A Critical Note on Golden Shipwreck Tang at Asian Civilizations Museum of Singapore

Obviously, the Sasanian era is one of the most magnificent historical periods of Iran. However, the collapse of the Sasanian Empire and the migration of thousands of Sasanian musicians and artists along with the royal dynasty (Yazdgerd III) became a new chapter in the influence of Iranian art on China and then on Silla and Japan. The title of this article deals with a critical note on “based golden cup” of the Asian Civilization Museum of Singapore. This cup has been called the “golden shipwreck” object, attributed to the Tang period China, in scholarly published works. The object has been the subject of articles, catalogs, conferences, extensive media and even political programs abroad. The cup reflects eight musicians with eight different musical instruments in hands; each dancer-musician is separated from the next by a string of pearls. According to reports, the golden shipwreck cup was found from a sunken Chinese ship near Sumatra Island (Indonesia); the date of this event is attributed to the Tang period, the sixth century AD. Also, the destination of the ship has been announced to be Iran, but later the creator of this story changed it to Baghdad during the period (9th AD.) of the early Arab caliphs! In this paper, challenging this story, the author will evaluate this work as a fake object!