2-668-244 - © CM Dixon/Heritage Images

Sassanian Silver-Gilt Dish of Goddess and Bird, 6th-7th century. The Sasanian Empire known to its inhabitants as Eranshahr, was the last period of the Persian Empire (Iran) before the rise of Islam, named after the House of Sasan who ruled from 224 to 651 AD. At Hermitage Museum, Leningrad