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Kalhor F. (2024). A Research on the Relief of Fath-Ali Shah’s Lion Hunting in Shahr-e Ray. Parseh J Archaeol Stud. 8(29), 295-324. doi:10.22034/PJAS.8.29.295
URL: http://journal.richt.ir/mbp/article-1-878-en.html

Abstract
In the past, there existed a relief known as Fath-Ali Shah’s lion hunting in Shahr-e Ray. Regrettably, this precious piece of history has undergone significant damage due to the mining activities of Ray Cement Factory. Presently, only a fragment of this relief is preserved. Since most of this relief is lost, there are many uncertainties about it; For example, the exact location of the relief in Shahr-e Ray remains unknown. Various studies attribute the construction year of this relief to 1246 AH, but its accuracy is still subject to debate. Additionally, there was an inscription surrounding the relief containing poetic verses in Nastaliq script, which have not been deciphered yet. On the other hand, due to the proximity of this relief to Cheshme-Ali’s relief, the information related to these two is sometimes mistakenly attributed to the other, causing researchers to make mistakes. This research aims to give a clear picture of this relief and to remove the gaps surrounding it. This research intends to answer the following questions: What was the original location of the relief on Sorsore Mountain and when was it built? What precisely is the content of the poetic inscriptions surrounding it? What alterations has this relief undergone over time, and what has ultimately become of it? This research adopts a descriptive-analytical approach, relying on historical texts and images as primary sources to guide the investigations. Finally, by the primary sources, the location of this relief on Sorsore Mountain is determined. The results show that the poems of the inscription are in praise of Fath-Ali Shah, and the chronogram indicates the year of its construction in 1246 AH. eventually, sometime between 1340 and 1345 SH, due to the explosions of the Ray Cement Factory, this relief was destroyed, and only a fragment of it including the lion’s tail and the inscriptions around it remained, which is kept in the museum of the Ray Cement Factory.
Keywords: Rock Relief, Fath-Ali Shah, Shahr-e Ray, Inscription.

Introduction
In the past, there existed two rock reliefs of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar in Shahr-e Ray, one of which has been disappeared. This relief, which is located on the southern part of Sorsore Mountain, is known as “Fath-Ali Shah’s lion hunting”. An older, probably Sassanid relief had been erased and replaced by the Qajar one. There are many uncertainties about Fath-Ali Shah’s lion hunting; For example, the exact location of the relief in Shahr-e Ray remains unknown. Various studies attribute the construction year of this relief to 1246 AH, but its accuracy is still subject to debate. Additionally, there was an inscription surrounding the relief containing poetic verses in Nastaliq script, which have not been deciphered yet. On the other hand, due to the proximity of this relief to Cheshme-Ali’s relief, the information related to these two is sometimes mistakenly attributed to the other. It is necessary to do detailed research on this relief to solve these mistakes and answer the ambiguities raised. This research intends to answer the following questions: What was the original location of the relief on Sorsore Mountain and when was it built? What precisely is the content of the poetic inscriptions surrounding it? What alterations has this relief undergone over time, and what has ultimately become of it? This research adopts a descriptive-analytical approach, relying on historical texts and images as primary sources to guide the investigations.

Literature
For the first time, Mustafavi wrote a note in the monthly information magazine, in which he stated the location and address of access to the lion hunting relief, the year it was made, and introduced the artists involved in making it (Mustafavi, 1953: 10). Luft, in an article entitled “The Qajar rock reliefs”, in a short mention to the Lion Hunting relief, tries to estimate the year of its construction (Luft, 2001: 32). Mirzaei-Mehr also describes the artistic aspects of the relief in Abdullah Khan’s book (Mirzaei-Mehr, 2014: 43-45). Doroodian has done a detailed research on the incomplete relief that Fath-Ali Shah erased in “A study about the Sasanian rock relief of Ray”. Doroodian introduces this role in his article and tries to identify its character. (Doroodian, 2016: 63&64). Safinejad has given an estimate of the size of the relief and the inscription around it in the book of Ray’s Historical Places and has described the details of the figure of Fath-Ali Shah and lion. He also deciphered the poems around the inscription, but his reading has many mistakes. (Safinejad, 2015: 344&345). Movathagh has given some information about Sassanid relief, which he has referred to the book of Kariman (movathagh, 2017: 110).

