File:Standard of Cyrus the Great (Blue).svg

Description

Reconstruction of the Achaemenid "falcon standard", based on the design of a tile of Egyptian blue frit found at Persepolis in 1948 (Īrān-Bāstān Museum, Tehran, no. 2436), with the addition of coloring.

The plaque shows Egyptian Horus, but in the Persian context was likely associated with the Avestan "glory-bringing bird", varəγna.

Literature: Sāmī, Persepolis, tr. R. Sharp, Shiraz, 1970, fig. facing p. 100; H. Luschey, "Ein königliches Emblem," AMI 5, 1972, pp. 257-60. A. Shapur Shahbazi, DERAFŠ, Encylopedia Iranica (1994).

The standard is described by Xenophon in Cyropaedia (Book VII, C.1) as: "...and the word went down the lines, "Eyes on the standard and steady marching!". The standard was a golden eagle, with outspread wings, borne aloft on a long spear-shaft, and to this day such is the standard of the Persian king." (however here he is describing Artaxerxes II's standard at Cunaxa).

Date

20 October 2009

Source

Own work, Based on a photograph hosted at iranica.com (it is our understanding that this photograph shows a reconstruction and not the actual artefact from Persepolis).

Author

Sodacan

Permission
(Reusing this file)

I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide.
In some countries this may not be legally possible; if so:
I grant anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.

Other versions

Derivative works of this file: Achaemenid Falcon.svg

Red
Golden Falcon

File history

Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.

	Date/Time	Dimensions	User	Comment
current	16:39, 3 November 2023	470 × 470 (87 KB)	AR VLD	Reverted to version as of 19:41, 31 March 2023 (UTC)
	08:27, 3 November 2023	500 × 500 (62 KB)	Ashkan Maniee	Reverted to version as of 18:10, 29 December 2022 (UTC)
	19:41, 31 March 2023	470 × 470 (87 KB)	Numberblocksbandretrofan488	Much better.
	18:10, 29 December 2022	500 × 500 (62 KB)	Frq ltc	Reverted to version as of 15:35, 26 March 2022 (UTC)
	02:09, 2 July 2022	470 × 470 (87 KB)	Thespoondragon	Reverted to version as of 02:49, 8 April 2013 (UTC)
	15:35, 26 March 2022	500 × 500 (62 KB)	Lhigudubi	Reverted to version as of 21:52, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
	02:49, 8 April 2013	470 × 470 (87 KB)	Sodacan	colours adjustment
	04:46, 11 March 2012	470 × 470 (87 KB)	Fry1989	fix
	22:47, 17 April 2011	470 × 470 (87 KB)	Sodacan	reduced size (as much as I could)
	22:06, 17 April 2011	473 × 473 (259 KB)	Fry1989	Reverted to version as of 04:53, 10 March 2011 too big