other hand, there is spirit in the attitudes of both
men and horses; the Fame floats well in air; and the relief is free from
that coarse grotesqueness which offends us in the productions of the
Sassanian artists.

Another, bas-relief, probably, but not quite certainly Parthian, exists
in the gorge of Sir-pul-i-zohab, and has been recently published in
the great work of M. Flandin. [PLATE VIII.] The inscription on this
monument, though it has not yet been deciphered, appears to be written
in the alphabet found upon the Parthian coins. The monument seems to
represent a Parthian king, mounted on horseback, and receiving a chaplet
at the hand of a subject. The king wears a cap bound round with the
diadem, the long ends of which depend over his shoulder. He is clothed
in a close-fitting tunic and loose trowsers, which hang down upon
his boots, and wears also a short cloak fastened under the chin, and
reaching nearly to the knee. The horse which he bestrides is small, but
strongly made; the tail is long, and the mane seems to be plaited.
Thus far the representation, though somewhat heavy and clumsy, is not
ill-drawn; but the remaining figure--that of the Parthian subject--is
wholly without merit. The back of the man is turned, but the legs are in
profile; one arm is ridiculously short, and the head is placed too near
the left shoulder. It would seem that the artist, while he took pains
with the representation of the monarch, did not care how ill he rendered
the subordinate figure, which he left in the unsatisfactory condition
that may be seen in the preceding woodcut.

[Illustration: PLATE 8.]

A set of reliefs, discovered by the Baron de Bode in the year 1841, are
also thought by the best judges to be Parthian. The most important of
them represents a personage of consequence, apparently a Magus, who
seems to be in the act of consecrating a sacred cippus, round which
have been placed wreaths or chaplets. (PLATE IX.) Fifteen spectators are
present, arranged in two rows, one above the other, all except the first
of them standing. The first sits upon a rude chair or stool. The figures
generally are in an advanced stage of decay; but that of the Magus
is tolerably well preserved, and probably indicates with sufficient
accuracy the costume and appearance of the great hierarchs under the
Parthians, The conical cap described by Strabo is very conspicuous.
Below this the hair is worn in the puffed-out fashion of the later
Pa