Hamadan province in western Iran has always been of particular archaeological significance mainly because of its administrative centre Ecbatana, modern Hamadan. In 2005 a bas-relief dating to the Parthian period was found in the southern highlands of Alvand, in the Yakhchal valley. Recently, a second relief, very similar to the Yakhchal one, has been found at Mydan Mishan. This relief depicts a person lying on a klinè with his legs stretched out and resting his left elbow on a cushion. The figure holds a flowerlike object in his right hand and what looks like a goblet or a drinking bowl in his left hand. A comparison with other similar examples such as the relief of Heracles at Behistun and the Elymaean rock carvings of Tang-e Sarvak seems to suggest that the figure represented could be a Parthian high-ranking officer, a noble or a dignitary in a banqueting scene.
