Bowl. Culture: Sasanian. Dimensions: 3 × 6 in. (7.6 × 15.2 cm). Date: ca. 3rd-7th century A.D..Plain unglazed ceramics, like this cream colored bowl, are the most common type of pottery found during the Sasanian period. These plain vessels were part of the everyday household materials. Because ceramic material is so durable, clay artifacts are one of the most frequently recovered materials in the archaeological record. The bowl was excavated from a house at the site of Ma'aridh IV in the Ctesiphon area.The city of Ctesiphon was located on the east bank of the Tigris River, 20 miles (32 km) south of modern Baghdad in Iraq. It flourished for more than 800 years as the capital of the Parthians and the Sasanians, the last two dynasties to rule the ancient Near East before the Islamic conquest in the seventh century. Systematic excavations in the Ctesiphon area were undertaken by an expedition in 1928-29 sponsored by the German Oriental Society (Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft). The Metropolit