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Lot Essay
PUBLISHED:
R. Gyselen, Great Commander and Court Counsellor in the Sasanian Empire (224-651): The Sigillographic Evidence, Instituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente, Rome, 2008, nos 6, 7, 12 and 16.
Mihr-Narseh was vuzurg-framadar under Yazdgird I (399-421 A.D.), Vahram V, and Yazdgird II (438-457 A.D.). According to some scholars the vuzurd-framadar was the third most important figure in the state, after the king and the king's son.
When Yazdgird I came to power, he showed great tolerance towards religious minorities including the Christians, and under his reign the first synod took place in Ctesiphon-Seleucia in 410 A.D. According to some historical sources this tolerance came to an end with Yazdgird's increasing involvement with the Zoroastrians and also the destruction of a fire temple by some Christians. It seems that Mahr-Narseh became the face of increasing Christian persecution which continued throughout the reign of Vahram V. However, if Mihr-Narseh was the feared enemy of the Christians it seems that he was acclaimed by his fellow countrymen for his statesmanship, charity work and building schemes for public benefit. His name is associated with the building of a bridge at Firuzabad which bears the inscription 'This bridge was built by the order of Mihr-Narseh, the Vuzurg framadar...'.
The dar-andarzbed, often translated as Court Consellor, was in all evidence part of the monarch's immediate entourage, although his exact role is still hard to define and open to debate. The seals of dar-andarzbed are all known only from their impressions. The impression of S/Sed-Ohrmazd dates from the 5th Century A.D. and Burz-Adur-Mihr to the 6th-7th Century A.D. The seal of Mihren most probably also dates from the 6th-7th Century A.D., however stylistically is somewhat different to the two above due to the presence of two astral symbols in the field and its larger dimensions. On seals of high-ranking dignitaries, the two astral symbols are a crescent moon and an astral body of the eight-branched star type, possibly the sun.
R. Gyselen, Great Commander and Court Counsellor in the Sasanian Empire (224-651): The Sigillographic Evidence, Instituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente, Rome, 2008, nos 6, 7, 12 and 16.
Mihr-Narseh was vuzurg-framadar under Yazdgird I (399-421 A.D.), Vahram V, and Yazdgird II (438-457 A.D.). According to some scholars the vuzurd-framadar was the third most important figure in the state, after the king and the king's son.
When Yazdgird I came to power, he showed great tolerance towards religious minorities including the Christians, and under his reign the first synod took place in Ctesiphon-Seleucia in 410 A.D. According to some historical sources this tolerance came to an end with Yazdgird's increasing involvement with the Zoroastrians and also the destruction of a fire temple by some Christians. It seems that Mahr-Narseh became the face of increasing Christian persecution which continued throughout the reign of Vahram V. However, if Mihr-Narseh was the feared enemy of the Christians it seems that he was acclaimed by his fellow countrymen for his statesmanship, charity work and building schemes for public benefit. His name is associated with the building of a bridge at Firuzabad which bears the inscription 'This bridge was built by the order of Mihr-Narseh, the Vuzurg framadar...'.
The dar-andarzbed, often translated as Court Consellor, was in all evidence part of the monarch's immediate entourage, although his exact role is still hard to define and open to debate. The seals of dar-andarzbed are all known only from their impressions. The impression of S/Sed-Ohrmazd dates from the 5th Century A.D. and Burz-Adur-Mihr to the 6th-7th Century A.D. The seal of Mihren most probably also dates from the 6th-7th Century A.D., however stylistically is somewhat different to the two above due to the presence of two astral symbols in the field and its larger dimensions. On seals of high-ranking dignitaries, the two astral symbols are a crescent moon and an astral body of the eight-branched star type, possibly the sun.