Cameo with Valerian and Shapur I.

The cameo with Valerian and Shapur I is now on display in the Cabinet des Médailles of the Bibliothèque nationale de France , where it has been located since 1893. The object has the inventory number Camée 360 and is made of sardonyx . The cameo is 6.8 cm high and 10.3 cm wide. The grain of the 0.9 cm thick stone was cleverly used for the representation. The background is dark, the main characters are white, while raised details are orange and brown.

The cameo shows two horsemen and is interpreted as the capture of the Roman emperor Valerian (ruled 253 to 260 AD) at the Battle of Edessa in 260. In this battle, the Sassanid troops under Shapur I (ruled 241-272 AD) managed to capture the Roman emperor. The event was of great symbolic importance for the young empire. Comparable scenes from the Sassanid Empire mostly show the submission of Philip Arabs . Shapur I wears a helmet with a globe. There is also a globe on each shoulder. The beardless Roman emperor holds a sword in his right hand while his left arm is held by the Sassanid ruler. The imperial laurels are on his head.

It can be assumed that after the conquest of Antioch (256 AD) many craftsmen and artists were abducted and worked for the Sassanid court. This can also be assumed with this cameo.

Web links

The cameo on the website of the Cabinet des Médailles

Individual evidence

^ Ernest Babelon : Sapor et Valérien, camée sassanide de la Bibliothèque Nationale. In: Monuments et mémoires de la Fondation Eugène Piot. Volume 1, 1894, pp. 85-98 ( online ).
↑ In the literature there is also the name Babelon 360 after the author of the catalog Ernest Babelon: Catalog des camées antiques et modern de la Bibliothèque nationale. Leroux, Paris 1897, pp. 193–195, no. 360 ( digitized ).
^ Blair Fowlkes-Childs, Michael Seymour: The World between Empires. Art and Identity in the Ancient Middle East. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York NY 2019, ISBN 978-1-58839-683-9 , p. 257, no.183.

[1] Ernest Babelon : Sapor et Valérien, camée sassanide de la Bibliothèque Nationale. In: Monuments et mémoires de la Fondation Eugène Piot. Volume 1, 1894, pp. 85-98 ( online ).

[2] In the literature there is also the name Babelon 360 after the author of the catalog Ernest Babelon: Catalog des camées antiques et modern de la Bibliothèque nationale. Leroux, Paris 1897, pp. 193–195, no. 360 ( digitized ).

[3] Blair Fowlkes-Childs, Michael Seymour: The World between Empires. Art and Identity in the Ancient Middle East. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York NY 2019, ISBN 978-1-58839-683-9 , p. 257, no.183.