Animal Headdresses on the Sealings of the Bactrian Documents

Judith A. Lerner, New York

Introduction

The so-called Bactrian documents from northern Afghanistan, consisting of legal and economic texts as well as letters, have contributed to our greater understanding of the region between the 4th and 8th centuries. As a crossroads for trade and a theater for conquest, during this time span the region had come under the successive domination by Kushano-Sasanians, Kidarites, Hephtalites and Turks. Nicholas Sims-Williams first reported on the Bactrian documents in 1996 and since then, as the number of documents has grown, has continued to enlighten us on their contents and implications, thereby expanding our knowledge of the language, history, religion and culture of Afghanistan in this period. Some of the documents still have their original sealings: small lumps of clay that bear the impressions of the contractors’, witnesses’ and letter-writers’ seals. The majority of the sealings, however, are not associated with the documents they originally sealed. While more than 150 Bactrian documents are now known, there are many more clay sealings in various collections, unfortunately separated from what they sealed, but which – from their shape and fabric and the style and iconography of the seals impressed on them – can be considered part of this cor- pus. As an art historian, I have been privileged to study the sealings in two major collections, those of Prof. N. D. Khalili (London) and Mr. Aman ur Rahman (Islamabad/Dubai), and in this endeavor to work closely with Nicholas Sims- Williams who has published the documents in the Khalili Collection and will be publishing the inscriptions on the sealings in the Rahman Collection.1 His linguistic knowledge and insights, and his generosity in sharing them, have been critical to my stylistic and iconographic analysis of the sealings. Thus, it is a pleasure to offer this discussion about one of the myriad interesting aspects of the sealings – the headdresses worn by various seal-owners and, specifically for this volume, those headdresses that bear animal heads or complete animal bodies.2 I hope that my offering will help to flesh out, if only slightly, our understanding of the ethnic and cultural milieu that produced the Bactrian documents. 1 Sims-Williams 2000 and 2007. 2 This revises and expands a section of “Some Headdresses on the Sealings of the Bac- trian Documents”, presented at the 6th European Conference of Iranian Studies, Vienna, 216 Judith A. Lerner

The Sealings with Animal Headdresses

Among all the Bactrian sealings known to me, there only two kinds of animal headdress, both known from examples in the Rahman Collection, and both worn by men, depicted as busts with their heads in nearly frontal view. The first to be discussed is known from three sealings and shows three rams’ heads in profile: the ones in the center and on the right face right, while the other faces left (Fig. 1); thus, in reality, the crown would have consisted of a central ram’s head, placed above the wearer’s forehead, and flanked by a ram’s head at either side.3 The second crown, found in only a single impression, shows two con- fronted horses flanking, perhaps dining on, vegetation (Fig. 2).4

1. Ram’s Heads As read by our honoree, the legible portion of the inscription gives the Middle Per- sian title kanārang (“Lord of the Borderland”). This places the seal within the time of Sasanian rule or domination in Bactria, that is, from the early 3rd century to the latter part of the 5th.5 This is reflected stylistically by the somewhat elongated shape of the face and certain details of the crown which also occur on Sasanian seals and in other Sasanian art; in Bactria, these features, and specifically the stylization of the diadem ties, persist well into the Hunnic period when this treatment of the ties is no longer used in Sasanian Iran. Thus, even though the title may accord with a late 4th-century date, the seal could have been carved as late as the second half of the 5th century, though more likely in the late 4th–early half of the 5th.6

