The Lady Represented in Narseh's Relief: Shapurdokhtak or Anahita?

Among the various of Sasanian kings, Narseh (293-302 A.D.) is the one whose important and striking rock relief remained at Naqsh-i Rustam in Iran’s Fars province. This relief records investiture ceremony from Anahita (known as Goddess of fertility and protector of water). Until now, various views and interprations have been put forwarded about the real identity and historical theme of this relief. But the attribution of a lady to Shapurdokhtak ¬¬II (Narseh`s wife) is the latest and most controversial view given by Alireza Shapur Shahbazi, who has conducted excavations and archaeological studies at Takht-i Jamshid for several years. In fact, this attribution has also provoked the authors of the present article hence; he has tried to highlight the depiction through opinions of various researches. The present study supports the accuracy and validity of the attributed lady to water goddess Anahita and refuses other theories.