The Perfume-Holder 

pic Chrysler Museum of Art: A beautiful Sasanian Persian era Iran (dated late 6th c.) perfume or cosmetic container with its clever pack animal decorated with an amethyst stone … one is unaware of any such creative & delicate designs in modern era to enchant the ladies by their lovers … these Iranian-made containers remained popular through medieval era even post 1st brutal Islamic invasion of mid-7th century … for educational purposes only
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Female Rider

Iranian Parthians and Persians “ride on horseback on all occasions; on horses they go to war, and to feasts; on horses they discharge public and private duties; on horses they go abroad, meet together, traffic, and converse … for a certain roughness of behavior they think becoming to men, and gentleness only to women.”

~ quote from Justin's “History of the World” (3rd c. ?) taken from Trogus Pompeius in “Justin, Cornelius Nepos and Eutropius”

pic The Chrysler Museum of Art: The museum doesn’t specify gender but it looks like a female rider to me from 13th c. Iran
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Greco-Persian vessel
pic National Museum of History Taiwan: Either a Greco-Persian vessel from Sasanian Persian era Iran (224-651) or a vessel made with Greco-Persian (Sasanian era) influences … the museum is unclear and doesn’t provide a date for the artwork … the vessel combines Iranian animal-shaped handles looking into a vessel for protection as well as Iranian lotus or fleur-de-lis made with Western (Greek) motif … we’ve discussed before the importance of dragons in Iranian beliefs … even in medieval Sufism based on ancient Iranian beliefs one may reach the truth by facing the dragon which symbolizes both the good and the bad (depending on one’s choice) … note the fire on the tails of the dragons … FIRE – a highly significant element in Iranian (overall Indo-European) beliefs
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Gold Rider

pic lessing-photo: A gold rider with a missing horse from Achaemenid Persian era (5th-4th BCE) found in a temple on the banks of the river Oxus in modern Tajikistan; note along with traditional Iranian tunic/pants, he's wearing the Iranian hat also known as Phrygian cap or Liberty cap
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Carved limestone fire altar from Parthian
there are nations that are under [God’s] special care, as was Israel of old, and Persia during the reign of the virtuous Cyrus [the Great] … God rules by disciplining a favored people, rather than by lavishing unmixed blessings

 quote by Rev. Robert Norton (1865) in St. Catharine’s (Canada West), published in The Magazine of History Vol. 22-1923

special divine care is not mysterious or necessarily reserved for one nation over another gaining access to it is simple … since the first Islamic invasion of 7th c. Iran's “discipline” which is the basis for natural cosmic order in a society has been trampled upon … Iran’s “freedom” depends on regaining its native disciplined ways which brings about FARR (good fortune) to its people and land 

pic anaviangallery: A carved limestone fire altar from Parthian (Ashkanian) era Iran (@200 BCE) … the 4 faces on top represent north/south/east/west (the ancient notion of the Four Corners of the World) with the historical Iranian symbol of the lion-n-sun … for educational purposes only

Photo: “…there are nations that are under [God’s] special care, as was Israel of old, and Persia during the reign of the virtuous Cyrus [the Great] … God rules by disciplining a favored people, rather than by lavishing unmixed blessings.” ~ quote by Rev. Robert Norton (1865) in St. Catharine’s (Canada West), published in The Magazine of History Vol. 22 (1923) … special divine care is not mysterious or necessarily reserved for one nation over another … gaining access to it is simple … since the first Islamic invasion of 7th c. Iran's “discipline” which is the basis for natural cosmic order in a society has been trampled upon … Iran’s “freedom” depends on regaining its native disciplined ways which brings about FARR (good fortune) to its people and land … [pic anaviangallery: A carved limestone fire altar from Parthian (Ashkanian) era Iran (@200 BCE) … the 4 faces on top represent north/south/east/west (the ancient notion of the Four Corners of the World) with the historical Iranian symbol of the lion-n-sun … for educational purposes only] …

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Bronze Candlestick
“Must it not be that the dragon-slayer is constantly sustained by the One who grips the world”

quote by legendary Iranian crown prince Isfandiyar of the Kayanian dynasty
The Shahnameh, completed 1010 … the Iranian national epic and savior of its identity from Islamization=Arabization

The dragon/mega-serpent (Indo-European languages -- Azi in Eastern Iranian Avestan for "serpent / dragon"; Middle Persian azdahag; sister Sanskrit ahi; Latin anguis) is literary intertwined in Indo-Iranian beliefs and national history … we’ve also discussed the symbol of the dragon in Sufism, an early medieval post-first Islamic invasion revival & evolutionary movement of native Iranian beliefs centered on humanism known as Zoroastrianism given there is no humanism in foreign Islamic teachings

Since ancient times Indo-Iranians associated the dragon with water … Iranians also connected the dragon with fire and earth … it represents a duality in that the dragon may be either a guardian of nature or a destructive force … in medieval Iran, the power of the dragon was a sign of changes in cosmic order or human events

pic The David Collection: A beautiful bronze candlestick from Timurid era Iran/Afghanistan (15th c.) … for educational purposes only
Photo: “Must it not be that the dragon-slayer is constantly sustained by the One who grips the world?” ~ quote by legendary Iranian crown prince Isfandiyar of the Kayanian dynasty (“The Shahnameh” completed 1010 … the Iranian national epic and savior of its identity from Islamization=Arabization) … The dragon/mega-serpent (Indo-European languages -- Azi in Eastern Iranian Avestan for
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