Art of the Sasanian Empire

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AMERICAN JOURNALOF ARCHAEOLOGY

THE JOURNAL OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF AMERICA

Volume 111 No. 4 October 2007


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AMERICAN JOURNAL

OF ARCHAEOLOGYTHE JOURNAL OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF AMERICA

EDITORS

Naomi J. Norman, University of GeorgiaEditor-in-Chief

ADVISORY BOARD

Jenifer Neils,ex officio

Case Western Reserve University

EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS

Kathryn Armstrong Peck, Kimberly A. Berry, Julia Gaviria, Deborah Griesmer, Benjamin Safdie

Madeleine J. DonachieManaging Editor

Vanessa LordAssistant Editor

Madeleine J. DonachieManaging Editor

Vanessa LordAssistant Editor

John G. YoungerEditor, Book Reviews, University of Kansas

Elizabeth BartmanEditor, Museum Reviews

John G. YoungerEditor, Book Reviews, University of Kansas

Elizabeth BartmanEditor, Museum Reviews

Susan E. AlcockBrown University

John BodelBrown University

Larissa BonfanteNew York University

John F. CherryBrown University

Jack L. DavisUniversity of Cincinnati

Janet DeLaineOxford University

Natalie Boymel KampenColumbia University

Claire L. LyonsGetty Research Institute

Andrew M.T. MooreRochester Institute of Technology

Ian MorrisStanford University

Sarah P. MorrisUniversity of California at Los Angeles

Robin OsborneCambridge University

Jeremy RutterDartmouth College

Michele Renee SalzmanUniversity of California at Riverside

Guy D.R. SandersAmerican School of Classical Studies at Athens

Andrew StewartUniversity of California at Berkeley

Lea StirlingUniversity of Manitoba

Cheryl A. WardFlorida State University

Katherine WelchInstitute of Fine Arts, New York University

Greg WoolfUniversity of St. Andrews

Susan E. AlcockBrown University

John BodelBrown University

Larissa BonfanteNew York University

John F. CherryBrown University

Jack L. DavisUniversity of Cincinnati

Janet DeLaineOxford University

Natalie Boymel KampenColumbia University

Claire L. LyonsGetty Research Institute

Andrew M.T. MooreRochester Institute of Technology

Ian MorrisStanford University

Sarah P. MorrisUniversity of California at Los Angeles

Robin OsborneCambridge University

Jeremy RutterDartmouth College

Michele Renee SalzmanUniversity of California at Riverside

Guy D.R. SandersAmerican School of Classical Studies at Athens

Andrew StewartUniversity of California at Berkeley

Lea StirlingUniversity of Manitoba

Cheryl A. WardFlorida State University

Katherine WelchInstitute of Fine Arts, New York University

Greg WoolfUniversity of St. Andrews


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THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY, the journal of the Archaeological Institute of America,was founded in 1885; the second series was begun in 1897. Indices have been published for volumes 111(18851896), for the second series, volumes 110 (18971906) and volumes 1170 (19071966). The

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Copyright 2007 by the Archaeological Institute of America

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795

MUSEUM REVIEW

Iran and Its Neighbors in Late Antiquity:

Art of the Sasanian Empire (224642 C.E.)

JOEL WALKER

American Journal of Archaeology 111 (2007) 795801

Glass, Gilding, and Grand Design: Art of

Sasanian Iran (224642), Asia Society, New

York, 8 February20 May 2007, organized byFranoise Demange.

Glass, Gilding, and Grand Design: Art of

Sasanian Iran (224642), edited by FranoiseDemange. Pp. 48, b&w figs. 10, color figs. 32. The

Asia Society, New York 2007. $29.95. ISBN 978-0-87848-106-4 (paper).

Les Perses sassanides: Fastes dun empire oubli

(224642),edited byFranoise Demange. Pp. 240,b&w figs. 60, color figs. 200. ditions Paris Muses,Paris 2007. 44. ISBN 2-87900-957-X (paper).

