Document Type : Research Paper
Author
Department of History, Faculty of Literature and Foreign Languages, Allamah Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran.
10.22059/jis.2026.410976.1399
Abstract
This study examines the presence and function of the feminine in the production and representation of royal legitimacy in Sasanian, Byzantine, and Kushan traditions. It asks at what levels, and through which media, the feminine, represented as a sacred figure, royal woman, or female ruler, became associated with royal authority. Adopting a comparative-analytical approach, the study examines a selected body of visual, material, and textual evidence, including coins, inscriptions, reliefs, mosaics, and narrative sources, through functional analysis. The findings indicate that the feminine occupied different positions within the three traditions. In the Sasanian context, it appears at sacred, dynastic, and direct ruling levels, encompassing figures such as Anahita, royal women, Boran, and Azarmidokht. In Byzantium, representations of empresses were connected to institutional status and, in some cases, direct female rule. In the Kushan context, the evidence focuses more strongly on sacred feminine figures and dynastic representation. On this basis, the study proposes the analytical concept of “surrogate agency” to describe the symbolic function assumed by certain sacred feminine figures in the Kushan tradition. The study concludes that feminine representation and female rule have no necessary relationship; their political meaning depends on the medium, historical context, and structures of royal legitimacy.
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