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[Solomon]

Gold model chariot from the Oxus treasure
Achaemenid Persian, 5th-4th century BC
From the region of Takht-i Kuwad, Tadjikistan
Length: 18.800 cm
Bequeathed by Sir A.W. Franks

This remarkable model is one of the most outstanding pieces in the Oxus treasure, which dates mainly from the fifth and fourth centuries BC, and is the most important survivingcollection of gold and silver to have survived from the Achaemenid period.

The model chariot is pulled by four horses or ponies. In it are two figures wearing Median dress. The Medes were from Iran, the centre of the Achaemenid empire. The front of the chariot is decorated with the Egyptian dwarf-god Bes, a popular protective deity. The chariot can be compared with that shown being ridden by the Persian king Darius on a cylinder seal also in the British Museum.

A second fragmentary gold chariot now in the British Museum was acquired by the Earl of Lytton, the Viceroy of India, about the same time that the Oxus treasure was discovered and is thought to have come from the same source.

J. Curtis, Ancient Persia-1 (London, The British Museum Press, 2000)

M. Roaf, Cultural atlas of Mesopotamia (New York, 1990)

[Solomon]

Bracelet from the Oxus Treasure

The Oxus treasure is a collection of gold and silver from the Achaemenid period. Pieces from it are in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Museum (mainly the latter, where they have been on show from June 2007 in the newly re-displayed Room 52).

The griffin-headed bracelets from the hoard are typical of the 5th to 4th century BCE court style of Achaemenid Persia. Bracelets of a similar form to ones from the treasure can be seen on reliefs from Persepolis being given as tribute, whilst Xenophon writes that armlets (among other things) were gifts of honour at the Persian court. Glass or semi-precious stone inlays within the bracelets' hollow spaces have now been lost.

A group of merchants acquired the Treasure (the precise findspot is unknown, but thought to be on the River Oxus); however, on the road from Kabul to Peshawar they were captured by bandits, who dispersed the Treasure before they were rescued by Capt. F.C. Burton, British political officer in Afghanistan. He then helped them to recover the Treasure, and in gratitude they sold him a companion piece to one of the bracelets now at the British Museum; this companion piece is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum. These merchants then continued to Rawalpindi to sell the rest of the Treasure. Thus pieces of the Oxus Treasure were then bought from the bazaars of India, and finally ended up in the British Museum after this long journey.

[Solomon]

� British Museum
Five Rectangular Plaques in Sheet Gold from the Oxus Treasure.

Rectangular Plaque, Achaemenid Persian (5th-4th Century B.C.)
Takht-i Kuwad, Tadjikistan
Sheet gold
H. 6.05 cm, W. 2.55 cm, Wt. 3.11 g.
ANE 123975

Rectangular Plaque, Achaemenid Persian (5th-4th Century B.C.)
Takht-i Kuwad, Tadjikistan
Sheet gold
H. 13.0 cm, W. 6.0 cm, Wt. 42.83 g
ANE 123974

Rectangular Plaque, Achaemenid Persian (5th-4th Century B.C.)
Takht-i Kuwad, Tadjikistan
Sheet gold
H. 4.85 cm, W. 2.3 cm, W. 2.85 g.
ANE 123976

Rectangular Plaque, Achaemenid Persian (5th-4th Century B.C.)
Takht-i Kuwad, Tadjikistan
Sheet gold
H. 3.85 cm, W. 1.5 cm, Wt. 0.97 g.
ANE 123967

Rectangular Plaque, Achaemenid Persian (5th-4th Century B.C.)
Takht-i Kuwad, Tadjikistan
Sheet gold
H. 5.8 cm, W. 3.55 cm, Wt. 8.42 g.
ANE 123985

Wrought of thin delicate gold, five male figures wearing belted tunics are represented on these diminutive plaques. Many of these warriors hold spears in a formal and upright stance. Their solid erect posture is reminiscent of the high-relief figures on the fa�ade of the apadana or Audience Hall at Persepolis.