It has been nearly 30 years since the last major exhibitionof Sasanian art in North America. The Royal Hunter: Art ofthe Sasanian Empire, presented at the Asia House Galleryin New York in 1978, introduced visitors to the treasures ofthe Sasanian empire (224642 C.E.) and explored that em-pires enduring influence on the arts and culture of westernand Central Asia.1This spring, the art of Late Antique Iranreturns to New York in a smaller, but still impressive, exhi-bition that will delight anyone interested in the ancient ormedieval Middle East. Silver plates, glass vessels, and otherobjects borrowed from six major American museums andseveral private collections testify to the luxury and exquisitetaste of the Sasanian empires court and provincial aristoc-racy.2Unfortunately, the slim catalogue accompanying theexhibition is a disappointment, particularly in comparison

with the handsome and much larger French-language cata-logue on which it is based.

Both the original exhibition in Paris and its sibling in NewYork were organized by Franoise Demange, chief conservatorin the Department of Oriental Antiquities at the Louvre. TheFrench exhibition, hosted by the Muse Cernuschi, displayedmore than 200 objects, including silver vessels from Iran andSt. Petersburg that had not previously circulated in Europe.3Partly for legal reasons discussed below, the Asia Society wasonly able to bring about 75 of these objects to New York. Evenin this reduced form, the exhibition presents an exquisitecross-section of the luxury arts of ancient Iran.

The exhibition begins with an arresting image of royalpower: Shapur I (r. 240270), the king of kings, mountedon his horse before a group of sword-bearing companions.This rock-cut relief from Naqsh-i Radjab, reproduced on alarge color placard at the front of the exhibition, is amongthe approximately 35 Sasanian reliefs still visible in westernIran. All but a few of these reliefs were carved in the dynastysheartland of Fars (southwestern Iran), where Shapurs father,

Ardashir (r. 224240), ruled as a vassal of the Parthian empire.In 224, after vanquishing his Parthian overlord, Artabanus IV,

Ardashir consolidated his control of an empire that stretchedfrom the Roman frontier in northern Mesopotamia to theborders of Central Asia.4The art of this new empire boldlyproclaimed its renewal of the glories of ancient Iran. On thecliffs at Naqsh-i Rustam in Fars, Ardashir and his son ShapurI had depictions of themselves carved directly beneath themonumental tombs of the Achaemenids. The descendantsof Shapur I commissioned further panels during the latethird and fourth centuries, depicting scenes of martial valor,investiture by the gods, court processions, and hunting.5Allthe relief panels are large (47 m ht. x 810 m lgth.), andone (the depiction of Ardashirs victory over the Parthiansat Firuzabad) is nearly 20 m long. In rare instances, panels

1 Harper 1978. Earlier surveys of Persian art had already

emphasized the far-reaching influence of Sasanian artisticand cultural models (see, e.g., Ghirshman 1962, 118339).2Demange 2007 (New York), 9 (paraphrasing a description

of the court of Hormizd IV [r. 579590] by the Byzantine his-torian Theophylact Simocatta). For the full list of contributingmuseums and sponsors, see Demange 2007 (New York), 8.

3 Objects appearing for the first time in western Europe in-clude Demange 2007 (Paris), nos. 23, 30, 49, 713, 75 (silver

vessels from the Hermitage); 25, 44 (silver vessels from Teh-

ran); 91 (a glass pitcher from Tehran); 128 (a tapestry from

the Hermitage).4 On the somewhat nebulous extent of Sasanian conquestsin the East, see Wiesehfer 1987, 37274; 1996, 18485.

5 See the overview by Haerinck in Demange 2007 (Paris),3445. The kings Bahram I (r. 273276), Bahram II (r. 276293), Narseh (r. 293302), and Hormizd II (r. 302309) allerected panels in Fars. Despite the length of his reign, ShapurII (r. 309379) erected panels at only two sites: Naqsh-i Rus-tam and Bishapur.


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JOEL WALKER796 [AJA 111

were placed in the empires provinces, such as the image ofShapur I slaying an Indian rhinoceros that was recently dis-covered in a remote valley of northern Afghanistan.6

The iconography of royal power developed for thesecliff reliefs was emulated in many other forms of Sasanianart. Images of the royal hunt on silver plates were especiallyprestigious, their production apparently controlled by the

Sasanian court between the fourth and sixth centuries. TheAsia Society exhibition includes three of these hunting plates,each depicting a lone king vanquishing his prey: two lions, a

well-horned stag, and a pair of wild boars. The stag-hunt dishfrom the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (fig. 1)is typical in several respects. Partially gilded, the large plate(23.4 cm diam.) shows a haloed king, identified by his crownas Yazdegird I (r. 399421), piercing a stag with a crescent-tipped spear. The king, handsomely dressed with ribbonsfluttering behind his head and waist, has just killed the deer,

whose tongue hangs sideways from its mouth. The image of-fers a snapshot of royal valor, reflecting the kings possessionof divine favor (Middle Persian xwarrah). Prudence Harperhas argued persuasively that this and other similar huntingplates were distributed as signs of royal favor or as diplomatic

gifts. While the provenance of individual vessels is rarely pre-cise (the label for the Metropolitan Museum plate lists itsorigin as Iran?), their inscriptions and overall distributionprove that Sasanian and post-Sasanian silver circulated widelyacross the eastern Iranian world and beyond.