September 18–22, 2007, and delivered at the session that Nicholas Sims-Williams ably chaired. I am very grateful to Michael Alram and Klaus Vondrovec and to other colleagues cited in this article for their suggestions and corrections but stress that any mistakes are entirely my own. 3 Hc013; Hc075; and Hc139. Illustrated here is Hc075. 4 Hc010. The inscription reads σασονο–μ(••ο)γο (κα)ναραγγο (“Sas…, the kanārang”). 5 “Kanārang is the MP version of the Bactrian title karalrang, and means ‘lord of the border-land’ (‘margrave’). It’s only attested in texts during the period of Sasanian rule in Bactria, but of course it’s possible that it continued in use later as a title or as a PN. ‘Persian satrap’ seems to occur at a very late date, probably as a PN” (e-mail of 31 Au- gust 2007). See also Sims-Williams 2002, p. 231. For the late use of this Middle Persian form, see Bactrian Documents G and H, dated to 471 ce and 472 ce, respectively (Sims- Williams 2000). Although Kushano-Sasanian rule ended in the mid-370’s with the ap- pearance of Hunnic peoples, Sims-Williams 2002, pp. 231–233, notes that the succeed- ing century saw the Sasanians making “a last ditch attempt to exert control in Bactria” in the face of the invading Kidarites and then the Hephthalites. (For the dating of this power shift, which was also a cultural one, see also Grenet 2002, p. 206, and now de la Vaissière 2003 [2007], p. 122, who demonstrates that the Kidarites and Hephtalites, along with the Chionites and Alchons entered Bactria in a single “massive migration” in the second half of the 4th century.) 6 Callieri 2002, pp. 122–124, has also recognized the “rather strong” Sasanian influence in related seals and impressions and assigns them to the end of the 4th into the 5th century. Animal Headdresses on the Sealings of the Bactrian Documents 217

Fig. 1: Impression of the seal of Fig. 2: Impression of the seal of “Sas…, the kanārang” (σασονο – “Farkhund Asp-wi…” (φαροχονδο μ(••ο)γο (κα)ναραγγο), Bactrian. ασποο(ι)[), Bactrian. Clay; impression: ?? × 20.4 mm; Clay; impression: 16.5 × 14.6 mm; sealing: 22 × 25.1 × 12.6 mm. sealing: 24.4 × 28.8 × 15.9 mm. Aman ur Rahman Collection, Aman ur Rahman Collection, Islamabad/Dubai Islamabad/Dubai

Like the crowns of the Sasanian kings, two sets of ribbons, one long (a), the other short (b), decorate the upper and lower portions of the kanārang’s crown: a) The long ribbon that secures his diadem falls on his right shoulder and is ren- dered in the “Sasanian” manner: a narrow strip with horizontal striations to indi- cate pleats. Usually doubled to represent the two ends of the diadem at the base of the crown and hanging straight down along or behind the shoulder(s), this type of ribbon occurs on a number of seals and seal impressions with male busts and Bac- trian inscriptions (Figs. 1–2, 4–5).7 Their length and pleating copy the ties that se- cure the diadem of the first Sasanian king, Ardashir I (224–240), and which hang down his back to waist level.8 On the coin obverses of Ardashir I’s successors, from Shapur I (240–272) to the end of the dynasty in 651, the diadem ties typically turn upward above or below the hair at the king’s shoulder.9 Exceptions are

