https://www.aclr.ir/ Ancien Culture and Languages en daily 1 Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0330 Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0330 https://www.aclr.ir/article_725769.html In the Shahnameh, Zahhak is introduced as being of Arab descent. As Zahhak has long been regarded as a symbol of oppression, Iranians, in expressing their anti-Arab sentiments following the Arab invasion, referred to him as Tazi. Before this, some researchers had discussed Zahhak's association with the eastern regions of Iran and rejected his Arab ancestry. While considering their viewpoints, the author has sought to provide a descriptive-analytical exploration of Zahhak’s Scythian-Parthian origins, examining it through the Shahnameh, historical texts, and the etymology of certain names linked to Zahhak. This study aims to establish that Zahhak was Scythian and hailed from east of Iran. The reasons and evidence supporting Zahhak's Scythian identity will also address why Rostam, during his confrontation with Esfandiar, claims to be of Zahhak's lineage through his mother. This potential explanation suggests that it might be rooted in the shared Scythian ancestry of both Zahhak and Rostam. https://www.aclr.ir/article_721820.html Menog I xrad is a text entry in Middle Persian language and includes answers that the fictional character "Dana" asks from Menog I xrad. Golestan-E Saadi is a book written by Saadi. The purpose of the present research, which was carried out in a descriptive-analytical way, is to answer the question of what are the primary areas of the concept of metaphor "injustice" in these two texts based on the theory of "contemporary metaphor" and what is the result of comparing them with each other. The findings of this research, considering the way “Injustice” is conceptualized, can somewhat clarify the difference between the concept of ”Injustice” in the human thought in these two books, due to the difference in the philosophical, social, political and moral view of the two periods of Iran (pre-Islamic and Iran of 7th Hijri. 8 name mappings: action, power, fault, object, lesson, material, prison and job for the concept of "injustice" found in two texts. The name mappings of action and power with frequency difference were common in both texts.“Injustice” as a defect was observed only in the Menog I xrad and “Injustice” as an object, lesson, subject, prison and job only in Golestan-E Saadi. It seems that the functioning of Iran's social life was less complicated in the era when the Menog I xrad was compiled and the government structure was less complicated. In fact, it has presented itself less in the form of government structures such as "prison" and people with governmental position and as "jobs". https://www.aclr.ir/article_714082.html Rudaki Samarqandi, a prominent poet and musician of the Samani court, is one of the first literati of the Islamic era, who paid special attention to sermon and the inclusion of wise opinions in the form of poetry in his works, and the correctness of this matter is clearly visible despite the few couplets left by him. In this regard, the present research tries to show, firstly, the influence of some advices and ideas left in Pahlavi and Mazdayasna literature by taking an intertextual look at Rudaki's poems and using the descriptive method and library studies. Then, by bringing sufficient evidence and examples, the adaptation of some Iranian poets and writers after Rudaki to the 7th century AH (relying on the advices of Ferdowsi, Asadi Toosi, Nasir Khosrow, Nizami Ganjei and Sa`di) from those advices should be shown. In fact, this essay, more than anything else, aims to show the mediating role of Rudaki among pre- and Islamic Iranian advisers in the expression of certain didactic themes and teachings. Among its most important findings, we can mention the significant frequency of Rudaki's tendency towards the subject of the cosmos and its related concepts; a topic that has been significantly reflected in the literary works after him, especially in Ferdowsi's Shahnameh. And it seems that its main source should be sought in the spiritual heritage of the past and Pahlavi advice books. https://www.aclr.ir/article_723943.html minstrelsy ritual is one of the cultural and artistic heritages left from ancient Iran. This ancient ritual became very popular during the Sasanid rule era, and some of the most famous Iranian minstrels, such as Barbad and Nakisa, composed and performed many melodies and tunes. In this research, using a descriptive and analytical method, and library studies, the author will try to investigate the minstrelsy ritual in ancient Iran and then analyze how it continued and extended in Iran during the Islamic era, especially during the Samanid and Ghaznavid eras, focusing on poems of Masoud Saad. According to the findings of this research, to sixth centuries of Hijri, minstrelsy with some changes in some of its details, continued to exist in some parts of Iran, especially in the court of the Samanids and the Ghaznavid. In this way, poets played a significant role in the reconstruction and popularization of minstrelsy as a part of Iranian cultural identity. Among the poets of the Ghaznavid period, the poems of Masoud Saad are an important source for understanding the particulars of minstrelsy in the said