Some Notes on Parthian Costume Studies (Parthica, Vol. 15, 2013)

SOME NOTES ON PARTHIAN COSTUME STUDIES*

Sergey Yatsenko

he Arsacid dynasty originated from the small nomadic tribe of the Parni, or Aparni, who firstconquered the region of Parthia, in the Southern part of what is now Turkmenistan, during

the period 247-238 bc, and whom the Romans therefore incorrectly referred to as Parthians. Manyworks of art were produced during the reign of the Arsacid dynasty, but for a long time they didnot receive any serious attention from art historians owing to their departure from the ancientcanons. However, thanks to the accuracy of their depiction of details from everyday life, and analy-sis of them can throw important new light on the history of costume.

It is widely believed that Iranian costume in the Parthian period has already been exhaustively re-searched.1 In fact this is far from being the case. The subject presents three problems in particular:1. distinguishing between the costume of the conquerors – the Parni – and the aristocratic

costume of the various conquered or allied peoples, whether Iranian, Semitic, Caucasian, orfrom Asia Minor);2

2. identifying the imperial costume of the international aristocracy within the country; and pin-pointing the distinctive characteristics of the two phases in the costume history of the rulingclan, before and after the period 10-38 ad (the reign of Artabanus II);3

3. analysing the complex ways in which Parthian costume influenced that of the surrounding areas.4

A number of interesting questions arise, such as how the iconographical stereotype of the Parthi-ans formed at the end of the principate of Augustus, the nature of their costume during the sub-sequent period,5 the reliability of the depictions of Parthian costume in the Roman empire in themost detailed portrayals of Mithras6 and such ‘oriental’ figures (esp. in mosaics) as Paris7 and Or-pheus.8 As far as the Parthians’ eastern neighbours are concerned, depictions of what are probablyParthian male figures are known only among the Yuezhi of Northern Bactria, and seem to appearfor the first time in the pre-imperial age (before the rise to power of Vima Takto). However, sur-viving examples are few, and their iconography varies considerably: there are two figurines, one sit-ting and one standing, made of alabaster and terracotta, belonging to different types, from the OxusTemple in Takht-i Sangin9 (Fig. 1:1-2) and a statue which is believed to represent the exiled prince-emigrant Vardanes in Khalchayan.10 One probably Parthian character was depicted in Gandhara(Butkara i - Fig. 1:3).11 Influences of the iconography of late Parthian textiles on more distant east-ern Iranian peoples (for example, the Khotano-Sakas of Xinjiang: Sampula, grave 69) cannot be ex-cluded (Fig. 2).12

In what follows I will consider some issues which have not previously received detailed study.The terracotta figurines from Seleucia on the Tigris, the largest centre of Hellenistic culture in

Mesopotamia, are an important source of information on costume, as they include many Parthian

* Supported by the Program of Strategic Development ofthe Russian State University for the Humanities (Moscow).

1 See Curtis 1988, 1998, 2000; Kawami 1992; Pilipko2001; Yatsenko 2010, 607-608, figs. 4-5. The most wide-rang-ing study of Parthian costume formed part (ch. 2. 1) of mypost-doctoral dissertation (December 2002); it was publishedin S. A. Yatsenko, Костюм древней Евразии (ираноязыч-ные народы) [The Costume of Ancient Eurasia (the Iranian-Speaking Peoples)], Moscow, 2006, pp. 113-131, 207-208, 288-292,315-318, 323, 659-661, figs. 63-83).

2 Yatsenko 2006, 315-316.

3 Cf. Klimova 2000, 187-190; Curtis 2000, 24; Yatsenko2006, 207. 4 Yatsenko 2006, 288-292.

5 Schneider 1998, 95-127; Rose 2005, 65.6 For example, the wall painting: Rostovtzeff et alii 1939,

pls. xv, xxx; Merkelbach 1984, Abb. 25; in bronze: Mar-quart 2004, 311, Abb. 13-14.

7 Cf. Lancha 1997, pl. H, no. 101.8 Yatsenko 2006, 130.9 Litvinsky 2010, figs. 31, 49.10 Grenet 2000, 132-134.11 Goldman 1978, fig. 5.12 Baumer 2002, 23, Abb. 19.

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118 Sergey Yatsenko

Fig. 1. Probably Parthian figures from Northern Bactria and Gandhara: Takht-i Sangin (1-2)(Litvinsky 2010: figs. 31 and 49) and Butkara i (3) (Goldman 1978, fig. 5).

Fig. 2. Khotano-Saka textile of the 1st-2nd centuries ad from Sampula, grave 69, in Xinjiang(Baumer 2002, 23, Abb. 19).