7 In addition to those illustrated here, there are several sealings in the Khalili and Rahman Collections, notably those belonging to one or two individuals named Kirdir-Wara(h) ran. The fragmentary letter to which one of the sealings is still attached has been re- cently dated by Nicholas Sims-Williams to 421 ce (see Sims-Williams 2005, p. 339, where it is given a slightly later date and figs. 4–7). 8 See Ardashir I’s investiture reliefs at Firuzabad (Vanden Berghe 1966, pl. 70), Naqsh‑e Rustam (Schmidt 1970, pl. 81: NRu I) and Naqsh-e Rajab (Schmidt 1970, pl. 96: NRa I). 9 Göbl 1971, p. 11. The long diadem ties are also worn by members of the royal family; thus, in Ardashir’s investiture at Naqsh-e Rajab, the bearded figure standing behind Ar- dashir and the female figure (his queen?) appearing to the right of the scene show similar waist-length ribbons (see n. 8). 218 Judith A. Lerner the straight diadem ribbons on the obverse of a gold dinar of Shapur II (309–379), minted at Merv using a locally-struck die (ca. 309–325);10 those of the king and flanking deities on Ardashir II’s Taq-e Bustan relief (379–383),11 and of Shapur II and his son Shapur III (383–388), on the latter’s relief at Taq-e Bustan.12 The long pleated ribbon on the kanārang’s seal may well be an archaizing feature, not unexpected in a peripheral area such as Bactria. Indeed, a gold dinar of Hormuzd (I) Kushanshah, also minted at Merv and placed by Joe Cribb before the reign of Hormuzd II (303–309),13 shows two straight pleated ribbons falling along his shoulder, below Sasanian-style hair bunch. The Shapur II dinar, echoing this archaic ribbon type, seems to have been influenced by the Kushan-Sasanian issue. This archaic way of showing the diadem ribbons becomes a feature of Bactrian dignitaries’ headgear, not only that of the kanārang and the seal of the other official discussed below, but that of several others (Figs. 4 and 5).14 b) The pair of short ribbons that appears between the left and central ram’s head is a further link to the Sasanian crown which shows small ribbons fluttering

10 Cribb 1990, pp. 166–167, no. 64 and n. 18. 11 Vanden Berghe 1966, pl. 127 a. 12 Vanden Berghe 1966, pl. 127 b. The long diadem ties are typically worn by the figures that flank the fire altar on Sasanian coin reverses from the time of Wahrahan I into Kavad I’s reign (late 3rd–late 5th centuries), with the figure on the left being that of the king (Göbl 1971, p. 18). We also find this type of diadem tie on a few Sasanian seals and metalwork of the 3rd century and first half of the 4th, but, to my knowledge, not later: an example from the third quarter of the 3rd century is the seal of “Wahrahan Kirmanshah”, that is, the future Wahrahan I (273–276) (Harper 1981, fig. 7 and p. 29); from the late 3rd or beginning of the 4th century, the silver bowl with medallions enclosing diademed female busts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Harper 1981, pl. 5 and pp. 26–27 and 34: she dates the bowl to the last decade of the 3rd or first decade of the 4th century) and the silver bowl, also in the Metropolitan Museum, with a central medallion containing a male bust, which seems to belong to the second quarter of the 4th century (Harper 1981, pl. 6 and pp. 27–28 and 36, linking the bowl with the reign of Shapur II and the Kertsheva plate, pl. 23, for which see n. 27 below). 13 Cribb 1990, p. 164, no. 61 and pp. 166–167, n. 18. 14 Thus Fig. 4, first published by A. D. H. Bivar and known only in a modern impression (Göbl 1967, G21: I, pp. 234–235; III, pl. 86) and Fig. 5 (Göbl 1967, G19: III, pl. 86:19); and the sealings cited in n. 7, as well as several additional sealings in the Rahman Col- lection. The seal in Fig. 5, though not displaying the same physiognomy, shows the same treatment of diadem ribbons at the base of the elaborate palmette crown. As analyzed by Nicholas Sims-Williams, the orthography and other aspects of the name of the seal-owner, Kedir the hazāruxt (“chiliarch”) dates the seal to the last quarter of the 5th century (Sims-Williams 2005, p. 339). Further evidence of the retention of earlier forms east of the Sasanian heartland is the silver gilt plate in the British Museum, acquired in the 19th century in Rawalpindi, and attributed to the second half of the 4th century: in the upper register of the central medallion the enthroned figure’s diadem ties are long and pleated and fall behind him to his seat; in the lower register the diadem ties of the seated and standing figures, as well as the ribboned ring extended by the latter, are similarly long and straight (see Harper 1989, p. 854, citing V. G. Lukonin’s dating, and pl. VI). Animal Headdresses on the Sealings of the Bactrian Documents 219 upwards from the base of the globe or hair covering just where it is affixed to the skullcap.15 In a Sasanian context, such ribbons – the long diadem tie and the short ribbons at the base of the globe or hair covering – are the prerogatives of royalty and divinity; here they are appropriated for local rulers and officials.