period. In particular, with his attention to Barbad's melodies, and composing pieces describing the twelve months, thirty days of the month, and seven days of the week, he tried to revive minstrelsy in the court of Ghaznavids. https://www.aclr.ir/article_728861.html Through the passage of time, the forms and meanings of words in languages often change due to linguistic and non-linguistic factors. In this process, the same word may change to different forms in cognate languages ; it means, for example, its usage may decrease in one language and, conversely, increase in another. The historical background of the old Iranian word “*daiman-: eye” proves this statement. The oldest Iranian text in which this word is found is the young Avestan. This word is not used in modern standard Persian. On the contrary, it is common in modern Balochi language, one of the known Iranian languages, with relatively numerous derivatives and compounds. This article, with a semantic approach, seeks to answer in a descriptive manner the question as to what data is used with the aforementioned word in modern Balochi and, to some extent, what differences it shows in terms of comparison with Persian. The results based on two reliable sources in these two languages, the Sokhan Comprehensive Dictionary, by Hassan Anvari, published in 2002, and the Balochi-Persian Dictionary, by Abdul-Ghafoor Jahandideh, published in 2017, show that this word is described in the Sokhan Comprehensive Dictionary with only one entry as an "archaic" word, while in Balochi it is given with 172 entries and sub-entries with different derivatives and combinations. The results of this research indicate that to achieve the historical background of Iranian words, studying them only in a language like Persian, which is currently the most prestigious Iranian language, is not sufficient, and in this context, the role of other Iranian languages such as Balochi, Kurdish, Pashto, Gilaki, and Ossetic should not be neglected. https://www.aclr.ir/article_714407.html Animal sacrifice is a ritual that has been practiced in various periods of human life, and people tried to please the animals by slaughtering them and offering them to the higher powers. Sacrifice is a ritual that has existed in most religions and in various periods of history; The religion of Zoroastrianism is one of the religions in which sacrifice is of particular importance. One of the topics that can be a strong reason for Zoroaster's opposition to aspects of the sacrifice ritual is the numerous animal sacrifices, which later become a model for sacrifices. The present study, which is a descriptive-analytical method and based on a library study, tries to analyze the permission or prohibition of animal sacrifice and drinking hummus by Zoroaster. The results show:according to the many documents available in Avesta, Pahlavi and Persian traditions, meat-eating is not prohibited in Zoroastrian religion and bloody sacrifices are one of the basic rituals of this religion. The importance of sacrifice in this ritual is to the extent that in the end of time, the sacrificial cow is sacrificed for the immortality of the people. Also in the collection of Zoroastrian deities, a deity is dedicated to the sacrifice (Home) and this same deity demands the tongue and jaw of the left of the sacrifice; The existence of such fundamental beliefs rejects the Prophet's opposition to sacrifice. The teachings of Zoroaster seem to have been opposed to the primitive form of sacrifice (one hundred horses, a thousand cows, and ten thousand sheep), which in turn led to the impoverishment of the people and the destruction of the fields; He opposed the inhumane tradition of sacrificing oxen, burning sacred home, dancing and dancing with the savagery and drunkenness of drinking hummus and mixing it with cow's blood https://www.aclr.ir/article_729262.html Abstract: Numbers have consistently constituted an integral part of the structure of sacred literature in ancient Mesopotamia, and the major religions that emerged in this region and its surroundings are indebted to this ancient legacy. At the heart of Sassanid Babylonia, Manichaeism, drawing upon the core teachings of preceding religions, employed specific numbers to convey key religious concepts. This article seeks to analyze Middle Iranian manuscripts recovered from Turfan, Xinjiang, China, in order to identify the metaphors and similes used by Manichaeans to present Mani’s heptad writings. This study provides documented evidence of how Mani portrayed himself as a healer and physician, and how his works—referred to in authentic Manichaean texts as “the seven efficacious jewels”, “the seven healing tools”, “the seven precious rock crystals”, and even, in emulation of Zoroastrian teachings, “the seven fragrant fires” were regarded as remedies for the human soul. This study explores not only the central role of the seven books of Mani and the associated religious approaches in Middle Persian and Parthian texts, while also drawing on non-Iranian sources such as Coptic and Greek texts to interpret the findings, but through a textual approach tries to reexamine some earlier perspectives. Manichaean use of the number seven was not only deeply rooted in Mesopotamia and Iranian thought, but also enriched by the Gnostic-Christian heritage. Mani must be recognized as