Sasan

Sāssān (Middle Iranian > Persian ساسان, also known as Sasan), considered the eponymous ancestor of the Sasanians of Sasanian Empire, was "a great warrior and hunter" and a Zoroastrian high priest in Pars and living sometime near the fall of the Arsacid Empire.

Identity of Sasan

Medieval sources

There are many slightly different stories concerning Sasan and his relation to Ardashir I the founder of Sasanian Empire. The northern Iranian historian Tabari mentions further that Sasan married a princess of the Bāzarangid family, the vassal dynasty of Pārs and that Sassan was a grandfather of Ardashir I while Papak is named as Ardashir I's father.

According to the Pahlavi book of Karnamak-i Artaxshir-i Papakan, Sassan's wife was a daughter of a noble man called Papak and the marriage was arranged by Papak after hearing that Sasan has "Achamenian blood in him", their son is named Ardashir I. Sasan vanishes shortly after Ardashir appears in the story and Papak is "considered the father of Ardashir".