Analytical and Semantic Survey of the Symbols of the Tree of Life and Goat in Jiroft

This research is an attempt for pictorial study and semantic analysis of the symbols of the tree of life and goat in Jiroft that is organized by citing pictorial samples and considering mythical beliefs. An extensive pattern of the symbol of the tree of life had its most presence alongside the symbol of the goat throughout history and studying the statistical population of this research, the vessels of Jiroft, we can see the continuity in following the common themes in their creation. This study, in terms of the nature and method, is descriptive-analytical and it tried to perform, logically and historically, an analytical and semantic survey of the mentioned patterns. The results of studied samples indicate that life-giving force, eternal life, desire for heaven, blessing and fertility are the most important concepts of semantics and are of the logical reasons of the connection between these two in Jiroft. Presenting two goats around the tree can be a symbol of the earth, giving birth, winter, agility and a symbol of fertility. Also, the tree of life in Jiroft is taken from the archetype pattern of the cosmic tree, that in terms of public, it had been sanctified and honored as a ritualistic value and with presenting a goat next to it, will contain supernatural semantic connotations. Even though all existing motifs of goats and tree on these works do not seem symbolic, the study of two-way communication between the mentioned symbols helps us greatly to understand their singular nature.


Introduction
In the history of ancient Iran, trees and animals were always considered as symbols of nature, and especially trees were considered as a medium between man and divinity.Jiroft, with an area of 13799 square kilometer in province of Kerman in southeastern Iran had a great influence on cultural developments of the third millennium BC and the Bronze Age.Today, the art of Jiroft's civilization and the motifs on chlorite works have established the main foundation of our understanding of this civilization and the artist had a revelatory role in creating innovative motifs such as the tree of life and goat on the vessels.In this study, by surveying the historical similar cases and accepting the symbol of the guardian goat and some trees as tree of life in the carvings of Jiroft, the author has done a semantic and analytical survey of the mentioned symbols.To understand the reasons of this symbolizations and their transferring to other cultures, rooting and studying these motifs in other cultures seem essential.Because of this reason, it may be possible that by considering the contribution in using the concepts of similar motifs of tree of life and goat in other civilizations, the thoughts of these artists can be commonly rooted.Although our knowledge of the nature of the connection between these two in Jiroft is minimal, it is possible that based on the available evidence and semantic analysis of the motifs, we would be able to create some contexts for their pictorial identity.This research surveys following question and hypothesis: 1. how is the view of the artist of Jiroft, the semantic expression and presenting method of the symbols of goat and the tree of life and the connection between these two in the works of Jiroft?Life-giving force, eternal life, desire for heaven, blessing and the fertility are the most important semantic concepts and the reason of the connection between these two symbols.Mentioned motifs have symbolic meanings and show the high level of artistic skill and the imagination of the creators.It seems that there is a certain ideological purpose in this type of pictorial processing in which in addition to the semantic concepts, shows a belief system rooted in the past and related to the traditions of the period.

Methodology
This research, in terms of method, is descriptive-analytic.The study tries to perform, logically and historically, an analytical and semantic survey of the symbols of the tree of life and goat in Jiroft by citing pictorial samples and considering mythical beliefs.

Semantics
Semantics is a way of understanding the text that refers to the polysemy.It seems that multiple meanings of a message or work are not equal and their relationships have been changed in different historical periods.This meaning can be a sign or a combination of signs semantically.This method is of two types; historical semantics and the descriptive semantics.In historical semantics, a concept that is extracted from a text is studied in during the times before the appearance of that text; in descriptive semantics of a concept, a phrase or word is studied according to the text itself, and the combination of these two is called semantics or semantic method.On the subject of this study, continuity in application and the secret of continuity of the symbols such as the goat and the sacred tree in the artwork during different millennia is related to the semantic concepts of these symbols.

Symbolic concepts of the tree
All aspects of human life have long been depended on the nature and interacting with it and the earliest forms of human life have emerged with a kind of respectful attitude towards some kinds of the trees.
According to Hall, "many ancient peoples worshiped the tree as the place of God, or in fact, God itself.
Also it was the symbol of the cosmos, the source of fertility and symbol of the knowledge and eternal life" (2001: 285).Prehistoric humans had astonishing skill in symbolizing elements such as trees in their artistic production.As described by Dubocour, "in its oldest figure, the tree is a giant cosmic tree which is the key to the creation of the cosmos" (1994: 9).Mythological heroes such as Gilgamesh obtain the elixir of immortality after a fight with guards of the tree of life.Accordingly, "the tree helps a human to realize his spiritual origins and the immortality of the soul.A tree with symmetrical branches and from a single trunk is the symbol of the duality in life in the form of 'sum of the opposites' and so the life arises from the bond between each pair of opposites (such as good and evil)" (Cook, 2008: 1).

