Sāssān (

Middle Persian Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle ...

𐭮𐭠𐭮𐭠𐭭 Sāsān >

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

ساسان, also known as Sasan), considered the eponymous ancestor of the Sasanian (or Sassanid) Dynasty (ruled 224-651) in Persia, was "a great warrior and hunter" and a

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic ...

high priest in Pars. He lived sometime near the fall of the Arsacid (Parthian) Empire in the early 3rd century CE.

Identity of Sasan

Medieval sources

There are many slightly different stories concerning Sasan and his relation to Ardashir I, the founder of the Sasanian Empire. The northern Iranian historian

Tabari ( ar, أبو جعفر محمد بن جرير بن يزيد الطبري), more commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Muslim historian and scholar from Amol, Tabaristan. Among the most prominent figures of the Islamic Golden Age, al-Tabari ...

mentions that Sasan married Rambehesht, a princess of the Bāzarangid family, the vassal dynasty of Pārs, and that Sasan was a grandfather of Ardashir I, while

Papak Pabag ( pal, 𐭯𐭠𐭯𐭪𐭩, ''Pāpak/Pābag''; New Persian: ''Bābak''), was an Iranian prince who ruled Istakhr, the capital of Pars, from 205 or 206 until his death sometime between 207–210. He was the father, stepfather, grandfather ...

is named as Ardashir I's father. According to the Pahlavi book of Karnamak-i Artaxshir-i Papakan, Sasan's wife was a daughter of a nobleman called Papak. The marriage was arranged by Papak after hearing that Sasan has " Achamenian (Achaemenid) blood in him". Their son was Ardashir I. Sasan vanishes shortly after Ardashir appears in the story and Papak is "considered the father of Ardashir". These stories on different relations between Ardashir, Pāpak, and Sāsān have, according to Frye, a Zoroastrian explanation. Sasan was indeed the father of Ardashir and "disappears" from the story after the birth of Ardashir. Similar to the current Zoroastrian practices, Papak had then taken the responsibility of his daughter and her son Ardashir after Sasan "disappears" and is named afterwards as the father of Ardashir. In the Kabe Zartosht inscription of Shapur I the Great, the four named persons "Sasan, Papak, Ardashir, Shapur" have different titles: Sasan is named as ''hwataw'' or ''xwadāy'' ("the lord", usually given to sovereigns of small local principalities), Papak as ''

shah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...

'', Ardashir as ''shāhanshāh'' ("King of Kings of the Sasanian Empire") and Shapur as "King of Kings of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and

Aniran Anērān (Middle Persian, ) or Anīrân (Modern Persian, ) is an ethno-linguistic term that signifies "non-Iranian" or "non-Iran" (non-Aryan). Thus, in a general sense, 'Aniran' signifies lands where Iranian languages are not spoken. In a pejorativ ...

Modern sources

However, according to Touraj Daryaee, Sasanian sources cannot be trusted because they were from the royal Sasanian archives, which were made by the court, in the words of Daryaee, "to fit the world-view of the late Sasanian world". Daryaee and several other scholars state that Sasan had his name from a deity who was known in many parts of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

but not in Fars, the homeland of the Sasanians, which thus means that Sasan was an Iranian foreigner from the west or the east who had settled in Fars, whose inhabitants did not know about this deity he believed in. Sasan later managed to become the priest of the important Anahid temple in

Estakhr Istakhr (Middle Persian romanized: ''Stakhr'', fa, اصطخر, translit=Istakhr also spelt استخر in modern literature) was an ancient city in Fars province, north of Persepolis in southwestern Iran. It flourished as the capital of the Pers ...

, the capital of Fars. According to the

Bundahishn ''Bundahishn'' (Avestan: , "Primal Creation") is the name traditionally given to an encyclopedic collection of Zoroastrian cosmogony and cosmology written in Book Pahlavi. The original name of the work is not known. Although the ''Bundahishn'' ...

, which according to Daryaee was made independently and not by the Sasanian court, Sasan's daughter later married

and bore him Ardashir. Furthermore, the Bundahishn states that Sasan was the son of a certain Weh-afrid.

Politics of the Sasanian family

The political ambition of Sasan was evoked by the troubles and weakness of the last years of the Parthian empire. According to

, Papak managed to consolidate his power with the help of his own sons Shapur and

Ardashir Ardeshir or Ardashir ( Persian: اردشیر; also spelled as Ardasher) is a Persian name popular in Iran and other Persian-speaking countries. Ardashir is the New Persian form of the Middle Persian name , which is ultimately from Old Iranian ''*Ar ...

. This is considered the beginning of the Sasanian dynasty. Sasan's family became the rulers of the second Persian Empire and ruled over a great portion of western Asia (the first Persian Empire having been ruled by the dynasty of Cyrus the Great). The three founders of this new empire – that is, Papak and his two sons – are depicted and mentioned on the wall of the harem of Xerxes at

Persepolis , native_name_lang = , alternate_name = , image = Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Ruins of the Gate of All Nations, Persepolis. , map = , map_type ...

, a remnant site of the

Achaemenids The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest emp ...

, a representation suggested to be the evidence of a claim to Achaemenid heritage likely later added. Sasan is known for his efforts to try to bring Zoroastrianism back into the empire. He even encouraged Papak to take over the Parthian satrapy of Pars.

Notes

Bibliography

* * * *{{Citation, title = Sassanian Dynasty , last = Shahbazi , first = Alireza Shapour , author-link = Alireza Shapour Shahbazi , publisher =

Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by Jennifer Crewe (2014–present) and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fiel ...