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The sculptures of Bahrām II1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2011

Georgina Herrmann
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Extract

Many scholars in the last 150 years have applied themselves to problems posed in dating the rock reliefs of the Sasanian kings. Steady progress has been made and we have now reached a stage when most, but not all, sculptures can be assigned, with reasonable certainty, to the various kings. However, the closer dating and the identification of the context of the reliefs are still hotly disputed. This paper, written in honour of Sir Mortimer Wheeler, who has long been interested in Iranian studies, attempts to examine the stylistic development of the sculptures of Bahrām II (a.d. 276–93) in the hope that this will at least establish the order in which he commissioned the reliefs during his reign of seventeen years. It has been a surprising feature of earlier studies of the sculpture of specific Sasanian kings that little or no attempt has been made to ascertain developments in style during the course of a reign. The author has already attempted this for the sculpture of Ardashīr and Shāhpūr; the same methods are here applied to the reliefs of Bahrām II. Only after such an examination can there be any hope of solving the many outstanding problems of dating and identification.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 102 , Issue 2: Studies in Honour of Sir Mortimer Wheeler , April 1970 , pp. 165 - 171
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1970

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References

1a Ghirshman, R., in Bîchâpour I, Paris 1971, 147–185Google Scholar, has recently made a comprehensive study of the stylistic development of Shāhpūr's work.

2 “The Dārābgird relief—Ardashīr or Shāhpūr? A discussion in the context of early Sasanian sculpture”, Iran, VII, 1969, 63–88Google Scholar.

3 Carved on the right-hand wall of the Bīshāpūr river gorge between The Indian triumph of Shāhpūr II and Bahrām II receiving a delegation. Length 10·95 m. Height 4·50 m. High relief (depth 30 cm.) finely polished figures. Attribution to Bahrām I is by the clear representation of the king's personal crown and by an inscription, which was tampered with by Bahrām's brother, Narseh: Herzfeld, E., Archaeological history of Iran, London, 1935, 82Google Scholar.

4 Herrmann, , Iran, VII, 75, note 61, Pl. VGoogle Scholar; and Hinz, Walther, Alt-Iranische Funde und Forschungen, Berlin, 1969, 140, Pl. 72Google Scholar.

5 Herrmann, op. cit., 69 ff., note 42, Pl. IV; Hinz, op. cit., 126 f., Pls. 60–68.

6 Morier, James, A journey through Persia, Armenia and Asia Minor to Constantinople, in the years 1808 and 1809 …, London, 1812, 90Google Scholar.

7 The first, or last, of the Sasanian reliefs at Naqsh-i Rustam, carved on the left of the cliff. Width 5·70 m. Height of panel, 3·50 m. Attribution by the distinctive crown. Ghirshman, R., Iran, Parthians and Sassanians, London, 1962, Pl. 218Google Scholar.

8 Reasons of space forbid discussion of the Naqsh-i Rustam jousting relief which is sometimes attributed to Bahrām II—L. Berghe, Vanden, Archéologie de l'Iran ancien, Leiden, 1966, 25Google Scholar. In the author's view it is unlikely that the relief is correctly given to Bahrām, for the winged helmet bears little resemblance to other representations of Bahrām's crown: two wings are shown on either side of the helmet in a manner more characteristic of later kings.

9 Carved on the right-hand wall of the Bīshāpūr gorge between the Investiture of Bahrām I and Shāhpūr's triumph over Valerian. Length 7·40 m. Height of panel 3·65 m. Depth of relief 20 cm. Attribution to Bahrām II is on account of the clear representation of his personal crown.

10 See Shāhpūr's two reliefs in the Naqsh-i Rajab grotto—Hinz, op. cit., 140–3, Pls. 72–4; Herrmann, op. cit., 75–6, 78–80, Pls. V and VIII.

11 Ghirsman, Bîchâpour, 65–72, Pl. XV; Hinz, op. cit., 178, Pl. 105; Herrmann, op. cit., 80–3, Pl. X. It should be noted that this relief is carved to a scale less than life size, the only Sasanian sculpture to be so: the reliefs of the two Bahrāms, with which it is compared, are the usual “larger than life” size.

