The Reading of some Sasanian Clay Seals

Abstract
The Clay Seals or the trace of the Clays are the Seals from the Prehistoric times to the First Centuries of the Islamic Era which are the important Archaeological Documents. Although the ground for their destruction is ready, what remains of them is very useful in recognizing the material and spiritual life of the past people. Sassanid Clay Seals are one of the most important works left from this rich cultural-historical period. These works are one of the most important sources of Archeology and the study of Iran, as well as researches related to art history, history of Calligraphy and knowledge of administrative Geography, proper names and titles of responsibility of individuals. Seal Impression both in administrative affairs, in political affairs and in trade were used. The purpose of this research is to study and read the inscriptions and also to study the role of the ingredients of these clay seals. The method of collecting information is field-library and the reading of the inscriptions was done by the author of this article. It should be noted that the clay seals of this collection are from a private collection and do not have a birth certificate of the place of discovery, so it is not possible to date them precisely.
Keywords: Clay Seal, Sassanid, Inscription, Seal Impression, Archaeological Documents 
Introduction
The clay seals or the clay background of the works which taken from seals have always been considered very important archaeological documents from prehistoric times to the first centuries of the Islamic era. Although the basis for their destruction is ready, the amount of them remain important and useful in recognizing the material and spiritual life of the people of those times. One of the periods in which clay seals are of great importance is the Sassanid era (Nowruzzadeh Chegini, 2005, p. 13)
Sassanid seal clays are clay blocks with various sizes that were made during sealing documents and goods, and while still wet and soft, a number of seals were affixed to them in specific ceremonial and legal arrangements and in various sizes. If these clay blocks were left raw, they would soon be destroyed, and if they were baked, they would be more stable and durable. Examples have been show that these clay seals were baked, but it is not clear when and how they were baked. A study of the ancient sites where these clay seals were found to show that widespread fires occurred in warehouses and storage areas in ancient times. However, there is no clear answer as to whether these fires occurred consciously or unconsciously (ibid., p. 14).
A large number of Sassanid clay seals have been found in Iran from various provinces, most of which have been studied and published by Western researchers (Gignoux §Gyselen, 1987).
The seals were made of raw clay, kneaded by hand, and were mostly round, and it is believed that they were tied to the goods with string to identify them. In a large catalog, most of the seals are the same in terms of shape and color. Among the largest collections of Sassanid seals, we can mention the treasure found in Takht-e-Solomon (Dariush Akbarzadeh et al., 2019, 141).
Materials & Methods
The strategy of this research is to introduce, document, read the inscriptions, and examine the images of these clay seals.
The method of collecting materials for writing this article is field-library, and the reading of the inscriptions was done by the authors of this article. It is worth mentioning that all these clay seals are from a personal collection, and unfortunately, they are without an identification document of the place of discovery, so it is not possible to make an accurate chronology on them.
Discussion & Result
This study was conducted using clay seals from Takht-e-Solomon, which were examined and processed from Sassanid clay seals, which were excavated in 1963 and 1964 by the German Archaeological Foundation at the Takht-e-Solomon archaeological site.
 
Conclusion
 Seals open a new way to address the difficulties of studying Sassanid seals. The seal impressions on the seals and their themes as a result and legacy left over from the past, the dynamic process and evolution of seals and seal making and their use in the bureaucracy, are of great value. The study of these seals raises questions related to the group of owners of the seals left over of the ancient times, who, where and what status the sealer held, the question of the estimated framework of the themes of the lost documents and their relative value according to the seals used, their number and mix, the nature and size of the storage place, and finally the question of chronology, prevails over everything.