Sarkhosh Curtis Vesta - The Parthian and early Sasanian empires: adaptation and expansion: proceedings of a conference held in Vienna, 14-16 June 2012

THE PARTHIAN AND EARLY SASANIAN EMPIRES:
ADAPTATION AND EXPANSION

THE PARTHIAN AND EARLY SASANIAN EMPIRES:
ADAPTATION AND EXPANSION

PROCEEDINGS OF A CONFERENCE HELD IN VIENNA, 14-16 JUNE 2012

Edited by

VESTA SARKHOSH CURTIS, ELIZABETH J. PENDLETON,
MICHAEL ALRAM AND TOURAJ DARYAEE

Published by the British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS)
Archaeological Monographs Series

Published in the United Kingdom in 2016 by

OXBOW BOOKS

10 Hythe Bridge Street, Oxford OX1 2EW

and in the United States by

OXBOW BOOKS

1950 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083

Oxbow Books and the individual authors 2016

Hardcover Edition: 978-1-78570-207-5

Digital Edition: 978-1-78570-208-2 (epub)

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Curtis, Vesta Sarkhosh, editor. | Pendleton, Elizabeth J., editor. | Alram, Michael, editor. | Daryaee, Touraj, 1967- editor.

Title: The Parthian and early Sasanian empires : adaptation and expansion : proceedings of a conference held in Vienna, 14-16 June 2012 / edited by Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, Elizabeth J. Pendleton, Michael Alram and Touraj Daryaee.

Description: Oxford : Oxbow Books, 2016. | Series: Archaeological monographs series | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016017931 (print) | LCCN 2016021369 (ebook) | ISBN 9781785702075 (hardback) | ISBN 9781785702082 (eBook) | ISBN 9781785702082 (epub) | ISBN 9781785702099 (mobi) | ISBN 9781785702105 ( pdf)

Subjects: LCSH: Arsacid dynasty, 247 B.C.-224 A.D.-Congresses. | Parthians-Congresses. | Sassanids-Congresses. | Iran-History-To 640-Congresses. | Iran-History-640-1256-Congresses. | Iran--Antiquities-Congresses. | Coins, Parthian-Congresses. | Coins, Sassanid-Congresses.

Classification: LCC DS285 .P375 2016 (print) | LCC DS285 (ebook) | DDC 935/.064-dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016017931

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Front cover: Rock carving at Naqsh-e Rostam, Iran: Ardashir I (left) tramples the defeated Parthian king Artabanus IV and receives his symbol of kingship from Ohrmazd, the Wise Lord, G. Herrmann; Sasanian silver coin, showing bust of Ardashir I (AD 224-240) and the Zoroastrian fire, Trustees of the British Museum.

Contents

Jrme Gaslain

M. Rahim Shayegan

Marek Jan Olbrycht

Touraj Daryaee

Mehrdad Ghodrat-Dizaji

Andrea Gariboldi

Antonio Panaino

Rika Gyselen

Khodadad Rezakhani

Daryoosh Akbarzadeh

Antonio Invernizzi

Barbara Kaim

Pierre-Yves Boillet

Nikolaus Schindel

Introduction

In 2011 it was decided to hold an international conference at the British Museum on the Partho-Sasanian periods in connection with the Sylloge Nummorum Parthicorum (SNP) project.This international project, directed by Dr Michael Alram and Dr Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, has as its aim the publication of a series of volumes dealing with the coinage from the beginning of the Parthian period in the third century BC to its ending with the advent of the Sasanians in the early third century AD. The project is principally numismatic in nature but also deals with the history, religion and art of the Parthian period. Coin holdings from the American Numismatic Society, the Berlin Coin Cabinet, the Bibliothque nationale in Paris, the British Museum, the Coin Cabinet of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, and the National Museum of Iran in Tehran will be published by representatives of these institutions, who are working in close cooperation with Chris Hopkins, the database manager of www.parthia.com. He has custom-built a web-based database for this project, www.sylloge.org, so that project members can all access the most up-to-date data simultaneously. In addition to coins from the participating institutions, the collection of the late David Sellwood will be included. Where necessary to present a complete picture of the Parthian monetary system, coins from auction catalogues are also incorporated. In 2012, not long after the conference, the first volume of the SNP was published by the Austrian Academy of Sciences.Written by Fabrizio Sinisi, this first book to appear is chronologically the seventh in the series and covers the period from Vologases I to Pacorus II. This will be followed by the coins of Mithradates II (Volume 2) and Phraates IV to Orodes III (Volume 5) in 2017-18.

Although much of the primary information about the Parthian period comes from coins, it is essential to widen the spectrum and to include scholars from different disciplines working on the Parthian and early Sasanian periods. This conference was planned specifically to provide a platform to scholars from a broad range of disciplines.

By the end of the 2011, however, political relations between the UK and Iran had deteriorated and the British Embassy in Tehran had closed. It became clear that London would not be able to host Iranian scholars at such a symposium. During a period of despair, Neil MacGregor, the Director of the British Museum, came up with an ingenious suggestion that allowed the conference to go ahead. He identified that the obstacle lay in the location, not the conference itself, and suggested finding a different venue. After discussions between the projects co-directors in London and Vienna, Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis and Michael Alram, the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Austrian Academy of Sciences wholeheartedly agreed to host the event instead. The conference was swiftly switched to Vienna, invitations sent out and visas arranged. All this would not have been possible without the quick and efficient response of the Austrian partners at very short notice. This offers a perfect example of international cooperation whereby colleagues could help each other to provide a forum for scholarly discussions at a politically sensitive time.

The conference opened at the Kunsthistorisches Museum on 14 June 2012 and was held over two and a half days. Neil MacGregor flew in especially from London to be at the opening and gave a speech in which he emphasised the importance of international cooperation and dialogue between institutions separated by political boundaries. His enthusiasm and support were much appreciated by the organisers and participating scholars, especially the Iranian colleagues who otherwise would not have been included in this symposium.

After a brief introduction by the joint directors of the Sylloge Nummorum Parthicorum project, the conference was launched with a series of papers covering various aspects of the Partho-Sasanian empires. Although the SNP project focuses solely on the Parthian period, the existence of the well-established and highly acclaimed