Representation of Transformation of Earthly Human to a Sacred Human in Illustrations (Pictures) of Double Margins of Safavid Carpets using Semantics Method

Iranian carpet that appeared after Islam, especially in the Safavid period, was created with the approach of manifestation of paradise, Garden of Eden, paradise gates and human entry into the paradise. It incorporated an eternal and sacred perspective into its seemingly earthy elements.
The view in the Safavid era, especially regarding the inclination of Safavid kings to Islamism and the observance of religious norms, was very popular and had a high status. Each of the motifs in these rugs expresses specific concepts, originated from within the artist and his society, which together has created a beautiful and harmonious work, and the artist mirrors the art, culture and ideas of the people of that time in the form of a magnificent rug.
Symbolism can help us achieve this goal to a considerable extent. The aim of the researchers in this field, considering the two hunting rugs belonging to the Safavid period, is to explore the body and concepts in the margins of these two carpets in order to achieve the symbolic layers in them and to understand the effects of the environment on the creation of these works. In order to conduct the research, with the help of documents and writings in the field of culture and beliefs of Safavid society, in addition to using the Holy Quran, the transformation of earthly man into a holy man was observed. Using the obtained data, the main question of the research is in regard to the reason for the difference in the two margins of the studied carpets, despite the similarity in their main bodies. With a symbolic and semantic approach, the motifs used in the edges of these carpets were studied in order to represent the transformation of earthly man into a holy man from a hermeneutic and post-structuralist point of view, culturally and value-wise, with the help of currents during Shah Tahmasp I by comparing two Safavid-era rugs in Boston Art Museum and the Museum of Applied Arts of Vienna. In order to achieve the purpose of the research, the method was first described in the section of theoretical concepts and literature of the holy art as well as the holy man, and then in the same section a description of the religious situation and the adherence of Safavid kings were given. Following the description of the general characteristics of rugs and the appearance of both margins, as well as the intertextual observations, the patterns used in these margins were analyzed. In order to get closer to the purpose of the research in another part of the analysis of patterns of the margins, firstly the angels and the winged men were described, and then paradise in the hunting scene carpet of the Vienna Museum was done. Subsequently, in order to achieve the goal of the research through intertextual study, paradise was described from the Quran's point of view, and was then compared with the Vienna carpet’s margin in form of a table.  A separate table provides the result of the comparison of heavenly features, extracted from Quranic verses, and elements used in the Vienna carpet.
In the other part of the research, hypertextual studies were conducted. In this context, firstly a brief description of hypertextual studies and their process were given, and after repentance of Shah Tahmasp, and the decree of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil, the hypertext of the research was examined. Finally, according to the documents as well as the work of Sultan Mohammad and its comparison to the design of the carpets, it can be said that the designer of both carpets was Sultan Mohammad. However, the important issue about these two carpets is that the design and weaving of the Boston Museum's carpet belong to the pre-repentance period of Shah Tahmasp while the Vienna Museum's carpet belongs to the period after the Shah's repentance.
According to research studies, it becomes clear that Shah Tahmasp, after his repentance, removes all signs of sin from the country. As for depiction of king's binge in the margins of the Boston Museum’s carpet, given the king's keen interest in the art of carpet weaving and the promotion of this art, and the fact that his interest in this art was so great that he designed carpets, as well as the fact that this carpet is one of the most luxurious or even the most luxurious carpet of this period; in the case of this carpet, Shah Tahmasp's decision to cleanse this carpet faces a challenge, and finally he made a new decision for another carpet to be woven with the same theme and different margins. This decision was in line with his interest in the art of carpet weaving and in keeping with his repentance.