This piece heralds from the ancient city of Jericho in Palestine. Up until the arrival of the first crusaders in 12th century, Jericho was a melting pot of different cultures. Muslims, Christians and Jews all lived side by side. The artistic vocabulary reflects and reiterates this rich social fabric and incorporates both Islamic and pre-Islamic traditions. In this region, the shape and decoration of whitish, unglazed wares scarce change over centuries. It is within the art of the Sassanids - rulers of Iraq and Iran until 651 - that we find the precursors of many later “Islamicized” forms. After the capital of the empire was moved from Syria to Iraq in 750, traditional techniques were enriched with appropriated Persian forms, transmitted to Islam by extant Sassanian sources in Iraq and Iran. Persian influence on Islamic ceramic industry became much more apparent, manifesting in such attractive hybrid varieties.