deer. Five elephants flush out the fleeing boars from a marshy lake for the king who stands poised with bow and arrow in hand while being serenaded by female musicians. In the next scene, another boat carries female harpists and shows that the king has killed two large boars. The next boat shows the king standing with a semicircular halo around his head and a loose bow in his hand, meaning the hunt is over. Under this picture, elephants are retrieving the game with their trunks and putting them on their backs. Several episodes of the royal hunt are thus shown at the same time. These royal hunting scenes are among the most vivid and highly narrative murals immortalized in stone. Panel depicting boar hunt measured on 16.08.07 as approx. 6.0 m wide x 4.25 m high Panel depicting deer hunt measured on 16.08.07 as approx. 5.9 m wide x 4.35 m high Dowlatshah Relief Jumping 1300 years in time the upper relief shows the 19th century Qajar Governor in Kermanshah city, Dowlatshah carving a relief in a big arch. Taq-e Bostan Photos See also Taq Kasra Taq-e Gara Sassanid architecture Naghsh-e Rajab Naqsh-e Rustam Bishapur List of colossal sculptures in situ References Dr. Ali Akbar Sarfaraz, Dr. Bahman Firuzmandi "Mad, Hakhamanishi, Ashkani, Sasani" Marlik, 1996. Gardeshgary magazine Vol. 13, September 2002 Iranian Cultural News Agency (CHN) Bruno Overlaet, Ardashir II or Shapur III?: reflections on the identity of a king in the smaller grotto at Taq-i Bustan, IRANICA ANTIQUA 46, 2011, p. 235-250 Bruno Overlaet, Ahura Mazda or Shapur II? A Note on Taq-i Bustan I, the Investiture of Ardashir II (379-383), Iranica Antiqua 47, 2012, p. 133-151 Bruno Overlaet, And Man Created God? Kings, Priests and Gods on Sasanian Investiture Reliefs. Iranica Antiqua 48, 2013, 313-354. External links Ernst Herzfeld Papers, Series 5: Drawings and Maps, Records of Taq-e Bostan Site Collections Search Center, S.I.R.I.S., Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Photos of Taq-e Bostan Taq Bostan (Video) Kermanshah and Taq-e Bostan Buildings and structures completed in the 4th century Sasanian architecture Persian art Archaeological sites in Iran Architecture in Iran Kurdish words and phrases Tourist attractions in Kermanshah Province Sculpture of the Ancient Near East Buildings and structures in Kermanshah Rock reliefs in Iran