A bold gaze conveys the valor of Shapur II (310–379 A.D.), the Sassanian king who aggressively tried to reclaim the lands Persia had controlled in ancient times. Adopting the title Shahanshah, or “King of Kings,” Shapur II and his fellow Sassanian emperors claimed descent from the great Achaemenid dynasty of Cyrus (the Persian king who brought an end to the Babylonian Exile by releasing the Jews in 539 B.C.).
From imperial portraits on coins, we know that each Sassanian ruler had his own highly individual crown, the symbolism of which expressed his earthly and divine power. The base of Shapur II’s crown—designed to resemble crenellated fortifications—was apparently copied from the crown of the Achaemenid king Darius the Great (521–486 B.C.). The crescent moon symbolizes the Zoroastrian lunar deity Mah. The serrated, bulbous korumbos, which tops the crown, was a feature of most Sassanian crowns.
The tremendous weight of the Sassanian crowns could render them unwearable: A sixth-century visitor to the Sassanian palace wrote that the king’s crown was so heavily encrusted with emeralds, rubies and pearls that the crown had to be suspended above the ruler’s head by a thin gold chain.
Persia became fabulously rich under the Sassanians, who expanded the empire north into Armenia, west across the Tigris into Roman territory, and east into the land of the Kushans in northwestern India. They established their capital at Cteshipon, in the Sassanid homeland of Fars, east of the Tigris. Though their borders shifted considerably over the centuries, the Sassanians continued to rule over Persia until 651, when they were defeated by the armies of Islam.
A bold gaze conveys the valor of Shapur II (310–379 A.D.), the Sassanian king who aggressively tried to reclaim the lands Persia had controlled in ancient times. Adopting the title Shahanshah, or “King of Kings,” Shapur II and his fellow Sassanian emperors claimed descent from the great Achaemenid dynasty of Cyrus (the Persian king who brought an end to the Babylonian Exile by releasing the Jews in 539 B.C.). From imperial portraits on coins, we know that each Sassanian ruler had his own highly individual crown, the symbolism of which expressed his earthly and divine power. The base of […]
You have already read your free article for this month. Please join the BAS Library or become an All Access member of BAS to gain full access to this article and so much more.
