An Archeological Analysis of the Image on the Coins of Local Persian Kings (Fratakra or Prtrk)

The coins of the local kings of Persia are among the important tools used in the study and reconstruction of the history of ancient Pars during the Seleucid and Arsacid periods. The purpose of this study was to explore and identify the image engraved at the back of some of the coins of the local kings of Pars using a descriptive-field method. The coins which were examined in this research consisted of 20 coins which are now preserved in Sepah Bank Museum. Ten of them belong to the periods of the first and second groups of the local kings of Pars. The existing ambiguities regarding this image have led researchers and archeologists to present different views in this respect. Given the present archeological proofs, the findings of this study indicate that the main reason behind depicting this image was its religious background. The same can be observed regarding an image attributed to Ka’ba-ye Zartosht )the Ka’ba of Zoroaster( in Naqš-e Rostam. The engraving of this image on coins gradually underwent some changes, which resulted in the decline of artistic subtlety in minting such coins.