2. Horses The sealing with the double horse crown is also in the “Sasanian” style, for the reasons given above, although the secondary ribbons are absent. On what may be a close-fitting cap, much like the base of Ardashir I’s second crown, rather than directly on the personage’s hair, the horses stand at the walk, each facing a plant, possibly a shrub or a flower. Like the previous sealings, it may date to the latter part of the 4th century or as late as the middle of the 5th. Nicholas Sims-Williams reads the name of the seal-owner as “Farkhund” (“Fortunate”) followed by a compound name of which the legible first element is “Asp-wi[…]” (“horse-…”); this element, he suggests, may be a title or a patronymic. If the latter, it is likely that the horses on the headdress refer to the wearer’s totemic family name or his theriomorphic personal name. In fact, both animal headdresses may express the respective wearer’s lineage as well as personal tutelary.16 To understand this more fully, we must explore the use of animal headdresses in Iranian and related contexts.

A Survey of Animal Headdresses

In traditional societies, headdresses made of actual hide or feathers allow the wearer to take on the identity or attributes associated with the particular animal or bird used. For the seals of the kanārang and Farkhund Asp-wi[…], the respective animals, the ram and the horse, both avatars of the Victory god Verethragna,17 were surely chosen for auspicious and, as already suggested, even totemic reasons. In this regard, the employment of animal parts or entire animals for the

15 These secondary ribbons appear on Ardashir I’s second crown and continue in that for- mation until the reign of Warahan IV (388–399) when they may be placed symmetrically to either side of the globe (Göbl 1971, pp. 11–12). 16 In his paper delivered at the 6th European Conference of Iranian Studies, “Sogdian Ono- mastics and Its Contribution to Historical Linguistics of [the] Iranian Language Fam- ily”, Pavel Lurje lists a number of personal names whose original meanings were those of animals, wild and domestic, and notes that some of them reflect totemic beliefs. I thank him for sharing with me his unpublished paper. 17 Yasht XIV.1.3. The wild ram is not only associated with the victorious aspect of Ver- ethragna, but is also the bearer of xvarnah – the royal glory, guarded by Verethragna, as well as general good fortune, which could, of course, be viewed as the triumph of all things good. 220 Judith A. Lerner crowns of rulers and headgear of important persons is not unknown in the ancient Iranian world and, in fact, is especially characteristic of the nomadic areas to the north and east of Bactria and of the classical world to its west. Protomes of fantastic animals and entire figures of such creatures decorate the headdresses of Scythian and Saka elites.18 The coinage of the Parthian ruler Sinatruces (ca. 77–70 bce) is distin- guished by his tiara with its crest of reclining stags (Fig. 3), a reference to the Sacaraucae, a nomadic tribe Fig. 3: Coin of Sinatruces that had penetrated into Bactria and Parthia in the 2nd (ca. 78/77–71/70 bce), century bce and made Sinatruces king of Parthia.19 Parthian. Münzkabinett. Inv.-Nr. GR05320, For the Sacaraucae and other Central Asian nomads, Kunsthistorisches stags or deer were associated with the sun, which oc- Museum, Vienna cupied the supreme position in their pantheon. Some 2nd-century bce kings of Persis show themselves with a complete bird of prey perched on their cap, no doubt referring to Verethragna and his associa- tion with the hawk or falcon.20 However, the bird’s presence may not represent its incorporation into the actual headdresses since on other coins of these local rulers the bird sits atop a building or the royal banner. Beginning with Warahran II (276–293), many Sasanian rulers incorporate an animal element in the form of bird’s wings into their crowns. However, only two kings include an animal protome: on some early issues, Shapur I sports a tiara with an falcon’s or eagle’s head, which in one version holds a pearl in its beak;21 in his coinage, Hormizd II (303–309) wears a similar raptor’s head.22 Animal protomes

