Plate with Hunting Scene from the Story of Bahram Gur and Azadeh in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, February 2008

Bahram Gur and Azadeh

The Shahnamah, or Book of Kings, by Firdausi (d. early 11th century AD) tells of the Sasanian King Bahram V (ruled 420-438) who was challenged to feats of archery by his favorite musician, Azadeh. With great skill, he changed a male animal to female by removing its horns and a female to male by embedding two arrows in its head to give the appearance of horns. The silver plate (1994.402) from the Sasanian period illustrates the earliest known depiction of the tale dating to some six centuries before the written account by Firdausi. The ceramic bowls (57.36.2, .13) and the tile (10.56.2) provide examples of how the visual imagery of the tale was also carried into later Islamic periods when rulers were known to revere the earlier Sasanian kings.

Plate with a Hunting Scene from the Tale of Bahram Gur and Azadeh
Gilded Silver
Iran
Sasanian period, 5th century AD

Accession # 1994.402

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.