_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.

Sapor III. died A.D. 388, after reigning a little more than five
years. He was a man of simple tastes, and is said to have been fond of
exchanging the magnificence and dreary etiquette of the court for the
freedom and ease of a life under tents. On an occasion when he was thus
enjoying himself, it happened that one of those violent hurricanes, to
which Persia is subject, arose, and, falling in full force on the royal
encampment, blew down the tent wherein he was sitting. It happened
unfortunately that the main tent-pole struck him, as it fell, in a vital
part, and Sapor died from the blow. Such at least was the account
given by those who had accompanied him, and generally believed by his
subjects. There were not, however, wanting persons to whisper that
the story was untrue--that the real cause of the catastrophe which had
overtaken the unhappy monarch was a conspiracy of his nobles, or his
guards, who had overthrown his tent purposely, and murdered him ere he
could escape from them.

The successor of Sapor III. was Varahran IV., whom some authorities call
his brother and others his son. This prince is known to the oriental
writers as "Varahran Kerm-an-sh-ah," or "Varahran, king of Carmania."
Agathias tells us that during the lifetime of his father he was
established as governor over Kerman or Carmania, and thus obtained the
appellation which pertinaciously adhered to him. A curious relic of
antiquity, fortunately preserved to modern times amid so much that has
been lost, confirms this statement. It is the seal of Varahran before
he ascended the Persian throne, and contains, besides his portrait,
beautifully cut, an inscription, which is read as follows:--_"Varahran
Kerman malka, bari mazdisn bag Shahpuh-rimalkan malka Axran ve Aniran,
minuchitri min yazclan,"_ or "Varahran, king of Kerman, son of the
Ormazd-worshipping divine Sapor, king of the kings of Iran and Turan,
heaven-descended of the race of the gods." [PLATE XIX. Fig. 5.] Another
seal, belonging to him p