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Seyyed Hasan Ghazavi; Mohammad Mehdi Salmanpour; Mohammad Esmaeil Esmaeili Jelodar
Abstract
Introduction:The southwestern regions of Iran have been receptive to Shiism since the first decades of the rise of Islam. The presence of many companions of great imams who came from that area or lived in those areas at the same time, as well as many Sadats who migrated to those areas at the beginning ...
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Introduction:The southwestern regions of Iran have been receptive to Shiism since the first decades of the rise of Islam. The presence of many companions of great imams who came from that area or lived in those areas at the same time, as well as many Sadats who migrated to those areas at the beginning of Islam, is clear proof of this. After their death, the graves of these Sadats were a refuge for the people of faith and became a shrine (Imamzadeh), which the people and the Shia/Shiite governments of that time tried to honor.From the beginning of the fourth century, these regions were under the control of the powerful Shiite Al-e-Buyeh government for a period of more than one hundred and twenty years. Imamzadeh Hamzeh in Dehdasht city of Kohkiloyeh and Boyerahmad province is one of these works. This building is one of the oldest buildings in the region with its unique wooden door. This wooden door is available in the Islamic section of the National Museum of Iran under number 3292, and the place of its discovery is Behbahan. Some researchers, considering its dimensions and historical studies, consider this door the same as the lost door of Imamzade Hamzeh Dehdasht. This door was removed about eighty years ago in the twenties by the person who was the head of the Behbehan Culture office and moved to Behbehban and then was transferred to Tehran and the Museum of Ancient Iran.Research method, approach, and purpose:The method of collecting information in this research was a library (reading texts) and examining museum objects. The research method is descriptive and analytical with a historical approach. The purpose of the current research is a comprehensive analysis along with the examination of the themes and messages engraved on this historical door, which socially recounts the political and cultural conditions of the Shiites at the time and the powerful presence of the Shia/Shiite religion in that region, as well as the correct reading of the inscriptions on the door and its subtleties and historical points of this religion.Background Research:With the study done about the background of the subject of this research in written and oral sources, including (Arabic and Persian) in the first centuries of Islam, no independent article was found, only two articles are available in this regard as described below:First: an article entitled "The history and visual characteristics of the decorations on the woodwork door of the Imamzadeh of Hamzah Dehdasht from the Al Boyeh period (preserved in the National Museum of Iran)" which was published by Mahsa Tendro, Mohammad Khazaei, and Seyed Abu Torab Ahmed Panah in the Journal of Islamic Art Studies (Tandro and others, 2020).Second: The article "Comparative study of the design and decorative structure of the Kufic inscriptions of the Al Boyeh period (a wooden door in the National Museum of Iran and the wooden slabs of Astan Imam Ali (a.s.) in the Arab Museum of Cairo)" written by Mahsa Tundro, Mohammad Khazaei in two quarterly journals The artificial arts of Iran have been published (Tandro and Khazaei, 1400). Khazaei is the first person who paid attention to the same dimensions of the door in the museum and the entrance of Imamzadeh and a few years ago, he considered the door in the museum as the missing door of Imamzadeh. Also, the research of Mrs. Mehrangiz Karmi Mehraban (2013) has been devoted to introducing the buildings of Dehdasht city and investigating their architecture. Abdullah Quchani (1987) also referred to this door in an article entitled "Research on the wooden inscriptions of Iran" and reread parts of its inscriptions, but did not read the inscriptions related to the historical part. Finally, Qobad Kianmehr (2013) briefly mentioned this door in his doctoral dissertation and introduced it as one of the works related to the fifth-century AH.Research findings:The wooden door attributed to Imamzade Seyyed Hamzeh Dehdasht, with its heritage and artistic value, has two hinges, each consisting of two squares at the top and bottom and a rectangle in the middle. Among each rectangular shape on the sides of the door, there are five geometric shapes, two circles at the top and bottom and a rhombus in the middle.The dimensions of this door are 196 x 110 cm. (Tandro, Khazaei and Ahmad Panah, 2020: 116). Its religious inscriptions are verses from the Holy Qur'an (Surah Mubarakah Yas), a prayer from the Sahifa Sajjadiyeh, and the prayer "Allahum Aruzqana Tawfiq al-Ta'a..." which was narrated by Imam Zaman (peace be upon him). Also, in the circles and rhombuses between the doors, on the right side, from top to bottom, the phrases "Muhammad", "Ali", "Fatemeh", "Hasan" and "Hussein" and on the left side, from top to bottom, the phrases "Ya Manan", "Ya Hanan", "Al-Zahra", "Al-Sultan" and "Ya Subhan" are written.The historical inscriptions on the door, which are placed in the upper and lower four parts of the square shape, contain the name of the person who ordered the construction of the building. In the analysis of the themes of the inscriptions of this door, the previous reading of the door inscriptions had many errors, and the subtleties and precise historical and religious points were left out of the author's view, which was corrected in this article. For example, regarding the wrong context of the door inscriptions by respected writers, it should be said that the text presented by them from two short prayers of Sahifa Sajjadiyeh and Imam Zaman's prayer has at least seventeen mistakes.Also, the study of textual sources, inscription themes, and archaeological arguments about the Imamzadeh door of Hamza Dehdasht shows that the construction of this valuable door was done by Abu Mansour Fouladston. he ordered the construction of this building between 441 and 448 one of the times he dominated the Arjan region. Also, according to textual sources, today the oldest evidence of Imam Zaman's prayers are two books from the end of the 9th century by Kafami. In this way, the inclusion of this prayer on the door of the Imamzadeh has given proof that is more than four hundred years old compared to the two mentioned books, which is also clear evidence of the validity of the said prayer and the dominance of Shiism in the region at that time. It is clear that the existence of this prayer in an archeological document, which is an objective first-hand source in terms of credibility, has a very high citation value compared to the narrations recorded in written texts.Regarding the themes of the historical inscriptions of this door, which is the main subject of this article, it should be said that the opening verses of Surah Mubarakah Yas and the prayer of Sahifa Sajjadiyeh, the special dimensions of the door and the special attention to the centrality of Hazrat Zahra (peace be upon him) in the forms on the door have religious messages that are important to Shiism. Because the building in question has attracted the attention of ordinary people more than anything else, they are a reflection of the Shiite context of the time, which was discussed in detail in the text. The last point is that considering the incompleteness of a part of Imam Zaman's prayer and also a part of the prayer of Sahifa Sajjadiyeh, the assumption of the second door of this Imamzadeh is not far from the mind, so there was probably another door on which the rest of the inscription was written.
