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Hephthalite Mural of a Banquet Scene, Balalyk Tepe, Uzbekistan, c. 6th Century.


96 Wall-painting: woman holding gold cups. Soghdian, fifth-sixth century. Balalyk Tepe. Photo: John Webb.

96, 97 (above) This damaged wall-painting of the fifth-sixth century from Balalyk Tepe shows how fabrics made in Soghdia were influenced by Sassanian motifs. The tusked beasts shown on the garments are very closely related to Ill. 97 (below) which is a fragment of Sassanian material. The fact that it was found far away in Astana in eastern Turkestan also shows in what esteem Sassanian textiles were held all over Central Asia at this time.
Source: p.112, Ancient Arts of Central Asia by Tamara Talbot Rice, 1965

Sassanian, Textile: boar’s head in roundel, Iran, c. 6th-7th Century.


97 Textile: boar’s head in roundel. Figured silk. Sassanian. sixth-seventh century. Astana. Photo: National Museum, New Delhi



Back to Illustrations from Ancient Arts of Central Asia by Tamara Talbot Rice, (1965)
Other 6th Century Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers