A forgotten Sasanian sculpture. The fifth bust of Narseh from the monument of Paikuli

Abstract

This paper aims to shed light on a specimen of Sasanian statuary that had been ignored for over a
century and can now be considered from a more comprehensive perspective. Thanks to a new set of
data collected by the MAIKI - Italian Archaeological Mission in Iraqi Kurdistan - during the
documentation campaigns conducted at the Slemani Museum in the past years it was possible to
analyse the fifth bust in the round belonging to the Paikuli monument, representing the Sasanian king
Narseh. This piece prompts us to look further into the meaning of the figurative project accomplished
by Narseh at Paikuli and the forms of the communicative strategy pursued by the Early Sasanian
dynasts.