Authors
1
Department of Islamic Art, Faculty of Arts, Shahid University, Tehran, Iran.
2
, Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Humanities, Hamedan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Hamedan, Iran.
10.22084/nb.2025.30390.2742
Abstract
The mountain goat motif is considered one of the oldest applied patterns in the art of the ancient world and Iranian art. Undoubtedly, this motif, which embodies vital meanings of fertility, life, and protection, remained prevalent until the end of the Sasanian period and continued to thrive during the Islamic era. Many studies have been conducted on the various representations of the ibex across different regions and historical periods, but none have explored the process of its emergence, evolution, or transformation, nor have the motifs resulting from this transformation in the Islamic period been identified. One of the central questions this research seeks to answer is: What has been the process of development and transformation of the ibex motif and its emphasized horns in ancient Iranian art, and what artistic themes did it carry? How did its reinterpretation continue in Islamic art, and what new meanings did it acquire? Which decorative motifs in Islamic art are the result of this evolution and metamorphosis? The research method is descriptive, analytical, and comparative, based on a study of the motifs. Selected examples of the ibex motif and its horns, as well as other decorative motifs in ancient Iranian art up to the medieval Islamic period, were studied, illustrated, and analyzed. The results obtained from the analysis and comparison of motifs indicate that the ibex motif, which is always associated with the sacred tree of life (alluding to the Asurik tree motif), initially appears in its spiral horns and later merges with the sacred plant of life. Over time, this fusion also integrates with the wings of birds. The resulting combined symbol of the triad—ibex horns, sacred plant, and bird wings—gave rise to the early Islimi(Arabesque) and Khatai motifs in the Sassanian period. These motifs, with their geometrically symmetric spiral structures resembling the wheel of the sun (chakra), evolved into the Islamic versions of Islimi(Arabesque) and Khatai motifs.
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