Consider another of the hunting plates included in theexhibition: a gilded fourth-century piece (23.4 cm diam.)depicting a boar hunt. The plate, originally purchased onthe antiquities market in Kabul (and now held in a privatecollection in New York),7bears the usual hallmarks of Sasa-nian silver but with several distinctive features. The platescentral figure wears a crown that mimics but does not exactlymatch the official crowns recorded on fourth-century Sasa-nian coins. He is probably a Sasanian vassal king or prince

who governed in eastern Iran or Bactria. A Bactrian inscrip-tion on the plates exterior, which reads Tudak, seems torefer to one of the vessels later owners rather than the fig-ure depicted on it.8The king (or prince) is shown spearinga massive boar that lunges at him while he pivots his headand raises his right leg to fend off the charge of a secondboar. Though attacked from both sides, he remains in fullcommand of the situation, his royal ribbons fluttering be-hind him as a sign of triumph. His richly embroidered gar-ments, pearl-drop earring, and the sword that hangs fromhis side all recall, with minor variations, the depiction of

King Yazdegird on the stag-hunt plate from the MetropolitanMuseum (see fig. 1).9Harpers catalogue entry suggests, asthe closest iconographic parallel, a late third-century hunt-ing plate preserved in the tomb of a Tang dynasty courtierin northern China (Shanxi Province).10Such geographicallyremote comparisons are inescapable for Sasanian art histo-rians. Relatively few of the objects in the Asia Society exhi-bition come from documented excavations in Iran or, forthat matter, any other part of the Sasanian empire. Some,like the Kabul boar-hunt plate, circulated in the Kushano-Sasanian frontier region. Other luxury items were producedsomewhere in eastern Iran but only preserved in the tombsand treasuries of eastern Asia.11The iconography and designsof such Sasanian art remained current through much of

Asia deep into the Islamic period. The outstanding collectionof Sasanian and post-Sasanian silver at the State HermitageMuseum in St. Petersburg is largely composed of vessels ex-

6Western scholars first learned of the relief in 2001 afterTaliban partisans attempted to destroy it. For a brilliant re-

construction of the reliefs iconography and significance, seeGrenet 2005. Demange (2007 [Paris], 39) provides a photo-graph and brief description.

7 The dish belongs to the collection of Shelby White andLeon Levy, whose foundation was among the major sponsorsof the Asia Society exhibition.

8Tudak is not a standard Middle Persian name but could beBactrian. An earlier Pahlavi inscription specifies the vessels

weight as 39 ster, 1 drahm, and 4 dang, roughly equivalent to638 g (22.5 oz). For parallels and weight conversion charts,see Brunner 1974.

9Yazdegird is depicted with two swords, a horizontal cheststrap, fringed pants, and a more elongated earring (among

other differences).10 The Chinese tomb, found near Datong in northern

Shanxi Province, is dated by the death of its occupant to ca.504 C.E. For an illuminating comparison of the two plates, seeHarper (1990) as well as Overlaets remarks in Splendeur desSassanides 1993, no. 57.

11The Shoso-in Treasury in Nara, Japan, preserves importantSasanian and Sasanian-inspired silver and glass vessels as wellas textiles. Although not included in this exhibition, the ob-

jects provide key parallels. See, e.g., Whitehouses (Demange2007 [Paris], 14042) comments on the Shoso-in glassware.

Fig. 1. King Yazdegird I (r. 399421) killing a stag, fifth cen-tury C.E., partially gilded silver plate, 23.4 cm diam., 4.4 cmht. with foot, 713 g wt., possibly from Iran. New York, theMetropolitan Museum of Art, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund,1970, 1970.6 ( 1995 Metropolitan Museum of Art).