Some Notes on Parthian Costume Studies 119

figures. Some figurines represent riders;13 these were probably connected with the cult of the remembrance of the dead, for similar figurines were still being used for this purpose among the Iranian Ossetians and the Pamir peoples in the 19th and early 20th centuries ad (as were figurines at-tested for other Iranian peoples of that time, the Kushans and the Sarmato-Alans).14 Both men andwomen were often depicted wearing a fairly high felt (?) headdress with a cone-shaped or flat top andoften with ear-flaps.15 Judging from the depictions of rulers and gods in similar but more detailedheaddresses from Nimrud Dagh (in the vassal principality of Kommagena),16 they may have beendecorated along the upper and lower edges with round gold plaques or a zig-zag line. We also find ahigh cylindrical male headdress (resembling the boyar’s garlatnye cap from the time of the Kingdomof Moscow).17 By contrast, there are only a few representations of an original tall, rather narrow female headdress with a round top, to the back of which a veil is attached. In more detailed depic-tions in mosaics and wall graffiti from the western borderlands we see that the headdress is dividedinto multi-coloured horizontal sections and the kerchief hangs down below the buttocks18 (Fig. 3).

One of the terracottas shows a young man wearing a three-horned headdress19 (Fig. 4:1). Head-dresses of similar design were worn by male leaders in the vassal principalities of Pars/Persida20

13 Van Ingen 1939, pls. xxxi-xxxv.14 Yatsenko 2004.15 Van Ingen 1939, pls. xxii:150-151, xxxiv:253, xxxvii:270,

lxiv:262-263, lxvi:479, lxxii:530.16 Goell 1996, figs. 90, 97, 126, 163, 173, 187.17 Van Ingen 1939, pl. lxvi: 483-484.

18 Ibidem, pl. lxiv:461. Cf. von Gall 1998, Taf. 6:b; Don-wey 2003, fig. viii.

19 Van Ingen 1939, pl. lxvii:490.20 See the Baydad coins: Hill 1965, pl. xxviii; Alram

1986, Taf. 17:511-519.

Fig. 3. High female headdress with multi-coloured horizontal sections and veil from Dura Europos(1. von Gall 1998, Taf. 6:b; 2. Donwey 2003, fig. viii).


120 Sergey Yatsenko

(Fig. 4:2) and Adiabena/Assyria21 (Fig. 4:3); so this type of head garment may be considered ‘im-perial’ but not local.

Among the unique male headdresses which have not been previously noticed mention should bemade of one from the alabaster columns in the fortress of Kale-i Yazdigird (c. mid-2nd century ad):it tapers to a point, is tall and narrow, and has long and apparently wide ear-flaps.22

On some terracottas from Seleucia we see a characteristic feature of an ancient Iranian uppergarment, a triangular inset in the upper edge at the back23 (Fig. 5:2). On one of the terracottas a fe-male musician is depicted wearing a long-sleeved coat with a deep wrapping over to the left, a de-tail untypical of female costume24 (Fig. 5:1). In the Dura-Europos graffiti from the Aphlad Templewe see what is probably a rare combination of skirt and blouse; the hem of the skirt is decoratedwith flounces (Fig. 3:2).

On a well-known rock bas-relief in Tang-i Sarvak, one figure, who accompanies a mountedleader (an archer) in battle, wears a shirt with a typical semi-oval protrusion of the hem at thefront25 (Fig. 6:1). This element became quite popular under the next dynasty (the Sasanids); its ori-gin is probably linked to the influence of western, Semitic subjects on the Parthian state26 (Fig. 6:2);it also appears in scenes in the synagogue of Dura-Europos (mid 3rd century ad), where we stillfind figures dressed in Parthian costume.27 Such an element as a shirt with a detachable plicatedhem is attested in late Parthia only in short open-fronted male clothing.28 A detachable plicatedhem on short male shirts occurs in isolated examples in the costume of some of Parthia’s easternneighbours in the period from the 1st to the early 3rd century ad: the Kushans of Bactria and theIndo-Scythians; only one case of an analogous garment on a female figure has been found; thiscomes from Sogdia.29 However, it is premature to conclude that this element originated from theoases of western Chinese Xinjiang.30

In a wall painting in the synagogue of Dura-Europos, from the mid-3rd century ad (where thefigures are still clad in Parthian, rather than Sasanid costume), the shirt of one priest has a collarwith a vertical section on the left31 (Fig. 7:1). Analogies can be found in some elements of the cos-

21 Boehmer, Gall 1973, Abb. 2.22 Curtis 2000, 28.23 Van Ingen 1939, pl. xliv:320; this feature rarely appears

on female clothing. 24 Ibidem, pl. xxxix:284.25 von Gall 2000, 335.26 Yatsenko 2006, 216; figs. 157-158; see, for example, in

Palmyra: Seyrig 1937, 4-21.

27 Millet 1939, pl. lii:1-2.28 von Gall 1998, Taf. 6:b; Cumont 1926, pl. xcviii:2;

Downey 2003, fig. vii (left); Yatsenko 2006, fig. 64:52.29 Yatsenko 2006, figs. 121:65, 137:31, 152:13-14, 153:36.30 Gorelik 2010, 80.31 Millet 1939, pl. xxviii:5.