The tree of life
"Tree of Life" or "sacred tree" is of the oldest intercultural symbols also known as the cosmic tree, the central tree, the tree of knowledge and immortality, and there have been imperfect duplicates of its  1 and 2).Eliade says, "The tree of life and the revitalization in the Iranian tradition, is Haoma which grows in the mountains" (Eliade, 1997: 278).Cypress has a long life and is a symbol of immortality, and in the belief of the religion of Mithraism is the evergreen tree, a symbol of the sun, the birth of Mithras, immortality and liberation.According to the myth, "Mithras" is born within the cypress.In ancient Iranian religion, there is some evidence of the sanctity of divine cypress tree that Zarathustra brought from heaven.
Platanus, the symbol of eternal blessing of the gods and the spirits, has had a long life and the bark is peeled off it every year.Eliade says: "The tree is full of sacred force, because it is upstanding, it grows, loses its leaves and acquires them again, so it becomes alive."(cited in Chevalier and Gerberan, 2003: 191).
In ancient Iran, Platanus was the symbol of the monarchy."Achaemenid kings, according to the Western Asia-Mediterranean tradition were the guardian of this vegetal epitome" (Bahar, 1997: 45-46).Pine in the Far East is a symbol of immortality, the Pippala in India is the most sacred plant and represents Vishnu, willow in Tibet and olive in Islam are the symbols of the tree of life."Palm is the Assyrian-Babylonian sacred tree which shows the fertility rituals in Mesopotamia" (Hall, 2001: 288).Hall believes about date "clusters of date are the symbol of fertility in Egypt and Mesopotamia.Some of the first depictions of the sacred tree seem to be the palm and it grows in the mountains of Iran and Afghanistan" (Ghani Nezhad, 2000: 169).Reichelt believes about haoma that "it is a mythical tree or plant that has taken shelter in the ocean in the guard of ten large fish.It is expected that at the end of the circulation of time and to renovate the universe and life, the elixir of immortality (panacea) is made of mixing its sticks with the fat of a mythical ox" (Reichelt, 2004: 446).(Negahban, 1999, 212) Figure 2: right: Pinhead, goats on the both sides of the tree of life decorated with ribbons on it (Goddard, 1998, 58) Left: A piece of a container (Egyptian blue), two goats on both sides of the palm tree, Hasanlu (Prada, 2007, 167) Figure 3: Cylinder seal, Susa, 3000 up to 3200 BC (Dadvar, 2009, 93) Figure 4: Designing the ibex in the left hand of Indian Shiva (Hall, 2001, 35) The symbol of the goat The earliest evidence for the presence of the motifs of the goat in Western Asia is the motifs on the Susa cylinder seals of third and fourth millennia BC.About Figure 3 of the cylinder seal, Amiet notes: "Three ibexes with different horns are parading from the right to the left and the goat on the left also has a tail like a ladder in the form of a strip" (Amiet, 1972: 88).In Figure 4 Indian Shiva has a symbol of an ibex in one of her left hands and according to Hall, "Perhaps this concept has taken from the god of animals in the Indus Valley" (Hall, 2001: 35).There is a possibility of connection between Enki of the gods of ancient Sumer and the epitome of wisdom and the god of rain with the symbol of goat.Ibex was epitome of abundance in the Susa and Elam.In Figure 5 of the motif of horned ibex on the grail of Susa, it seems that its symbolic and long horns are the epitome of power and its relationship with the moon and vegetal motifs between its horns are very interesting.According to Gershevitch "Constellation of Ibex determines the time before the winter solstice practically with the sunrise by the horns" (Gershevitch, 2006: 640)."This animal (Ibex) was once worshiped as the incarnation of human and herd fertility and was considered same with the Sumerian fertility god of Tammuz and Ningirsu" (Hall, 2001: 35).
Diagram 3: goat's signs and ceremonial meaning in ancient Iran

