A New Look at the Attribution of the Relief of Rag-i Bibi

In 2004, a relief was discovered outside of Iranian borders in the far northeast of Afghanistan in a place that was the ancient way to enter the Indian subcontinent. According to the rules and conventions of art in ancient times, as well as the clothing of the main person present in the relief, it was identified as a Sasanian work. The relief was urgently examined and scanned by the French archaeological team present in Afghanistan and also issued in French and English articles in 2005 and 2007, respectively. Because of destroying face and crown of relief, it cannot be confidently attributed to one of the Sassanian kings. However, Francis Grenet believes that this relief belongs to Shapur I. Unfortunately, it is not possible to see and examine the relief up close due to the political and military situation in the area where the relief is located which has been involved in several conflicts between the parties during past years. This study deals with the comprehensive investigation of Rag-i Bibi relief and the comparison of its parts with other Sasanian reliefs, as well as the analysis of the political and cultural background that caused the creation of such a work out of the main centers of Sassanian reliefs of this period. It is concluded that the presence of Bahram II as the hunter King in the center of the relief is probably more correct.