Achaemenid gold appliqué of a bull and a gold lamassu, 404-359 BC.
The two extraordinary objects were reputedly discovered during an excavation at the city of Hamadan, in northwest Iran, in 1920.
The most dazzling discovery by far was a trove of 23 gold items that included statues of goats and camels, items of jewellery, and two tablets with inscriptions dating the hoard to the reign of King Artaxerxes II (404-359 BC).
Artaxerxes II was a powerful leader who successfully defended the largest empire the ancient world had ever seen — stretching from Greece to India — against his brother, Cyrus the Younger, and his army of Greek mercenaries known as ‘The Ten Thousand’. He also waged successful campaigns against the Spartans, Athenians and Egyptians.
Much of the king’s wealth was lavished on building projects, including the restoration of the palace of his forebear, Darius I, at Susa, a new hall at Hamadan and his own tomb at Persepolis.
Greek and Roman historians described how Achaemenid buildings were covered in spectacular amounts of gold. Persepolis alone is said to have contained 2,500 tonnes of it. Herodotus wrote that Achaemenid soldiers ‘glittered all over with gold, vast quantities of which they wore about their person’.
- An Achaemenid gold appliqué of a winged bull, reign of Artaxerxes II, 404-359 BC. 9⅝ in (24.4 cm) high,
- An Achaemenid gold appliqué of a lamassu, reign of Artaxerxes II, 404-359 BC. 9 in (23.1 cm) high
Courtesy: Christie’s
