A Signet of Persia's King Darius
- Savannah Wood
- May 2, 2016
- 1 min read
Chapter 3: The Greek Golden Age (c.500-c. 400 B.C.E)
"Like other kings in the ancient Mediterranean region, the Persian king hunted lions to show his courage and his ability to overcome nature's threats In this scene from a signet , used to impress the royal seal into wet clay to verify documents, Darius I shoots arrows from a chariot driven for him by a charioteer. He is depicted wearing his crown so that his status as ruler would be obvious. The symbol Ahura Mazda, the chief god of Persian religion, hovers in the sky to indicate that the king enjoys divine favor." - Page 80
Present in this picture of the signet, is the tool used to create the art piece. The tool was imprinted with a design, which was then transferred onto the material where the final picture would be placed. They roll the tool along the surface, which in turn leaves behind an image. Items like this were common in this time period, because many copies were allowed to be made from it. This is representative of the technology that the Greek Empire used in the construction of different art, and architecture.
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