1G2 A. Cunningham —Relics from Ancient Persia. [No. 3, 
Also amongst the bracelets and collars there are heads of lions, dogs, 
goats, and bulls. 
The principal figures are the stag, the sheep and the fish, the two 
former being represented in Plate NY, of full size, and the last only half 
size. The winged bull in the same Plate is also of full size, A first view 
recalls that of the Assyrian sculptures, both in subject and in style. The 
strongly displayed and exaggerated ribs and muscles of the bull, the stag, 
and the sheep suggest the possibility that they may even be real speci¬ 
mens of Assyrian art which had found their way to Bactria. 
The most puzzling thing about these relics is their use. Many of 
them were certainly simple ornaments ; such as the winged bull in Plate 
XY, which has eyelet holes for fastening it to some wooden or metal ground, 
such as the sheath of a sword. Professor Rawlinson supposes that the 
scabbard described by Curtius as ex gemma erat vagina , was formed “ of a 
single piece of jasper, agate, lapis lazuli.But as such a scabbard would 
have been fatal to the sharp edge of the sword, I have no doubt that the 
stones were only very thin slices fastened to a wmoden sheath. In fact the 
scymitars found on the bodies of the dead Persians after the battle of 
Platsea are described by Herodotus as covered with “ ornaments of goldd’f 
But as the stag, the sheep, and the fish of my collection could not 
possibly have been used for overlaying any flat surface, it has struck me 
that they may have been used as crests for helmets, or standards. The 
first two were certainly either nailed or possibly sewn with stout thread, to 
some larger object; but the fish must, I think, have been slung from the 
top of a standard as it has a stout ring or eyelet hole, on its left side, close 
to the end of the fin. It must therefore have been suspended perpendicu¬ 
larly with the mouth up. 
Goins found on the Oxus. 
In treating of the ancient coinage of Lydia and Persia it is necessary 
to remember that the former derived its monetary standard from Assyria 
and the latter from Babylonia. The value of the Lydian standard is placed 
beyond all doubt by the statement of Herodotus about the ingots of gold 
and electrum which Croesus presented to the temple at Delphi. J According 
to his account the ingots were all of the same size, 6 palms long by 3 palms 
broad and 1 palm thick. Taking the Greek palm at 3031375 inches, each 
ingot would have contained 502*898 cubic inches. Of these ingots 4 only 
were of pure gold weighing 2^ talents, the remaining 113 being of pale 
gold, or electrum, and weighing only 2 talents each. Then taking the 
* Ancient Monarchies, III, 208, 2nd edition, 
f Herodotus, IX, 80. 
f Herodot., Hist. I, 50, 
