Analysis of the relief of Khan Takhti; Monument of war or peace?

Abstract
The relief of Khan Takhti, located near Salmas, is one of the most significant works of the historical period in northwestern Iran. However, due to the current condition of the monument and the absence of a discovered inscription, as well as the fact that it belongs to a historically uncertain period, diverse interpretations have emerged regarding its characteristics and historical context, particularly concerning the identity of the pedestrian figures. In this research, an attempt is made to propose a new hypothesis and perspective on the creation of this relief and the identity of its pedestrian characters. To this end, the views of previous scholars are first reviewed, followed by an analysis of the historical, political, and cultural conditions of Iran and ancient Armenia during the presumed period of its construction, which coincides with the Parthian rule of Armenia under the Arshakuni dynasty, as well as the historical geography of the region. According to the results of this study, the relief dates to the final years of Ardashir I’s reign, at a time when his son, Shapur I, had begun to share power. The pedestrian figures are likely identifiable as two local Armenian elders or nakharars, and the relief most probably commemorates an alliance and peace agreement between the Armenians of the region and the Iranian king and crown prince. During this period, Ardashir succeeded in conquering parts of southern Armenia, annexing them to the territory of Iranshahr and gradually weakening the sovereignty of the Parthians of Armenia—developments that later played a significant role in the full conquest of the region under Shapur I. This political and historical context explains the distinctive nature of the Khan Takhti relief in comparison with similar reliefs in the province of Pars, including both its execution outside that region and the emphasis placed on the full-face depiction of the figures, with particular attention given to their facial features.
Keywords: The Relief of Salmas, Sasanian, Ardashir I, Shapur I, Arshakuni Dynasty, Iran and Ancient Rome.
 
Introduction
The Khan Takhti relief is one of the few yet significant works dating to the Sassanid period in northwestern Iran. It is located approximately 12 kilometers southeast of Salmas, near the village of Khan Takhti and along the road connecting Selmas to Urmia and has suffered extensive damage as a result of long-term environmental erosion. Reliefs from the Sassanid period constitute valuable sources for the study of the history and archaeology of this era. Many Sassanid royal reliefs were created in the province of Pars, which functioned as the dynasty’s place of origin and ancestral homeland; the reasons for this concentration require further investigation and the support of additional archaeological evidence. Nevertheless, except for the reliefs at Taq-e Bostan in Kermanshah, the Khan Takhti relief represents one of the few examples executed outside the province of Pars, in the northwest of Iran. Unfortunately, a substantial portion of this relief has been lost due to erosion, rendering many of its details difficult to recognise. However, certain features can still be identified through drawings produced by European orientalists during the past three centuries following their visits to the region in which the monument is located. Despite this, the absence of an inscription—presumably lost over time, if one originally existed—and the lack of a clear reference to a specific historical event raise important questions concerning the identity of the figures depicted. 
The relief appears to have been created contemporaneously with the event it commemorates, yet differing interpretations have been proposed regarding its subject and meaning. One of the major developments of Ardashir’s reign was the beginning of a new phase of conflict between the Iranians and the Romans, and some scholars have associated the Khan Takhti relief with this historical context. At the same time, Western historical accounts have tended to record cultural and political conditions in the East primarily during periods of conflict between East and West, a tendency that has contributed to gaps and ambiguities in certain phases of Iran’s historical record. One such ambiguity concerns the situation of the Armenian region during the reign of Ardashir. Furthermore, insufficient attention to the historical geography of the period in which the relief was created, as well as to the political and cultural conditions of Armenia at that time, has led some researchers to propose interpretations that remain unclear or inconclusive. Within this framework, the present study examines the conditions of Iran and Armenia during the final years of Parthian rule and the early years of Sassanid rule, critically reviews previous scholarly interpretations of the Khan Takhti monument, and ultimately analyses the hypotheses proposed here concerning the circumstances surrounding the creation of this relief.
 
Discussion
The Khan Takhti bas-relief is one of the significant works of the Sassanid period when compared with similar examples from the same era. Its most distinctive feature is the considerable distance between its location and the primary concentration of Sassanid bas-reliefs in the province of Pars, a circumstance that raises important questions regarding the reasons for its creation at this site. Several researchers have offered interpretations of this monument, most of which are strongly influenced by, or directly derived from, earlier studies, leading to the repetition of similar assumptions and conclusions. In the present research, an effort has been made to re-examine the ambiguities present in previous studies, with particular emphasis on the political and cultural conditions of Iran and Armenia, their geographical proximity, and the historical geography of these regions during the early Sassanid period. From approximately 50 CE until the reign of Shapur I, Armenia was ruled by a branch of Iranian Parthians known as the Arsacids, or Arshakunis.
 
Conclusion
Historical sources and archaeological evidence demonstrate that during this period Armenian religious, political, and cultural structures were strongly influenced by the Parthians of Iran. The close cultural and social affinities between the populations of these two regions led the Armenians to support the Iranians in their conflicts with Rome until the end of Parthian rule in Armenia. The Khan Takhti relief is located near the relative frontier between Iran and southern Armenia in antiquity. Considering historical accounts that indicate the gradual support of the nakharars, or major Armenian nobles, for Ardashir, and taking into account that Ardashir Babakan was unable to fully control Armenia during his reign and succeeded only in capturing parts of southern Armenia—apparently without large-scale military conflict—the pedestrian figures depicted in the relief, who display attire and physiognomic features similar to those of Parthian subjects, gain particular significance. As noted, there were few substantial differences between the Parthians of Iran and the Armenians of this period in terms of religion and culture. If the two figures represented in the relief are understood as local Armenian nobles from the region in which the monument was carved, the petroglyph can most plausibly be interpreted as a commemorative monument symbolizing the alliance and loyalty of the Armenians of the area to Ardashir Sassanian and his crown prince, Shapur I. The specific reasons and details of this political agreement remain historically unclear and may originally have been recorded in an inscription that has since been lost. Furthermore, the fact that this petroglyph—unlike other reliefs of Ardashir and Shapur I carved in the province of Pars—was created in northwestern Iran can be attributed to its thematic emphasis on peace and alliance, as well as its strategic placement overlooking an ancient route and passage. Future fieldwork and archaeological excavations in the area of the monument are expected to yield new and valuable information regarding the circumstances of its creation. Nevertheless, as with all archaeological interpretations, the discovery of new archaeological or historical evidence may refine, supplement, or revise the hypothesis proposed in this study.