Intra-Cultural Semiotics of a Combined Bird-with-Female-Head Motif in Metal Rings of the Semiosphere of the Seljuks of Iran

Abstract

Human-bird hybrid motifs have broad and sometimes conflicting meanings in many parts of the world. In the Islamic era, despite the prohibition of human and animal motifs, this motif is still used in works such as rings of the Seljuk period with a female-bird nature. The Seljuks were one of the first Muslim governments in Iran to achieve cultural prosperity. The ring, which has a special prestige in Islamic culture, reflects the hidden cultural features of this period. The issue is what identity the bird-with-female-head motif in the rings reflects in the Seljuk Semiosphere. In this regard, Semiosphere theory is used in the analytical method of cultural semiotics. The main question is, what is the belief in the representation of the bird-with-female-head phenomenon in the intercultural communications of the Seljuk semiosphere? This article has been done by a descriptive-analytical method. Four samples of rings with bird-female motifs with intertextual symbols on pottery and metal objects of this period were adapted, and the concepts of accompanying motifs were read with it. The result was that the motif of bird-with-the-head-of-woman on the Seljuk semiosphere rings was drawn in two ways. The Seljuks semiosphere of Iran consists of three Iranian, Islamic and Turkish sphere within themselves. They have reached a semantic and morphological agreement through intra-cultural dialogue. Companion designs often refer to the concepts of goodness, blessing and fertility, which reinforce the femininity of this type of ring.

Keywords

• semiosphere of the seljuks of iran
• ring
• bird-motif-with-female-head
• cultural semiotics