# Plants as Symbols of Power in the Achaemenid Iconography of Ancient Persian Monuments
## 4 Discussion
Despite the representation of a relatively small number of species, we cannot avoid stressing the profound knowledge of natural phenomena in Achaemenid culture, as demonstrated in the attention paid to the selection of specific details and the depiction of specific phenological phases. In this context, we can explain the limited number of species because of their role as symbols of power. In fact, in order to achieve this, it was particularly important to transmit a clear and simple message that could be easily understood by the entire population without misunderstanding, while projecting the idea of supreme order. With this in mind, we can easily understand why we see the same elements constantly repeated in royal monuments, like the carved representations, the shape of columns and capitals, and many other architectural elements. Similarly, only a small number of animal species are depicted, including bulls, lions, griffins, and the metamorphic Sphinx symbolizing chaos, all of which had well-established symbolic meanings [21; 125]. The great attention that Zoroastrians paid to nature [57] is indeed evident in the depiction of details and their associated communicative functions, where specific stages of flowering or ripening would have different meanings. Such representational choices prove that the authors were not only familiar with the morphology of the species but also with their physiological mechanisms of pollination and the formation of fruits and seeds, as demonstrated by the complex depiction of fertilization processes [57; 60; 126]. The depiction of fruiting carpels on the capitals of columns supporting symbolic animals does not seem to us to be coincidental, since they represent the final stage of blooming (Figures 3g and 4, stage 6), whereas only the bracts of capitula, which represent the initial stages, are depicted at the bottom of columns (Figure 4, stage 1). The Capitulate and Lotus Rosette Motifs as Solar Symbols with a Prominent Role in the Icongraphy of Assyrian and Egyptian Origins  
The origin of the rosette motif [19; 127] can be traced back to the ancient Near East, where it featured in Assyrian, Babylonian, and Egyptian art [13; 32; 40; 51; 128; 129; 130]. Some scholars have suggested that the rosette is a conscious revival of the age-old imagery of the goddess [PERSON]/[PERSON], a symbol of the link between kingship and fertility, and generally an allusion to fertility and abundance [51; 131]. Most scholars, however, see it as a symbol of the sun and of its life-giving properties, and consequently, it was also associated with fertility, growth, and renewal [26; 74; 130] as well as magic virtue [26]. The sun's daily transit through the heavens provides diving protection against darkness and the forces of evil; it is the source of divine fertility and oversees the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth [15; 47; 132]. Similarly, in Ancient Persia, the rosette symbol was also closely connected with [PERSON] or [PERSON], the most popular divinity in the Indo-Aryan world [84]. He was associated with the sun and with justice and played a part in Mehr or Mehregan ceremonies [133]. The connection of capitulate rosettes with the sun arises from the morphological features of such infloresances, which are characterized by a central disc that mirrors the solar disc, and the circular arrangement of white ligulate flowers, which resemble the radiating rays of the sun. Due to this connection, this pattern symbolizes vitality, energy, and life-giving power, as the sun is often considered the source of all life on Earth. Indeed, capitula with numerous white ligulate flowers forming whitish rays and yellow tubulate flowers in the center are characteristic of many genera, such as _Bellis_, _Anthemis_, and _Matricaria_, and in the case of Assyrian reliefs, some rosettes have previously been identified as daisies or marguerites (_Bellis_ and _Anthemis_) [32; 51; 128]. In the case of the tomb of [PERSON], _Anthemis psedocotula_ was proposed [87].