18 For example, the gold diadem with griffin-head protome from Kelermes 3 (Kuban, Cri- mea) dated to the late 7th or early 6th century bce (Jacobson 1995, figs. 30 and 31); the adorsed ibex-horned winged horses on the conical headdress of the so-called “Golden Man” from Issyk (southern Kazakhstan), to the 5th or 4th century bce (Akišev 1978, figs. 9, 62 and 69); and the complete figure of an ibex found in the 1st-century ce male burial (grave 4) at Bactrian Tillya Tepe, and which may have served as part of the de- ceased headdress (Sarianidi 1985, pp. 36–37 and ills. 112–120). 19 Sellwood 1980, Type 33, pp. 87–88. See Olbrycht 1997, pp. 46–47. The nomadic elements in Parthian society and the military are discussed in Olbrycht 2003. Sinatruces’ successor, Phraates III (70–57 bce) continues this form of tiara (Sellwood 1980, Type 39, pp. 119–121). I am grateful to Jérôme Gaslain and Marek J. Olbrycht for their help. 20 Curtis 2007, pp. 424–425 and fig. 15 (silver drachm of Vadfradad II[?]). Similarly, the 2nd-century ce ruler, Sanatruq I, wears the Eagle of Hatra on his diadem (Lukonin 1967, ill. 8 and 9). 21 Alram/Gyselen 2003, Types Ia/1a and Ib/1a; see also Alram 2008, p. 22, fig. 11 (Type I/Ia). A prototype is the bird protome crown on a royal bust on coins of the late 2nd- early 3rd-century ce Persis ruler, Manchir (Curtis 2007, pp. 427–428 and fig. 23). 22 Göbl 1971, pl. 5: 80–87. See also the equestrian combat of Homizd II at Naqsh-e Rustam (Schmidt 1970, pls. 91–92: NRu VII) and the silver gilt plate in Cleveland with Hormizd II hunting, made at least 150 years after his reign (Harper 1981, pp. 61, 127–128 and pl. 14). Animal Headdresses on the Sealings of the Bactrian Documents 221 are more prevalent among the kings’ family members and the nobility. Starting with Ardashir I’s reign, several show themselves in caps that terminate in animal heads, those of a horse, ram, boar, bull or falcon – all incarnations of Verethragna – as well as that of a griffin.23 Completing this review of animal elements in Sasanian royal headgear, is the jewel-studded ram’s head helmet, which Ammianus Marcel- linus reports Shapur II wearing at the siege of Amida (359). Although his account has been doubted, the recent publication of a drachm showing Shapur wearing a crown with large, curving ram’s horns (dated to about 320) shows that Shapur, in fact, wore a headdress other than the crenellated crown by which he is recognized on all his other known coins and visual images – albeit not an actual ram’s head and not fitting completely into the stylistic typology of his silver coinage.24 23 On Ardashir I’s Firuzabad relief showing his battle with the Parthian Artabanus, the bearded figure behind him, most likely Shapur as crown prince, wears a cap that terminates in a bird’s head (von Gall 1990, fig. 3 and pl. 66). An animal-protome hat is worn by the beardless figure standing behind the queen to the right of Ardashir I’s investiture at Naqsh-e Rajab (Schmidt 1970, pl. 97B: NRa I). Similar caps are prevalent in the coins, metalwork and rock reliefs of Warahran II (276–293) on which his queen, crown prince and perhaps other princes wear tiaras that end in the protome of a horse, wild boar, a lion, a horse, an eagle or a griffin (Göbl 1971, pl. 4: 55–59, 63–70; Harper 1981, p. 25 and pl. 2 [silver gilt cup from Sargveshi]). The griffin head is sometimes identified as a Senmurv, but that fabulous creature is not found this early in Sasanian art. For additional examples of animal protome headdresses on princes and nobles, see the figures to the left of Warahan II on his Naqsh-e Rustam relief Schmidt( 1970, pl. 86: NRu III). A hat terminating in an animal protome is worn by the personage standing immediately behind Narseh (293–302) on his investiture relief at Naqsh-e Rustam (Schmidt 1970, pl. 90: NRu VI). A fragmentary seal of this early period showing a male head with griffin-protome cap is Bivar 1969, mg 1 (two seals in the Bibliothèque National that also show a male bust with griffin-protome cap may reflect a more “fantastic” signifi- cance for this kind of headdress as on one of them a second griffin head emerges from the back of the cap; yet the seals are otherwise similar in content, including their inscription [Gyselen 1993, pl. XL: 40.C.6 and 7]); a lion-protome cap is worn by a bearded dignitary on a bulla found at Uplistsikhe, in eastern Georgia (Gignoux 1979, pl. II: 4; I am grateful to Khodadad Rezakhani for locating the original Georgian publication for me). 24 Gyselen 2004, p. 114, no. 212: type IV/2a “Western” mint, and fig. A; for discussion, see pp. 58–59. This ram’s horns headdress may have been a “war helmet” rather than Shapur’s actual crown; indeed, Ammianus states that the king “exchanged his diadem for a helmet in the shape of a ram’s head …” (XIX, 1.3). That at least some of the Sasanian kings wore specific headgear into battle (as did the Egyptian kings from the 18th Dy- nasty on) has, to my knowledge, not been fully explored. Certainly, wearing the ram’s horns of Verethragna, the god of victory, would be highly appropriate and could appear especially threatening to the enemy. The well-known silver plate showing a princely, if not royal, hunter wearing a ram’s horn crown is discussed below in note 26. One other instance of a Sasanian ruler wearing this type of headgear is “Shapur, the Great King of the Armenians” (416–420), so identified on the reverse of a drachm that shows his father, Yazdgird I, on the obverse (www.grifterrec.com/coins/sasania/sas_yazdI_1.html; in the Robert W. Schaaf collection); no doubt Shapur, who upon his father’s death unsuccess- fully vied for the throne, is showing his affiliation with his great-grandfather, Shapur II. I thank Michael Alram for drawing my attention to this coin. While citing such horned crowns, we must also note the use of ram’s horns in women’s headdresses (odd if these horns allude specifically to the god of victory, but less so if seen 222 Judith A. Lerner

