Arts of the Sui and Early Tang Dynasties I 325

Toronto, was excavated, prior to 1949, 222 223 from a tomb near Luoyang and later taken 2 Bracteate Bracteate out of China. Like the present bottle, it too may have come from the Plateau of Ca. 6th century Ca. 7th century Iran and date to the seventh century. AJ Gold Gold Diameter 7/s in. (2.3 em) Diameter 1 in. (2.5 em) 1. Fukai 1977, pl. 34· Excavated from the tomb (dated 671) Excavated from the tomb (dated 67o) of 2. Yoshimizu 1992, pl. 48. of Shi Hedan, Guyuan, Ningxia Shi Tiebang, Guyuan, Ningxia Autonomous Region, 1986 Autonomous Region, 1986 Guyuan Museum Guyuan Museum

221 ExcAv. REPORT in Luo Feng 1996: 55-77 ExcAv. REPORT in Luo Feng 1996: 78-86

Bracteate The present bracteate was found in the This bracteate was found in a coffin in the tomb of Shi Hedan, a Chinese official tomb of Shi Tiebang, a Tang official of Ca. 6th century 1 whose ancestors hailed from southern southern Sogdian origin who died in 666. Gold 1 Sogdiana. Almost certainly it was pro­ It was worn as a pendant and has a hole Diameter% in. (1.9 em) duced in Sogdiana or some adjacent region. above the head of the king portrayed on Excavated from the tomb (dated 664) of Shi Suoyan and his wife, Guyuan, The coin is similar to the gold bracteate the obverse. As with all bracteates, the Ningxia Autonomous Region, 1985 found in the tomb of Shi Suoyan, also in reverse is blank. The obverse was struck Guyuan Museum Guyuan county (cat. no. 221). with a die identical to those of the silver drachmas of Ardashir III, one of the last ExcAv. REPORT in Luo Feng 1996:31-54 Obverse: Bust of an emperor facing Sasanian rulers of Iran, who reigned from right in three-quarter profile. Like the 628 to 630. The face on the bracteate, This bracteate was found in the tomb of Shi Byzantine emperors on fifth- and sixth­ without mustache or beard, is unique on Suoyan, a Chinese official whose ancestors century solidi, he holds a spear and a shield. Sasanian coins. Notably, Ardashir III was had emigrated from southern Sogdiana, 1 This bracteate is similar to one found in only a boy during his short reign (he and his wife. He was buried in 664. Panjikent, in Sogdiana, in a house dating ascended the throne when he was seven). 2 to the seventh or eighth century. 0n both The bracteate was perhaps struck with a Obverse: Bust of an emperor, helmeted, bracteates there are still-recognizable genuine Sasanian die, albeit one that orig­ cuirassed, and holding a spear and shield. letters of the name Anastasius, the inated in Iran. Following the Arab conquest The legend is illegible. The coin is thinner Byzantine emperor who reigned from of Iran in 651, many Persians, including than cat. no. 222, and of the two it is clos­ 491 to 518. Rather than being imitations Peroz, the heir to the throne, fled to Tang er to Byzantine prototypes-the solidi of Byzantine coins themselves, they imi­ China. It is plausible that a Sasanian die of the fifth century or the first half of the tate Central Asian replicas of Byzantine was taken to Central Asia or China, where sixth. The wide, plain border is typical of 2 coins. Two small holes are pierced through it was used to produce this expensive and Sasanian coins, but it is also seen on a the metal, one above and the other below exceptionally heavy coin, a remnant of Sogdian silver medallion from Panjikent 3 the bust of the emperor. the recently devastated Sasanian empire. that portrays a Hellenistic monarch. The VR Silver coins of the last Sasanians (though face is executed in higher relief than those not of Ardashir III) have been found in on Byzantine coins. VR 2 1. Luo Feng 1996: 57, 151-52, pl. 48, colorpl. 17; Xinjiang and China proper. Alram 2001: 287, no. 102 (mistakenly attrib­ VR 1. Thierry and Morrisson 1994, no. 17; Luo Feng uted to Shi Suoyan's tomb). 1996:37, 151, pl. 48, colorpl.17; Ningxia Huizu 2. Raspopova 1999, fig. 5· zizhiqu Guyuan bowuguan and Zhongri 1. Luo Feng 1996: 156-58, colorpl. 1W Ningxia Yuanzhou lianhe Kaogudui 1999: 113; Alram Huiza zizhiqu Guyuan bowuguan and Zhongri 2001: 287, no. 102. Yuanzhou lianhe kaogudui 1999: pl. 29; Alram 2. Alram 2001: 288. 2001: 281, no. 96. 3· Marshak and Raspopova 1998, fig. 4.2. 2. Thierry 1993: 7-139.

221, obverse 221, reverse 222, obverse 222, reverse 213, obverse