Plate

This ceramic plate, which has been heavily restored, has a ring base and a hanging rim. The interior is decorated with concentric incised lines, and there is a round depression in the center. It is made of a gray clay. It 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. The plate 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 plate, show that it continued to be occupied down into the second century B.C., long after the fall of the Achaemenid Empire. This plate was found near the fortification wall of the northern side of the Takht.