one of the greatest systematizer of the theology of numbers in the ancient world. https://www.aclr.ir/article_732875.html This article examines and analyzes how the historical identity of the Zoroastrian migrant community in India is formulated and its narrative framework within the Qesseh-ye Sanjan. The Qesseh-ye Sanjan is a Persian verse epic composed by a Zoroastrian Mobed in 969 Yazdegerdi, corresponding to 1599 AD, in Gujarat, India, narrating the story of the Zoroastrian migration from Iran to India. By integrating Iranian roots with the influences of Indian culture, the Qesseh-ye Sanjan has played a significant role in shaping the identity of the Parsi community in India and is recognized as an important part of their shared memory. This narrative stands as a crucial source for understanding the imagination and historical self-perception of the Parsi community before their inclination towards Western culture. From the perspective of new museology, narrating identity within the cultural heritage of the Parsi community representation of a subculture's identity in museums holds cultural and ethical validity when it aligns with events, historical memory, and the community's self-image. The main questions guiding this research are: How is the concept of identity shaped and explained in the narrative of the Qesseh-ye Sanjan? On which sub-narratives within the poem’s framework does the representation and formation of the historical identity of the Zoroastrian migrant community rest? The research data is examined based on historical studies and employing content analysis. The findings of this research indicate that the Qesseh-ye Sanjan narrates the transformation and evolution of Iranian Zoroastrian identity into Parsi Zoroastrian identity. The concept of identity in the Qesseh-ye Sanjan is not static; rather, it is the result of the confluence of various historical, cultural, and social factors that are invented, grow, and transform in relation to events. https://www.aclr.ir/article_727855.html Beauty is a relative term and it is not possible to provide a comprehensive definition of beauty in all times and places. The subject of this research is to identify the criteria of ideal female based on Pahlavi texts. The ideal woman in this study means a worthy lady embodies all the beauties of the face and character. Achieving a perfect woman who embodies the beauties of the face, body and good moral is the desire of every man, and this long-standing desire is clearly expressed in a limited number Pahlavi texts. The purpose of this research is to answer this question is based on answer the question, “Based on the aforementioned texts,‌ What characteristics were considered to determine the ideal woman during Sassanid era?”Based on the concepts of selected Pahlavi texts, we found that ancient Iranian did not consider the criterion for selecting an ideal woman to be only in external beauty, and for the writers of this period, the aesthetic realm of a woman is manifested and finds meaning in observing her moral character. They emphasize that a worthy woman, in addition to paying attention to her beautiful appearance, must be careful in her speech and actions, be a loving and gentle husband, and keep her soul pure.First, criteria that are closely related to religious beliefs, such as respect for one's husband and chastity.But another group of criteria are non-religious and are related to the image of a beloved woman that a man at that time had of her face and body, or in other words, her beauty, in his mind. Therefore, beautiful behavior, along with beauty in face and body, represented the concept of an ideal woman in the Sassanid period. This research was conducted using a descriptive-analytical method and library resources were used. https://www.aclr.ir/article_733149.html The Elamite HAL ÉŠŠANA tibba makka in Persepolis Administration Tablets generally translated to allotment/consumed before the king and correlates with allocation of commodities for royal table. Achaemenid royal table has been out of the most important foundations including a manifold and extensive administration which is to prepare and distribution commodities for a large number of stewards, staffs and the royal family along with the cattle involved it. Due to the importance of the royal table, the hypothesis of the paper suggests an Iranian equivalent. Here we investigate Old Persian *patibāga- manifestedin Aramaic texts as ptbg indicates royal meal dispenced and depicts that the word would be a pivotal in royal table terminology and seems likely HAL ÉŠŠANA tibba makka and Aramaic ptbg mlk would be a literally translation for reconstructed Old Persian xšāyaθiyahyā *patibāga. It seems that the Greek potibaziš in classic texts and Elamite ba-ti-ba-zi-iš in PFNN 2268:29 should be another representation of Old Persian *patibāga. Inestigating on the terminology and the administration of the royal table as a foundation serves the achaemenid studies to identify different dimension of cultural and social and political of this era. As a result, this survey shed a light on the late ancient Persia as known fur scholars for the continuity of achaemenid culture in different aspects. https://www.aclr.ir/article_722494.html Reliefs of Apadana staircase including 23 delegation of Achaemenid Satrapies bearing tribute / gifts have