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ART OF THE SASANIAN EMPIRE2007] 797

cavated from tombs in the Perm region, along the banks ofthe Kama River, in northern Russia.12

The dating and origin of many of these luxury goodsremain elusive. As Demange emphasizes in her preface tothe Paris catalogue, the category Sasanian art is inescap-ably ambiguous, encompassing objects that may have beenproduced in workshops outside the borders of the empire

or even long after the fall of its capital in 642 C.E.13The so-called Anahita plate, loaned from the Bibliothque Nationalede France, exemplifies the challenge of interpreting suchitems (fig. 2). This large plate (25.8 cm diam.), dating to theseventh or eighth century, depicts at its center a nude femalefigureformerly identified as the goddess Anahitasittingon the back of a fantastic gryphon-like beast. Eight figuresstand around the plates perimeter, organized in four fac-ing pairs and dressed in long robes and flowing sashes anddifferent hairstyles.14The figures, men and women, bear a

variety of objects: a bowl of grapes, a pail, a bird, and appar-ently a polo stick, among other offerings. Do these giftshave a precise symbolic significance, or do they represent amelange of motifs borrowed indiscriminately from Graeco-Bactrian and Sasanian iconography? The brief catalogue entry

skirts the question. Such reticence may be advisable, givenhow little we know about the plates origin. The seventh- oreighth-century workshop in which it was produced could havebeen in northern Iran, eastern Iran, or Central Asia. Tradedup the Volga River, the Anahita plate eventually came intothe possession, a millennium later, of a Russian prince whosold it to the Cabinet des Antiques in Paris.15

Other items in the exhibition highlight Sasanian artisticexchange with the Roman empire. This theme has been astaple of the fields historiography since the 1930s, when theFrench excavations at Bishapur in Fars uncovered a marvel-ous set of polychrome figural mosaics on the floor of a third-century Sasanian fire temple complex.16Though inspired byGraeco-Roman models, the Bishapur mosaics present a dis-tinctively Sasanian adaptation of the decorative techniquesof contemporary Antioch. Classical geometric designs jux-taposed with satyr masks separate a series of panels depict-ing female entertainers. In one panel, a barefooted dancer

with ankle rings and flounced skirt is shown in the midst ofa spin.17In another, a seated musician wearing little morethan her gold bracelets and pearls plucks a six-string harp(fig. 3).18On a technical level, the Bishapur mosaics are agrade or two below the mosaic art of third-century Syria. Therendering of the harpists seminude body looks clumsy incomparison to the lithe maenads and goddesses depicted at

Antioch and Apamea. The Bishapur mosaics may be the workof an indigenous school in Fars rather than first-generationSyrian artisans captured when Shapur I sacked Antiochin 260. In either case, they illustrate the creative fusion ofGraeco-Roman techniques and Persian themes that is oneof the hallmarks of Sasanian art.

Gradually during the fourth and fifth centuries, Sasanianartists mastered their own forms of interior decor. Stuccosculpture and painting replaced mosaics as the principal me-dia for the embellishment of Sasanian buildings.19The exhibi-tion includes several choice examples of this stucco sculpturerecovered during the Anglo-American excavations at Kish(19231933) in central Iraq, and the German-Americanexcavations at Ctesiphon (19281932). In stucco, as on thesilver vessels, images of royal power and wild or mythologicalanimals predominate. A royal bust, now owned by the FieldMuseum of Natural History in Chicago, was one of 14 identi-cal busts that once lined the walls of a fifth-century courtyardat Kish (fig. 4).20Modern viewers should probably imagine

12 For a map, see Harper 1981, fig. 2. The Byzantine andSasanian silver found in the region mostly dates to the period

between ca. 500 and 650 C.E. Noonan (1982) provides a lucidintroduction to the evidence.

13 Demange 2007 (Paris), 20. See Harper (1971, 501): Itis generally recognized that it is impossible in terms of styleto separate with any certainty the art of the end of the Sasa-nian period from that of the succeeding century of Islamicconquest.

14Demange 2007 (New York), 40; 2007 (Paris), no. 47.15 Harper 1971, 508 n. 4. The Cabinet des Antiques pur-

chased the plate from P.-D. Saltikov in 1843.16 For the placement of the iwanof the mosaics at Bish-

apur, see Splendeur des Sassanides (1993, 53), where Huffidentifies the entire complex as a monumental fire temple

built by Shapur I. Ghirshman (1962, 13859) provides a well-illustrated overview based on the excavations he led at Bish-apur between 1935 and 1941.

