![1330 (ca.), [Iran], Ardashir and his wife (detail) [folio from the Great Mongol Shahnama -- National Museum of Asian Art (Washington) | by R.M.Lenox](http://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54159347837_a88ecdf7c1.jpg)
1330 (ca.), [Iran], Ardashir and his wife (detail) [folio from the Great Mongol Shahnama -- National Museum of Asian Art (Washington)
From the museum label: After executing Ardavan, the previous king, Ardashir marries the deceased ruler's daughter. Seeking revenge for their father's death, her brother Bahman provides her with poison. She presents it in a cup to Ardashir in the palace's courtyard, but her hand shakes so much the cup falls and breaks on the floor. Suspicious, the king asks for four hens, all of which immediately die after ingesting the cup's contents. This seldomly illustrated episode may have echoed a contemporaneous event during which Baghdad Khatun (died 1335), the wife of Abu Sa'id, allegedly attempted to assassinate him.
1330 (ca.), [Iran], Ardashir and his wife (detail) [folio from the Great Mongol Shahnama -- National Museum of Asian Art (Washington)
From the museum label: After executing Ardavan, the previous king, Ardashir marries the deceased ruler's daughter. Seeking revenge for their father's death, her brother Bahman provides her with poison. She presents it in a cup to Ardashir in the palace's courtyard, but her hand shakes so much the cup falls and breaks on the floor. Suspicious, the king asks for four hens, all of which immediately die after ingesting the cup's contents. This seldomly illustrated episode may have echoed a contemporaneous event during which Baghdad Khatun (died 1335), the wife of Abu Sa'id, allegedly attempted to assassinate him.