Helmets, Crowns or Hats? The Headgears on the Early Sasanian Rock Reliefs

Abstract

Sasanian rock reliefs, that glorify the power of the house of Sasan, presenting the kings and their retinues, are an excellent source for studying arms and attire from the Sasanian period. Iranian elites used their attire to display their high social position. One of the most important elements of their attire, which indicated the position in the court hierarchy, was the headgear. Iranian caps were usually made of fabric or of leather. It is worth considering the fact, though, that some types of Roman and Iranian helmets are shaped in a way clearly corresponding to the shapes of headgear known from the Sasanian iconography. As a result, an assumption may be made that in some cases what we are dealing with in Sasanian reliefs are not depictions of caps but of metal helmets.