The expression of the symbol of the goat in Iran
Motifs of the goat have long been a symbol of water, rain, abundance, guardian of the moon and savior of the mashya and mashyana."Horned animals such as Ibex are the symbol of fertility due to their horns' resemblance of the crescent" (Abdollahian, 2008: 52).According to mythical stories, creation of the first human couple happened from a rhubarb plant with two leaves after forty years.The first Iranian people "mashya and mashyana" had grown out of a "rhubarb" tree (Mazdapour, 2003: 44).When the human face in both genders of male and female, the mashya and mashyana emerge, Ibex protects them and the two of them drink its milk.For this reason, it is assumed that the goat is the symbol of fertility and growth."In mythological literature of ancient Iran, goat is one of the ten representations of Bahram (Mars) (Hynlz, 2000: 41).The pottery of Tepe Sialk contains beautiful motifs of the ibex (Figure 6).A kind of male Ibex with long and sword-like horns is called wild goat (Figure 7).It seems that in the agriculture era due to the human need to the cows and to plow, the number of motifs of the goat and its sanctity is gradually reduced.Also according to the teachings of Zarathustra and human need to the agriculture, the motif of the goat had been replaced by the motif of the cow.Jiroft (Majidzadeh, 2003, 67) Figure 11: Sinker with the motif of the palm tree, the third millennium BC, Halil Rood cultural sphere, Jiroft (Majidzadeh, 2003, 128)

Evidence of the symbols of the tree of life and goat in cultures
Evidence relating to the representation of the tree of life and real, mythical and hybrid animals such as the goat, winged jinns or monks, on both sides of the tree has been confirmed in many civilizations; but the most common are the half-raised goats on both sides of the tree of life.In the old poem of Assyrian tree in the language of ancient Pahlavi, we can see one of the oldest representations of the goat and the tree of life.
The story of this poem is the discourse between dry palm tree and the goat in religious rituals of Assyrians (Figure 8).Some researchers believe that the "palm" is the symbol of agricultural community and "goat" is a symbol of the urban community.The famous pottery found on the burnt city contains the poem of the Assyrian tree and the goat (Figure 9).Pictorial sample 10 is an expression of architectural texture on chlorite

Analytical and semantic survey of the symbols of the tree of life and goat
In the survey of the motifs of tree of life and the goat, parameters such as the implicit and explicit implications and the presence of same mythical beliefs in other cultures are identified which we analyze them through reading the pictorial code.
Therefore the following three issues will be considered in the analysis: 1) Visual structure: a survey of visual structure considering the technical and executive criteria and techniques.
2) Credibility: According to mythical beliefs, culture, tastes and possible ideas affecting the art of the civilization in Jiroft considering the timeframe and archaeological discoveries.
3) Aesthetics: Based on the contemporary definitions of concepts of the aesthetic.

