{{essay|date=February 2013}} [[Image:Bactria-Margiana, late 3rd - early 2nd BC figure.jpg|thumb|Shaft-hole Axe Head with Bird-Headed Demon, a Boar, and a Dragon figurine. From Central Asia (Bactria-Margiana), late 3rd - early 2nd millennium BC.]] [[File:18. Flying elk with griffin burial mound Issyk (V.-IV. B.C.) Kazakhstan.JPG|thumb|Flying elk with a griffin, from a burial mound at Issyk (5th-4th centuries BC), [[Kazakhstan]]]] '''[[Sassanid]] art''' has well known similarities with the art of the [[Bulgars]], [[Khazars]], and Saka-[[Scythians]],that have reocurred in Asia. They predominantly feature motifs of fighting animals typically made of gold.
== Patterns == The characteristic patterns of [[Sassanid]] art exhibit similarities to the art of the [[Bulgars]],<ref>Bulgarian's Treasures from the past by Ivan Venedikov, Sava Boyadjiev and Dimiter Kartalev, Foreign Languages Press Sofia 1965, pp. 345-55</ref> [[Khazars]], and Saka-[[Scythian]], and have recurred at different locations in the [[Central Asia]] region. A "[[griffin]] fighting an [[elk]]" motif from the [[Treasure of Nagyszentmiklós]], found in 1799 in what is today [[Romania]], bears similarities with another griffin & elk motif discovered in the tombs of [[Hsiung-nu]]<ref>The Empire of the Steppes, a History of Central Asia by Rene Grousset (transl. by Naomi Walford), Rutgers University Press, 2005, p.25</ref> (early [[Huns]], also [[Xiongnu]]) during Colonel [[Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov]]<ref>Buddha: Radiant Awakening by Jackie Menzies, Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2001</ref><ref>Wildlife of the Tibetan Steppe by George B. Schaller, University Of Chicago Press, 2000, p.11</ref> expedition (1907–09) near [[Ulan Bator|Urga]] (Outer [[Mongolia]]).<ref>Discoveries of the Kozlov Expedition by W. Perceval Yetts, he Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, Vol. 48, No. 277 (Apr., 1926), pp. 168-185</ref><ref>The Pazirik Burial of Altai by Eugene A. Golomshtok, M. P. Griaznov in American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 37, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1933), pp. 30-45</ref><ref>Recent Russian Archaeological Exploration by W. E. D. Allen in The Geographical Journal, Vol. 69, No. 3 (Mar., 1927), pp. 262-264</ref>
A [[gold]] symbolization of "animals-in-fight" has been also found in the vicinity of the city of [[Turpan]],<ref>The Old Silk Road - From Xi'an to Pamir, Chapter XIII: A Tour of Turpan by Bi Yading, Chinese Intercontinental Press (CIP) 2003, p.121 ({{ISBN|7-5032-2125-9}})</ref> the principal crossroad of the northern [[Silk Road]]. [[Gold]]en "animals-in-fight" have also been identified as 3rd – 2nd century B.C. [[Mongolia]] (or southern [[Siberia]]), being characteristic of [[Hsiung-nu]] or [[Xiongnu]].
==The art of the nomads==
The early history of the [[Nomads]] is not well recorded, which changed after their contact with cultures possessing written history. [[Nomadic people]] of the vast steppes of [[Asia]] were a major force in history.<ref>The Perilous Frontier by Thomas J. Barfield, lackwell Publishers, 1989</ref> Their power was not in the empires they built, but rather the turmoil they created among [[ancient civilizations]] such as [[China]] or [[Persia]], impacting their historical development substantially.<ref>Warriors of the Steppe by Erik Hildinger, Da Capo Press, 1997, pp. 57-92</ref> It is believed that the [[nomads]] ranged widely, forever moving on for sake of richer grazing for their horses and sheep.{{citation needed|date=May 2014}} [[Nomad|Migrations]] were often seasonal. Their skill at extracting [[gold]] was unprecedented.{{citation needed|date=May 2014}} In summer, during the tribe's seasonal migration, a [[Wool|fleece]] would be weighted on a riverbed to collect particles of [[alluvial]] [[gold]]. Upon the tribes' return, the [[Wool|fleece]] would be sheared, burned, and a [[gold]] ingot the size of a horse's hoof would result.{{citation needed|date=May 2014}} The ''tay tayak'' (the horse's hoof) was a unit of gold for a long period, which was used as a measure of an amount of golden metal rather than money, since gold was not fabricated as currency.{{citation needed|date=May 2014}} Using gold was a spiritual practice, as emblems of priestly office, prizes for physical prowess in ritual sport, or as adornment of the sacral ceremony of marriage.<ref>Kazakhstan, Coming of Age by Michael Fergus and Janar Jandosova, Stacey International 2003, p.106 ({{ISBN|1-900988-615}})</ref>
== See also == * [[Iranian art]] * [[History of decorative arts]] * [[Toreutics]] * [[Asian art]] * [[Treasure of Nagyszentmiklós]] * [[Huns#Unified Empire under Attila|Hunnic Empire]] * [[Xiongnu]] * [[Scythian art]] * [[Thraco-Cimmerian]] * [[Turko-Persian tradition]]
== References == {{reflist}}
{{Sasanian Empire}}
[[Category:History of art]] [[Category:Late Roman Empire art]] [[Category:Sasanian art]] [[Category:Iconography]]