Jar sherd

This sherd from a ceramic jar is decorated with an image of a horned animal, probably an ibex, painted in brown. Another quadruped is in front of it, and a V-shaped element (possibly horns or long ears?) are behind it. A horizontal line, corresponding with a groove in the surface of the jar, runs across the top of the scene, separating it from the geometric decoration above.

This sherd was excavated at Pasargadae in southwestern Iran, about 90 km northeast of Shiraz. Pasargadae was the first capital of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, founded by Cyrus the Great c. 546 B.C. It was found at the Tall-i Takht, a massive artificial platform presumably built as the site of a royal palace but converted into a fortified compound after Darius established a new capital at Persepolis around 520. However, the coin hoards and other finds from the Takht, including this lamp, show that it continued to be occupied down into the second century B.C., long after the fall of the Achaemenid Empire. The sherd was found in a room in the northern corner of the Takht.

The ibex is a distinctly Iranian motif, since ibexes are native to the Zagros and Alborz Mountains and their distinct profiles, especially their curved horns, have inspired Iranian artists and craftsmen since the Chalcolithic period.