On top of the Qeysarie Gate of Isfahan Bazaar in Naqsh-e Jahan Square, an image of a horse archer, formed as half-human and half-horse, is patterned on a mosaic tile, in which the horseman with a bow and an arrow in hand aims at his own tail, which is a dragon with a fiery breath.
This picture is the astrological omen of Isfahan and is related to 941 AD, when the moon was placed in Sagittarius.
At that time, the city of Isfahan expanded over 21 thousand paces in comparison to its former size.
Also, this image probably shows the ritual confrontation between the moon and the sun.
The horse archer is a symbol of the moon, and he is fighting against the fire of his tail _ a symbol of the sun _ in order to banish and destroy it.
The Shah Bazaar and the Qeysarie Gate are located at the northern side of Naqsh-e Jahan Square and in front of the Abbasi Jameh Mosque.
In the Safavid era, wide stone benches made of jade and porphyry were assembled on its sides, and jewellers and goldsmiths spread their stuff on them and sold all kinds of jewellery, gold and rare coins.
On the front facade and upon the sides of this gate, there were detailed paintings of the battle between Shah Abbas and the Uzbeks.
These paintings lost their colour over time and are now almost faded.
On one facade, there had been pictures of European men and women, which have completely faded away.
On the left facade of the gate, there is a scene of a public hunting attended by Shah Abbas in his youth, while riding a grey horse and having red clothes on.
