Rag-i Bibi

Located in northern Afghanistan, this rock relief was discovered in the early 200’s by Franz Grenet. This poorly preserved relief is the farthest Sasanian royal relief found. A clear exercise of power on to the east, this relief shows a Sasanian king, probably Shapur I, mounted on a horse hunting a pair of Indian rhinoceroses. Two out of the Three attendants ride alongside the king while the other stands before him. The iconography of the standing man corresponds to a Kushan individual with his distinct dress and posture. In between the king and the rhinoceroses, a mango tree is depicted with its distinctive leaves which is similar in style to the local representation of the mango tree. In the upper-right hand corner of the relief, an architectural balustrade is preserved.

• • • Grenet, F. “Découverte d’un relief sassanide dans le Nord de l’Afghanistan (note d’information).” CRAI 149/1 (2005): 115–134.
    • Grenet, F., Lee, J. L., Martinez, P., and Ory, F. “The Sasanian relief at Rag-i Bibi (Northern Afghanistan).” In After Alexander: Central Asia before Islam, 243–267. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
    • Levine, Evan I. and Daniel Plekhov. “Reconsidering Rag-i Bibi: Authority and audience in the Sasanian East.” Afghanistan 2:2 (2019): 233-260.