turks/Turkuts, until conquered by the Arabs during the VIII century AD (and known since then  as Ma warāʾ al-nahr).  Introduction to the Sogdian art via iranica.com.

Persian and  Sogdian hero Rustam/Rostam (known to us through Shahnameh/Schāhnāme of Ferdowsi - nota bene article on early illustrated version of Shahnameh from 1333AD) in his splendor from a mural at Panjikent (image from Wiki Commons)

Last days of Panjikent - article - and if you curious more about the last ruler of that Sogdian city and his famous palace at Mugh Mount.

From my own stable :)  I drawn this image from a metal plate of Pur-i Vahman, it represents my newest attempt at copying this image. For our interest his stallion's bridle includes the dropped-cavesson (metal noseband) plus bit arrangement, horse's tail tied like a swallow's one,  then a cropped and cranetallated mane, and clearly depicted stirrups in more or less steppe and Korean fashion. Horse tack is still adorned with Persian elements (horse tail and a phalera), reflecting Sassanian and Saka traditions.

Dr  David Nicolle talks about this plate in his other book - Armies of the Islamic Conquest (Osprey Publishing, page 42).