Toupha

The toupha or toufa (τοῦφα, toûpha or τουφίον, touphíon) is a kind of ornamental crest or head-dress with a plumage of the feathers, hair or bristles of exotic animals, worn in classical antiquity as a triumphal decoration.

Particularly imposing in size, the head-dress fell from the statue in the 9th century and was remounted by an acrobat.

[2] A rope was stretched between the roof of Hagia Sophia and the summit of the column, by means of an arrow.

[3] The notable aristocrat Theophilos Palaiologos rewarded the tightrope-walker with 100 gold nomismata for this exploit.

In colloquial language, toupha or typha came to mean a "tiara", and the 12th-century historian, Joannes Zonaras, even records that a verb, typhoomai ("to be filled with extreme arrogance"), was derived from it.

The equestrian statue of Justinian from the Augustaion, wearing a toupha .
The " Bamberger Gunthertuch ", a Byzantine silk tapestry depicting an emperor on his triumphant return from a campaign. The tyche on the left offers a toupha .