Isfahan 'King Darius' Pictorial Rug with Inscriptions
214 x 136 cm (7' x 4' 6")
Persia, ca. 1920
Condition: very good, full pile, slightly stained
Warp: cotton, weft: cotton, pile: wool

This unusual carpet is very similar to an example in the state Museum of oriental art in Moscow.
The example offered for auction is however in better condition has fresher colours. Both carpets are almost identical in there depiction of prisoners being presented to Darius the 1st under the watchful gaze of Zoroastrian god Ahura Mazda.

This scene is copied from the Behistun stone rock relief between Kermanshah and Hamadan in west Iran carved in the rock face on the order of Darius 1 to commemorate the events of 523-521 BCE.
The inscription is one of the most importance of the Achaemenid kings, establishing the kingship and authority of Darius 1, and was written in cuneform and the three languages of the empire at that time period: ancient Persian, Akkadian and Elamite.

It recalls the strange story of the king Cambyses and Bardia, and the intervention of the magician Gaumata who sieze control of the throne, impersonated Bardia, and was ultiamtely killed by Darius.

It is Gaumata that lies in the foot of Darius and the nine prisoners are fellow conspirators and the hatted leader of the Saka tribes. This rare carpet shows the releif and cineform very clearly and is fine to the establishment of Persian kingship.