other afterwards added by Sapor III.; but the unity of the whole sculpture, and its inclusion under a single arch, seem to indicate that it was set up by a single sovereign, and was the fruit of a single conception.  If this be so, we must necessarily ascribe it to the later of the two monarchs commemorated, i.e. to Sapor III., who must be supposed to have possessed more than usual filial piety, since the commemoration of their predecessors upon the throne is very rare among the Sassanians.

[Illustration:  PLATE 20]

The taste of the monument is questionable.  An elaborate finish of all the details of the costume compensates but ill for a clumsiness of contour and a want of contrast and variety, which indicate a low condition of art, and compare unfavorably with the earlier performances of the Neo-Persian sculptors.  It may be doubted whether, among all the reliefs of the Sassanians, there is one which is so entirely devoid of artistic merit as this coarse and dull production.

The coins of Sapor III. and his predecessor, Artaxerxes II., have little about them that is remarkable.  Those of Artaxerxes bear a head which is surmounted with the usual inflated ball, and has the diadem, but is without a crown—­a deficiency in which some see an indication that the prince thus represented was regent rather than monarch of Persia. [PLATE XIX.  Fig. 2.] The legends upon the coins are, however, in the usual style of royal epigraphs, running commonly—­"Mazdisn bag Artah-shetri malkan malka Air an ve Aniran," or “the Ormazd-worshipping divine Artaxerxes, king of the kings of Iran and Turan.”  They are easily distinguishable from those of Artaxerxes I., both by the profile, which is far less marked, and by the fire-altar on the reverse, which has always two supporters, looking towards the altar.  The coins of Sapor III. present some unusual types. [PLATE XIX.  Fig. 6.] On some of them the king has his hair bound with a simple diadem, without crown or cap of any kind.  On others he wears a cap of a very peculiar character, which has been compared to a biretta, but is really altogether sui generis.  The cap is surmounted by the ordinary inflated ball, is ornamented with jewels, and is bound round at bottom with the usual diadem.  The legend upon the obverse of Sapor’s coins is of the customary character; but the reverse bears usually, besides the name of the king, the word atur, which has been supposed to stand for Aturia or Assyria; this explanation, however, is very doubtful.

The coins of both kings exhibit marks of decline, especially on the reverse, where the drawing of the figures that support the altar is very inferior to that which we observe on the coins of the kings from Sapor I. to Sapor II.  The characters on both obverse and reverse are also carelessly rendered, and can only with much difficulty be deciphered.