the sasanian rock relief of bahram ii

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riiniii Anliqici vol. XLIV. 2009doi: I0.2143/IA.44.0.2034387

THE SASANIAN ROCK RELIEF OF BAHRAM IIAT GUYUM (FARS, IRAN)

Ernie HAERINCK* & Bruno OVERLAET** '(*Ghent University; **Royal Museums of An and History &Vesalius University College, Brussels)

A b st ra ct : The rock carving at Guyum is known since the early 20'' century butdid not receive full attention yet. Situated to the north of Shiraz. it can be attrib-uted to the reign of the Sasanian king Bahram II. The panel depicts the standingking Bahram II in full, in a venerating position with bent forefinger and holdinga sword with his left hand. A detailed discussion is presented as well as severalpreviously unpublished photographs.Keywords: Guyum, Shiraz, Fars, Iran, Bahram II, Barm-i Diiak. Sasanian rockrelief

The first scholar to mention the Sasanian rock carving at Guyum was ErnstHerzfeld who visited the site on February 18, 1924. Although he made twophotographs and a sketch of it (PI. 1-2 and 11). he never published anyillustration but merely me ntioned it in a R eis eb eric ht (Herzfeld 192 6:250 ). His no tes, sketches and photo graphs are part now of the He rzfeldarchives , and are kept at the Smithsonian Institution. Washington. D.C.(see: http://www.asia.si .edu/archives/finding_aids/herzfeld.html#al2).

The intrepid explorer Aurel Stein stayed at the walled village of Guyumduring his survey of western Fars in 1935, but it is uncertain whether hesaw the relief since he made no mention of it (Stein 1940: 4).

As far as we know, it was Louis Vanden Berghe who published the firstphotographs of the sculpture (PI. 3-6). He visited Guyum on May 2P' 1957and devoted a paper to it, written in Dutch but with a French abstract.

' The authors are indebted to the Smithsonian Institution. Washington, D.C. and par-ticularly to Dr. Ann C. Gunter, curator, and to Miss Betsy Kohut, Mr. David Hogge andMrs. Linda Ravitz. staff for assisting them in accessing the Herzfeld archives and for thepem ssio n to reproduce plates 1, 2 and lL


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5 3 2 E, HAERINCK & B.OVERLAETHowever, as it was published in the Gem se Bijdragen tot de Kunst-geschiedenis en de Oudheidkunde , the journ al of the former H igher Insti-tute for Art and Archaeology at Ghent University, it was not readily avail-able to many scholars (195 9b). In the same year, V anden Berghe publisheda photograph of the sculpture in his monumental work L'archologie del'Iran Ancien (V anden Berghe 1959a: 5 6, PL 83 ). In 1968, he m adeanother comment on it in a general brochure on the Belgian involvementin Iranian archaeology, published in five different languages by the BelgianMinistry of Foreign Affairs (Vanden Berghe 1968: 21-22, ill.).

In N ovem ber 1972, L ouis V atiden Berghe and Erik Sm ekens paid a visitto the site and made detailed observations. Atiother visit to the site wasmade in May 1975 by Louis Vanden Berghe, Ernie Haerinck and ErikSmekens. That year, this team spend tnore than 4 months in Iran, with thesole intention to visit all known sites with rock reliefs. These were recorded,measured, described and photographed in preparation of a general book onIranian rock sculptures that has not m aterialised so far. In the late 196O sor early 7O s Guyum was also visited by other scholars interested in rocksculptures, such as Georgina H errmann (M atheson 1972: 210) and Eric DeW aele (19 78 : 2 1 , fig. 6). Erich Schm idt also provided a short desc riptionof the site but his report was based exclusively on V ande n Be rg he s 1959book (Schmidt 1970: 134).Guy um is located at ca. 30 km to the N N W of Shiraz, on the road toArdakan. It lies 3 km to the west of the village of Guyum at Tang-i Qavatn-abad, in a garden named Ab-i Shar (at least that was the name in the fif-ties), with a spring at the foot of the rock. As is often the case, roek carv-ings are located in the vicinity of a spring or river (e.g. Firuzabad,Darabgird. Bishapur, Sarab-i Bahram, Barm-i Dilak and Taq-i Bustan). Alot of grapes are grown in the region of Shiraz and it was probably a majorwine producing area, also in Sasanian times (De Waele 1978: 15 andnote 16).

