Sasan (

Middle Persian Middle Persian, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg ( Inscriptional Pahlavi script: , Manichaean script: , Avestan script: ) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasania ...

𐭮𐭠𐭮𐭠𐭭 ''Sāsān'' > Persian ساسان), 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 ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, Zoroaster ( ). Among the wo ...

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

Identity of Sasan

Medieval sources

There are many slightly different stories concerning Sasan and his relation to

Ardashir I Ardashir I (), also known as Ardashir the Unifier (180–242 AD), was the founder of the Sasanian Empire, the last empire of ancient Iran. He was also Ardashir V of the Kings of Persis, until he founded the new empire. After defeating the last Par ...

, the founder of the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...

. The northern Iranian historian 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 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 Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...

'', 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 (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and Aniran".

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 the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

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, the capital of Fars. According to the

Bundahishn The ''Bundahishn'' (Middle Persian: , "Primal Creation") is an encyclopedic collection of beliefs about Zoroastrian cosmology written in the Book Pahlavi script. The original name of the work is not known. It is one of the most important extant ...

, which according to Daryaee was made independently and not by the Sasanian court, Sasan's daughter later married Papak 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 Tabari, Papak managed to consolidate his power with the help of his own sons Shapur and Ardashir. 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 Cyrus II of Persia ( ; 530 BC), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Hailing from Persis, he brought the Achaemenid dynasty to power by defeating the Media ...

). 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 Persepolis (; ; ) was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (). It is situated in the plains of Marvdasht, encircled by the southern Zagros mountains, Fars province of Iran. It is one of the key Iranian cultural heritage sites and ...

, a remnant site of the

Achaemenids The Achaemenid dynasty ( ; ; ; ) was a royal house that ruled the Achaemenid Empire, which eventually stretched from Egypt and Thrace in the west to Central Asia and the Indus Valley in the east. Origins The history of the Achaemenid dy ...

, 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 New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's la ...