{{Short description|Parthian statue}} {{Infobox artefact | name = The Shami Statue | image = Parthian prince, from Sham-Izeh, Malamir, Iran, c.50 BC-AD 150 (cast bronze), Parthian School (250 BC-226 AD) National Museum of Iran, Tehran, Iran.jpg | image_caption = | material = Bronze | size = 1.94 m high | writing = | created = 50 BC{{snd}}150 AD | discovered = Shami village, Khūzestān province, Iran, 1935 | location = National Museum of Iran | id = | registration = | map = }}
The '''Shami Statue''' is the most important and iconic surviving work from the Parthian Empire,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Wayback Machine|url=https://jinm.irannationalmuseum.ir/article_252917_6d106d8421d3664e3d00b7810188ca06.pdf|website=jinm.irannationalmuseum.ir|access-date=2025-12-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231222043326/https://jinm.irannationalmuseum.ir/article_252917_6d106d8421d3664e3d00b7810188ca06.pdf|archive-date=2023-12-22|url-status=live}}</ref> housed at the National Museum of Iran. The statue is almost completely preserved and depicts a Parthian Prince or nobleman.<ref>Mathiesen: ''Sculpture in the Parthian Empire'', p. 167, n. 11 (list of various datings)</ref> It was found by local peasants in Shami village, Khūzestān Province, when workers encountered the bronze statue while digging foundations for construction in 1935.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Shami, Kal-e Chendar. Research of the Iranian-Italian Joint Expedition in Khuzestan|url=https://www.academia.edu/129942351/Shami_Kal_e_Chendar_Research_of_the_Iranian_Italian_Joint_Expedition_in_Khuzestan|date=2025-01-01|first=Vito|last=Messina|first2=Enrico|last2=Foietta}}</ref>
Some scholars believe that the statue was originally made in Palmyra and later transferred to Susa,<ref>Hans Erik Mathiesen: ''Stylistic Trends in Late Parthian Sculpture, A Survey'', In: ''Analecta Romana Institut Danici'', 17–18 (1989), p. 120</ref><ref>R.R.R. Smith: ''Hellenistic Royal Portraits'', Oxford, 1988, p. 102</ref> while others suggest that it was made in Susa.<ref>D. Schlumberger: ''L'Orient Hellenise'', Paris 1970, p. 156-157</ref>
== Details and clothing == The character is dressed in Parthian elite clothing, with a commanding posture—appropriate for a high-ranking figure. The hairstyle and clothing resemble those of Parthian horsemen. He is dressed in a long-sleeved coat with a V-neck tunic, and wide, long trousers with a narrow waistband—garments characteristic of Parthian attire. The style of the beard is also typical of Parthian nobility.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Hill |first=Steven |date=April 5, 2013 |title=Defining the alter orbis: The Roman View of Parthia in the Early Principate |url=https://repository.uwtsd.ac.uk/id/eprint/397/1/STEVEN%20HILL.pdf |work= |degree=Masters Degree |location=University of Wales: Trinity Saint David |publisher= |access-date=April 18, 2026}}</ref>
The statue is {{Convert abbreviated|1.94|m}} high. The man depicted is shown frontally. He bears a short beard and a heavy moustache, while his hair is long and covers the ears. Around the head he wears a wide ribbon.{{citation needed|date=April 2026}}
The left hand and the entire right arm are missing. However, a bronze arm was later found in Shami, believed to belong to the statue. It is possible that the head and the body of the statue were crafted separately and put together in Shami, as the head is too small and made from a different type of bronze as to the rest of the statue.{{citation needed|date=April 2026}}
== Gallery == <gallery widths="200" heights="200" perrow="4"> File:President Ali Khamenei reopening the National Museum of Iran.jpg|Then President Ali Khamenei reopening the National Museum of Iran in 1996, and visiting the statue File:Estatua de un príncipe parto - Museo Nacional de Irán inv. n°2401 02.jpg|The Statue's replica on display at an exhibition by the National Museum of Iran in Spain<ref>{{Cite web|title=Major exhibit to stage Iran’s history, civilization in Spain|url=https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/432305/Major-exhibit-to-stage-Iran-s-history-civilization-in-Spain|website=Tehran Times|date=2019-01-26|access-date=2025-12-02|language=en}}</ref> File:Parthian man statue.jpg|Close-up of the statue's face File:Shami statue, 1.94 metre-high bronze statue of a Parthian noble, from the sanctuary at Shami in Elymais, Parthian period, dated 50 BC - 150 AD, National Museum of Iran, Tehran, Iran - 50890061311.jpg File:Պարթեւ իշխան.jpg File:In the Collection of the National Archaeological Museum, Tehran (4735923033).jpg|Right-angle side profile of the statue's face File:National Museum of Iran (20389823133).jpg|Left-angle side profile of the statue's face File:Parthian Man (Surena) Statue in Iran-e Bastan Museum.jpg File:National Meusem Darafsh 6 (59).JPG|alt= File:Suren.JPG File:SurenaImage.jpg File:National Meusem Darafsh 6 (61).JPG </gallery>
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==Literature== * {{cite journal |last1=Vogelsang-Eastwood |first1=Gillian |author-link=Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood |title=The Clothing of the 'Shami Prince' |journal=Persica |date=2000 |volume=16 |issue=31–47 |pages=31–47 |doi=10.2143/PERS.16.0.510}} *Hans Erik Mathiesen 1992,''Sculpture in the Parthian Empire'', Aarhus 1992 {{ISBN|87-7288-311-1}}, p. 165-167 * Curtis, Vesta Sarkhosh., 1993, "A Parthian statuette from Susa and the bronze statue from Shami." ''Iran'' 31, no. 1: 63-69. * Lindstroem, G., 2021, The Portrait of a Hellenistic Ruler and Other Bronze Sculptures from Kal-e Chendar/Shami. Results of the 2015 and 2016 studies in the National Museum of Iran, ''Journal of Iran National Museum'' 2(1): 177-196, doi:10.22034/JINM.2021.252917
== External links == {{commons category|Shami statue}} *Trudy S. Kawami, “SHAMI STATUE,” Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, 2016, available at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/shami-statue (accessed on 20 October 2016).
{{National Museum of Iran}}
Category:Parthian Empire Category:Persian art Category:Archaeological discoveries in Iran Category:Bronze sculptures in Iran Category:Statues in Tehran Category:Parthian art