Professor Frantz Grenet | Collège de France

Abstract Wall paintings carrying illustrations of episodes calling for comparisons with the Shāhnāme were first identified in 1958 in a house at Panjikent near Samarkand, with the exploits of Rostam in the first war of Māzandarān. In 2014 a cycle showing Rostam taking part in the adventures of his son Farāmarz (who was the subject of an independent epic tale preserved in a 11^th c. version) was identified in another house. More recently, it has been proposed to recognize the second war of Māzadarān in the epic cycle decorating palace of the rulers of Ustrushana towards the end of the 8th c. In Sistān, a 5^th or 6^th c. painting in the temple complex of Kuh-e Khwājah can be interpreted as the surrender of Zahhāk to Farīdūn.