The Getty Stag Rhyton and Parthian Aristocratic Culture: New Epigraphic and Technical Discoveries

Abstract

This article imparts several new insights into the J. Paul Getty Museum’s rhyton with a protome in the shape of a stag (86.AM.753). This silver vessel, which dates to the Parthian period, ranks among the museum’s most important objects from its collection of ancient Iranian metalwork. Discoveries include a new inscription on the vessel, technical observations from the first endoscopic examination of its interior, and a new correct weight. In addition, the article presents a new transliteration, transcription, and translation for the vessel’s inscription on its protome, whose content has heretofore never been integrated into art historical discussions of the object. This article also offers a new methodology for dating this and similar objects, and establishes an earlier date range for the stag rhyton. In addition, correct new weights for the Getty’s two lynx rhyta are reported and discussed.