Algunos aportes iconográficos, simbólicos y litúrgicos iranios al Imperio Romano y al Cristianismo

Abstract

Abstract: The ancient Iranian cultural heritage to the Roman Empire and early Christianism includes iconographic, symbolic and liturgical aspects. For instance, the Iranian world manifests a strong tendency to frontal representation in artistic work, from Scythians and Cimmerians to Parthians and Sassanians, especially in the representation of divinities and kings. These aspects reached Syria and it is plausible that from there they passed to North Africa and Asia Minor, and finally to Rome. Besides the iconographical frontal disposition, a special type of throne, the radiated nimbus and a particular round puffin were the legacy of the ancient Iranian world to the Byzantine Empire and Medieval Western Europe. Those were symbols of power and majesty, related to the iconography of kings and deities. In the same way, the posture of Sassanian kings seated on their thrones, resembles those of the medieval kings. Besides the iconographical legacy, several religious ideas of Judaism and Christianism received the influence of Mazdean conceptions, especially those related to the judgement of souls in the Netherworld and the eternal struggle between angels and daemons.