Friday, September 3, 2010

Achaemenid asabāra - hippeis - horseman


Salve,
 a light asabāra (horseman) of Ancient Persia - the Achaemenid Persian Empire, perhaps of  the IV century BCE. He wields two 'palta' ( javelins), as Xenophon said one for throwing and one for hand to hand combat, and those in the course of the Alexander of Macedon invasion of 330s BCE were replaced by much longer ones, in the fashion of Macedonian cavalry. He alsohas a longer sword , double tunic, pants and soft leather shoes (calf length).

two Achaemenid coins from the period
rider I
 rider II
 they clearly show crenelated mane, jagged edges shabraque, tied horse tail, javelin or spear,  tied forelock on a horse's forehead (eg from Apadana Relief Vth century BCE  .
more armored Achaemenid rider from Çana today's Turkey
Here from livius.org an early rider on a splendid horse Phrygia www.livius.org phrygia duver_rider
 Some interesting publications on the Achamenid Empire are at the Univ. of chicago persia site
And this scholarly website is just 'fabuloso' - by great French professor Pierre Briant - www.achemenet.com
Asb or equus caballus /horse in ancient Iran - iranica.com asb-horse-equus-cabullus
An acrylic sketch with GIMP cartoon filter to be more worked on.

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