The Kār-Nāmag ī Ardašīr ī Pāpakān ("Book of the Deeds of Ardeshir, Son of Papak") (New ), is a short Middle Persian prose tale written in the Sassanid period (226-651). The story narrates the story of Ardashir I, the founder of the Sassanid dynasty. His own life story—his rise to the throne, battle against the Parthian king Ardawān (or Artabanus), and conquest of the empire by the scion of the House of Sāsān, as well as episodes concerning his heir Šābuhr and the latter’s son, Ohrmazd. After Ardashir was born, son of Pabag's daughter and Sāsān, he spent his childhood in the court of Artabanus IV of Parthia and then ran away with a maidservant of the King. After several wars with Artabanus, Ardashir I defeated and killed the king, and thus could found the new empire. The Karnamag is permeated with Zoroastrian doctrine. Manuscripts The sole independent manuscript of this text to have been identified so far is codex MK, which was copied in 1322 in Gujarat by Mihrābān ī Kay-Husraw, a gifted copyist belonging to a well known family of scribes. The book narrates the epic adventures of Ardashir I, the founder of the Sassanid Empire. The story relates how Ardashir's father Papak, dreamed that his father Sassan would be reborn as Ardashir. According to the story, Ardashir I was the natural son of Sassan. A rescension of the same story is found in the Shahnama. However, the contents of the text draw from more ancient Iranian lore, since some traits of Ardashir’s life as narrated in this work reflect themes known from the legend of Cyrus the Great. Mary Boyce, a British scholar of Iranian languages, commented that "[t]his is a short prose work, simple in style, probably written in Pars towards the end of the Sasanian period. It too was evidently the work of priests, and a comparison of it with Firdausi's rendering shows how effectively Zoroastrian elements were obliterated in the Muslim redaction. The Kârnâmag contains some historical details; but its generally romantic character has been explained as due to contamination with legends of Cyrus the Great, still current then in Pars." Plot The story starts with the birth of Ardashir to Papak's daughter and Sāsān, a descendant of the Kayanian royal house. He leaves his home to be educated by Ardavan, but after an argument with Ardavan's son he is demoted to overseer of