Natural landscapes and vegetal motifs in Jiroft
Backgrounds of Visual spaces are full of decorative and natural elements."Primitive man first needed to understand the nature and discover its secrets.He, symbolically and allegorically, justified the nature and its secrets using the myths, and for the epitomes of nature, he considered certain gods and signs" (Ismailpour, 2008: 19).
Figure 12: stone marked tree, cylindrical vessel, the third millennium BC, Halil Rood cultural sphere, Jiroft (Majidzadeh, 2003, 34) Figure 13: the pot with the motif of the palm tree, the third millennium BC, Halil Rood cultural sphere, Jiroft (Majidzadeh, 2003, 28) Figure 14: sinker with the motif of the palm tree, the third millennium BC, Halil Rood cultural sphere, Jiroft (Majidzadeh, 2003, 22) Studying the symbol of the tree of life in Jiroft Of the most important representations of the tree of life in Jiroft based on the semantic concepts, is that the tree of life is the interface between the earth and the heaven through its stems and roots.According to different forms of the tree in Jiroft, an accurate type for "Tree of Life" cannot be found, but in the carvings of the trees that seem to be the trees of life, are stronger and more artistic compositions next to the symbol of the goat.In Figure 11, three motifs of a palm tree with textured trunk and interconnected roots are presented.An amount of the roots of the trees are on the soil surface which not displaying the beginning and the origin of the trees in the upper part, probably indicate the two-way communication between the earth and the heaven.Types of plants such as the palm trees, with trunks and multi-pointed flowers and bowed down stems are carved on the both sides of the vessels."The variety in types of plants is completely evident" (Majidzadeh, 2003: 6).In Figure 12, a tree with leaves similar to the palm and interesting circular flower or fruit, is the repetition of six small circles of stone that the goats on its both sides have set one of their feet near its flower or fruit."The stones are decorated in the petals of the trees which goats intend to eat their leaves and branches" (Majidzadeh, 2003: 34).Two birds that seem to be hawks are flying towards the earth with open wings parallel to the trunk of the tree.It is not still clear that why the mentioned birds are at both sides of the probable tree of life in this manner and there cannot be any other assumptions but them being sacrifices.In Figures 13 and 14, there is another type of trees with a certain thin trunk, parallel and slightly twisted branches with regular leaves that constitute branches, visible roots on the surface of the earth and three and five-pointed flowers at the top which the male goats and lambs are standing on its both sides."Branches of the trees of life have fallen naturally but apart from the general pictorial violence in the pictorial space of Jiroft, they have a soft, fluid and stylized state.Tree branch is the epitome of growth and another example of this expression: the tree, the epitome of life" (Bayani, 1996: 22).Pictorial surveys show that the function of these motifs in the works is either a purely decorative function or a compounding function.In the purely decorative function, plant has a role of a decorative element such as filling the space in the structure of the composition, which sometimes is carved very simple.In the compounding function, in addition to the decorative function in which the natural form of plant is considered, tree or plant has an interactive role with the composition subjects such as humans, animals, and especially goats.It seems that other types of plants, according to vegetal representations that doctor Majidzadeh discussed, didn't have any religious and ritual contents and are carved only because of the repetition.In figure 15, motifs of different kinds of trees in Jiroft with decorated vegetal arrays are visible.In drawing the palm tree, a combination of the motifs of two trees is used, one capsized and the other like the normal trees with umbrella-shaped branches that are bent towards the ground."Capsized tree has quite extensive symbolic aspects and the symbols of this tree are the signs of this belief that the universe is the manifestation of God's existence and also show the human desire to rise and return to the origin, the heaven and eternity in that world" (Pourkhaleghi, 2001: 106).
Figure 15: Linear design of trees, the third millennium BC, Halil Rud cultural sphere, Jiroft (Majidzadeh, 2003, p.31-37)In the motifs on the conic carafe in Figure 16, the tree is as a significant element in the center and in a symmetrical state with the curved branches and regular and fruitless leaves.A thick rope in the form of strip surrounded the vessel that is tied to the trunks of two trees and the neck of the cows on both sides of the vessel.May ropes attached to the animal (cow) and nature (tree) would be a symbol of the controlling the nature and domestication of animals such as the cow by humans and a demonstration of his power and superiority.In Figure 17, three lionesses are displayed backwards to the palm tree.We are still unclear that whether this palm tree is the tree of life or has been carved merely to decorate and to create balance in the composition.Perhaps the lions and lionesses could be considered as gods of the tree or totems of the people of Jiroft.The first lioness along with the lion, have surrounded a cow lying on its back.Hawk is landing above the lion and the palm tree is there between the three lionesses and the lion.In Figure 18, it seems that the graver of Jiroft, in drawing the motifs of human, Tree of Life and the goat on a variety of chlorite pots, is distanced from the encrypted manner of his former gravers and by going into further details, he tried to make the Figure more real, but still the symbolic aspect of these motifs is considerable.Pakbaz says about drawing symbolicfigures through avoiding the naturalism by prehistoric illustrators: "in order to convey a specific concept, he was showing only a few features ... Thus, the real phenomena were converted into coded signals based on the mentality of the illustrator" (Pakbaz, 2000: 15).Aside from Figure 16, similar to the concept of the motif of the sacrifice, the probability of the representation of the tipped cow in this carving is that if these trees are confirmed as trees of life, due to the placement of the tipped cow close to the trunks of trees, it can be considered as the sacrifice.Since the motif of the cow in different mythologies is the symbol of fertility, life and blessing, so the hypothesis of being them sacrifices to request blessing and to avoid the wrath of gods, is close to the reality.

