A New Proposal for Identifying the Kings Represented on the Hung-e Azhdar Rock Relief

The well known Parthian rock relief of Hung-e Azhdar (or Hung-e Nauruzi) has been long debated because of its incoherent iconography and style. The interpretation of the relief, showing a bearded horseman proceeding toward four standing men, is disputed and even its chronology is still under discussion, the scene having been dated either to the early years of the Parthian period, in the second half of the 2nd cent. BC, or to the 2nd cent. AD. This paper focuses on the research recently carried out by the Iranian-Italian Joint Expedition in Khuzistan, which after the laser-scanning of the sculpted surface and excavation in the area where the relief is located provided evidence of re-sculpting and allowed to acquire new data on its archaeological context. The relief can be now considered as the emerging part of an open-air sanctuary continuously frequented since the Middle- or even Old-Elamite period and completely rebuilt in the Parthian period. The identification of the most important figures of the scene — the horseman and the central standing man — is also revised in the light of the data acquired during excavation and the publication of new series of Elymaean coins.