Hephthalite/White Hun(?) or Sogdian(?) Queen of Zacanta seal 4th-6th C. CE

September 24, 2023

Hephthalite/White Hun(?) or Sogdian(?) Queen of Zacanta seal 4th-6th C. CE

"Kurbanov (2010) considers that the seal is characteristic of Hephthalite seals. The stamp seal is dated by the British Museum to 300-350 CE, during the Kushano-Sasanian period, and belongs to the area of Sogdia, north of the Oxus. In this, the museum follows the conclusions of Bivar (1969), and Livshits (1969), according to which the seal should be dated to the 4th century CE. The seal is made of carnelian, a precious stone, and rather hard to engrave. It is considered as "a Sogdian double portrait". It shows two facing busts. One is a bearded male, wearing a forward-projecting cap bordered with pearls, as well as a diadem, ear-rings and a necklace. The other wears a radiate crown with royal ribbons. Above is an inscription in two lines, in the Sogdian language.

Livshits (1969) also offered a reading for the Sogdian inscription, which is the one still used by the British Museum:

(1) 'yt mydrh cwn ’yn/ztmyc

(2) (p) ’nbsn z ’ ’ntyh (or zc ’ntyh, n ’cztyh)

This seal is from (of) Indamic

Queen of Zacanta

— Seal inscription, according to Livshits (1969).

Paleographical comparisons also suggests a "rough date" of the 4th century CE, and at any rate before the second half of the 5th century CE. Stylistically, the stamp seal is said to share the artistic characteristics of other known Kushano-Sasanians seals, but also Hephthalites seals.

Livshits (2000) has since reappraised the datation of the stamp seal as well as the translation of the Sogdian legend. In his latest analysis, he thought that the seal should be dated to the 5th-6th century CE, and should read:

'This gem is from the Indian

Lady, Nandi'"

-taken from Wikipedia

Stamp seal (BM 119999). The woman's crown is similar to the Hephthalite crown fresco from Dilberjin and the seal of the Hephthalite governor. The man's hat is similar to the Sassanid kulaf. I would imagine the reference to India could mean she was a Hephthalite/Sogdian queen (or noble?) from when the Hephthalites ruled part of the Indian subcontinent. More questions than answers, I suppose.