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Ardasir's Struggle Against the Parthians. Towards A Iranica Antiqua, vol. XLVI, 2011 doi: 10.2143/IA.46.0.2084420 ARDASIR’S STRUGGLE AGAINST THE PARTHIANS. TOWARDS A REINTERPRETATION OF THE FIRUZABAD I RELIEF BY Maciej GRABOWSKI (Institute of Archeology, Warsaw University) Abstract: The proposed reinterpretation of the Firuzabad I relief is based on the assumption that we deal with a particular iconographic synopsis of the events that occurred during Ardasir’s war against the Arsacids (c. 220-228). The concept of iconographic summary of several historical events may be traced back to the Achaemenid period (Bisotun relief), and may also be observed in the triumph reliefs of Sapur I. It is thus suggested that each of the three equestrian combat scenes depicted on the Firuzabad I relief recalls one of three major stages of Ardasir’s struggle against the Parthians. Information from textual sources combined with iconographic observations permit to develop a hypothesis concerning the identity of some of the depicted personages, and thus to reveal proper historical context of each scene. New terminus post quem for the Firuzabad I relief is also proposed, this being the year 228 which most probably marks the end of the last phase of the war. Keywords: Sasanian rock reliefs, Firuzabad, Ardashir, Artabanus, Shapur. The earliest Sasanian rock sculptures are two reliefs commissioned by Ardasir I (224-240) and carved on the cliffs of the Tang-e Ab gorge, near the town of Firuzabad (Fars Province). The first one (Firuzabad I) depicts an equestrian combat between three pairs of Persian and Parthian knights (Pl. 1, fig. 1), whereas the second (Firuzabad II) shows the so-called “inves- titure” scene. It is obvious that the location of these monuments on the main route leading to the Firuzabad plain was not accidental for, early in his reign, Ardasir founded a new capital there, Ardasir-Khorra (“Glory of Ardasir”). As both these reliefs were exposed to the public, it might be supposed that, apart from adding splendour to the surroundings of the new royal seat, they also served for propaganda purposes. However, except for some basic ideological concepts such as commem- orating the victory over an enemy (Firuzabad I) and ascending to power 994066_Iran_Antiqua_46_09.indd4066_Iran_Antiqua_46_09.indd 220707 221/06/111/06/11 111:591:59 208 M. GRABOWSKI d I relief by E. Smekens (Ghent University). a b a z u r i Fig. 1. Drawing of the F 994066_Iran_Antiqua_46_09.indd4066_Iran_Antiqua_46_09.indd 220808 221/06/111/06/11 111:591:59 ARDASIR’S STRUGGLE AGAINST THE PARTHIANS 209 (Firuzabad II), the exact meaning of these monumental images remains somewhat obscure. This paper presents an attempt to develop a more com- prehensive interpretation of the first of the above-mentioned reliefs, i.e. Firuzabad I. The new approach toward this particular relief is based on a presumption that the historical aspect of this monument encompasses a much wider scope of events than it has hitherto been considered. Proper studies of the Firuzabad I relief began with the identification of the depicted ruler as Ardasir I, for the first time by E. Herzfeld (Herzfeld 1926: 253-254)1. This view was upheld in further examinations by R. Ghirshman (Ghirshman 1947: 8-13), G. Herrmann (Herrmann 1969: 71-74), W. Hinz (Hinz 1969: 115-119) and later on by L. Vanden Berghe (Vanden Berghe 1984: 62, 125-126) and H. von Gall (von Gall 1990: 20-30). Studies of these scholars, although very significant, focused mainly on iconography. More light on the character and dating of the Firuzabad I relief has not been shed until G. Herrmann’s in-depth research on the sculpture techniques of the Sasanian rock reliefs (Herrmann 1981). Never- theless, precise descriptive and photographic documentation of the dis- cussed relief is yet to be conducted. Dating of the relief According to G. Herrmann, technical traits of the monument, these including in particular shallow relief with good quality modelling, partially polished silhouettes and matte background, point to the conclusion that the Firuzabad I relief represents the earliest development phase of the Sasanian rock sculpture. Some scholars tend to regard this monument as the very first rock relief carved by the order of Ardasir (Herrmann 1981: 156; Vanden Berghe 1984: 62). The issue of absolute dating of the Firuzabad I relief is far more prob- lematic. For although no doubt exists that the subject of the relief recalls the victory of Ardasir over Ardawan IV and the Arsacid dynasty, there is 1 E. Flandin and M. Dieulafoy, to whom we owe first sketches of this relief, attributed it to Bahram II or IV (Dieulafoy 1884: 117). Some uncertainty remained even after E. Herzfeld’s identification of the depicted ruler, and K. Erdmann still attributed the dis- cussed relief to Ardasir II (379-383) (Erdmann 1937: 94). Yet, in his later publications K. Erdmann accepted the attribution proposed by E. Herzfeld (Erdmann 1943: 49-50; 1951: 91-92). 