In this review of Sasanian headdresses, we see that none incorporates an entire animal and only three kings – Shapur I, Hormizd II, and Shapur II – include animal elements other than wings.25 The inclusion of animal parts in the crowns of the 3rd- and 4th-century Kush- ano-Sasanian and Kidarite rulers of Bactria is more widespread: on the gold coins of Warahran (II) Kushanshah ram’s horns, with a globe or round floral element rising between them, are a prominent element, as also on the silver issues of Peroz (III);26 issues of Peroz (II) Kushanshah show short inward-curving bull’s horns.27 More comparable to the ram’s-head crown of our kanārang is the complete lion’s head with mane, topped by a globular vegetal(?) element, worn by two other Kushanshahs, Peroz (I) and Hormizd (I).28 The use of a lion’s head continues on the crowns of some of the Hephthalite or Hun rulers known as Ne- zak Shah (ca. 460–ca. 560?) and persists into the 8th century with Tegin, king of Khorasan, and other rulers;29 and a buffalo’s head appears on the crowns of other Nezak Shahs and some of their successors.30 The only complete animal to grace these rulers’ crowns is the eagle or falcon worn by an Ardashir who minted small copper coins, possibly early in the Kushano-Sasanian sequence.31 A similar bird, now with a pearl in its beak, is part of the elaborate headdress of the Bactrian official, Sagolokho, the wuzurg-framādār (Fig. 4).32 Affixed to a skullcap or dia-

