Drachm

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Coins began to be minted for Parthian rulers after the accession of Mithridates I (ca. 171-138 B.C.). Silver was the main metal and mints were located in over twenty cities. The drachm was the primary denomination and most were minted at Ecbatana: tetradrachms were produced almost exclusively in Seleucia-Ctesiphon. Most coins feature a Parthian king’s portrait on the obverse facing left and either a seated archer or a standing figure and fire altar on the reverse, surrounded by an inscription. The obverse of this drachm most likely features the bust of Darius II, king of Media Atropatene (ca. 1st century B.C.). He has a long pointed beard and wears a tiara with a lappe, decorated with a crescent and three rows of beading and a diadem. On the reverse an inscription surrounds the figure of the king, who appears facing to the left in front of a lighted fire altar dressed in a long robe with a staff in his raised left hand.

Ancient Near Eastern Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art cares for approximately 7,000 works ranging in date from the eighth millennium B.C. through the centuries just beyond the emergence of Islam in the seventh century A.D. Objects in the collection were created by people in the area that today comprises Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean coast, Yemen, and Central Asia. From the art of some of the world's first cities to that of great empires, the department's holdings illustrate the beauty and craftsmanship as well as the profound interconnections, cultural and religious diversity, and lasting legacies that characterize the ancient art of this vast region.

Metropolitan Museum of Art