Saffron Lady

Achaemenid Persian Noblewoman, 5th century BCE

 The available portraits of women during the Achaemenid period are rare. The ancient Persians did not leave notable female figures on their monuments, such as Pasargadae, Persepolis, and Susa. What’s left are mostly small artworks like gems, seals, and figurines.

 Reliefs at Persepolis show Achaemenid men wearing a ‘Persian Robe’ as a formal dress. “The ankle-length robe (…) usually has a round [or triangular] neckline and the distinctive deep sleeves or sleeve-like draping. However cut and sewn, the ample skirt is worn pulled up and secured under the waist band in front, drawing the loose material across buttocks and legs in parallel curving folds that fall diagonally down the legs. The fabric may be bunched under the waist band to form a stack of pleats between the legs or in a double stack separated by a narrow fall of horizontal draping.” (Goldman, 1991)

 Achaemenid women’s robes were mostly identical to men’s. The only notable difference is the hairstyle. In some seals, Persian women are depicted with a single plait or braid. Some women are wearing a thin veil on top of their crown, falling down their backs.

 This lady’s dress is based on the famous Susa relief of the royal guardmen (the so-called ‘Immortals’). The overall yellow color comes from the saffron. Saffron was, and still is, used both as a spice and a dye. It produces a rich, deep golden-yellow hue. Saffron yellow was widely used by the Achaemenids for costly clothing. She is holding a saffron flower and a bronze mirror. 

 Her earrings are based on the Achaemenid golden earrings in the Metropolitan Art Museum. And her torque is based on the one founded in the rich grave in Susa, currently housed in the Louvre Museum.

Sources

• Frieze of Archers from the Palace of Darius I in Susa, c. 510 BCE, Louvre Museum

• Achaemenid Golden Earrings, 6th-4th centuries BCE, Metropolitan Museum of Art

• Lion-shaped Golden Torque from Susa Acropolis, ca. 350 BCE, Louvre Museum

• Bernard Goldman, Women's Robes: The Achaemenid Era, Bulletin of the Asia Institute New Series, Vol. 5, 1991

• Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, The Big and Beautiful Women of Asia: Picturing Female Sexuality in Greco-Persian Seals, The World of Achaemenid Persia, 2010