OI Members Lecture: 'Of Faith and Fire Altars: New visual evidence for ritual in the seals and sealings of the Persian Empire'

Mark B. Garrison, of Trinity University, will be giving a lecture entitled 'Of Faith and Fire Altars: New visual evidence for ritual in the seals and sealings of the Persian Empire'.

• When: Wednesday, December 7, 2011 
• Time: 19:00 - 22:00

What was the role of Zoroastrian religion in the Persian Empire? This question has dominated much of the analyses of the royal inscriptions that invoke the god Auramazda. A critical resource in these inquiries has been the visual evidence. This lecture investigates the representation of "fire altars" by examining the early reigns of Darius I and Xerxes at their capital city of Persepolis. This tight focus gives us the advantage of dealing with only the most critical, formative period of the Persian Empire, when most of the visual and courtly protocols were established and canonized. Analyses of these sort can help us understand the complex connections between art, religion, and politics in the Achaemenid Persia.

Join us for a reception following the lecture in the Lasalle-Banks room.

Persepolis in Pleiades http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/922695