Getty Museum

Drachm of Kosrow I

Date

531–579

Medium

Silver

Culture

Near Eastern (Sasanian)

Department

Coins

Institution

Getty Museum

Khusraw I, king of the Sasanian Empire of Iran in A.D. 531-579, is depicted on the front of this drachm, although corrosion has obliterated many of the coin's details. The images on Sasanian coins followed an established pattern: on the front, the portrait bust of the king wearing a tall, elaborate crown; on the back, a fire-altar flanked by attendants with spears, an image evoking the Zoroastrian religion of the Sasanids. In general, inscriptions on the front included the king's name and phrases praising his virtues, while those on the back specified the city in which the coin was minted and the year of issue. On this coin, the inscriptions in Pahlavi, a Middle Persian script, have not been translated. At the height of their kingdom, the Sasanians ruled over territory that stretched from Syria to the Persian Gulf and India. Khusraw was the contemporary of two Byzantine emperors: Justinian I, whom he defeated in 540 in Syria; and Justin II, whom he vanquished in Syria and Cappadocia in 573.

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