The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 7: The Sassanian or New Persian Empire: The History, Geography, And Antiquities Of Chaldaea, Assyria, Babylon, Media, Persia, Parthia, And Sassanian or New Persian Empire; With Maps and Illustrations.Rawlinson, George
History
The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 7: The Sassanian or New Persian Empire: The History, Geography, And Antiquities Of Chaldaea, Assyria, Babylon, Media, Persia, Parthia, And Sassanian or New Persian Empire; With Maps and Illustrations.
The coins of Chosroes are very numerous, and offer one or two novel and
curious types. The most remarkable have on the obverse the head of the
king, presenting the full face, and surmounted by a mural crown with a
low cap. The beard is close, and the hair arranged in masses on either
side. There are two stars above the crown, and two crescents, one over
either shoulder, with a star and crescent on the dress in front of each
shoulder. The kings wears a necklace, from which hang three pendants. On
the reverse these coins have a full-length figure of the king, standing
to the front, with his two hands resting on the hilt of his straight
sword, and its point placed between his feet. The crown worn resembles
that on the obverse; and there is a star and crescent on either side of
the head. The legend on the obverse is _Khusludi afzum_, “May Chosroes
increase;” the reverse has, on the left _Khusludi_, with the
regnal year; on the right, a longer legend which has not yet been
satisfactorily interpreted. [PLATE XXII., Fig. 3.]
The more ordinary type on the coins of Chosroes I. is one differing but
little from those of his father, Kobad, and his son, Hormazd IV. The
obverse has the king’s head in profile, and the reverse the usual
fire-altar and supporters. The distinguishing mark of these coins is,
in addition to the legend, that they have three simple crescents in the
margin of the obverse, instead of three crescents with stars. [PLATE
XXII., Fig. 4.]
A relic of Chosroes has come down to us, which is of great beauty. This
is a cup composed of a number of small disks of colored glass, united
by a gold setting, and having at the bottom a crystal, engraved with a
figure of the monarch. As late as 1638 it was believed that the disks of
glass were jacynths, garnets, and emeralds, while the stone which forms
the base was thought to be a white sapphire. The original owner of so
rare a drinking-vessel could (it was supposed) only be Solomon; and the
figure at the bottom was accordingly supposed to represent the Jewish
king. Archaeologists are now agreed that the engraving on the gem, which
exactly resembles the figure upon the peculiar coins above described,
represents Chosroes Anushirwan, and is of his age. There is no
sufficient reason to doubt but that the cup itself is one out of which
he was accustomed to drink.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account