Parthian jewelry – an overview

https://archives.saltresearch.org/handle/123456789/70326

One of the characteristic type of Parthian earrings has the form of a star-shaped box inlayed with gemstones, garnets mostly, and with the bell-shaped pendants on chains. Judging by the large number of surviving pieces, such earrings were produced on a mass scale.

Pair of such earrings is in the collection of museum in Leiden [B 1982/6.42, B 1982/6.43]. Made of gold are decorated with garnets, blue and white stones, and tiny gold granules. They are 4.5 and 5 cm long. Parthian Period 250 BCE-224 CE, Iran.

The Morgan L &M, Thaw Collection 2012.2:9a,b [link]

Parthian earrings, 1st to 2nd century.
Gold, garnet; length: 50 and 51 mm (including danglers); width: 25 and 24 mm

Gold earring with garnets, 1st century, probably from Iran.
British Museum, Inv. no. 132933

*Museo Nazionale d’Arte Orientale di Roma: Parthian jewelry from Iran*
Pictures: 1., 2. ©Sailko [wiki]
3. https://www.romeartlover.it/Persia.html

Temple ear pendants; gold, carnelian
Gandhara, 1st-2nd century [*Buddhist Jewels*]

Pair of Earrings with Dangling Bells, Parthian, 3rd to 2nd century B.C.E. Gold, H: 6.5 cm. Private Collection
http://www.alaintruong.com/archives/2008/10/03/10807511.html

Dura Europos, Syria, 165–256 CE. L. 3.5 cm
https://artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/34591

Gold earrings with the pomegranate-shaped pendants. Seleucia [Iraq], 1st-2nd century

“A pair of earrings of the amphora type from Seleucia on the Tigris–Tell Umar in the Baghdad Governorate, Iraq, cache II, shows a band of triangular glass insets in a running design of red and white. They are from level II which is dated between 40 and 120 A.D” [**Dieter Quast**]

Lit. for an earring in Toledo
https://lsa.umich.edu

Dieter Quast, PARTHIAN AND EARLY SASANIAN EARRINGS

ca. 1st–2nd century;
L: 5.7 cm
Metropolitan Museum metmuseum.org

Toledo Art Museum 1931.303;
American excavations at Seleucia, Iraq 1931
Photo source https://lsa.umich.edu

Parthian gold earrings with woven wire, granulation, and garnets, 1st century CE. Length of each: 8.0 cm.; weight: 11.2 and 11.4 g.
Private Collection, North America
Photo ©Toledo Art Museum
https://detroitartreview.com

Pair of earrings, gold and garnet Parthian, 2nd century CE, private collection
Photo © Heini Schneebeli / Bridgeman Images

Parthian jewelry 1st-3rd century.
National Museum of Iraq, Baghdad

Headband, Parthian period. Photo after **Jerome M. Eisenberg**

Headband, from Seleucia-on-the-Tigris / ‘Umair. Parthian era, 2nd century BCE/CE.
Gold, garnet, malachite and pearls. L. 18.5 cm, w. 2.5 cm.
IM 19956, (B78-189)

Dwa kolczyki / zausznice [zdjęcia poniżej] wydające się być parą znajdują się w dwóch muzeach. Pierwszy został znaleziony w trakcie prac archeologicznych połączonej misji Amerykańsko Irackiej w 1933 roku prowadzonej na terenie Seleucji nad Tygrysem i obecnie jest w posiadaniu muzeum w USA. Drugi kolczyk pochodzi z kolekcji muzeum w Iraku.
Czarno-białe zdjęcie po prawej przedstawia, jak się wydaje kolejną, prawie identyczną parę kolczyków.

Lit.: Hollis, Howard C. “Material from Seleucia.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 20, no. 8 (1933): 129–31 http://www.jstor.org/stable/25137571

Cleveland Art Museum link
1-200 CE, Seleucia, Iraq

An earring. Gold, garnet, pearls, chrysoprase.
L. 6 cm, w. 2.5 cm.
Seleucia-on-the-Tigris,
1st – 2nd century.
Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad IM 11955, (B78-190) [**Jerome M. Eisenberg**]
*Photo source image*

Source: **Robert Carter**, The History and Archaeology of Pearl Fishing in Bahrain and the Gulf, 5500 BC to 1950 AD https://www.danat.bh/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Robert-Carter.pdf

British Museum link
2nd C; Iraq, Kouyunjik (Nineveh)

Iran, gold and garnet pendant, 3rd century
Museo nazionale d’arte orientale (Rome)
Photo by Sailko [wiki]

Parthian style earring, gold, garnet, coral and pearls; 3rd century. Found near the Batyr-Bai (Batyrbai, Batyrbek) lake, Kazakhstan (chance find).
**Akishev A.K**., Ancient gold of Kazakhstan, 1983
**Ажигали С.Е.**, Очерк культурного наследия Арало-Каспийского региона http://j-spacetime.com

JEWELRY FOUND IN HATRA

Earring with cloisonné pendant. From Hatra / al-Hadhr.
1st-2nd century
Gold, garnet, green glass? L. 6 cm.
Museum if Iraq, Baghdad, IM 68096, (B78-185)

*Photo Italian Archaeological Mission in Hatra [link]*

a double-face earring with a hook; gold and garnet; cloisonné and granulation; L. 4.5 cm. From Hatra, Building A, central courtyard. 2nd-3rd century

https://www.academia.edu/31514085/PRELIMINARY_REPORT_ON_THE_SMALL_FINDS_FROM_THE_ITALIAN_EXCAVATIONS_AT_HATRA

Pendant found in Hatra at the North Gate. Gold and garnet, 2nd-3rd century. Collection of the Iraq Museum, Baghdad.

