Assyrian mitres

[Spongie555]

I was wondering which type of mitre is traditional to the Assyrian/Chaldean church. The Chaldean Catholic wear the western style mitres while the Assyrian Church of the East wear the byzantine style mitres. However recently I saw that the Ancient Church of the East wears a mitre I have never seen before, youtube.com/watch?v=CJxY9eILoTs. I was hoping someone can tell me which mitre is traditional to the Church of the East.

 

[Aramis]

The civil Assyrian miter (a crown, really, which is what a bishop’s miter is, too) is kind of like a fez, but with tails off the back. Mind you, Assyria fell about 550 BC…

Assyria: her manners and customs, arts and arms: restored from her monuments, p 459 (Google Books result)

It is likely that the original miter of the Assyrian Christians was similar to the civil miters of Persia, which seem to match the description closely - a rigid tall cylinder with crenelations, or a soft pointed cap (called a Tiara).

The later sassanid tiarra was round topped, but similar, based upon the coin images, and a sign of courtly rank.

Note that the Papal Tiara is of similar shape to some of the Sassanid ones…

So, I think the fez-like miter is probably the traditional one. But I can’t be certain. I’m just pointing out the similarity as indicative evidence, not proof positive.

Note that the Sassanid and Persian crowns appear to be essentially the same shape as that miter, but with a large plume (probably ostrich) off the top front.

home.eckerd.edu/~oberhot/sasanian.htm
iranicaonline.org/articles/courts-and-courtiers-ii
iranicaonline.org/articles/crown-i