Posters

Afsaneh Haddadian at the Women's Exhibit Table

The Ancient Iran Day exhibit highlights the complexity of women's lives in Ancient Iran. While some texts show property rights and political power, others explore purity laws, suspicions of witchcraft, and social expectations. Although the actual lives of most Ancient Iranian women, their thoughts, ambitions, habits, and frustrations, are mostly invisible, the texts below give a good sampling of the available material.

As an additional touch, we also added hairstyling, based on depictions in Sasanian art. Volunteer Sima Abbaszadeh, a professional stylist, recreated the hairstyles (the link to the hairstyle images can be found here). Several visitors and volunteers of all ages took advantage of the opportunity to refashion their hair for a day.

The hairstyling exhibit made a small part of Ancient Iranian social life tangible in an accessible and enjoyable way. But it also provided an opportunity to think about hair as a means of personal and social expression. . . as well as an imaginative connection to the women of Ancient Iran and the way they shaped their appearance centuries ago.

Right: Professional stylist Sima Abbaszadeh recreates a hairtyle on volunteer Arwa Mokdad based on ancient Sasanian depictions

Both texts and statues suggest that women could exercise considerable power in Ancient Elam. This life-sized statue captures the legacy of the Elamite queen Napir-Asu, who also sponsored Iran's only surviving ziggurat, Chogha Zanbil.

In Elamite society, weaving was often perceived as a marker of feminine virtue. This fragmentary relief shows an aristocratic woman demonstrating her skill at the loom while also displaying her fine clothes and jewels.

Feminine beauty also served as a spiritual metaphor: the daena, the spirit that welcomed human souls into the afterlife, was either a beautiful woman or a hideous, witch-like figure, depending on whether the deceased had done good or bad deeds in life.

Administrative documents from Persepolis show that some women were not only personally wealthy but also managed their properties' affairs. This Elamite text orders the delivery of a flock of sheep to an Achaemenid queen.

Zoroastrian tradition affirmed marriage as indispensable for maintaining Ahura Mazda's creation, though the time limit and duties involved could be adjusted. In this Middle Persian marriage contract, a husband promises his wife the highest type of permanent union, pledging fidelity to her and her children.

As in many societies, the terror of witchcraft was primarily associated with unattached women. In the text above, Sasanian-era rabbis give travelers advice on how to protect themselves from "suspicious" women at the crossroads.

Zoroastrianism teachers assigned women multiple religious duties. These include being submissive and obedient to their husbands, but women also had responsibilities of their own, namely to care for sacred elements and beneficient animals created by Ahura Mazda.