for a long time been a subject for a veriety of interpretations. Till the mid 20th, it is highly believed that these figures illustrate tribute giving cult to the King in Nowrouz ceremony. But at the milstone of mid 20th due to some archaeological improvments the thesis about New Year celebration on Persepolis Platform had vastly been diluted. Recent evidences tended to a conformation that the intention of Achaemenid Art was a synchronic and timeless representation of the Royal ideaology and propaganda about the power, integnity, plurality and pax persica, instead of a diachronic and history based narration and illustration of events and occations. In this Paper, based on the Royal Inscriptions and specially those of DNb and Xpl on Naghsh-i Rostam, on the light of the classic texts, we argue that due to the synchronic model of Achaemenid textual and visual representation of historical occasions, the Apadana reliefs can simultaneously represent the redistribution of goods and gifts by the King. Hence, these reliefs can be interprated as an exhibition of the contents of royal treasury which we know had been regularly held through banquets and ceremonies. https://www.aclr.ir/article_732527.html One way to understand a lineage and society is to understand the culture, myths, and ancient beliefs associated with it. After the arrival of Islam in Iran, we know a colorful and magnificent bird with Fictional characteristics called the Simorgh, which is not related to the mythical Saenmurv. After entering each period, the mythical Saenmurv undergoes extensive changes with the introduction of new beliefs. In the middle period, his Fictional features become more than the features of his myths, so that some believe that the middle Simorgh is separate from Saenmurv and does not have Avestan and ancient origins. After the arrival of Islam in Iran, its rejection from other civilizations increased and it lost more or less all its mythological characteristics and took on an imaginary and completely Fictional form, but in addition to losing its characteristic His myths are still among the most enduring myths and symbols of Iran. This research, using an analytical-comparative method, has examined the subject and reviewed the transformations that have led to changes in myths. It then traces the mythological Saenmurv up to the Simurgh and seeks to determine the extent to which the mystical Simurgh we know today is connected to the mythological Saenmurv. https://www.aclr.ir/article_710054.html Buran and Azarmidokht were Khosrow’s two daughters who each reigned over Iran for a short period of time after father’s death. The names of these two is written in different texts with various forms, Especially in the lists of the kings of ancient Iran, which is taken from the book Khwadāynāmag of the Sassanid period, which today its various parts are left in Persian and Arabic historical books which are written after Islam, a variety of forms of these two names can be seen. This shows the importance of their study. In this research, an attempt has been made to investigate the various forms of these two names in as well as their Persian translations, the origin, meaning, original forms of these two names, and also to analyze the transcriber's writing and spelling errors and the errors resulting from the tasteful translation of the translators in translating these two names from Arabic to Persian in 12 historical book in Arabic and their translations, as well as seven historical works in Persian. This can be done by setting up a table and comparing the forms narrated in these works and then checking and comparing the, with the findings and statements of linguists about the meaning of the names https://www.aclr.ir/article_710492.html The pattern of western dominance influenced by Foucault's theory of knowledge and power, the process of creating the other, the separation of East and West, and the attempt to introduce oneself through the introduction of the other left an important impact on Orientalists, both in terms of value (good&bad), and in terms of Behavioral (accepting the values of others and identifying oneself with the other), and epistemological (knowledge or ignorance about the other's identity) crystallized.In the era of colonialism, the West, with a view of the same positivist view, corrected and analyzed the East - such as inanimate nature or the archeological world - in order to show rationality and positivism, which became the basis for their surveillance of the East. The consensus of the West on the lack of civil society as one of the roots of backwardness in the East highlighted the position of discourses related to forces and social institutions in the West, but it was actually a cover for the colonial practices of the West. The reaction of postmodernism to oriental studies provided the basis for the representation of the East and challenged the originality of European reason.The reaction of people like Said to the discourse of Orientalism caused the discourse of Orientalism to be reversed. The discourse of power, whose weaknesses and shortcomings, created a discourse called localism, which criticized the works and thoughts of Orientalism and its negative effects.The findings of the research show that the duality of self (rationalist and active) and the other (lustful and stagnant), which