Birds, wings and diadems: Zoroastrian symbols in Parthian and Sasanian art

Speaker: Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis (Curator Emerita of Middle Eastern Coins, The British Museum)

Abstract

In Parthian and Sasanian art, the king received his empowerment from a higher authority - Ahuramazda - and divine beings who chose him as the legitimate ruler. The king was, therefore, often shown receiving a diadem as a symbol of kingship, wearing a crown with divine symbols, or being protected by a bird of prey. This concept is reflected in some Zoroastrian scriptures dedicated to specific divine beings or yazatas associated with kingship.

This lecture will explore the intricate relationship of kingship and religion in the art of Parthian and Sasanian Iran.

Speaker

Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis was born in Tehran, and obtained an MA in Near Eastern Archaeology and Ancient Iranian Languages at the University of Göttingen in Germany and a PhD from University College London on Parthian Art. She was Joint Editor of the Journal IRAN from 1983-2003, President of the British Institute of Persian Studies, BIPS ( 2006-2011), Secretary of the Royal Numismatic Society (2005-2010), and  a member of the Academic Committee of the Iran Heritage Foundation UK (IHF) until 2022.

She is Joint Director and Editor of the International Parthian Coin Project, the Sylloge Nummorum Parthicorum (SNP) with Dr Michael Alram and Dr Fabrizio Sinisi in Vienna, Senior Advisor of the SOAS Shapporji Pallonji Institute of Zoroastrian Studies at the University of London, and Vice-President and Honorary Director of the British Institute of Persian Studies at the British Academy. She is the 2025 Medallist of the Royal Numismatic Society.

She completed a joint collaborative project with the National Museum of Iran on Sasanian Coins of AD 224-651, which resulted in a two volumes catalogue published in 2010 and 2012. Other publications include Persian Myths, 1993, 2005; From Persepolis to the Punjab, 2007, 2011; From Persia to Punjab, 2014, Persian Love Poems, 2009; SNP 2:  Mithradates II (122/1 – 91 BC), 2020; Rivalling Rome: Parthian Coins and Culture, 2020, 2022, and is currently working with Alexandra Magub and Chris Hopkins on SNP4: Mithradates IV-Pacorus I  to be published by the Austrian Academy of Sciences Press in Vienna. She is also the author of a number of articles on Parthian and Sasanian coins and culture.

She contributed to a series of major exhibitions on Iran both in the British Museum (The Forgotten Empire in 2005-2006), as well the Cyrus Cylinder Exhibition in Tehran in 2011-2012, the US (2013) and in Mumbai (2013-2014). 

She is particularly interested in pre-Islamic art and coinage of ancient Iran and Mesopotamia, in particular the royal and religious iconography from 6th century BC- 7th century AD.