Colossal Statue of Shapur I

Statue of Shapur I

The colossal statue of Shapur I is standing in the Shapur cave which is located in the south of Iran and about 6 km off the ancient city of Bishapur. With a height of about 6.70 m and a shoulder width of more than 2 m, it’s one of the most impressive sculpture from the Sassanian period.

The monumental statue is chiseled of a stalagmite grown on the spot. It’s standing about 35 m from the cave entrance, on the fourth of a total five terraces which are in the sector A of the cave. The head with the stepped battlements crown and the body of the sculpture are now in good condition while large parts of the arms and legs are missing. After its fall caused very probably by a strong earthquake between fifteenth and nineteenth century, the sculpture was raised in the middle of the twentieth century on two concrete pillars which are now standing near the original feet of the statue.

Because of the shape of the crown which changing in the Sassanian period from king to king and on the basis of art historical considerations, the colossal statue can be identified as Shapur I, the second Sassanian king. Due to the details of the hairstyle, G. Reza Garosi succeeded to date the colossal statue exactly in the second half of the sixties of third century AD.

Although the colossal statue of Shapur I is known in Europe since at least 1811, it was not dealt detailed till recently. It was mentioned, for example, by Roman Ghirshman, Kurt Erdmann and Georgina Herrmann. The first comprehensive research about the cave and the colossal statue of Shapur I was done by G. Reza Garosi.

See also

Shapur cave

Literature

• Roman Ghirshman: Iran, Parther und Sasaniden. Universum der Kunst. Hrsg. André Malraux; Georges Salles (1962).
• Kurt Erdmann: Die Kunst Irans zur Zeit der Sasaniden. 2. Aufl.; Kupferberg (1969).
• Georgina Herrmann: The Iranian revival. Impressum Oxford: Elsevier-Phaidon (1977).
• G. Reza Garosi: Die Kolossal-Statue Šāpūrs I. im Kontext der sasanidischen Plastik. Publishing company: Philipp von Zabern, Mainz & Darmstadt, Germany (2009).