Investigation of Sun Array in Yazd Architectural Handicrafts and Decorations

Abstract
Sun was always in special place among Iran and world myths that can be know as the eldest station for worshiping sun, cross or Swastika is the most common face which has been turned to capital for the craftsmen and artists of the various eras in order to decorate handicrafts beside other various images of sun.  This   epidiascope is one of the eldest ancient epidiascope and it can be seen in the most world ancient civilization. Generally, sun and its dependent images such as cross are rooted from Mithraism religion. The religion which transferred from Iran to Mesopotamia and Asia Minor and entered to Greece and Rome through contacts and political and social communications and it penetrated in Christianity and progressed to north of England in west and to India in east.  Sun epidiascope is repeatedly seen in ceramic and metallic works of ancient Iran with the various shapes during various historical eras. Sometime, in form of single, full disk with lines that indicate its radiations and sometime with its manifestations such as human, horse, goat, wheel, ring and cross. This epidiascope gradually has been transformed and appeared with the various forms with Iranian human cosmology in Iran cultural area. So that, it became decoration of after Islam Iranian handicraft in form of epidiascopes like Shamse or in combination with the holy and blessing names such as Allah, Mohammad and Ali in form of three and four branch cross in Islamic concepts. Even nowadays, also sun array can be seen in the various handicrafts and architectural decorations in Iran various areas, particularly in Yazd region. Science Yazd city is far from forests and with huge events during history and intact historical texture and also present of main centers of ceramic working, coopersmithing and blacksmising and textile in this city is always proper source to study some subjects such as circumstances of change procedure of Iranian original epidiascopes such as sun and apparent variety of these arrays. In this city, various pictorial qualities of sun epidiascope can be seen in the architectural decorations and handicrafts. Yazd historical records and cultural and geographical features and variety of applying sun epidiascope in different eras in this city propounded some questions about apparent distribution of sun epidiascopes, apparent variety of the shapes affected by this picture in handicrafts and architectural decoration of this area, relation of these images with other images obtained from Iran plateau civilization regions. In this article, it is attempted to investigate the myths and symbolism aspects of sun epidiascopes in the handicrafts and religious and literal texts   of ancient Iran. Then, change procedure of this epidiascope in ancient Iran handicrafts, particularly in ceramic has been considered as the most common and the eldest investigation source of decoration images. In the next step, after considering the geographical, ecological and cultural special features of Yazd area, apparent variety of sun epidiascope in woven, metalworking, ceramics and architectural decorations of this area are considered in frame of picture and line and schematic designs.