as embodying the more general notion of khvarrah, God-given glory, of which Vere- thragna was protector): the seal of a wife of Shapur III, consisting of a bejeweled skullcap topped by massive outward curving horns framing a palmette (Gignoux/Gyselen 1989, pp. 882–883 and pl. III: 24) and the silver plate in the Walters Art Gallery (probably 6th–7th century) showing a royal banquet in which the seated queen wears a similar crown but with a pomegranate set between the horns (Splendeur des Sassanides, no. 650). For another discussion of Sasanian caps with animal protomes, see Musche 1987 and 2000. 25 Ardashir I represents himself on one issue with a complete eagle emblazoned on the side of his tiara (Alram/Gyselen 2003, type VI [4 b]). However, the bird appears as an applied image and not the three-dimensional sculptural form that would make it a true animal crown. 26 Cribb 1990, nos. 10, 28, 77 and 79; Cribb 2007, figs. 106–109; also Göbl 1967, II, pp. 225–226. Related to these coins is the ram’s-horn headdress worn by the hunter (a Kushanshah?) on the silver plate from Kertsheva in the Hermitage Museum, which, ac- cording to Harper’s stylistic analysis, was commissioned in a provincial workshop in the East and is to be dated to the end of the 3rd or beginning of the 4th century (Harper 1981, pp. 37, 133–134 and pl. 23); for discussion of its possible attribution to Shapur II in light of the Shapur II drachm mentioned above, see Gyselen 2004, p. 59. 27 Cribb 1990, nos. 6, 26 and 37. 28 Cribb 1990, nos. 2 (Peroz [I]); 3, 4 and 61 (Hormizd [I]); also bronze coins 28 (issued in the name of Warahran), 34 and 35 (bronzes of Hormizd [I]). 29 Göbl 1967, III, Type 208, etc.; IV, pl. 7: crown types 45, 53, 51a, 51, 52, 55 (this last, a winged lion protome). 30 Göbl 1967, III, pls. 43–46: Type 198, etc.; IV, pl. 7: crown types 38, 40, 43, 41, 42, 39, 39 a. 31 Cribb 1990, no. 17 and p. 159. 32 See n. 14; I use Nicholas Sims-Williams’s reading (e-mail of 28 December 2007). Göbl dated the seal to the beginning of the 5th century, which, based on its relation to the two sealings presented here, makes his dating more likely. Some months after this article was Animal Headdresses on the Sealings of the Bactrian Documents 223 dem, it is flanked by two pairs of plant forms that resemble those on Farkhund Asp-wi[…]’s headdress; also similar to that headdress, as well as to the kanārang’s, are the long pleated diadem ribbons that rest along his right shoulder. Animal crowns occur on the coinage issued by rulers of the ancient state of Chorasmia, (present- day northwestern Uzbekistan) situated well to the north of Bactria. Cribb notes that its coinage operated outside the mainstream of Central Asia; 33 and indeed its local issues may reflect Choresmia’s nomadic roots: sometime from the end of the 3rd century come silver and copper issues showing Fig. 4: Impression of the seal the ruler with a headdress in the form of a bird; of Sagolokho, the wuzurg- framādār, Bactrian. After although the wings are absent, its overall form Göbl 1967, III, pl. 86: G21 resembles the bird’s complete head and body.34 More relevant to Farkhund Asp-wi[…]’s headdress, though of a later date, are copper issues that show a ruler with a two-humped camel as the main element of his crown.35 So far, we have looked at the animal crowns worn by rulers of Iranian and Central Asian back- grounds. But the use of animal parts – though never the complete animal – is not unknown in the classical world. The incorporation of horns, as well as an animal scalp, begins in the West in Fig. 5: Impression of the seal the latter part of the 4th century bce with Alex- of Kedir the hazāruxt, ander III the Great’s and his successors’ adop- Bactrian. After Göbl 1967, tion for his coin portraits of such symbols as the III, pl. 86: G19 ram’s horns of the Egyptian god Zeus-Ammon, the lion pelt of Herakles, or an Indian elephant scalp, complete with ear, trunk and tusks.36 Relevant to this discussion are the coins issued by Demetrius I of

