As for bronze, the situation is very similar to that of precious-metalwork in that the pieces created in Persia during the early years of Islam continue the Sasanid tradition so faithfully that it is often impossible to decide whether a piece was created before or after the Islamic conquest. The number of surviving pieces is as yet too small to be able to determine exact dates or stylistic groups. Judging by the circumstances in which they were found it appears that during the seventh and eighth centuries there was a centre of production in the Caucasus in Dagestan. An individual Persian Islamic style of metalwork only emerges in the Seljuk era. Thus, as in the field of literature, the concessions made to Islam by bronze and ceramics in the early Islamic period were rather small and superficial. Both convey the feeling that these concessions re only external, while those who were part of this culture saw the continuation of ancient traditions as being at the heart of their efforts.116 In this way the genuinely Iranian class of the dēhkāns, who upheld the civilization, comes remarkably alive for us. Historical traditions, on the other hand, maintained an, obviously deliberate, silence on the subject; and their role in religious history can only be inferred from the sources.
Dualism in Zoroastrianism: Dialectic of Good and Evil