The rock relief of Guyum lies about 4.50 m. above the actual plain leveland is oriented to the northwest. Only the standing king is repre.sented,facing right. He is 2.60 m. high, and the panel is 1.60 m. in width. In viewof the crown this person is to be identified as Bahram II (276-293), grand-son of Shapur I. He was a politically unitnportant king, who had. however,to pay a lot of attentio n to internal affairs (Sha hba zi 1989). N o less thansix and possibly eight rock carvings are known of him: Naqsh-i Rustam 11


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ROCK RELIEFATGUYUM 5 3 3(with family and nobles), Sarab-i Bahram (seated king and noblemen),Bishapur IV (mounted kitig receiving a foreign delegation), Sar Mashhad(king fighting liotis), Barm-i Dilak IIA (panel with standing king alone)and Gu yum (standing king alone), and ma ybe also Naqsh-i R ustam III(jousting scene) and VII (double jousting scene). He is quite often shownin the presence of members of the aristocracy or members of his family.The relief at Bishapur IV, where the mounted Bahram II receives a foreigndelegation, is the only one seemingly representing external affairs.

Two other reliefs, one at Sarab-i Qandil (e.g. De Waele 1978: 17-20;Herrmann 1983: 31-36) and another at Barm-i Dilak I (Vanden Berghe1989: 805), most likely do not represent the kinghimself. A man, a princeheir, a dignitary or a local noble is shown giving a flower to or receivingone from a lady. These rock carvings are generally attributed to the timeof Bahram II (e.g. Hemnann 2000: 42). However, Levit Tawil (1993: 167-168) is of the opinion that both rock carvings should be attributed to thetime of Ardashir I.

The representations of Kartir at Naqsh-i Radjab II (bust and inscription),Naqsh-i Rustam VI (bust and inscription) and Barm-i Dilak IIB (panel withstanding Kartir) most likely also belong to the time of Bahram II. The kingcons idered K artir as his tiientor and gave him the title of sav iou r of Bah-ram's soul . He also gave him the rank of noble and appointed him as thecustodian of the dynastic shrine at Istakhr and as the supreme judge of theempire (Shahbazi 1989: 516).The relief at Guyum shows the standing king Bahram II in full with hisbody almost in a frontal position (PI.1-12 . As is common in Sasanian rockcarvings, he is shown with exaggerated shoulders. Since many reliefs arecarved at quite a height, the exaggerated shoulders create an optically morecorrect figure with normal proportions when viewed from ground level.The carving is much weathered, which of course may account for theloss of some details, but the carving itself was probably not much detailedfrom the start. This is obviously worsened by certain willingly inflicteddamages, such as on the kings' face.

Bahram II is not represented in a nicely cut rectangular panel, as is usu-ally the case, but in an irregular panel that largely follows the king's out-line. This is also more or less the case at Barm-i Dilak (PI. 14-17), but hereit may have another explanation. It is not to be excluded, that the Guyurnrelief was in fact never finished.


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5 3 4 E.HA ERINCK &B. OVERLAETAt Guyum the area in front of the king is obviously flattened. The paral-

lel chiseling lines are still clearly visible on PI. 3, 4 and 6. Also the hori-zontal ledge on which the figure is placed extends in front of this flattenedarea. The top of the panel above the king and above this flattened area iscut away in the same manner and to the same depth as the lower ledge. Itseems probable that a second figure, an object (e.g. an altar) or a panel withan inscription was originally intended to be placed in front of the king.From the unfinished rock sculpture of Narseh at Naqsh-i Rustam (PI. 13).we do have some ideas about how the Sasanian sculptors went ahead.Starting from a flat panel, they cut the outline of the figure and completelyfinished the figure before starting work on the next figure. At Guyum, it isonly around the Bahram II figure that the sculptor has worked the relief tothe intended full depth of the representation. It seetns the sculptor finishedthis royal figure (or in view of the limited detail, lmost finished the royalfigure) and was about to start on the area in front of the king when theproject was either abandoned or altered. This is of course a speculativeinterpretation of this monument, since we do not have any historical infor-mation to docutnent the original concept or the circumstances in which itwas created.

The royal figure is shown with hair in curly bunches at the back of his headand with a winged crown topped by a huge korymbos that cuts into theborde r of the panel (PI. 10). T he crow n is not very detailed. O nly the out-line of the wings is still clearly recognisable. The crown, however, allowsan identification as Bahram II, since this king is always shown with thisparticular crown on the reliefs and on the coins (Gobi 1968: 43 sq.). Bah-ram II is described in the lost B ook of Portraits of Sasanian K in gs aswearing a red gown, green trousers and a crown with a sky-blue globe(Erdmann 195 1: 96 n 3 5 ; Shahbazi 1989: 516). T he wings on his crownrefer to the wings of the bird of his patron god Bahram (a bird of prey,possibly a falcon) (Jamzadeh 1989: 514; see also on the old Iranian godBahram: Gnoli 1989).

At Guyum the king's face is almost completely destroyed. The headis shown in right profile. He probably wears a necklace that is, however,not as detailed as on his other rock carvings. His right arm is outstretched,but slightly fiexed and he is shown with bent foreflnger. in front ofhis upper body (Choksy 1992: 205). The beard is held at the chin by aring.