was actually a cover for the colonization of the East, lost its color after the postmodernist efforts of the second half of the 20th century and provided the basis for the representation of Orientalists' ideas.This research is based on library studies and descriptive-analytical methods. https://www.aclr.ir/article_718957.html The Dēnkard is the most important Middle Persian text that contains the contents of the Avesta and Zand. The second Gāhānīg Nask from the 9th book of Dēnkard is called Waršt-Mānsar Nask. In this research, the first chapter of the Waršt-Mānsar Nask, which is called aēϑrapaitiš, is examined and for the first time in the world, its expressions are matched with various parts of the Avesta and Zand in order to determine from which part of the Avesta and Zand the contents of this chapter have been taken. According to the findings of this research, the name of this chapter has been taken from the Yasna, Hāt 65, verse 9 and the contents of this chapter have been taken from parts of the Yasna, Gathas, Yashts, Vendidad and Visperad. The phrases from this chapter that are in accordance with the Yasna and Vendidad differ from Zand and its interpretations in the writing style, but they are similar in content, because the author of the Dēnkard has created fragmants using the Avesta and did not directly translate or interpret the Avesta. The author of the Dēnkard has written the contents of Avesta by selecting, summarizing and combining the Avesta verses with each other in this chapter . https://www.aclr.ir/article_719077.html The present research is an investigation of different recordings of Kārīyān fire temple in Pahlavi sources and its adaptation with sources of historical geography in the Islamic era. This toponym, which is introduced as Kārīyān in the sources of the Islamic era, can be seen in various forms such as Kārnīkān and KanārnīkanIn in Pahlavi manuscripts. It is shown here that rendering this toponym as Kāriyān and attribute it to a region near Lār city is not satisfatory. And according to the documents mentioned in the current research, it can be seen that two recent renderings of this toponym in the Pahlavi texts (as Kārnīkān and Kanārnīkan) are more related to a fire temple in Shiraz called Kārnīyān, which is mentioned by Istakhri. In addition to Istakhry's Masālik wa Mamālik, other sources such as Ibn Hawqal's Sūrat al-'Ard have mentioned this toponym. Therefore, the possibility that the name of this fire temple is different from the famous Persian rendering is strengthened. It should also be mentioned that the recording of this word in the Iranian version of Bundahišn, known as TD1, as Kārnīkān, is more authentic and has an older construction. This research is based on documentary and library studies and tries to present its documentation in a comparative method. https://www.aclr.ir/article_727856.html The coins of the local kings of Pars play a crucial role in the historical study of this region between the defeat of the Achaemenid Empire and the establishment of the Sassanids, as they represent the only archaeological remnants of these local rulers. These coins were minted by local rulers of Pars, who governed either independently or semi-independently under the oversight of the central government during the Seleucid and Parthian periods, these coins reflect the continuity of cultural and religious beliefs from the Achaemenid era, especially following the occupation of Pars by Alexander and his successors. The coins of the local kings of Pars can be categorized into three or four groups based on numismatic studies. The first group comprises the Fratrakā, semi-independent rulers who operated under Seleucid control, with their coins likely dating back to the third century BC. The second group includes rulers who, upon gaining independence, ceased to recognize Seleucid authority and began minting coins featuring the title MLKA (king) to describe themselves. The third group consists of local kings of Pars who ruled during the Parthian period; their coins not only preserved ancient traditions but also incorporated influences from Parthian coinage art. This article aims to explore the evolution of motifs on the coins of the local kings of Pars by examining several specimens housed in the Malek Museum, the Sepah Bank Museum, and the Persepolis Museum. It posits that these motifs reflect not only the ideology and cultural-religious beliefs of the Achaemenids but were also influenced by the art and religious beliefs of the Seleucids and Parthians. The research is conducted in a descriptive-analytical manner, utilizing both library and field data. https://www.aclr.ir/article_731300.html In ancient Iranian mythology and religious tradition, sacred or "minou" spaces are not just considered as a geographical or natural paradigms. Rather, they are symbolic, ritual, and cultural frameworks that developed through narrative and ceremonial processes. In addition to play an active role in the generation, organization, and transmission of meaning. This article studies how such celestial realms serve not as passive backdrops but as meaning-making mechanisms deeply incorporated in the structure of narrative and cultural memory in pre-Islamic Iranian literature. The critical question of the study is how sacred zones are formed through ritual, narrative, and collective