Babylonian Cyrus great four-winged genius Mesopotamia Pasargadae Sculptural relief carving www.Neo-Mfg.com Museum Reproduction 14"
SIZE: 14" tall x 6.5" wide
THIS IS PAINSTAKING REPRODUCTION BASED OF THE ORIGINAL IMAGES OF THE MONUMENT BEFORE IT WAS DAMAGED.
The most distinctive feature of the Gate palace is a carved, winged magical guardian figure that miraculously survived on one pier of the small northern doorway.
The 3 m high carving shows a four-winged bearded man wearing a crown which is actually an Egyptian Hemhem crown, and a full-length Elamite robe that passes over his right arm.
The right hand is raised in front of the chest with the fingers fully extended. The left hand is less preserved. The finely modeled feet are bare.
Ghirshman writes that this represents a four-winged genius, "dressed in the Elamite manner and wearing an elaborate crown recalling the tiaras of Egyptian Horuses.
According to some 19th century travelers’ paintings, a tri-lingual inscription existed above the figure until 1861, translated as “I, Cyrus, the King, an Achaemenian”.
This clearly asserted that the winged figure was deliberately created as a spiritual symbol of Cyrus the Great just a short time after his death in 530 BC.
This is why many scholars have attributed the figure to Cyrus the Great, while some others doubt this theory and believe it to be a protective genie – like the Assyrian prototypes.
Still visible in the early nineteenth century was an inscription above the genius, reading:
'I Cyrus, the King, the Achaemenid (build this)'." Andre Godard, in
The Art of Iran (translated by Michael Heron, New York, F.A. Praeger, 1965), p. 96, writes of this same door jamb: "An inscription, in cuneiform, Persian, Elamite and Babylonian characters, now vanished, identified the personage: 'Cyrus the King, the Achaemenid'. Obviously it can only be a portrait of Cyrus." -- So-called Stele of Cyrus (559-530 BC), 6th century BC, 2.9 m.
MUSEUM / MONUMENT LINK
https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/208859
LAST PHOTO IS THE ORIGINAL AT THE MONUMENT- shown for reference only
This is a hand cast piece, We offer many custom color finishes like Silver Leaf, Bronze, Bronze with Patina, Aged stone, Pewter, Copper
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