Fig. 4. Three-cornered headdress: 1. Seleucia (Van Ingen 1939, pl. lxvii:490);2. Baydad coins, Pars (Alram 1986, Taf. 17:511);

3. Batas-Herir relief, Adiabena/Assyria (Boehmer, von Gall 1973, Abb. 2).



Fig. 5. Cut elements in clothing on Seleucia terracotta:1. A long sleeved coat with a deep wrapping over to the left (Van Ingen 1939, pl. xxxix:284);

2. A triangular inset in the upper part of the back (ibidem, pl. xliv:320).

Fig. 6. Early shirts with a semi-oval protrusion of the hem at the front:1. Tang-i Sarvak relief (von Gall 2000, 335); 2. Palmyra (Seyrig 1937, 4-21).


122 Sergey Yatsenko

tume of Parthia’s eastern neighbours, the Indo-Scythians.32 A tunic with a low triangular neck-line is shown on a man in one of the Dura-Eu-ropos graffiti33 (Fig. 7:2); this form of the upperpart of a tunic is unique in the Parthian empirebut typical of some northern Iranian peoples ofthat time, the Sarmatians and the Alans.34 In an-other one of the graffiti a hunting horsemanwears a shirt with a decorative horizontal lineon its breast35 (Fig. 7:4) which is also paralleledonly in Sarmatian and Alanian costume.36 A rarefeature of the design of a male shirt in Hatragraffiti is wide lateral insets37 (Fig. 7:3).

In the depiction on shield I from theMithraeum of Dura-Europos we see a womanwearing, in addition to a chiton, a green pleatedskirt,38 an element typical neither of the Parthi-ans nor of the Romans but well attested in themore eastern territories among the BactrianKushans.39 Among the early wall paintings fromOld Nisa (‘Horsemen’, from the second floor ofthe ‘Tower’), one horseman wears a caftan thetop, sleeved part of which is blue, while the low-er part is lilac.40 A king depicted on the Dura-Eu-

32 Yatsenko 2006, fig. 137:35-36.33 Downey 2003, fig. vii (left).34 Yatsenko 2006, figs. 84:21 and 23, 85:27, 87:11.35 Cumont 1926, pl. xcviii:136 Yatsenko 2006, fig. 84:51, 85:50-53.37 Venco-Ricciardi 1998, fig. 6.38 Rostovtzeff et alii 1939, pl. xlii.39 Yatsenko 2006, fig. 122, 44.40 Veresotskaya 2006, 172, colour fig. 5.

Fig. 7. Cut elements of tunics (1-2, 4. Dura-Europos; 3. Hatra): 1. shirt collar with a vertical sectionon the left (Millet 1939, pl. xxviii:5); 2. A tunic with a deep triangular cut (Downey 2003, fig. vii, left);

3. Shirt with a wide side inset (Riccardi 1998, fig. 6); 4. shirt with a horizontal line on the breast(Cumont 1926, pl. xcviii:1).

Fig. 8. A king from Dura-Europos graffitiwith a very narrow (‘wasp-like’) waist

(Cumont 1926, pl. xcix:2).



ropos graffiti has a very narrow, ‘wasp-like’ waist; the characteristic, rare among the late Parthians41(Fig. 8; see also Figure 7:3), reflects the specific aesthetic ideal of the ancient Iranian heroic warriors.42

41 Yatsenko 2006, 127. 42 Yatsenko 2012b, 71, note 17.

Fig. 9. Shoes in a Dura-Europos wall painting (1. Cumont 1926, pl. xliii:iii; 2. Millet 1939, 42, fig. 35).

Fig. 10. Type of gold plaques from clothing borders with rhombi, each framing a cross, the ends ofwhose limbs curve out in the shape of a trefoil, Paul Getty Museum (Pfrommer 1993, nos. 117-118).


124 Sergey Yatsenko

In another wall painting in Dura-Europos there is an interesting representation of some veryhigh, tight boots with a narrow, turned-up toe ending with a long, thick thread43 (Fig. 9:1). Theseappear to be knitted boots of a type well known among the mountain dwellers of Kurdistan andthe Caucasus.44 In the Dura-Europos synagogue Moses is shown wearing boots, probably alsomade of textile, with laces along the upper edge and covered with ornamentation; for example, thelegs are decorated with squares framing x-shaped crosses45 (Fig. 9:2). The type of gold plaques fromclothing borders, with rhombi, each framing a cross, the ends of whose limbs curve out in the shapeof a trefoil, from the J. Paul Getty Museum46 (Fig. 10), is also attested in Bactrian Yuezhi embroi-dery from Noin Ula, and later as a carpet motif among the old Iranian Kurds and the Lurs.47

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Some Notes on Parthian Costume Studies (Parthica, Vol. 15, 2013)

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