CIRCA 3RD-6TH CENTURY A.D.

This scepter is composed of an iron rod with cast bronze elements, including a knob at the base and another low on the shaft, the two together defining the handle. The finial is in the form of a woman's head wearing a headcloth and a beaded diadem centered by a large disk. Her eyes are inlaid in shell, with the irises perhaps further inlaid in contrasting material, now lost.

This is one of three types of Sasanian bronze and iron scepters, the others with animal head finials or a human hand grasping a ball respectively. For a discussion of the type see pp. 293-296 in O. Muscarella, Bronze and Iron, Ancient Near Eastern Artifacts in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. For another example with a similar female head finial, see no. 652 in P.R.S. Moorey, et al., Ancient Bronzes, Ceramics and Seals, The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection of Ancient Near Eastern, Central Asiatic, and European Art.