symbolic encoding. Aling with how they become sites of moral judgment, existential trial, purification, birth, or the transfer of legitimacy. The theoretical framework is based on cultural theories that understand sacredness as a social and symbolic construction instead of natural given. Employing a qualitative, interpretive method, the study builds on semiotic and contextual readings of classical texts to analyze how spatial structures become activated in moments of cosmological, social, or narrative disruption. Instances including transcendental mountains, transitional bridges, celestial seas, hidden wells, women’s secluded quarters, and suspended plains are investigated in relation to myths of heroic trials, soul passage, or dynastic transfer of power. The evidence indicates that minou spaces in the Iranian tradition are dynamic and liminal forms that takes a shape in response to cultural or cosmic imbalance and serve as instruments for reordering meaning, reestablishing moral frameworks, and asserting legitimacy. These spaces, closely firmly bound in ritual practice, gendered embodiment, and collective memory, are not fixed metaphysical realms but cultural devices for framing the human relationship to the sacred. As such, minou cartographies should be understood not just as depictions of mythical geographies, but as conceptual model for arranging experience, stabilizing identity, and interpreting the existential logic of being. https://www.aclr.ir/article_733625.html Among the philosophers of ancient Greece, Aristotle—unlike his teacher Plato—placed strong emphasis on the impact of art on human emotions. In his Poetics, he addresses the role of art in the purification of the human soul. Likewise, in the nineteenth century, Hegel, one of the principal figures of German Idealism, regarded art as one of the three primary means through which human beings apprehend ultimate truth or the Absolute Idea. An examination of the works of these two philosophers reveals key artistic concepts: in Aristotle’s thought, notions such as proportion, balance, and catharsis; and in Hegel’s philosophy, the well-known tripartite classification of art. On the other hand, the ancient Mannaean civilization in western Iran is characterized by distinctive symbolic architectural and decorative elements, including human, animal, and vegetal motifs evident in the artifacts uncovered from its historical period. The aim of this article is to examine whether, despite the chronological precedence of the Mannaean civilization over the eras of Aristotle and Hegel, aesthetic concepts such as proportion, mimesis, and symbolism can be understood as intersubjective human notions that transcend historical periods. Furthermore, this study seeks to address whether these philosophical concepts are discernible in Mannaean architecture, and if so, through what mechanisms such correspondences are manifested. The research methodology of this article is qualitative and analytical, employing library-based research, as well as the collection and analysis of interviews and relevant scholarly articles, in order to address the research questions. The findings of this study are of particular significance, as they clarify the extent to which Mannaean art corresponds with Aristotelian aesthetic principles and identify the category within Hegel’s threefold classification of art to which it may belong. Moreover, the results of this research contribute to the establishment of an interdisciplinary connection between art, architecture, and philosophy. https://www.aclr.ir/article_733345.html In addition to court art, Sasanian art is a religious-Zoroastrian art with material and spiritual aspects. Therefore, the interpretation of works of art, from bas-reliefs to silverware and jewelry, with a symbological approach, unveils the beliefs of the people in that time, as symbols and representations of artistic works have always been tools for expressing and conveying the thoughts in that era. Sasanian artistic works largely reflect the intellectual and belief systems prevailing in Sasanian society. This article aims to analyze the visual and structural aspects of a surviving piece of Sasanian jewelry, which, in a way, expresses the socio-cultural concepts of that era. In this research, we also study some of the perspectives and thoughts held by the conscious and subconscious minds of the users and creators of this piece. The main hypothesis of this study is based on whether artistic works were influenced by the political and cultural characteristics of this era, and whether, conversely, by analyzing the structure and nature of artistic works, we can discern the belief of that period. Based on this, as a case study, one of the most valuable artefacts of this period, the Sasanian necklace in the Reza Abbasid Museum in Tehran, has been studied. The results of the study on this artefact reveal that the patterns used on this necklace, like other surviving patterns in ancient Iranian art, have their roots in religious and mythological beliefs during the Sasanian era. The research method in this study is descriptive and analytical in terms of purpose and nature, aiming to prove the hypotheses using a symbolic approach. The data collection method is document-based, relying on written sources as well as field study of the work in the museum.