Editing Ardashir I (section)

== Lineage and ancestry ==
[[File:SASANIAN KINGS. Ardashir I. As King of Persis, AD 205-6-223-4.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Initial coinage of Ardashir I, as [[King of Persis]] Artaxerxes (Ardaxsir) V. {{circa|205/6–223/4}}.<br />'''''Obv:''''' Bearded facing head, wearing diadem and Parthian-style tiara, legend ''"The divine Ardaxir, king"'' in Pahlavi.<br />'''''Rev:''''' Bearded head of [[Papak]], wearing diadem and Parthian-style tiara, legend ''"son of the divinity Papak, king"'' in Pahlavi.]]
There are different historical reports about Ardashir's ancestry and lineage. According to [[Al-Tabari]]'s report, Ardashir was son of [[Papak]], son of [[Sasan]]. Another statement that exists in ''[[Kar-Namag i Ardashir i Pabagan]]'' and is told the same way in [[Ferdowsi|Ferdowsi's]] ''[[Shahnameh]]'', states that Ardashir was born as a result of the marriage of Sasan, a descendant of [[Darius III]], with the daughter of Papak, a local [[governor]] in the province of [[Fars province|Pars]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Ardašīr I i. History|last=Wiesehöfer}}</ref> In ''Kar-Namag i Ardashir i Pabagan'', which was written after him, Ardashir is announced "a Papakan king with a paternal line from Sasan and a maternal line from Darius III".<ref name=":12">{{Cite book|title=Sasanian History and Culture|last=Daryaee}}</ref> [[Touraj Daryaee|Daryaee]] intends to say that according to that line in the text, it can be deduced that Ardashir has claimed his lineage to whoever he could. Relating Ardashir to the legendary [[Kayanian dynasty|Kayanians]] with the nickname Kay beside connecting himself to Sasan, who has been a guardian and mysterious deity and also to Dara, which is a combination of [[Darius I]] and [[Darius III|II]] the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid]] with local Persian [[shah]]s Dara I and II, shows the former's fake lineage.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title=Sasanian Empire Untold|last=Daryaee}}</ref>

Since Ardashir had claimed his royal lineage to Sasan, it is important to inspect who Sasan was. First it was composed that the [[Epigraphy|epigraphic]] form "Ssn" on [[pottery]]wares and other documents imply that Sasan was a [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] deity, though he is not mentioned in [[Avesta]] or other ancient Iranian texts. Martin Schwartz has recently shown that the deity shown on the potterywares is not related to Sasan, but shows Ssn, an old [[ancient Semitic religion|Semitic]] goddess that was worshiped in [[Ugarit]] in the [[2nd millennium BC|second millennium B.C]]. The word "Sasa" is written on coins found in [[Taxila]]; it is probable to be related to "Sasan", since the symbols on the mentioned coins are similar to the coins of [[Shapur I]]. It is remarked in Ferdowsi's ''Shahnameh'' about Sasan's Oriental lineage that might imply that his house had come from the Orient. After all and considering all the difficulties, it can be said that Ardashir claimed his lineage to be belonging to gods and the Sasanians may have raised Sasan's rank to a god's.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Sasanian Kingdom|last=Daryaee}}</ref><ref name=":03">{{Cite journal|last=Daryaee|date=November 17, 2012|title=Ardaxšīr and the Sasanian's Rise to Power|journal=Studia Classica et Orientalia}}</ref> The primary [[Islam]]ic sources, which are adapted from Sasanian statements, have emphasized on Sasan being a [[Mysticism|mysticist]] and [[hermit]] and have actually stated India, which is the center of [[asceticism]], as Sasan's origin. That was the only way for Ardashir to forge himself a double noble-religious lineage. It is not strange that Ardashir's religious lineage is emphasized in religious Sasanian statements and his noble lineage is emphasized in royal reports and then they are linked to religious statements about him. Anyway, whoever Sasan was and wherever he lived, he was not a native Persian and the eastern and western [[Iranian Plateau]] are mentioned as his origins in the references.<ref name=":03" />

[[File:Silver coin of Ardashir I, struck at the Hamadan mint.jpg|left|upright=1.5|thumb|Silver ''[[Ancient drachma|drachma]]'' of Ardashir I, struck at the [[Hamadan]] mint, dated c. 238–239. The obverse of the coin depicts Ardashir I with legend ''"The divine [[Ahura Mazda|Mazdayasnian]] King Ardashir, King of King of the Iranians"'', while the reverse shows a fire altar with the legend ''"Ardashir's fire"''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Curtis|first1=Vesta Sarkhosh|last2=Stewart|first2=Sarah|title=The Sasanian Era|date=2010|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=978-0857733092|pages=25–28|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qPVHBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT25|language=en}}</ref>]]
Most of foreign sources are unanimous in considering an unknown lineage for Ardashir;<ref name=":03" /> for example, [[Agathias]] has stated that Papak was a shoemaker who found out from [[Astronomy|astronomic]] proofs that Sasan would have a great son; thus Papak allowed Sasan to sleep with the former's wife and the result was Ardashir.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Babak|last=Frye}}</ref> Shakki considered Agathias's narrative a useless and vulgar story by the familiar Sergeus, [[Bavanat, Fars|Surianian]] translator of [[Khosrow I]]'s court, ordered by the opponents and foes of Sasanians. Shakki said it was obvious Sergeus the [[Christians|Christian]] had induced that nonsense to Agathias. Like he had cleared Ardashir's family tree, and it was adapted from the imaginations of Christians and the [[Materialism|materialist]] and [[Atheism|atheist]] league. Shakki's reasoning is based on the current norm in marital customs that the children resulting from a woman's marriage with a second spouse (after divorcing her first spouse) will belong to the first spouse.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Who Was Sasan?|last=Shakki}}</ref> In the three-language inscription of Shapur I's on [[Ka'ba-ye Zartosht]] in [[Naqsh-e Rustam]], Sasan is introduced only as a nobleman and Papak as a king.<ref name=":33">{{Cite book|title=Political Persian History During the Sasanians|last=Frye}}</ref>

There are opinions about the validity and authenticity of each of the mentioned narratives. Some have considered Al-Tabari's report suspicious since he presents an elaborate family tree of Ardashir that relates his generation to mythical and mighty ancient Iranian kings. Some consider the reports of ''Karnamag'' and ''Shahnameh'' more justifiable, since Ardashir being Sasan's son and his adoption by Papak aligns with Zoroastrian norms and customs.<ref name=":33"/> However, some have questioned the reports of ''Karnamag'' and ''Shahnameh'', considered them mythical and intended to legitimize the founder of the Sasanian dynasty.<ref name=":12" />

Due to the high number of reports about Ardashir's lineage, it is not easy to accept any; though it should not be ignored that most of the founders of dynasties claimed to be descendants of ancient kings in order to become legitimate. About that, Daryaee says: "If Ardashir had been evolved from a noble house, he would have insisted on a report; while various stories show that he intended to gain legitimacy from all Iranian traditions and perhaps foreign tribes."<ref name=":3" />

In sources, Ardashir's religious relations and his father being a cleric are mentioned; so it can be deduced that Ardashir had no connections with royal houses and was only a cleric's son who knew about religion, but was not a cleric himself; and that was how he, by his religious knowledge, found the chance to be the first person in his inscriptions receiving the royal ring from [[Ahura Mazda]], something a Persian nobleman did not need and only a newcomer had to claim to be from the line of gods. It should be mentioned that it was not precedent to Ardashir to take a royal ring from Ahura Mazda, and it is not seen even in [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid]] inscriptions.<ref name=":3" />