Symbol of the goat in Jiroft
In carvings discussed, the motif of the goat, different with its counterparts in other works of ancient times, is drawn in a simple, stylized, and primitive form but with comprehensible realism.The male goats have knotted and long horns that like a sword lean towards the rear of the body.In the works of Jiroft, goats and lambs are the only animals that are seen to feed directly from the types of trees in states of standing, sitting and turning back (Figure 19).Despite the use of curved lines and special perspective, organs have a dry state, but their elegance and beauty is evident (Figure 20).Despite this fact that the motif of the goat is not vastly represented in all works of Jiroft, but this animal is symbolic and important and showing two goats can be used as a symbol of the earth, giving birth, winter, agility and a symbol of fertility.Most notable part in this Figure is putting a foot on top of the circular-shaped flower or fruit which is not reasonably possible (Figure 21).Genetically, it seems that ibex is more visible among other similar species, such as wild goat (male) and goat (female)."More details show the gender, being male or female, and the age, being mature or immature" (Majidzadeh, 2003: 6).Also in terms of morphology, the bezoar ibex or the wild goat (male goat) has a huge body and protruding chest, relatively short legs, a long beard and a black tail and its gender is shown significantly.Male lambs also have large arched horns similar to the adult male goats.Female goat has a slim body, delicate, flat and much shorter horns.All heads have profile state and have been drawn in accordance with the size and form of the body (Figures 22,23 and 24).The fluidity and mobility of the pictorial space is felt through dynamic forms of the goats in the composition.

The concepts of the motifs of the goat and the tree of life in Jiroft
Professor Edith Porada in her article the Art of Ancient Persia: Pre-Islamic Cultures has said, "One of the most common and most persistent motifs is the motif of the horned animals that are symmetrically going up from the both sides of the tree.Different types of this scene had been displayed from the pre-historical era to the Sassanid era" (cited in Negahban, 1989: 198).Tree and Goat are of the most frequent motifs in carvings of the vessels of Jiroft and the goat is known as the most specific totem or guardian of the tree of life in Jiroft.Observing the visual characteristics of the tree and goat and the close relationship between the visual elements of the pots enable us to say almost certainly that some of the carvings of tree of life and goat have supernatural semantic implications.Unlike many other illustrators of ancient times, the goal of the artist of Jiroft was to achieve a unity and balance in form and a pure visual language in order to induce intended concepts, the same selection that the artists have achieved in the next periods.

The motif of the meadow, a Figure of the Garden of Eden
Presenting the meadow or the Garden of Eden probably is the sign of stability of the bracing and eternal life from the perspective of Jiroft's artist.Jiroft's artist based on his thoughts and beliefs, tried to resort to these symbols in order to be placed under the protection of the forces such as blessing and fertility: The myth of the Garden of Eden contains concepts such as the desire to regain the freedom and prosperity before the fall, the desire to resume the relationship between earth and heaven and in one word, the elimination of all changes to the structure of the cosmos which happened in the way of being human through the first break ... The primitive man rebuilds heavenly conditions, refreshes his friendship with the animals and connects the earth to the heaven (Eliade, 1995: 67).

