Sassanian

Following the defeat in 612 BC, the site remained largely unoccupied for centuries with only a scattering of Assyrians living amid the ruins until the Sassanian period, although Assyrians continue to live in the surrounding area to this day.

Glass and crystal The Near East has, since Roman times, been recognized as a center of quality glassware and crystal. 9th century finds from Samarra show styles similar to Sassanian forms.

However, Ahura Mazda remained symbolized by a dignified male figure, standing or on horseback which is found in Sassanian investiture.sfn Sassanid Empire Ahura Mazda (on the right, with high crown) presents Ardashir I (left) with the ring of kingship.

Johnston supposes that Yáng Xuànzhī mistook the name of the south-Indian Pallava dynasty for the name of the Sassanian Pahlava dynasty.sfn He traveled from the wild borderlands to China.

Other than Zurvanism, the Sassanian kings demonstrated their devotion to Ahura Mazda in other fashions.

The Christian styles evolved into a style based more on the Sassanian empire utilizing mud bricks and baked bricks with carved stucco.

The disunited Kushan and Sassanian kingdoms were in a poor position to meet the threat of a new wave of nomadic, Indo-European invaders from the north.

The Hephthalites (or White Huns) swept out of Central Asia around the 4th century into Bactria and to the south, overwhelming the last of the Kushan and Sassanian kingdoms.

The later manuscripts all date from this millennium, the latest being from 1288, 590 years after the fall of the Sassanian Empire.

While their predecessors the Umayyads (661 - 750) were little more than leaders of a loose confederation of Arab tribes, the Abbasids set out to build a huge multi-ethnic centralized state that would emulate and perfect the Sassanian government machine.