Glass medallions of this type were first discovered during excavations at the Ghaznavid palace in Old Termez in the 1930s. This site in Uzbekistan, near the border of Afghanistan, yielded about twenty examples with various subjects and colours. Since they were discovered with alabaster gratings it is assumed that they were used as window decorations. None of the medallions exceeded 10 cm in diameter and are nearly all slightly irregular in shape. The importance of this type of object lies partly in the presence of inscriptions, in this case in the 'naskh' script which mentions rulers and amirs and helps to date their production to the twelfth century. Too small and insufficiently translucent for window panes, they were probably used to crown a stucco dado, where their remarkable detail could best be appreciated