Discussion
First of all, the exact position of the relief is examined with the help of the remaining drawings and maps. According to Mustafavi’s descriptions of Ray cement factory near the relief in the 1960s, Jules Laurence’s painting in 1848, William Ouseley’s painting of the location of the Sassanid relief that existed former the lion hunting and his explanation of the access route to relief, its position can be determined on Schmidt’s aerial photo of the Sorsore Mountain. Before Fath-Ali Shah’s figure was engraved on the body of the Sorsore Mountain, there was an old relief. That relief was first found by Robert Gordon and James Morier in 1812. (Morier, 2007, Vol. 2: 229). Morier drew a sketch of this relief (image 7). William Price, William Ouseley, and Ker Porter also visited the relief, and described it in their travelogues. It can be concluded from their texts and images, that there were two flat tablets in the mountain at the rock site, one on top of the other. The lower plate was a half-finished sketch of a horseman with two orbs on his shoulder and one on his head, attacking an opponent whose horse’s head is depicted only. The upper slab was without a design. Fath-Ali Shah ordered to erase the mentioned ancient relief and replaced it with his own figure. Both Fraser in 1834 (Fraser, 1985: 150) and Korf in 1834 pointed out its disappearance. (Korf, 1993: 215).
There are many pictures of Fath-Ali Shah’s lion hunting relief in the archives of Iranians and foreigners who came to Iran. These images have been presented in order of creation date. (Images 11 to 21) In Roger Viollet’s 1958 photo collection, the inscriptions around the image, the king’s beard and crown, his horse’s boots and saddle, as well as the inscription under the horse, are all painted over. Another change is the frame above the relief, which is not present in the older images. These changes were apparently made by Ray cement factory in 1949 (Mustafavi, 1953: 10).
The inscription around the relief contains 11 verses and its poet is Mirza Taghi Aliabadi. In order to read and accurately record what was executed, several photos were used in each part of the inscription. (Images 23, 24, 25 and 26) Examining the remaining images and reading the inscription shows that some words of the poet’s original poem have been changed in some verses. Also, some verses have been removed and replaced by others in the execution of the inscription. The chronogram in the last verse includes the words after “ke”: “shod inak musiye emran ayan be sineye sina” gives the year 1246 AH. The last historical photo of lion hunting relief was taken by Hossein Malek-Iraqi in 1961. Kariman states in his book, which was published in March 1966, that the lion hunting relief was destroyed by an explosion. (Kariman, 1966, Vol. 1: 302)

Conclusion
in this article, the location of Fath-Ali Shah’s relief on the southern body of Sorsore Mountain was identified by the help of historical texts and images. Also, re-reading of the inscription’s poems was done, which showed that the content of the inscription’s poem is in praise of the statue of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar. According to the last verse and the chronogram of the inscription poem, this relief was made in 1246 AH. Rereading the poems made it clear that there were changes in the poem during its performance and the original poem of the poet was not performed. It was also identified that the designer of this relief is Abdullah Khan-e- Memar and its sculptor is Mohammad Qasem Khan-e- Hajjarbashi. On the other hand, numerous pictures revealed that this relief was painted during the repair by the Ray Cement Factory in 1949. The relief of Fath-Ali Shah, which was made by erasing the previous ancient relief, was finally destroyed sometime between 1961 and 1966 due to the explosions of the Ray Cement Factory, and its pieces fell to the foot of the mountain. The big piece of the relief was at the foot of the mountain for years, but there is no information about its fate. The smaller piece, which includes the lion’s tail and the inscriptions around it, was later moved to Ray Cement Factory by one of the technicians. It is kept in the museum of Ray Cement Factory now in 2023.