Artistic and Religious Influences on a Safavid War Helmet
... What caught my eye was a war helmet from Iran during the 17th century under the Safavid dynasty. The helmet consisted of a hard hat of steel and vandyked coifs of mail. ... The helmet was inlaid with gold and had an adjustable nose cover going from the helmet down over where a nose would be. Gold Arabic inscriptions from the Qur’an ran along the length of the nose cover and similar inscriptions circled a band around the helmet. ... After comprehending the context in which this object was made, I realized that one could only appreciate the elegant beauty of the helmet after understanding the religious significance it held for its wearer. The helmet was made during the Safavid dynasty that originated in Iran and spanned from 1501 to 1722. ... In the Safavid’s case, they considered their branch of Islam true and all other Muslim regimes as un-Islamic. Through warfare, Ismail, the head of the Safavid family conquered the rest of Iran and he proclaimed himself the Shah by justifying that he was the descendant of the hidden 12th imam.