Is cross always Christian? A study on iconography of Sasanian seals

Abstract

The article analyses the semiotics of religious symbols appearing on selected Sasanian seals. The core of the research are the seals on which a cross and a scorpion are depicted together. The authors tackle the two research hypotheses concerning the interpretation of the iconography of these seals. The first (by Rika Gyselen) is the identification of the seals as Christian seals. The second (by Abolala Soudavar) attributes the seals to Mithraism. Drawing on available visual and written sources, the authors’ study examines the symbolism of the scorpion and of the cross in the religious doctrines of Christianity, Zoroastrianism and Mithraism. The authors conclude that since the crosses are depicted in the company of scorpions, the content cannot be neither Christian nor Zoroastrian. The current authors suggest that the seals with scorpions and crosses must belong to Iranian Mithraism; however, their argumentation is based on the grounds radically different from those proposed by Soudavar.

Keywords

• history
• semiotics
• religious symbols
• cross
• scorpion
• iconography
• pre-islamic iran
• sasanian seals
• christianity
• mithraism
• mazdaism