Originally, Khorshid Khanom or "Sun Lady," was the symbol of the Mother Goddess, but later she became the goddess of fertility and water, and the protector of her believers. Since Achaemenid times and thereafter, she was the personification of Anahita, who was immaculate and fiery, and associated with fertility, water, and Venus.

Despite Khorshid Khanom's ubiquitous presence in Iran and beyond, she seems to be totally absent from primary sources, secondary historical monographs, encyclopedias, and even from folklore literature, except for lullabies and children's ditties.

Khorshid Khanom: A Study in the Origin and Development of the Shir-o Khorshid Motif, by renowned scholar Willem Floor in collaboration with art historian Forough Sajadi, fills this lacuna. It draws from folklore, literary and artistic sources to explore the inspirational source of the motif. It identifies the first surviving artworks depicting a human-faced sun, and discusses how this motif developed and was used over the centuries, not only to represent fertility, but also as the symbol of royal power and charisma from the pre-Islamic period down to the twentieth century.