arched harps from 3300–3100 BCE, though not until the period of the Sasanian Empire in 224–651 CE is substantial information available. This influx of Sasanian records suggests a prominent musical culture in the Empire, especially in the areas dominated by Zoroastrianism. Many Sasanian Shahanshahs were ardent supporters of music, including the founder of the empire Ardashir I and Bahram V. Khosrow II () was the most outstanding patron, his reign being regarded as a golden age of Persian music. Musicians in Khosrow's service include Āzādvar-e Changi, Bāmshād, the harpist Nagisa (Nakisa), Ramtin, Sarkash (also Sargis or Sarkas) and Barbad, who was by-far the most famous. These musicians were usually active as minstrels, which were performers who worked as both court poets and musicians; in the Sasanian Empire there was little distinction between poetry and music. Though many Middle Persian (Pahlavi) texts of the Sasanian Empire survive, only one—Khusraw qubadan va ridak—includes commentary on music, though neither it or any other Sasanian sources discuss Barbad. Barbad's reputation must have been transmitted through oral tradition, until at least the earliest source: an Arabic poem by Khaled ibn Fayyaz ( ). In later ancient Arabic and Persian sources Barbad is the most discussed Sasanian musician, though he is rarely included in writings dedicated solely to music. A rare exception to this is a brief mention in Muhammad bin Muhammad bin Muhammad Nishābūrī's music treatise Rasaleh-i musiqi-i. Ancient sources in general give little biographical information and most of what is available is shrouded in mythological anecdotes. Tales from the poet Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, written during the late 10th century, include the most celebrated accounts of Barbad. Other important sources included Ferdowsi's contemporary, the poet al-Tha'alibi in his Ghurar al-saya, as well as Khosrow and Shirin and Haft Peykar from the poet Nezami Ganjavi's Khamsa of Nizami from the late 12th century. Despite this plethora of stories depicting him in a legendary context, scholars generally consider Barbad a wholly historical person. Biographical fragments and legends Early life There are contradictory ancient accounts as to the location of Barbad's birthplace. Older sources record the city of Merv in northeastern Khorasan, while later works give Jahrom, a small city south of Shiraz in Pars. Tafazzoli postulated that the writers who recorded Jahrom were referencing a line of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh that says Barbad traveled from Jarom to the capital in Ctesiphon when Khosrow was murdered; the modern historian Mehrdad