258 
A. Cunningham— Relics from Ancient Persia. 
[No. 3, 
Relics from Ancient Persia in Gold, Silver and Copper ly 
Major General A. Cunningham, C. S. I., C. I. E. 
With one Plate. 
[Third Notice.] 
Since writing my Second Notice of the very curious and interesting 
discoveries of Ancient Persian Belies on the northern bank of the Oxus, 
I have obtained three more gold ornaments, and about twenty more coins 
in all metals. 
The coins consist of a gold Daric and a silver Siglos, of the old 
Persian mint; a tetradrachm and four drachmas of Antiochus Soter ; a gold 
stater and three copper coins of Diodotus of two different types ; a tetra¬ 
drachm, a silver obolus, and a copper coin of Euthydemus ; three tetra- 
drachms of Antimachus Theos, with a drachma and a nickel coin of 
Agathokles. The silver obolus of Euthydemus is of the standing Hera- 
kles type, and is I believe unique. I have again to remark on the continued 
absence of any Parthian coins, which, as 1 said before, goes far to prove 
that the deposit must have been made before the time of Mithridates I, 
(Arsakes YI). The absence of the coins of Eukratides, the contemporary 
of Mithridates I, points to the same conclusion ; and I now feel pretty 
confident that the deposit must have been made before their time, and not 
later than 200 to ISO 13. C. 
The principal ornament is a gold cylinder of fine workmanship, much 
superior to that of any Persian gems that I have seen. I have given a 
photograph of it in the accompanying Plate NX I, marked A, in which it 
will be seen at once that the cylinder is certainly of Persian origin,—as 
the conventional figure of Ormazd is represented over each of the doomed 
prisoners. See Figs. B and C from sculptures at Persepolis. 
There are two distinct scenes represented on the cylinder, both 
illustrating the same subject, of a Persian soldier or chief putting a 
prisoner to death with his own hand. 
In the larger scene there are five figures, two being prostrate dead 
enemies, on which the other figures stand. The prisoner who is kneeling 
on one knee, has been wounded in the right knee by an arrow. He holds 
a short sword in his right hand, and a bow in his left hand, and his head 
is turned away from the Persian soldier who is piercing him with a spear 
from above, while he grasps his right wrist. The third figure holds the 
prisoner’s left shoulder with his left hand, while he raises his right hand 
towards the symbol of Ormazd. The Persian soldier is dressed in the 
same costume as is seen in the sculptures of Persepolis. He wears a long 
