Minneapolis Institute of Art
The Execution of Mazdak
Persia (Iran); or Mesopotamia (Iraq)
- Date
- c. 1300
- Medium
- Ink, colors and gold on paper
- Department
- Asian Art
- Institution
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
Mazdak (died c. 524/528) was a reformer and priest of Zoroastrianism, the state religion of Iranian kingdoms prior to Islam. Claiming to be a prophet of Ahura Mazda, the faith’s highest deity, Mazdak gained a large following by proposing a series of social reforms based on the principles of social equality and reduced powers of the priestly classes. But the Sasanian prince Nushiravan considered Mazdak a heretic; he is seen here shooting an arrow at the hanged reformer. Meanwhile, five of Mazdak’s followers are buried alive, upside down, a punishment vividly described in the Shahnameh as a “human garden.” Iran, Iraq, Asia
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