The Origin of the Headgear on Early Arsacid Coins (from Arsaces I to Mithradates I)

Scholars, in their study of Parthian numismatics, mostly emphasize the Hellenistic and Persian-Achaemenid heritage and ignore Scythian cultural elements. One of the most important motifs on these coins is the upright headgear of the king. The main purpose of this research is to examine the origin of early Arsacid kings’ headgear which is generally assumed to be an imitation of Achaemenid satrapal coins and Persian culture. Due to the Scythian background of the Arsacids, however, the article proposes a Scythian origin for this headgear. It examines the origin of this headgear by comparing Arsacid coins with Achaemenid, Scythian, and Greek motifs and classical sources. The result of our comparison indicates that the Arsacid headgear, unlike the soft and loose Persian one, has a striking resemblance with the stiff pointed Scythian headgear which is depicted in Achaemenid and Greek art. Consequently, it can be argued that the early Arsacid headgear was probably a sort of Scythian headgear belonging to Aparni or Dahaean tribes. The trace of this headgear can be found in some classical texts in which it is refered to as “kurbasia.” The study of the terms used for headgears in these texts illustrates that the word kurbasia, which was initially used for the Scythian headgear, in later periods, was confused with an upright ridged Persian headgear exclusively for the Achaemenid great king. Apart from their similar stiffness, it seems that both headgears had a common neck protection which further caused their misidentification.