Wall decoration with birds and vegetal design ca. 6th century A.D. Sasanian Stucco reliefs were commonly used to decorate the iwans and reception halls of elite Sasanian houses. Many examples were found in excavated houses in the Ctesiphon area including this relief panel from Maaridh IV consisting of a number of popular Sasanian motifs. On this panel a tree with multiple branches is the center of a balanced design of winding scrolls with rosettes, bellflowers, buds, and pomegranates. Two pairs of birds perch on branches, peacocks on the lower and partridges on the upper, and seem to be interwoven into the overall vegetal decoration. The use of molds to make stuccos allowed for the creation of large scale repetitive patterns such as floral and vegetal motifs. 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 dynas