17Demange 2007 (Paris), no. 19 (included in the Asia Soci-ety exhibition but not illustrated in its catalogue).

18 Demange 2007 (New York), 38; 2007 (Paris), no. 20.19 In both areas, Sasanian artists could draw upon Parthian

antecedents, though these are poorly documented in the ar-chaeological record.

20 Demange 2007 (New York), 36; 2007 (Paris), no. 3.

Fig. 2. The Anahita plate, seventh or eighth century, silverwith gilded background and reliefs, 25.8 cm diam., 1,212 g

wt. Paris, Bibliothque Nationale de France, Dpartment desMonnaies, Mdailles et Antiques, inv. no. D 3404 (1854) (Bibliothque Nationale de France).


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the kings impressive coiffure, crenelated crown, and pearljewelry in color, since traces of paint survive on other similarfragments. Excavations at Kish also yielded the austere bustof a female figure, possibly the goddess Anahita.21More com-mon than human or divine figures, however, were imagesof beasts, especially animals of the huntlions, bears, wildboars, and mountain goats. Two plaques from Ctesiphon,now held by the Metropolitan Museum, provide a glimpseinto the style of domestic iconography popular with late Sa-

sanian elites. These sixth-century plaques show a chargingbear and a wild boar, each emerging from its customary land-scape.22Such scenes seem to have symbolized, by metonymy,the glory of the royal hunt. Both Graeco-Roman and Islamicliterary sources refer to scenes of the royal hunt painted onthe walls of Sasanian palaces and mansions.23The historian

Ammianus Marcellinus, on campaign in Mesopotamia in363, noted that the houses of the Persian nobles were be-decked with nothing but various forms of slaughter and

wars (varias caedes et bella).24Other Graeco-Roman viewersfarther from the battlefront were more favorably disposedtoward Sasanian art, even incorporating its elements intotheir own domestic decor. In the suburbs of Antioch, Am-mianus native city, some artisans began to adopt (and adapt)

Sasanian artistic motifs during the Late Roman period. Inthe House of the Rams at Daphne, a mosaic laid in the latefifth or early sixth century shows paired rams heads over apair of wings with fluttering ribbons beneath. Its design el-ements, though modified to suit Graeco-Roman taste, areunmistakably Sasanian.25

Artistic dialogue between the empires of Rome and Iranwas still more pronounced in the moveable arts, notably tex-tiles and glass. On a pair of wool leggings woven in Egypt ca.

600 and excavated at Antino in 1908,26an enthroned Persianking holds his sword before him in a pose well known fromSasanian artmost notably on the exquisite and roughlycontemporary Cup of Solomon in the Bibliothque Natio-nale.27The leggings from Antino epitomize the problem ofSasanian textiles. The necropolis in which they were foundrevealed no other signs of foreign occupation; the occupantsof its tombs were apparently Byzantine elites buried beforethe Persian occupation of Egypt (619629). The garments

worn by these elites borrow extensively from Sasanian models,while their material and some aspects of their iconographyattest to Roman influence.28Other Sasanian-inspired textilesfound in Syria, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and even in thereliquaries of medieval Europe present analogous ambigui-

21 Demange 2007 (Paris), no. 4 (included in the Asia Soci-ety exhibition but not in its catalogue).

22 Demange 2007 (Paris), nos. 11, 12.23 For references, see Walker 2006, 142.24Amm. Marc. Res Gestae24.6.3 (Rolfe 1940, 45657).25For images and analysis of the mosaic, which is now in the

Worchester Art Museum, see Kondoleon 2000, no. 20 (with asimilar example, no. 25). The rams heads appear in the bor-

der of the mosaic; its central panel is lost.26 Demange 2007 (Paris), nos. 111, 112. One leg is now at

the Louvre (and was included in the Asia Society exhibition);the other half belongs to the Textile Museum of Lyons.

27Demange 2007 (Paris), no. 35.28See, in addition to the catalogue entries, Bnazeths (De-

mange 2007 [Paris], 15760, esp. 158) introductory essay onthe long-standing debate over the Antino textiles.

