tour 2 of 11
Iran before Islam: The Sasanians
The founder of the dynasty
The front of this gold coin shows Ardashir I,
the first Sasanian ruler. He is depicted with long hair and a tall,
bejewelled crown. An inscription in Middle Persian gives his
personal name and describes him as a worshipper of Ahura Mazda, the
Zoroastrian Wise Lord, and as king of kings of
Iran.
Ardashir and his
family started out as local rulers in Parsa (Fars) in southern
Iran. In 224 at a battle in western Iran he killed his Parthian
overlord Ardavan (Artabanus) IV and became the new king. Ardashir
kept Ctesiphon (in modern Iraq) as the capital of his empire.
Ardashir built many new cities, canals and bridges and he is
commemorated in many rock
carvings.
The back of
Ardashir's coin depicts a Zoroastrian fire altar and a
royal throne. This combination symbolizes the unity of religion and
state. The throne has lion's paw legs, which were copied
from ancient Persian reliefs of the fifth century BC at
Persepolis.