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NM 0002/1936 :: architectural fragment

Object description

Rectangular fragment outlined with plain bands in relief. Central piece, circular medallions outlined with “pearl-frames” a senmurv coming out of the circle.

Relief from Iran with Sasanian motive of a mythical animal, a “senmurv”dragon. It was probably a part of a larger band or section of a stucco relief. There are parts of the same relief in the British Museum, Berlin and Chicago. The animal is inscribed in a roundel framed in beads. This motif is frequent in the Sasanian period but only occurs in stucco during the Islamic period. A senmurv is the front part of a dog with wings and a peacock’s tail in Zoroastric mythology. The senmurv lives in the tree of life from which all seeds and plants arise in the world. The dragon spreads the seeds around when it rains. In the Islamic Shahnama the simurghen is a bird that helps mankind.

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NM 0002/1936 :: architectural fragment

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