ARAB-SASANIAN: ca. 680s-750s, Glass vessel stamp (11.41g), B-2, peacock-like bird standing right, with fan-shape tail, holding an undulating tendril in its beak, gray-brown almost opaque, a few small spots of devitrification, excellent large piece, VF to EF, RRR. Balog qualified this type as either very late Sasanian or early Islamic. The peacock-like bird is sometimes regarded as the senmurg, the fabled bird of ancient Iranian mythology. The more traditional image of the senmurg appears on a copper pashiz of Ardashir-Khurra (Gyselen-2, A-41). A similar vessel stamp, but with the added Arabic phrase "amara Allah" was sold in our Auction 18, Lot 151.