Fig. 3. Mosaic of a harpist, ca. 260 C.E., 117 cm ht., 85 cm wt., Bishapur, Iran. Paris, Muse du Louvre,Dpartment des Antiquits Orientales, inv. no. AO 26169 (F. Raux; Runion des Muses Nationaux/ArtResource New York).


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ties. While few, if any, of these textiles were woven in Iran,their designs testify to a vigorous dialogue with Sasaniantextile workshops.29The Sasanian policy of deporting andresettling foreign captives contributed to the formation ofthis koine in Late Antique textiles. The artisans of Bishapurunder Shapur II (r. 309379) included Christian weaversdescended from Roman captives seized in Syria during the

third and fourth centuries.30The question of what distinguishes Sasanian art also ap-

plies to the seven glass vessels in the Asia Society exhibition.Consider the beautiful semiconical goblet (or lamp) nowheld by the Corning Museum of Glass (fig. 5).31Its patternof concave decoration on transparent glass is typical of Sa-sanian workshops, which seem to have used the same toolsas gem-cutters to incise and polish mold-blown pieces afterthey cooled. Yet the form and decoration of the vessel, with itsrow of blue glass inserts, closely resembles well-documentedRoman designs of the fourth century. David Whitehouse,the worlds leading expert on Sasanian glassware, questions

whether it is even Sasanian in origin.32A long (30.5 cm) greenglass tube now in Berlin represents a more definite Sasanian

vessel type, since fragments of similar tubes were found in ex-

cavations at Nineveh in northern Iraq, Qasr-i Abu Nasr nearShiraz, and Takht-i Sulayman in northwestern Iran.33Oncesealed with metal caps, these tubes may have been used tostore documents, though there is not yet proof for this hy-pothesis. The tubes remain, for now, one of many unsolvedpuzzles of Sasanian art and archaeology.

Despite its strengths, the Asia Society exhibition ultimatelypresents an incomplete and somewhat imbalanced view ofthe Sasanian empire. Its focus on moveable art and that artssymbolism illuminates Sasanian high culture but only hintsat the world beyond the court and aristocratic mansions.The exhibitions title (Gold, Gilding, and Grand Design)accurately reflects this focus. One would need another, verydifferent, exhibition to explore the material culture of theman on the street in ancient Bishapur or Ctesiphonnotto mention the social world of his wife, servants, and countrycousins. One hopes that the next Sasanian exhibition willtell us more about the lives of ordinary people in the Sasa-nian world. The exhibition largely neglects, for instance,current fieldwork in Iran, where excavations by both localand European archaeologists are producing valuable newdata on Sasanian cities and villages.34The archaeology ofpost-Soviet Central Asia and the Persian Gulf are similarlyignored.35In the long run, such new fieldwork, combined

with archival research on much earlier excavations,36will becrucial for helping us see beyond the shimmering beauty ofSasanian court art.

The hieratic quality of Sasanian court art also masks im-portant changes in the empires religious demography. Theexhibition emphasizes the role of Zoroastrianism as the statereligion of the empire. At one level, this generalization iscorrect: a hierarchy of Zoroastrian priests served a widerange of administrative and judicial functions throughoutthe empire.37Sasanian gems and seal impressions preservethe names and rank of many of these priests, while other

29 These connections are also documented in depictions ofSasanian garments (see, e.g., the meticulous study of womensclothing by Goldman 1997).

30 For the story of Pusai, chief craftsman and then Chris-tian martyr executed in the reign of Shapur II, see Wiesehfer1996, 19293; Walker 2006, 22223.

31Demange 2007 (Paris), no. 97.32Demange (2007 [Paris], 153) is equally cautious about the

vessels date (fourth to seventh century). The catalogue en-try lists Iran for its provenance but does not specify when or by

whom it was purchased.33 Demange 2007 (Paris), no. 84. The Asia Society exhibi-

tion includes a similar tube from a private collection.34For orientation, see the homepage of the Sasanika project

(http://www.sasanika.com). In 2001, the project launched anew bilingual journal, Name-ye Bastan: The International Journalof Ancient Iran,which has increased dialogue between Iranian

archaeologists and the international scholarly community.35 See, e.g., Puschnigg (2006, 140) on the Sasanian finds

from Merv in Turkmenistan. For the archaeology of Sasaniansites in the Persian Gulfconspicuously blank on the map inthe exhibition cataloguesee any recent issue of the journalArabian Archaeology and Epigraphy.

