Editing Atar (section)

===As a royal symbol===
[[Image:Silver coin of Ardashir I, struck at the Hamadan mint.jpg|300px|thumb|Silver coin of [[Ardashir I]] with a fire altar on its reverse (180 – 242 AD).]]
During the Sassanid era (226–650 CE), the symbol of Fire plays much the same role that the winged sun [[Faravahar]] did during the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid period]] (648–330 BCE). Beginning with [[Ardashir I]], the founder of the [[Sasanian Empire|Sassanid Empire]], many of the kings of the dynasty issued one or more coins with a symbol of Fire on the verso, and seals and bullae with the fire symbol were common. <!-- for a summary, see Unvala:44–74 -->

The first silver coins of the empire have helmeted busts of [[Ardashir I]] (''r.'' 226–241) or his father [[Papak]] on the obverse (a figure of the ruling monarch on the obverse is consistent throughout the dynasty), with a representation of a fire altar, accompanied by the legend ''atash i artakhshir'', "Fire of Ardeshir", on the reverse. Ardashir's son, [[Shapur I]] (''r.'' 241–272), has much the same image but adds two attendants at the fire altar. On the coins of [[Hormizd I]] (also known as Ardashir II, ''r.'' 272–273), the emperor himself tends the fire with the help of an attendant. [[Bahram II]] (276–293) also appears himself, accompanied by what may be his queen and son. [[Narseh]] (''r.'' 293–303) also attends the fire himself, this time alone.  On the coins of [[Shapur III]] (''r.'' 383–388), a divinity appears to be emerging from the fire. The shape of the fire altar in the coins of [[Yazdegerd II]] (''r.'' 438–457) are similar to those in present-day fire temples. The legend introduced under Ardeshir yields to a mint mark and year of issue under [[Peroz I|Peroz]] (''r.'' 457–484), a feature evident in all the coins of the remaining dynasty.