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ROCK RELIEF AT GUYUM 5 3 5Long ribbons with stylised folds are shown behind his right shoulder.

He does not wear a cloak or loose sleeveless outer garment as at Barm-iDilak IIA (PI. 15-17). He is shown with a tunic belted at the waist thatreaches to the knees. At the height of his left knee a circular hem-weightis hanging from the lower edge of the tunic (or the cloak?) as is also to beseen on his tunic at Barm-i Dilak IIA (see PI. 17). The same hem-weightis faintly visible at the height of his right thigh . Th e tu nic s girdle is tiedin a bow and the folded ends fall on his thighs and are shown on top of theheavy sword belt. Below the tunic he wears loose trousers with stylisedfolds that give the impression of being caught by the wind. The trousersfall onto his feet. His shoes are tied with ribbons, as is best visible on theright foot. The straps are sculpted in low relief on the flat base-line of ther li f His right foot is show n in Vj and the left one is dep icted in profile.His right leg is in a frontal position while the left leg is shown inV .

T he ki ng s left hand rests on the grip of his sword, w hich is bearablyvisible . T he swo rd itself disappears behind the king s legs.It is obvious that the Guyum rock carving is almost identical to Barm-iDilak IIA (compare PI. 1-13 to PI. 15-19), though the Guyum relief is lessdetailed. The king on both reliefs is shown facing right in the same atti-tude. He displays a bent forefinger, possibly in a venerating position to anot represented god (?) (Choksy 1992: 204-205; 2002: 20-23) and restshis left hand on a long sword. Vanden Berghe (1 959b : 7, 21 , 24 ; 1988;1527-1528) suggested that Guyum remained unfinished and was intendedto be an investiture scene with a deity (remark: so far no investiture sceneof Bahram II is known). Eric De Waele (1978; 14-15), on the contrarysuggests that the attitude of veneration at Guyum and Bann-i Dilak is inhonour of the god venerated at the site. He identifies this god as Anahitain view of the presence of the water source, the lush vegetation and thegesture of the king towards the source.On the whole, the relief at Guyum is badly weathered and damaged and thestandard of carving is relatively poor. Vanden Berghe (1959b: 20) consid-ered it as reflecting a provincial style. Eric De Waele (1978: 26) and Geor-gina Herrmann (2000; 42-43) suggested that Guyum and other reliefs likeSarab-i Qandil or Barm-i Dilak were non-official reliefs. These might notbelong to the central Sasanian royal production and need not necessarilyhave been a royal commission. These relatively small rock carvings could


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5 3 6 E.HAERINCK B .OVERLAETbe private representations commissioned by a local nobleman or by a dig-nitary of high standing. These local high ofticials represented themselvesand/or the king Sarab-i Qandil. Barm-i Dilak and Guyum) as a token ofgratitude or to please the sovereign. At the same time they emphasized theirown importance.

ibliogr phyCHOKSY,J.K.. 1992. Gesture in Ancient Iran and Central Asia II. Proskynesis andthe Bent Foretnger, Bulletin of the Asia Institute 4: 201-207., 2002 . In reverence for deities and submission to kings: a few gestures inancient Near Eastern societies. Jranica Antiqua X X X V I I :7-29.D B W A E L E .E.. 1978.Sur lebas-relief sassanidedeTang-e Qandilet le bas-reliefau couple de Barm-e Dilak, Revue des archologues et historiens d'art deLouvain, vol. XI.- 9-32.E R D M A N N , K. , 1951.DieEntwicklung dersasanidischen K rone,Ars Islmica 15-16 : 87-123.G N O L I . G . .1989.Bahram. I. In Old and Middle Iranian Texts, in: YarshaterE.(ed.). Encyclopaedia Iranica vol. Ill,London/New York: 510-5 13.GBL,R., 1968-Sassanidische Num ismatik. Brunswick.H E R R M A N N .G. . 1970/2. The sculpturesofB ahramW Journa l o f the Roya l Asiati

Society: 165-171., 1983.TheSasanian Rock Reliefs at Bishapur: Part 3. Bishapur I BishapurII. Darah-i Bahram. The Rock Relief at Tang-i Qandil. {=Iranische D enk-mler. Lieferung II.R eihe II. Iranische Felsreliefs G),B erlin., 2000.TheRock R eliefsof Sasanian Iran,in:C urtisJ.(ed.).Mesopotamia andIran in theParthian andSasanian Periods. Rejection andRevival c. 238 BC-AD 642(Proceedings of a Seminar inmemory of Vladimir G. Lukonin).Lon-don: 35-45.

