SASANIAN KINGDOM. Hormizd (Ohrmazd) II (AD 303-309). AR drachm (27mm, 4.10 gm, 3h). NGC XF 4/5 - 4/5. Diademed bust of Hormizd II right, wearing eagle crown with and korymbos decorated with floral pattern made of pellets; pellet below eagle beak / Fire altar with ribbon, surmounted by bust of Ahura Mazda facing, head right; altar flanked by two attendants turned inward with raised sword in both hands, left attendant wearing eagle crown with korymbos, right wearing mural crown. Sunrise 815. Göbl type I/1a var. (both attendants wearing korymbos). Hormizd II's (alternatively Ohrmazd) uneventful reign began after the abdication of his father Narseh in 302 AD, who had signed the humiliating Peace of Nisibis with Galerius, the Roman Caesar under Diocletian and later tetrarch. That treaty would set the border between the Roman and Sasanian Empires until the invasion by Julian the Apostate in 363. Hormizd II is the first to depict the reverse type of a male sculptural bust, either of an emperor or god, within the fire altar. HID09801242017 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved

To the auctioneer's website