A Lesion on the “King of Kings”: Neurofibromas in the Parthian Empire’s Arsacid Dynasty

Abstract

Multiple kings of the Arsacid Dynasty of the ancient Parthian Empire are depicted on their coinage with a recurrent facial lesion, one that is found across multiple generations. Multiple theories have attempted to explain this phenomenon, from basal cell carcinoma to hereditary trichoepithelioma. In this paper, we suggest that these lesions are possibly a representation of the neurofibromas found in Neurofibromatosis 1, an autosomal dominant disease process.