The Korymbos ( el, Kόρυμβος, la, Corymbus; both meaning "cluster" or "uppermost points") was a jewel-studded globe containing the top hair of the ruler of the

Sasanian The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

dynasty of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, resting on his

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

. It was introduced by

Ardashir I Ardashir I (Middle Persian: 𐭠𐭥𐭲𐭧𐭱𐭲𐭥, Modern Persian: , '), also known as Ardashir the Unifier (180–242 AD), was the founder of the Sasanian Empire. He was also Ardashir V of the Kings of Persis, until he founded the new emp ...

(). The art historian Matthew P. Canepa notes that although the Greek word ''Korymbos'' or Latin ''Corymbus'' has become a scholarly convention to refer to the spherical shape on the top of Sasanian crowns, it is not an indigenous Iranian term.

References

Sources

* *{{Encyclopædia Iranica Online , last = Shahbazi , first = A. Shapur , author-link = Alireza Shapour Shahbazi , title = Sasanian dynasty , url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sasanian-dynasty , year = 2005 Iranian clothing Ardashir I Sasanian Empire Greek words and phrases Headgear