Source: Colorado University [the website does not exist anymore]

Photo after **Wathiq Al-Salihi**, The Archaeology of Hatra, the Sacred City

To compare

Georgian National Museum link
Earrings, gold, garnet, 6.6 x 2 cm;
2nd-3rd century, site: Armaziskhevi

Gold and glass, Size: 4.3X1.2 cm
Found: Pichvnari, Colcian cemetery, Georgia

Batumi Archaeological Museum Collection Inv. № 1:12/136, 47-48
Photo source source

Jewelry of Ancient Georgia. Catalog

Necklace with a pendant from the **Amlash region, Iran**
Amsterdam Archeology Museum (Het Allard Pierson Museum) Photo by Pejman Akbarzadeh (Persian Dutch Network, 2012) [wiki]

Lit.:
1.Gids voor de afdeling West-Azië, Allard Pierson Museum Amsterdam, Plate III, page 90 https://www.exorientelux.nl
2.Dieter Quast, PARTHIAN AND EARLY SASANIAN EARRINGS WITH GARNET INLAY https://www.academia.edu

Jewelry from the female burials at the Parthian cemetery, Joben, Guilan province, Iran [southwest of the Caspian Sea]
“During the archeological excavations carried out in the Parthian cemeteries of Gilan province, a collection of jewelry made of gold, silver, bronze, iron and stone was found, which reflects the art and culture of the tribes living in this region in the Parthian period.”

Read the article >> Ali Hakemi, “JUBAN,” Encyclopædia Iranica, XV/1, pp. 85-87, available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/juban (accessed on 30 December 2012).

Necklace 1) (L. 28 cm, weight 13.2 g) of gold and red semi-precious stones [garnets] from Joben, Guilan province, Iran.
Parthian period, 250 BCE – 224 CE.
It is exhibited in the National Museum of Iran no 3871

[van Vilsteren]

Necklace 2), National Museum of Iran no 3861

Necklace 2) garnet and gold. Weight 17.3 g. from Joben, Guilan province, Iran.
Parthian period, 250 BCE – 224 CE.
National Museum of Iran no 3861

Lit.:

Earrings / Temple earrings.
Gold and 4 garnets [?]. Weight 20.8 g

From Joben, Guilan province, Iran; female burial

National Museum of Iran no 3856

Earrings / Temple earrings.
Gold and 4 garnets [?]. Weight 12 g

From Joben, Guilan province, Iran; female burial

National Museum of Iran no 3887

The silver pin, Parthian, 250-300 CE. A scene similar to the funeral reliefs like ones from Palmyra for example. Reclining man holding a bowl, in front of him seated woman. Found Masjid-i Suleman, Iran

https://britishmuseum.org

At the Reza Abbasi Museum (Tehran, Iran) there is a wonderful unique set from the Parthian era with a clear Greek influence. A comb with a pair of Erotes & a mysterious face, and a hair pin with goddess Nike, made of gold with carnelian. Some stones /inlay are missing.

Double-sided pendant
Late Parthian, 3rd century
Gold, garnet, glass; 41 x 30 mm
The Morgan L&M, Thaw Collection 2012.2:10 [link]

Sassanid jewelry, 3rd-6th century.
National Museum of Iraq, Baghdad

https://www.britishmuseum

Analysis of discovered jewelry from Parthian cemeteries in Guilan province, the result of scientific archaeological excavations; Soheil Ahmadi Vastani, Jabriel Nokandeh, Mostafa Dehpahlavan; Athar,. 43(2), 314-327
Dieter Quast, PARTHIAN AND EARLY SASANIAN EARRINGS WITH GARNET INLAY https://www.academia.edu
Buddhist Jewels in Mortuary Cult Magic Symbols, Arputharani Sengupta https://www.academia.edu/39589580/Buddhist_Jewels_in_Mortuary_Cult_Magic_Symbols
Minerva 2003, Vol. 14. No. 4, pp. 9-40.
“Mesopotamia – masterworks and minor works from the Iraq Museum”
Jerome M. Eisenberg
V.T. van Vilsteren and J. Nokandeh (eds), Iran: Bakermat van de Beschaving [Iran – cradle of civilization]. Catalogue of exhibition at Drents Museum, Assen 2018 https://www.academia.edu
Gids voor de afdeling West-Azië, Allard Pierson Museum Amsterdam, https://www.exorientelux.nl/download/phoenix34_1.pdf
Wathiq Al-Salihi, The Archaeology of Hatra, the Sacred City

Parthian jewelry – an overview

JEWELRY FOUND IN HATRA

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