<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><mads xmlns="http://www.loc.gov/mads/" xmlns:mods="http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.loc.gov/mads/
mads.xsd"><authority><topic authority="http://AATesaurus.cultura.gencat.cat/aat/getty_en">Sassanian</topic></authority><related type="broader"><topic>Persian periods</topic></related><variant type="other"><topic>Sasanian</topic></variant><variant type="other"><topic>Sasanid</topic></variant><variant type="other"><topic>Sassanid</topic></variant> <note xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[ Refers to the period from the defeat of the Parthians by Ardashir in 224 until the fall of the Sassanian empire to the Arabs in 631, during which the Middle East was ruled by the Iranian Sassanian dynasty. The art of the period, of which rock reliefs and silverwork are most famous, was influenced by the Romano-Byzantine empire to the west and the Chinese to the east. ]]></note></mads>