Zamasp

Zamasps coin

Zamasp was a Sassanid prince and 496–499 Great King of Persia.

According to Tabari, Zamasp was a brother of King Kavadh and was lifted to the throne by the nobility in 496 after his disempowerment. Apparently behind the new ruler stood a group of nobles and priests who rejected Kavadh's alliance with the Mazdakites and Hephthalites . Zamasp attempted to re-stabilize the weakened Sassanid Empire and also made unsuccessful requests for financial aid to the Romans (according to some researchers, he requested the payment of tributes to stabilize his position inside). Soon Zamasp must have lost a lot of support. When Kavadh managed to escape from prison, he was able to secure the help of the Hephthalites and moved into Ctesiphon without significant resistance, Zamasp probably renounced the crown more or less voluntarily. It is not known whether he was left alive or executed by Kavadh. According to Prokopios , he was cruelly mutilated to deprive him of any further hope of the throne.

literature

• Zamasp . In: Ehsan Yarshater (Ed.): Encyclopædia Iranica (English, including references)
• Henning Börm : Prokop and the Persians . Steiner, Stuttgart 2007.
• Nikolaus Schindel: Zamasp. In: Nikolaus Schindel (ed.): Sylloge Nummorum Sasanidarum . Vol. 3/1 (text volume). Vienna 2004, p. 450ff.
• Klaus Schippmann : Basic features of the history of the Sassanid Empire . Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1990.

predecessor	Office	successor
Kavadh I.	King of the New Persian Empire 496–499	Kavadh I.