written, I learned of an uninscribed Bactrian sealing in the A. Saeedi Collection (Lon- don) that depicts a nearly frontal bearded male bust wearing an eagle headdress; unlike the complete the bird of Sagolokho’s headdress, this headdress consists of the foreparts of the eagle (profile head and frontal breast) and large outspread wings. With thanks to Mr. Saeedi, I plan to publish it with his other Bactrian sealings in a future article, co- authored with Mr. Saeedi and Nicholas Sims-Williams. 33 Cribb 2007, p. 372. 34 Vainberg 1977, pls. X: IV: 1 and 2; XVII; XXII and XXIII: B2V (silver) and B25 (copper). 35 Vainberg 1977, pls. X: V: 1–6; XXVII: B [Cyrillic ve] I/3; CXXIX: G12. 36 See Dahmen 2007 and Cribb 2007, p. 337. The addition of ram’s horns, which are not part of Alexander’s headgear but appear to sprout from his temples, allude to his rec- ognition by the god’s priests as the god’s son; other animal elements associated with 224 Judith A. Lerner

Bactria (200–180 bce) who wears Alexander’s elephant-scalp headdress to show himself as a legitimate heir of the conqueror of India and to mark his own ex- pansion into India; and those of the usurper Eucratides I (171–145 bce) who appears in a helmet with a bull’s ear and horn.37

Conclusion

Seen against this survey of animal headdresses among settled and nomadic Iranian and other peoples as well as Alexander’s successors in Central Asia, the multiple ram’s heads and complete horses on the respective crowns of our two Bactrian officials are not unusual (and, indeed, it would not be surprising for seals and sealings to come to light showing other personages wearing crowns with the same or other animals). We do not fully understand the ethnic makeup of the inhabitants of the region that is known as Bactria – a mix, to be sure, with a strong nomadic component, as was the case with neighboring Parthia and Choresmia. From the first millennium bce in lands north and east of Bactria the deep nomadic tradition of animal symbolism expressed itself, in part, in the choice of decoration for crowns and other headgear. The animal crowns of Alexander’s successors in Bac- tria reinforced that tradition or provided renewed impetus for its continuation. The incorporation of animal heads or entire figures of animals in the headdresses of our Bactrian officials and Sagolokho shows the persistence of these ancient traditions in Bactria. Even if we interpret Hormizd II’s winged crown with its falcon or eagle protome as a complete bird, the use of multiple animal heads or a whole animal (or more than one entire animal) is not at all typical of Sasanian royal iconography. Rather, such literal or complete animal representa- tions on headdresses are more at home in a Bactrian context where they seem to reflect an early nomadic stratum, renewed by successive invasions of nomadic peoples from the east. The persistence of such headgear can be found in the 8th century in the painting at Dokhtar-e Noshirwan (Nigar), situated in the area south of the kingdom of Rob (Rui), which, from internal evidence, is the origin of most of the Bactrian documents and the loose sealings. There, the enthroned figure wears a composite crown with what appears to be a frontal ram’s head placed prominently above wings.38

Alexander’s portraits are the bull’s horns of Dionysus or Poseidon and the goat’s horns of Pan (Svenson 1995). It is noteworthy that prior to Alexander’s conquest of the Persian Empire there is no tradition of animal crowns in the ancient Near East or Iran. Except for bull’s horns to connote divinity, animals do not figure in divine or royal headdresses; and bull’s horns were worn only by those few rulers, such as Naram-Sin (ca. 2300–2200 bce), who por- trayed themselves as divine. 37 Cribb 2007, p. 340 and figs. 22 (Demetrius I) and 24 (Eucratides I), respectively. 38 Klimburg-Salter 1993. Animal Headdresses on the Sealings of the Bactrian Documents 225

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