Topic: archaeology (2)

• ObjectGold plaque of a barsom-bearer (Oxus Treasure)

  One of the small gold votive plaques of the Oxus Treasure showing a figure in Median dress holding a bundle of rods — the barsom of Iranian ritual; the clearest surviving material image of the rite the texts describe.

• PlaceNaqsh-e Rostam

  The cliff a few kilometres from Persepolis where the great Achaemenid kings were entombed; the tomb of Darius I carries the DNa and DNb inscriptions and a relief of the king at worship before the fire beneath the winged symbol — the fullest single image of Achaemenid royal religion.