OF SHAPOOE AND BAHARAM. 
125 
round the coin, runs thus, in the Pehlivi: Mezdezn , bey, Sha- 
ponri, Malkan, Malic a, minochetri , waera, Yezdan ; in English, 
“ The adorer of Ormuzd, the excellent Shapoor, king of kings, 
offspring of the divine race of the Gods.” On the reverse, is a 
flaming altar, supported by two crowned figures, bearing some¬ 
thing like spears ; thus, shewing that the monarch is the guardian 
of the sacred faith. Over the altar are these Pehlivi words : 
Shapour, Pabeki, Yezdani . The n is obliterated. From the Peh¬ 
livi inscription on the horse’s breast, in the piece of sculpture 
at Nakshi Rajab, ending in nepi bey Papelci Malca , meaning, 
“ grandson of the excellent Pabek (or Babeck) king,” we may 
infer that the coin before us, bearing a similar legend, is one 
of the same Shapoor, (the Sapor I. of the Romans,) who was 
the son of Ardashir Babigan, the conqueror of the Arsacidae, and 
the founder of the Sassanian dynasty. This Shapoor overthrew 
the Emperor Valerian about the middle of the third century. * 
No. 2. is another silver coin, with the same legend round the 
royal head; which, from its similarity to the other, must be the 
same Shapoor. On the reverse, are the words Shapouri Yezdani, 
“ Shapoor the Divine,” accompanied by the blazing altar, and 
the crowned attendants, whose habiliments are very distinct; the 
long staff, or sceptre, which they carry, is here surmounted with 
a ball, like that on the staff of the often-repeated leading figure 
on the walls of Persepolis. Xenophon assigns this insignia to 
the first nobles only, in the courts of both Cyruses ; and here we 
find it perpetuated, as borne by persons of similar dignity, on 
an impress struck nearly 700 years after the Greek historian. 
No. 3. is a silver coin of one of the Baharams. Its Pehlivi 
See Vol. I. p. 573. See. 