36 See, e.g., Reade (2001) on the largely unpublished Sasa-nian material from the British excavations at Nineveh.

37See Gyselens (Demange 2007 [New York], 18) commentson the Zoroastrian priestly hierarchy as the national Mazdeanchurch.

Fig. 4. Bust of a Sasanian king, stucco, probably fifth century,51.5 cm ht., from Palace II, Kish, central Iraq. Chicago, FieldMuseum of Natural History, inv. no. 236400a (R. Testa; Field Museum of Natural History, A109938c).


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seals bear religious symbols or slogans such as Confidencein the Gods!38Sasanian rulers presented themselves as thedefenders of the good religion represented by such max-ims. Yet their loyalty to the Zoroastrian priesthood was rarelyabsolute.39Other religious groupsChristians, Jews, Man-ichaeans, Buddhists, and various groups of polytheists andGnosticsmaintained a significant presence in many partsof the empire.40In Mesopotamia, Christians appear to haveconstituted the demographic majority by the Late Sasanianperiod. The court of Khusro II (r. 590628) was packed withChristian advisors, doctors, and philosophers. The exhibitionbarely mentions this larger array of Sasanian religions. Theyreceive only a brief paragraph in the catalogue, together

with a photograph of a small stucco plaque, discovered atSusa, of an unidentified Christian saint holding a Bible.41

Admittedly, there are real hurdles to presenting this morecomplex story of Sasanian religious demography. The ar-chaeology of the empires Christian community is dispersed

and fragmentary, and the Jewish community of central Iraq,although it produced the Babylonian Talmud, is even morepoorly attested; not a single Sasanian synagogue has yet beenrecorded. Still, some balance could have been achieved byincluding in the exhibition a few of the inscribed incanta-tion bowls from Nippur, Kish, or other sites in southern andcentral Iraq. These magic bowls, many now held in private

collections, dramatically illustrate the broad spectrum ofJewish, Christian, and polytheist traditions that flourishedin late Sasanian Mesopotamia.42

Finally, the contemporary political context of this exhibi-tion is significant for understanding its goals and parameters.The Asia Society organized this show of Iranian art duringa period of ominous threats between the United States andIranian governments.43Indeed, the exhibition was nearlyderailed by American bureaucratic intransigence. Customsofficers at John F. Kennedy International Airport temporar-ily impounded objects destined for the exhibition under thelaw prohibiting importation of any art of Iranian origin. Thematerials were released only a few days before the opening.44In this context, the Asia Society deserves particular praise fororganizing Glass, Gilding, and Grand Design. Although less

than half the size of its sibling exhibition in Paris, the NewYork exhibition still constitutes a major contribution thatwill enhance both public and scholarly awareness of Iransremarkable cultural heritage.

The exhibitions overall design and spatial organizationwere highly effective. Viewers moved smoothly from the intro-ductory timeline (beautifully illustrated with oversized colorimages of Sasanian gold coins) through a series of darkenedrooms with well-lit cases. An optional cell phone audio touroffered concise, well-articulated explanations of individualpieces, such as silver- and gold-embellished sword sheaths,golden harness ornaments, and an especially fine bronze tableleg in the form of a gryphon.45The display of the seals wasawkward but adequate under the circumstances of the open-ing. If given more time, the curators might have found waysto integrate more Persian voices into the exhibition, for ex-ample, by adding placards with excerpts from Sasanian texts.The exhibitions most serious shortcoming, as noted above,is its English-language catalogue. Although its essays andphotographs are excellent, its volume (47 reduced-formatpages) is simply inadequate for the topic.

The French-language catalogue, by contrast, is a goldmine. Its essays, composed by leading scholars from Belgium,France, Germany, Russia, and the United States, provide clearand well-documented introductions to every major categoryof Sasanian art. Its more than 250 illustrations, with approxi-

Fig. 5. Goblet or lamp, transparent, very pale green glass withtranslucent blue blobs, fourth to seventh century, 9.3 cmht., provenance unknown but probably Iran. Corning, New

York, Corning Museum of Glass, inv. no. 63.1.21 ( CorningMuseum of Glass).

38 Demange 2007 (Paris), nos. 146, 157, 160, 165, 168, 171,177 (seals of priests); nos. 153, 158 (religious symbols); nos.134, 174, 175 (religious slogans).

39 For a more nuanced view of the relationship between Sa-sanian kings and the Zoroastrian priestly establishment, seeRubin 2000, 64751.

