Abstract
The purpose of this article is to explore the relationship and connection between the sun, as an ancient deity, and the institution of kingship in Iranian texts. This study is text-based and follows a historical pattern. The relationship between the sun deity and kingship starts with the oldest remaining texts in the Iranian cultural domain, the Avestan texts, then progresses to some Middle Persian texts, and finally, this continuity is traced in early New Persian texts, particularly in poetic ones. In this article, an attempt is made to represent this prominent manifestation of continuum of thought in the realm of Iranian culture from ancient Iranian texts to early New Persian ones. During the post-mythical era in Iran, over several centuries, we have witnessed Persian-speaking poets establish a connection between the king and the sun, continuing the mythical tradition. The king becomes a quasi-mythical, inaccessible, and somewhat sacred figure through this connection. Similes and metaphors are utilized to establish this relationship, emphasizing the common characteristics of the sun deity and the king. Such an approach is not only found in narrative-epic literature like Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, which is a narrator of history and myth, but also in lyrical and panegyric poems.
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