Shapur I Drachm

[ancientcoins]

Hello all, so I was looking at my gallery when I came across the Shapur I drachm I purchased, and looked at it in more detail. Here are my questions, so I can make a more accurate and detailed attribution for it...

OBV: Does it look like Shapur is holding something, maybe a globe? It looks like it in front of his left shoulder on the drachm. Maybe it is just a fibula or something???

REV: What are the fire attendants holding? I just received it as "holding scepters," but there is clearly something else there, and I have a question about one of the scepters. To me, the fire-attendant on the left looks like he is holding a scepter in his right hand, but his left hand is on the hilt of a sword hanging on his left side, probably in a scabbard? The attendant on the right appears to be holding a scepter in his left (which I thought was a spear initially, because of the thing that is in his right), and in his right hand an inverted javelin, or arrow???

Please let me know what you see.

Andrew

P.S. Doesnt the left fire attendant look like Shapur, with the crown, hair, and face???

[cogito]

On the reverse, maybe the attendants are holding fire pokers of some sort. I say this half-joking, but being "fire attendants" it would make some sense that they would need implements for the job. ???

On the obverse, I don't see any indication of Shapur holding something.

Jeff

[ancientcoins]

As to the obverse thing, here is what I see: The blue is what I thought was a globe, and the orange was what I thought was a hand clasping the globe...

Hey, they could be fire-pokers, you never know! I still think weapons, though.


Andrew

EDIT: Shapur had quite a schnozz! Was he from Nose City?

[cogito]

I perceived the blue in your diagram to be a part of Shapur's beard, which appears to be bound near the end resulting in a little puff ball thing. There appears to be a tie/binding of some sort right above the puff ball.

Jeff

[hcole1989]

Jeff is right about the beard being bound with a ball at the end. This is clearly shown on less worn specimens of Shapur I.

As for the attendant being Shapur, this did not happen until Varhran I, with the figure on the left representing the king. Later, after Sapur II, both attendants may represent the king, priests or guards, depending on their headdress and stance. Gobl states the attendants on Sapur II coins can not be the king because they lack the ball above the crown which is a symbol of kingship.

As for what the priest are holding and wearing, Gobl states that they hold staves and carry swords.

Howard Cole