40 Morony (1984) remains the best general survey of LateAntique Iraqs various ethnic and religious communities.

41 Demange 2007 (New York), 19. Demange (2007 [Paris])includes two Christian seals.

42 For a sensible, well-illustrated introduction, see Morony2003.

43 In his preface to the catalogue, the Asia Societys presi-dent, Vishakha Desai, expresses his hope that the exhibition

will contribute to greater knowledge and appreciation ofIran that can inform our current thinking about the region(Demange 2007 [New York], 6).

44For the story of these events, see the review in the New YorkTimes (16 February 2007) B31.

45Demange 2007 (Paris), nos. 135, 136 (sheaths); 138 (bri-dle ornaments, similar to pieces found in Avar horse burials inHungary and Austria); 51 (the gryphon reminiscent of Achae-menid art).


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mately 200 in color, provide superb material for teaching.Furthermore, each item in the catalogue comes with a fullbibliography that can be used as a foundation for furtherresearch.46A full English translation of this French catalogue

would be an invaluable resource for all students of this lastgreat empire of antiquity.

university of [email protected]

Works Cited

Brunner, C.J. 1974. Middle Persian Inscriptions on SasanianSilverware. MMAJ9:10921.

Ghirshman, R. 1962. Iran: Parthes et Sassanides.Paris: Galli-mard.

Goldman, B. 1997. Womens Clothing in the Sasanian Era.IrAnt32:233300.

Grenet, F. 2005. Dcouverte dun relief sassanide dans lenord de lAfghanistan. CRAI :11534.

Harper, P.O. 1971. Sources of Certain Female Representa-tions in Sasanian Art. In La Persia nel Medioevo, 50315.Rome: Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.

. 1978. The Royal Hunter: Art of the Sasanian Empire. NewYork: The Asia Society, in association with John Weath-erhill, Inc.

. 1981. Silver Vessels of the Sasanian Period.Vol. 1, RoyalImagery.New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, inassociation with Princeton University Press.

. 1990. An Iranian Silver Vessel from the Tomb ofFeng Hetu. Bulletin of the Asia Institute 4:519.

Kondoleon, C. 2000. Antioch: The Lost Ancient City.Princeton:Princeton University Press, in association with the Worches-ter Art Museum.

Morony, M. 1984. Iraq After the Muslim Conquest.Princeton:Princeton University Press.

. 2003. Magic and Society in Late Sasanian Iraq. InPrayer, Magic, and the Stars in the Ancient and Late Antique

World,edited by S. Noegel, J. Walker, and B. Wheeler,83107. University Park: Pennsylvania State Press.

Noonan, T.S. 1982. Russia, the Near East, and the Steppein the Early Medieval Period: An Examination of the Sa-sanian and Byzantine Finds from the Kama-Urals Area.Archivum Eurasiae medii aevi 2:269302.

Puschnigg, G. 2006. Ceramics of the Merv Oasis: Recycling theCity.Walnut Creek, Calif.: Left Coast Press.

Reade, J. 2001. More about Adiabene. Iraq63:18799.Rolfe, J., trans. 1940. Res Gestae, by Ammianus Marcellinus.

3 vols. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Mass.: HarvardUniversity Press.

Rubin, Z. 2000. The Sasanid Monarchy. CAH14:63861.Splendeur des Sassanides: LEmpire perse entre Rome et la Chine

(224642), 12 fvrier au 25 avril 1993.1993. Exhibition cata-

logue. Brussels: Muses Royaux dArt et dHistoire.Walker, J.T. 2006. The Legend of Mar Qardagh: Narrative and

Christian Heroism in Late Antique Iraq. Berkeley: Universityof California Press.

Whitehouse, D. 2005. Sasanian and Post-Sasanian Glass in theCorning Museum of Art.Corning, N.Y.: Corning Museumof Glass in association with Hudson Hills Press.

Wiesehfer, J. 1987. Ardashir I. Encylopaedia Iranica 2:37176.

. 1996. Ancient Persia: From 550 B.C. to 650 A.D. Trans-lated by A. Azodi. London and New York: I.B. Tauris.

46The bibliographies focus on particular objects does, however, mean that they often omit relevant thematic articles on Sasanianart and history, such as those found in theEncyclopaedia Iranica.

Art of the Sasanian Empire

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