ISLAMIC, Umayyad Caliphate. temp. 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, AH 65-86 / AD 685-705. Pashiz (Bronze, 19 mm, 0.43 g, 5 h), anonymous Arab-Sasanian type, derived from Byzantine issues showing Heraclius and his eldest son Heraclius Constantine. Bishapur, circa AH 81-101 = AD 700-720. 'P'D GDH AFZUT' ('Abay, may his kingship increase' in Pahlawi) On the left, small draped bust, resembling Heraclius Constantine, facing; on the right, larger draped bust, resembling Heraclius, facing; above smaller bust, star; above larger bust, pellet-in-crescent. Rev. ABAD (or AZAD) BYŠPHR ('May Bishapur be prosperous [or free]' in Pahlawi) Gopatshah standing right, wearing the crown of Khosrau II; before, six-pointed star and the Pahlawi letter p. Album N43. Gyselen 8. SICA I, 497. Very rare. Struck from a somewhat worn reverse die, otherwise, about very fine.
Gopatshah is a fabulous beast in Persian mythology: it has the body of a bull and the head of a human