994066_Iran_Antiqua_46_09.indd4066_Iran_Antiqua_46_09.indd 220909 221/06/111/06/11 111:591:59 210 M. GRABOWSKI actually no evidence that the relief was carved immediately after the deci- sive battle with the Parthian ruler in 224. On the other hand, a relatively late date for the discussed relief was proposed by V. G. Lukonin who opted for circa the year 240. His main argument was based on a supposed chronological correlation between the relief and the late series of Ardasir’s coins whose obverses bear the image of the ruler in the same distinctive coiffure as the one shown on the Firuzabad I relief (Lukonin 1977: 147, after von Gall 1990: 27). This reasoning has been, however, undermined by H. von Gall who argued convincingly that in the case of our relief the presence of this coiffure is imposed mainly by the relief’s battle subject, with the lack of a crown or hel- met being a reflection of an ancient Persian war custom according to which the most esteemed commanders fought bare-headed. As such, the royal coif- fure should not be treated as a chronological indicator linking the Firuzabad I relief with the above-mentioned series of coins (von Gall 1990: 27-28). Furthermore, significant differences in style and execution technique between the discussed monument and the last rock relief of Ardasir, Naqs-e Rostam I, carved most probably near the year 240 (Lukonin 1968: 112), show clearly that their contemporaneity is unlikely. Hence, it is most plau- sible that the Firuzabad I relief was carved not later than just several years after the fall of Ardawan IV (224). The in-depth analysis presented in this paper proves that even a more precise estimation of the date is possible. E. Herzfeld’s interpretation A comparison of the emblems adorning the caparisons, quivers and head- gears shown on the Firuzabad I relief with those known from other rock sculptures commissioned by Ardasir I led E. Herzfeld to the conclusion that the Sasanian king depicted on the discussed relief was in fact the founder of the empire, whereas his adversary was the last Parthian ruler – Ardawan IV (c. 213-224) (Pl. 2). Since Tabari states in his chronicle that the Parthian monarch met his death at the hands of Ardasir during the decisive battle on the plain of Hormizdgan2 on the last day of the month of Mihr (28th April 224) 2 Since some other sources give a completely different toponym, we cannot be certain of the present location of the battlefield. Nevertheless, relying on the information con- tained in Bal’ami’s manuscript, A. Sh. Shahbazi suggested that the Hormizdgan plain is situated near the present Ram-Hormoz, east of Ahwaz (Shahbazi 2004: 672-674). 994066_Iran_Antiqua_46_09.indd4066_Iran_Antiqua_46_09.indd 221010 221/06/111/06/11 111:591:59 ARDASIR’S STRUGGLE AGAINST THE PARTHIANS 211 (Nöldeke 1879: 14-15, 411), E. Herzfeld perceived the relief as an illustra- tion of that particular battle (Herzfeld 1926: 253-254). According to Tabari’s description of the battle, the first to attack Ardawan IV’s forces was prince Sapur who himself killed Dadbundad, “Ardawan’s grand vizier”. On these grounds, the second pair depicted in the centre of the relief (Pl. 3) was identified as prince Sapur and his oppo- nent, Dadbundad (Herzfeld 1926: 254, followed by Ghirshman 1947: 9; Herrmann 1969: 73; Hinz 1969: 115; Vanden Berghe 1984: 125-126; von Gall 1990: 21). Although the historical interpretation proposed by E. Herzfeld has been widely accepted in scholarly circles, it is necessary to point out its major weakness. This being its total reliance on solely one textual source, the Chronicle of Tabari. Even though Tabari’s account of the decisive battle proved to be relevant for the interpretation of the rightmost scene, i.e. Ardasir defeating Ardawan IV, it neither mentions anything that could be tentatively applied to the third (leftmost) pair of knights (Pl. 4), nor prop- erly indicates the rank of prince Sapur’s opponent. These deficiencies make E. Herzfeld’s interpretation at least partially invalid and call for resorting to other textual sources. Reinterpretation of the relief The reason for presentation of three monumental equestrian combat scenes to commemorate a single victory is an issue which did not get much attention in the previous studies on the Firuzabad I relief. Yet, this unique iconographic form finds no direct parallel in other Sasanian rock reliefs depicting equestrian combat. These reliefs were in most cases executed as a single scene3 involving mainly a Sasanian king and his opponent, some- times with a standard-bearer in the background and a fallen enemy tram- pled by the royal steed. In search of a reason for the uniqueness of the Firuzabad I relief, one should turn to the peculiar historical background of the monument: Ardasir’s struggle against the Arsacids and their supporters.
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