This detail is from the smaller iwan. Shahpur II (right) and his son Shahpur III (left) are seen facing each other, while holding downward pointing swords.
Rock relief outside the two main iwans showing the investiture of the Sassanian monarch Ardashir II. This is considered to be the first and the oldest of the Taq-e-Bustan stone reliefs. On the left is the Zoroastrian yazata (angelic divinity) Mithra, who is sanctifying the ceremony of the investiture as Ardashir II receives the diadem from Shahpur II, or perhaps the Zoroastrian God Ahura Mazda.
Photograph created March 1967. Photograph processed September 1967. Formerly catalogued as B45.743. Notes written on the slide or index: Taq-i Bustan Enthronement.
