A Sasanian Clay seal of the Ostandar of Marvrud in Greater Khorasan

This article discusses the Sasanian clay seal in Pahlavi script from the private collection of Mojtaba Zadeh-Khorasani. The first seal refers to the position of "Ostandar (Governor) of Marvrud." Previously, Rika Gyselen introduced seals from Saeedi collection in London in 2002, including two statistical seals for the cities of Herat-Marv and Marvrud, and a Amargar seal of Marvrud and Balkh. Considering that the Amargar officer held a position within a ostan (province) during the Sasanian era, Gyselen suggested the possibility of Marvrud being a province. Later, in 2015, by studying a newly discovered seal previously introduced by Gignoux, Gyselen proved that Marvrud was indeed a ostan. With the introduction of the discussed clay seal in the present study, it is revealed for the first time that Marvrud ostan also included the title of "Ostandar" within its region. The second seal depicts a dormant lion, which has a faded inscription. The third seal, known as the seal of shahed (witness), including the words "Mogh" and "Rast". The clay seal appears that belong to Kavad I era or the period of Khusrow I in the 6th century AD. Considering the significance of Marvrud as a military command center, it is highly likely that Marvrud was designated as an ostan during the reforms of Khusrow I, and also according to the fact, it included an Ostandar position