Offering Plaque with a Temple

3rd‐2nd century B.C.
Gold
H. 8.9 cm, W. 6.6 cm
Images of a building and women have been incised and pressed into a gold sheet. The base of the structure is a three-row layer of bricks, topped by two layers of building, and this would have been either a temple or a citadel. There is a door set into the very middle of the lower structure which is divided into five vertical sections. Each of these wall sections has peepholes, and a simplified image that looks like a wing-spread bird of prey is incised into each wall section. This motif might indicate that this building design is related to Ahura Mazda. The upper bodies of two women can be seen at the two ends of the roof of the first structure, both facing outward. Another structure is depicted on top of the lower building, and it too is divided into five sections vertically. As on the lower structure, each of the upper areas of the five sections of this upper building is decorated with a simplified bird of prey-like design. Five women stand on top of the upper structure. Only their upper bodies can be seen, with three of the women facing right and two of the women facing left. The woman on the furthest left has her arm extended and a bird flies above as if to land on the arm. These women have straight nose bridges and this represents a Greek-style female form.