| چکیده انگلیسی مقاله |
The multidimensional nature of mourning, which has various definitions in religion, metaphysical beliefs, and culture, encompasses the content of death and resurrection of the fertility god. Music, as one of the elements of mourning rituals, expresses communal grief to mourners and contains symbolic aspects and meaning for the respective cultures. The multidisciplinary phenomenon of music, apart from having artistic aspects, has a function related to human beliefs, especially in many ancient civilizations, with specific focus on Central Asia. This qualitative paper has chosen a painting from Iqbālnāma of Nizami, N.4363, from the National Museum of Iran, with the theme of Mourning for Iskandar. The purpose of choosing this artwork was the multiplicity of musical instruments, which was rare among other mourning paintings. These instruments are depicted in a more realistic style, thus suitable for this research's approach. On the other hand, Iskander has a high position in Iranian literature, history, and mythology, which makes his identity linked with mourning rituals. This painting has been studied using a purposive sampling method with a historical-analytical approach based on Erwin Panofsky's iconography method and library sources. The present study also intends to explain the function of musical instruments in mourning rituals to answer these two questions: "What musical instruments were used in mourning rituals?" and "What are the symbolic meanings and functions of these musical instruments?" In the first stage, a pre-iconographic description using the morphological analysis of the instruments in the painting and the names and formal characteristics of the instruments, such as shape, material, holding the instrument, gender of the musician, etc., were revealed. These instruments include membranophones and idiophones, such as Daf, Dayere, Sanj (Cymbals), Dohul, Tabireh (Tambourines), Tabl (Drums), and the aerophones (Ney), which are also seen in other paintings related to the Mourning of Iskandar (e.g., the painting in the National Library of Paris). The iconography analysis found that similar instruments were used for mourning in the painter's contemporary period (Safavid) and historical and even mythical mourning rituals. Although there is no mention of musical instruments in Iskandar's mourning in Iqbālnāma, mourning rituals originated from rain-making rituals, in which the common elements, both imitate the resurrection of the fertility or rain god (such as Siavosh and Tishtar). This mythological archetype has been reduced through several stages of transformation, from rain-making rituals and dramas to mourning for the king or the god/goddess, and its narrative elements, such as playing musical instruments, were recreated in the mourning rituals of historical and epic heroes (Iskander). Therefore, the mourning instruments in Iskandar's mourning and rain-making rituals from Siavosh and Ishtar originate from similar archetypal functions. These instruments usually have a direct relationship with the concepts of mourning and rain-making in terms of the word’s etymology and morphology. From mythological history until now, each instrument symbolizes the act of ‘asking for rain and sustenance from the sky to the earth’. At some point in mythological history, its symbolic function was common, and gradually, its symbolic aspect has been reduced and has become a normal ceremony for mourning the dead. |