Ardeshir III
628 - 630 AD
Ardašīr | Ardashir | اردشیر سوم | 𐭠𐭥𐭲𐭧𐭱𐭲𐭥
Recreation of Ardeshir III with red, embroidered and bejeweled hanging crown. The young king is perhaps pictured a bit older in the coins since he likely died before his tenth birthday.
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Ver.1 - Last updated: Aug 20th 2021
Brief Biography
After the death of Kavad II, the Wuzurgan elected Ardashir as his successor, who was only a 7-year-old boy. In reality, however, he exercised little power and his empire was controlled by his vizier Mah-Adhur Gushnasp, whose duty was to protect the empire until Ardashir became old enough to rule.
-Wikipedia
Insignia
References
A few coins believed to be of Ardeshir III. The coins appear to show an older person than a 7-9 year old. Also there appears to be two types of crown on the coins. One features a wing like the crown of his grandfather, Khosrow II. The other does not feature wings. This image has been done based on the crown with no wings.
A likely family tree of Ardeshir III. His mother, perhaps Anzoy, was a Byzantine (Martindale, Jones & Morris 1992, p. 94.) and his father Kavadh II’s mother, perhaps Maria, was a Byzantine. if true, that makes Ardehsir 3/4ths Byzantine. Due to this possibility, facial structure has been chosen to reflect his Mediterranean roots.
Visual Description in Literature
Hanging Crowns
“These later, elaborated crowns became so heavy that the monarchs could no longer support their weight. Ḵosrow I “used to sit in his audience-hall [at Ctesiphon] where was his crown, like a mighty bowḷ . . . set with rubies, emeralds and pearls, with gold and silver, suspended by a chain of gold from the top of an arch in this his audience-hall, and his neck could not support the crown” (Ettinghausen, p. 28 and n. 2, citing early writers on the ”hanging crown”; Erdmann, 1951, pp. 114-17). According to later accounts, the practice was extended to any setting in which the monarch appeared, including his deathbed; a crown was also suspended during the birth of a royal heir. The custom of the hanging crown was adopted at the Byzantine court as well (Ettinghausen, 1972, p. 29).”
From Iranica online.
Clothing Colors
“His vest is ornamented and sky-blue, … his crown is red…“ -Hamzah Isfahani
from - The 'History of the Kings of the Persians' in Three Arabic Chronicles: The Transmission of the Iranian Past from Late Antiquity to Early Islam (Translated Texts for Historians LUP) Paperback – September 1, 2018 - by Robert G. Hoyland
Page 75
Likely Accuracy of the Creative Recreation
Between a ‘Wild’ and a ‘Weak’ Guess:
Due to the short period of kingship and low number of coins found, this image would not be considered a strong guess. The coins that were found do not give us an exact picture of what Ardeshir III could have looked like, due to the variety of depictions and the stylized nature of coins at this stage of the empire. In addition, the coins do very likely picture him as older and more mature than he could have been at the age of 7-9.
Note: His foreign ancestry also adds to the complexity of this depiction. While his mother and paternal grandmother appear as Byzantine in the sources, it is hard to find their exact ethnicity as the Byzantine empire, not unlike Eranshahr, was a multi-ethnic society.
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