A survey of the relationship between concepts and structure of the tree of life and the goat in Jiroft
The elements on the content of the pots of Jiroft include four specific elements of the male goat, female goat, lamb and tree.Doctor Majidzadeh says about this, "real samples of the tree of life and ibex appear repeatedly on stone vessels of Jiroft in the most possible natural and beautiful form: Goat with four legs on the ground and its horns bent upward" (Majidzadeh, 2003: 6).In Figure 25, goats have set one foot on the evergreen pine tree located in the center of the space that compared to other samples, it seems innovative and exciting.The way of illustrating the Tree of Life and the goat in this case has a special pictorial expression and it seems that the special effort combined with mythical beliefs and rituals has entered another level.The top of the pine tree is located in the same direction with the faces of two goats.Symbolic representation of the goats standing and setting foot on the stem or branches of trees should have supernatural meanings; because according to pictorial samples, they have a significant difference with goats grazing normally, so we can distinguish between these two divisions regarding the representation of the motif of the goat.The first division is the goats with symbolic manner and bent leg standing on the tree or next to the tree, the second division is the goats grazing normally.Two birds are probably the sacrifices under the feet of one of the goats as well as goat or calf is sitting at the feet of other goats.Two birds, probably the sacrifices, are under the foot of one of the goats and also a calf is sitting under the foot of another goat."Here, two birds can be the symbol of heaven, two goats can be the symbol of earth, and overall, the tree shows the figure of entire universe" (Basiri and Sarfi, 2005: 39).In Figure 26, the ibexes are in a very dry, artificial and perfectly symmetrical manner and are standing on hind legs which symbolically are eating foliage on both sides of the tree.It seems that graver intended to compensate for artificial manner of the goats using vegetal elements specially the tangled branches."Real appearances of the tree of life and ibex appear repeatedly on stone vessels of Jiroft in the most possible natural and beautiful form: a goat that set all its four feet on a tree branch and goats in various states in two rows and in two opposite directions.In these scenes, different species of ibexes can be distinguished based on the form of their horns" (Majidzadeh, 2003: 6).According to some analysts, such as Forest "theme of the divine tree is the theme existed in pre-Jiroft civilizations.By eating this tree, the animal finds the divine essence and then human finds the same essence by drinking that animal's milk or eating its meat" (Forest: 2003).In figure 27, guardian ibexes with a different look are seen symmetrically at the both sides of the tree of life with two symmetrical branches on either side of the central trunk.Generally it can be mentioned that symbols of the tree of life and the goat are some impressions of nature with semantic concepts in which lies ancient mythical and ritual beliefs.Also having connotations and pictorial codes is closer to the concepts of the tree of life in Iranian culture.It can be said that this way, the tree in its general sense "implies the life of the cosmos, its continuity and growth and reproduction of natal and regenerative processes.The tree is a sign of endless life and so is equivalent to the symbol of immortality" (Green, 1997: 165).Despite the scenes of battle and fight in other carvings of Jiroft, there is no sign of hybrid creatures in the form of fictional humans or animals in scenes representing the tree of life and the goat.Graver probably intended to reveal the true nature of the tree of life and goat in contrast to the war and bloodshed.The peace we can rarely find in the works during the primitivism era.Aside from the obvious weakness in creating repetitive and similar compounds and decorations, a significant problem is the totality justifying the energetic and fluid living spirit of these works.
Figure 22: Designing the male and female goats on vessels, the third millennium BC, Halil Rood cultural sphere, Jiroft (Majidzadeh, 2003, 22) Figure 23: Designing the male and female goats on vessels, the third millennium BC, Halil Rood cultural sphere, Jiroft (Majidzadeh, 2003, 30) Figure 24: Designing the goat and lamb on vessels, the third millennium BC, Halil Rood cultural sphere, Jiroft (Majidzadeh, 2003, 31) Figure 25: The analysis of the motif of Tree of Life (pine) and goat on the pot, the third millennium BC, Jiroft (Majidzadeh, 2003, 35) Figure 26: The analysis of the motif of Tree of Life and goat on the pot, the third millennium BC, Jiroft (Majidzadeh, 2003, 22-34) Figure 27: The analysis of the motif of Tree of Life and goat on the pot, the third millennium BC, Jiroft (Majidzadeh, 2003, 29-30)

Results
The motifs of the Tree of Life and goat in works of Jiroft contain following semantic concepts of cosmic life-giving force or eternal life, desire for heaven, blessing, abundance and fertility.
It seems that the motifs of goats and trees of life have relatively independent identity in the carvings and have specific differences in composition and concept with other elements and scenes of the battle.The state and the way of deploying the goats next to the tree of life and creating the atmosphere have great influence on conveying the concepts.Of the significant characteristics in representing the two symbols of the tree of life and goat are lack of imagination, lack of innovation and diversity in the carving and elegant execution.
The graver, in recreating the motifs of the tree of life and goat and creating an atmosphere, was able to create a combination that unlike other pictorial samples of Jiroft, there is no trace of pitched battle between daeva-like and the animals and violence in it.We can see the representation of the ideal heaven or meadow where goats are as most embodied symbol of the spirit of immortality in these works.This way of presenting the meadow is probably a sign of stability of the eternal and bracing life.In table 1 a survey of the conceptual and visual connection between the motifs of the tree of life and Goat in Jiroft is discussed.

