Sassanid helmet (6th-7th C. CE) & Luristan helmet (6th-9th C. BCE)

"The helmet housed at the Römisch Germanisches Museum in Mainz, Germany (Inv. O. 38823; Fig. 26) is dated to the late 6th-early 7th century CE. Discovered in Iran’s Amlash region, this helmet was built of bronze, silver and Iron. The Varanga “feather” (?) and/or “scale” pattern (?) is again evident as would be expected of late Sasanian helmets from the empire’s Western regions. The band enclosing the bottom area of the helmet is also decorated in the same Varanga/scale design. At the front of this area is a rectangle that has within it two vertical “sine wave” graphics. At the bottom edge of the rim can be seen punched holes, along with some cracks.

Unique in the case of this helmet is a crescent moon decoration like the one seen on Figure 25 cited previously. Atop the rectangle with the two “sine wave” designs on the helmet from Mainz is an upright crescent motif apparently based on a much earlier tradition; this is strikingly similar to the much more ancient 9th-7th century BCE one-piece domed bronze helmet (possibly Kassite in origin) excavated in Luristan (Fig. 26). At the back of the Luristan helmet is a repoussé hook and dot pattern, with a notched band of flecked triangles appearing along the border.38 The frontal decoration attached on this helmet consists of opposing mythological beast heads with a crescent ornament atop the figures. Interestingly, the Luristan helmet’s crescent motif appears in the same upright orientation as the Sasanian helmet suggesting a possible design motif spanning over 1000 years (Fig. 26)."

-Farrokh, K., Karamian, Gh., Kubic, A., & Oshterinani, M.T. (2017). An Examination of Parthian and Sasanian Military Helmets. In “Crowns, hats, turbans and helmets: Headgear in Iranian history volume I” (K. Maksymiuk & Gh. Karamian, Eds.), Siedlce University & Tehran Azad University, pp.121-163.




Source:

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Sasanian-cross-bandhelmet-dated-to-the-6-th-7-th-century-CE-Roemisch-Germanisches_fig22_330322666

https://www.livius.org/pictures/a/iran/sasanian-helmet/

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