Sasanian Persia and Shapur I — the LAST Pre-Islamic Iranian Empire (224-651 CE) — the Naqsh-e Rostam Trilingual Inscription and the Roman-Sasanian Peer World-System

Recite Three Promises. Pivot announcement: today we meet Shapur I and the Sasanian Empire — Rome's PEER empire for 400 years, not 'Rome's eastern problem.' Cold Call: From G6-Fall, who was the Achaemenid emperor Cyrus the Great? (Sasanian Persia is the THIRD Iranian empire — Achaemenid 550-330 BCE / Parthian 247 BCE-224 CE / Sasanian 224-651 CE.)

• Recite Three Promises
• Pivot to Sasanian arc
• Display MG-3 + MG-17 + MG-19

M-6-S-CUL-16-B Photograph

Photograph of the Naqsh-e Rostam rock-relief 'Triumph of Shapur I' (c. 260 CE) in modern Fars Province, Iran (a few km from Persepolis). Image shows Shapur I on horseback receiving the submission of two Roman emperors: Philip the Arab kneeling and Valerian being grasped by the wrist. The relief is carved into the cliff-face at the Achaemenid royal-tombs site, directly below the tombs of Darius I + Xerxes + Artaxerxes I + Darius II. Caption: 'Naqsh-e Rostam c. 260 CE — Shapur I's victory monument carved below the tombs of the Achaemenid kings, claiming continuity with the earlier Persian imperial tradition. UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979.' Style: high-resolution archaeological photograph.

The Sasanian Empire (224-651 CE) was the LAST of the great pre-Islamic Iranian empires — and the most consequential for Late Antique world history. Founded by Ardashir I 224 CE after defeating the last Parthian king Artabanus IV at the Battle of Hormozdgan; Ardashir established the Sasanian dynasty + made Zoroastrianism the official state religion + built Ctesiphon (near modern Baghdad) as imperial capital. His son Shapur I (r. 240-270 CE) brought the Sasanian Empire to imperial peak. Shapur I defeated Roman armies in THREE major engagements: 244 CE Battle of Misiche (Roman Emperor Gordian III killed); 252 CE Battle of Barbalissos; 260 CE Battle of Edessa (Roman Emperor Valerian CAPTURED by Shapur I — the only Roman emperor in history to be captured by an enemy). Shapur I commemorated his victories in the famous Naqsh-e Rostam rock relief AND in the Res Gestae Divi Saporis (the 'Deeds of the Divine Shapur') — a trilingual inscription in Middle Persian (Pahlavi script) + Parthian + Greek, inscribed on the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht stone-cube at Naqsh-e Rostam c. 260 CE. The inscription opens: 'I am the Mazda-worshipping divine Shapur, king of kings of Iran and non-Iran, of the race of the gods.' This is a primary source from a SASANIAN perspective — corrective to the typically Romano-centric framing in which we hear about Sasanian Persia only through Roman sources. THE ROMAN-SASANIAN PEER WORLD-SYSTEM — for 400 years Rome and Sasanian Persia were peer empires sharing the Mediterranean-Mesopotamian frontier zone, with regular military conflict + diplomatic exchange + cultural exchange. Per Touraj Daryaee 2009 — modern Iranian-American scholar at UC Irvine — Sasanian Persia matched Rome in military capacity, administrative sophistication, and cultural achievement; it was not 'Rome's eastern problem' but a peer empire in its own right. APPLY MG-7 6-Question Source Card to MG-17 Naqsh-e Rostam handout. The multilingual translation question (Move 6) is especially central — the inscription is in THREE languages because Shapur was speaking to multiple audiences: Pahlavi for Iranian subjects, Parthian for Parthian-aristocracy heritage, Greek for international readership (especially Roman readers).

• Notice: a trilingual inscription is a deliberate communication choice. Shapur was speaking to Iranian subjects + Parthian heritage + international readership simultaneously.

  model Shapur I's chancery inscribed Res Gestae Divi Saporis on the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht stone-cube at Naqsh-e Rostam c. 260 CE — shortly after the capture of Valerian. The inscription was carved in Middle Persian (Pahlavi script), Parthian, AND Greek. The location was the dynastic-religious site of the Sasanian dynasty (near the tomb of Achaemenid emperor Darius I — claiming continuity with the earlier Achaemenid Persian tradition). The purpose was: to commemorate victories, to legitimize Sasanian rule, to communicate to multiple audiences.

  prompt Apply MG-7 Sourcing to Naqsh-e Rostam trilingual inscription.
• Notice: who centers whose civilization shapes the story. Daryaee centers Sasanian Persia on its own terms — this is the corrective to centuries of Western Romano-centrism.

  model Because Sasanian Persia matched Rome in (a) territorial extent (controlled Mesopotamia + Iran + Central Asia + parts of Caucasus + Arabia at peak); (b) military capacity (defeated Roman armies repeatedly across 400 years); (c) administrative sophistication (Khosrow I's reforms 6th century); (d) cultural achievement (Sasanian art, architecture, Pahlavi literature, Academy of Gondishapur); (e) religious organization (Zoroastrian state religion). The Romano-centric framing that treats Sasanian Persia as merely Rome's 'eastern problem' silences Sasanian agency and achievement.

  prompt Why does Daryaee 2009 argue Sasanian Persia was a peer empire to Rome rather than 'Rome's eastern problem'?

• Cold Call: Name the 3 great pre-Islamic Iranian empires + their date ranges.
• Cold Call: Who is the only Roman emperor in history to be captured by an enemy? Who captured him?
• Cold Call: Apply MG-7 Move 6 — what is significant about the THREE languages of Shapur I's inscription?

MG-7 6-Question Source Card applied to MG-17 Naqsh-e Rostam Res Gestae Divi Saporis — full 6-question routine; Move 6 (Whose Translations / Whose Silences) is the lesson's central move because the inscription is itself a multilingual translation.

• Apply MG-7 Move 5 (Living Descendants) to Naqsh-e Rostam inscription — who today is a living descendant?

  scaffold Hint: modern Iranian communities (Muslim majority + Zoroastrian + Jewish + Christian minorities) AND Indian Parsi (Indian Zoroastrian) communities AND Iranian-diaspora communities AND modern Iraqi communities (Ctesiphon was in modern Iraq); refer to MG-8
• Apply MG-19 SIMULTANEITY for 260 CE Valerian capture event — identify ONE event in EACH of 4 other civilizations on MG-19.

  scaffold MG-19 displayed

• Why is Sasanian Persia called a PEER empire to Rome rather than 'Rome's eastern problem'?
• Name 2 modern descendant communities of the Sasanian world.

• Show Call — display strong MG-7 source-card response on Naqsh-e Rostam
• Preview Lesson 17 (Khosrow I Anushiruwan + comparative governance — empire vs city-state vs kingdom)

• Find one photograph of the Naqsh-e Rostam site in modern Fars Province, Iran (UNESCO World Heritage Site). Write 2-3 sentences applying MG-5 Living-Descendants — modern Iranian + Parsi + Iranian-diaspora communities ARE today and are living legatees of the Sasanian world.