Conclusion
By studying semantic motifs of the tree of life and Goat in some ancient civilizations and Jiroft, discovering the latent concepts and cultural backgrounds, it can be said that the life-giving force, eternal life, desire for heaven, blessing and fertility are of the most important semantic concepts and of the reasons of connection between these two symbols; there is no doubt that we can say, the continuation of esoteric concepts and evidence on the connection between these mentioned symbols in Jiroft are directly connected to these symbols throughout history.Studying the relationship between these two helps us greatly to understand their singular and semantic nature.Vessels and glass pots are not only full of mythical concepts, but reveal that a widespread pattern of the symbol of the sacred tree of life had always the most continuity and expression throughout history.Presenting two goats can be a symbol of the earth, giving birth, winter, agility and the symbol of fertility and as mentioned earlier, one of the oldest symbolic aspects of the tree is to visualize the origin of life and also the vitality and growth in it.Studies show that the tree of life in Jiroft had been taken from the archetype pattern of the cosmic tree that was dignified and sanctified as a ritual value in public.The motif and symbol of the sacred tree of life integrated with the ritual and traditional aspects of the cultures in the form of the faith and belief system of our ancestors and survived the passage of time and even today, we can see its continuity in many ethnicities.
archetype in different cultures (diagram 1).Tree of life in different cultures is known with names of the trees such as palm (dates), Platanus, grapes, olives, jamun, fig, ash, tamarisk (in the Shahnameh), tree of life or immortality (the Torah), Haoma, white and immortality (ancient Persia), willow and gaokerena.In diagram 2 symbols and their ritual meanings are mentioned.Generalities of the Tree of Life in Ancient Iran Some of the conceptual and visual characteristics of the sanctity of the trees in Iran include medicinal, fusing with mythological beliefs and believing in having the soul.There are the motifs of the tree of life in Diagram 2: The symbols of Tree of Life and their ritual meanings Diagram 1: the names of Tree of Life in different cultures religions such as Manichaeism, Mithraism and also on the works of Marlik and bronze of Lorestan (Figures

Figure 5 :Figure 6 :Figure 7 :Figure 8 :Figure 9 :Figure 10 :
Figure 5: Susa Cup, the fourth millennium BC (louvre.fr) Figure 6: Earthen jar with the motif of the ibex, the fourth millennium BC, Tepe Sialk, Kashan (nya.ir) Figure 7: Comparing the design of goat in Jiroft and the Figure of Bezoar ibex (Majidzadeh, 2003, nationalwildlife.ir) Figure 8: One of the two rams and the Tree of Life, Royal Cemetery of the city of Ur, 2600 BC, British museum, London (plus.google.com) up one leg in the goats along with the form of the tree of life considering the concepts and the inner essence of the tree of life, having equilibrium and strength, being ascended, balanced Pine tree with a very thin trunk at the top, paying attention form and selecting specific motifs in the form of tree, circular-shaped flowers or fruit at the top, leafy vines, creating a coordination and visual connection between the motifs of flowers and motifs of horns Body: female goat standing on three legs Form of the Horn: Medium sized horns Symbol: guardian creatures Pose: one foot on the sacrificial bird and the another foot on the tree Inducing the imagination of the visual movement of the goats and using the method of presenting considerable forms based on specific aesthetic criteria of the artist of Jiroft Using geometric designs such as triangular design in order to represent natural elements of the flower, using the simple and elegant decorative compositions in the form of the trunk and branches Body: female goat standing normally Form of the Horn: Medium sized horns Symbol: guardian creatures Pose: back to the tree and its face turned back Tendency to stylize and simplify the form U Table 1:U a survey of the conceptual and visual connection between the motifs of the tree of life and Goat in Jiroft Appearance of the tree in Jiroft Expression of the tree along with goats and other elements in Jiroft Four Palm trees / presenting the tree symmetrically / presenting the palm tree with interconnected roots and textured trunk Recreating motifs of the goat and trees in the nature / motif of the human picking up the fruit from the tree The motif of capsized tree of life Bull attacking a man / rope along the tree like a rope attached to the neck of bull The peace in the Garden of Eden or the meadow in Jiroft Types of trees as a source of animal feed especially goats / cows probably have the role of a totem or guardian of trees Dual roots of the tree indicate bidirectional communication between the earth (referring to plants) and heavenEvergreen pine tree, symbol of immortality Tree as the center of gravity of the composition and creating a symmetrical composition At the both sides of the tree, two goats in a symbolic and guardian state Tree with fruits, flowers, leaves, branches and twisted stems with repetitive motifs Trees as the center of gravity of the composition of these works and affecting the development of symmetrical influence Shrubs similar to the palm trees with interesting circular-shaped flower or fruit and repetition of six circles in it A bird under the feet of a goat and next to the tree represents heaven, the goddesses or sacrifice for the tree U Table2:U Studying the motifs of the tree of life and goat in Jiroft