12 The relief is located some 80 km. to the SE. of Kazerun at the head of a fertile valley. The panel containing the relief is cut on the side of the mountain and is surmounted by a second panel containing a long inscription written by Kartīr, the Grand Magus, whom we see represented between the king and the queen. Width 4·65 m. Height of panel 2·26 m. Depth of relief 5 cm. (For different measurements see Hinz, op. cit., 215, note 20.) Attribution is by the clear representation of the king's crown.

13 The depth of relief at Bīshāpur is some 20 cm., at Sar Mashhad only 5 cm.

14 Hinz, op. cit., Pls. 135 b and c.

15 Hinz, op. cit, 217

16 The relief is carved on a jutting bulwark a little to the left of the Investiture of Ardashīr at Naqsh-i Rustam. This curving site required considerable excavation before work could begin on the sculpture itself—the actual thickness of the figures is, however, only some 5 cm. A panel below the scene has been smoothed, presumably in preparation for an inscription. Not only was the inscription never written, but the relief itself was not completed: while the figure of the king is finished, only the busts of the other personages were carved and the line where work ceased is irregular.

Width 5·40 m. Height 2·50 m. Depth of carving 4·5–5·0 cm. Attribution by clear representation of the king's crown.

17 For detailed photographs see Hinz, op. cit., Pl. 118 and 135 b and c.

18 For detailed photographs see Hinz, op. cit., Pls. 119–22.

19 Professor Hinz writes that it is the head of a bull rather than a horse—op. cit., 194.

20 Hinz, op. cit., Pl. 120.

21 Hinz, op. cit., 194. Professor Hinz further suggests that the princes are portrayed as youths of 13 and 15 years of age respectively. Since Bahrām III could have been born only in 278 or 279 Professor Hinz concludes, more or less accurately as it happens, that the relief was carved in a.d. 291 or 292. However, the suggestion that the ages of these young princes can be so definitely assessed from the generalized features carved by the Sasanian sculptor invites scepticism.

22 Recently identified by Professor Hinz on account of his distinctive “scissor” device—op. cit., 194, Pl. 121.

22a Sprengling, M., Third century Iran: Sapor and Kartir, Chicago 1953, p. 50Google Scholar.

23 Hinz, op. cit., Pl. 135 a.

24 Hinz, op. cit., Pls. 114 and 116. In the Naqsh-i Rajab bust Kartīr is shown without a device on his hat.

25 For a detailed photograph see Hinz, op. cit., Pl. 122.

26 Hinz, op. cit., 194.

27 For detailed photographs see Hinz, op. cit., Pls. 124–6.

28 Hinz, op. cit., Pl. 126, 201–6.

29 Carved above a rocky pool ½ km. behind the village of Sarāb Bahrām on the Bīshāpūr-Fahliūn road. Height of panel 2·90 m. Width 3·88 m. Depth of relief 10 cm. Attribution by winged crown and style to Bahrām II—the crown is much weathered.

30 In the sculptures of Bahrām IV's immediate predecessors, Ardashīr II (379–83) and Shāhpūr III (383–8), details were simply etched on to the raised surfaces. Berghe, Vanden, Archéologie de l'Iran anclen, 1966, Pl. 127Google Scholar.

31 Hinz, op. cit., Pl. 129.

32 It was only used twice more: on the very damaged figure immediately above the joust of Hormuzd II at Naqsh-i Rustam, and in the Indian triumph at Bīshāpūr. In both cases the reliefs have been attributed to Shāhpūr II: Ghirshman, R., “Notes iraniennes III: à propos des bas-reliefs rupestres sassanides”, Aribus Asiae, XIII, 1950, 90–98Google Scholar; and Bîchâpour I, 79–89, Pls. XIX–XXI.

33 Herzfeld, E., Iran in the ancient East, 1941, 319, fig. 406Google Scholar.

34 Hinz, op. cit., Pls. 128–33.

35 Hinz, op. cit., 201, Pl. 131.

36 Hinz, op. cit., 215.

37 Hinz, op. cit., 206, Pl. 126 a.

38 For instance, Herzfeld, Iran in the ancient East, 324.