H E R Z F E L D . E.., 1926. Reisebericht, Zeitschrift der Deutschen MorgenlndischenGesellschaft 80( = N FBd. 5):225-284.J A M Z A D E H , P. , 1989. Bahram. II. Representation in Iranian Art. in: YarshaterE.(ed.). Encyclopaedia Iranica vol. III,London/New York: 5 13-514.L E V I T - T A W I L , D., 1993. Re-dating the Sasanian reliefsat Tang-e QandilandB a n n -e Dilak: Composit ion and style as dating criteria. Iranica Antiqua X X V I I I :141-168.M A T H E S O N , S.A., 1972.Persia: AnArchaeological Guide, London.S C H M I D T , E. , 1970, Persepolis III: TheRoyal Tombs and Other Monuments. TheUniversityof Chicago Oriental Inst i tute Publications LXVIII . Chicago.S H A H B A Z I . A.Sh., 1989.B ahram. II. Bahram II. in: Yarshater E. (ed.) . Encyclo-paedia Iranica vol.Ill,London/New York: 516-517.S T E I N . A.. 1940.Old Routes of Western ran. Narrative of an archaeologica

journey, London.


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ROCK RELIEF AT GUYUM 5 3 7V A N D E N B E R U H E , L . , 1959a.Archologie de l Iran Ancien, L e yde ., 1959b. Het Rotsrelif te Guyum in het licht van de Hofkutst vati de Sassa-nidische Kotiing Bahram II (avec rsum en franais), Gentse Bijdragen tot deKunstgeschiedenis en de Oudheidkunde, Deel XVI I (1957-5 8), G ent: 1-25., 1968.A la dcouverte des civilisations de l Iran Ancien . Une initiative belgede cooperation la connaissance du patrimoine historique iranien. (=Texteset Docum etits n 239-2 40), septetnbre/octobre 1968., 1984.Retiefs rupestres de l Iran Ancien ,, Bruxelles.. 1988. Les scnes d'investiture sur les reliefs rupestres de l 'Iran ancien: evolu-tion et signification, in: Gnoli G. & Lanciotti L. (eds.). Orientaba osephi

Tucci Memoriae Dicata (=Serie Orientate Roma LV. 3), Roma: 1511-1531., 1989. Barm-e Dilak, in: Yarshater E. (ed.), Fncyclopaedia Iranica, vol. Ill,London/New York: 805-806.


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538 E. HAERINCK B. OVERLAET

PI. 1. The rock relief at Gu yum , photograp h by Ernst Herzfeld on February 18, 1924. Ernst Herzfeld papers. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.Smiiksonian Institution. Washington, D.C.. Emsl Hcrzfeld photo tile 8, vol. 2, image 154


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ROCK RELIEF AT GtJYUM 539

PI. 2. Ihe rock relief at Guyum. photograph by Ernst Herzfeld on February 18, 1924.


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PI. 3. Guyuni: general view (photo L. Vanden Berglic, May 1957).


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ROCK RELIEF AT GUYUM 541

PI .4. Gu yum : general view photo L. Vanden Berghe, May 1957).


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PI. 5. Guyum. (photo L. Vanden Berghe, May 1957).


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PI. 6. Guy um. photo L. Vanden Berghe, May 1957).


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Pl. 7. Guyum. (photo Erik Smekens, late May 1975).


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PL 8. Guy um. photo Erik Sm ekens , Nove mbe r 1972).


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PL 9. Guyum. (photo taken with ash. Erik Smekens, late May 1975).


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PI. 10. Gu yum : detail photo Erik Sme kens, Nove niber 1972).


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PI. 12. Gu yum : Field sketch by Erik Smekens Novem ber 1972).


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u l


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ROCK RELIEF AT GUYUM

PI. 16. Barm-i Dilak: panel IIA photo Erik Smeke ns, November 1972).


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PI. 17. B an ni D ilak: panel IIA photo Erik Smekens, November 1975).


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PI. 18. Barm-i Dilak: panel IIA, detail photo Erik Smekens, May 1972).


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PL 19. Banm-i Dilak: panel IIA. detail (photo Erik Smekens. May i972).


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Pl. 20. Head of Bahram on a. Naq sh-i Rustam II 197.5): b. Bishap ur IV 197 2);c. Sar Mashhad 1975 ); d. Sarab-i Bahram 1972) photos Erik Sme kens).


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Pl. 21. Head of Bahram II ?) on a. Naqsh-i Rustam III and b. Naqsh-i Rustaiii V il,top panel, c. Naqsh-i Rustam VII, lower panel photos Erik Smeken s 1975).


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the sasanian rock relief of bahram ii

Documents

sasanian rock carving

sasanian king bahram

rock reliefs

louis vanden berghe

standingking bahram

sasanian rockreliefthe

ouis v atiden berghe

haerinck b