TEHRAN -- A priceless cut-glass bowl of the Sassanid era is on display at the Shosoin Imperial Repository at the Nara National Museum in Japan.

The crystal bowl is one of the treasures from the Shosoin’s nine thousand object collection that are on display at the 59th Annual Exhibition of Shosoin Treasures, running from October 27 to November 12.
The Sassanid bowl is made of transparent cut glass with a brownish tint. The thick sides of this cut-glass bowl contain many small bubbles. Linked rows of lens-like concave depressions, numbering eighty in all, have been carved into the outer surface.
The priceless item is said to be one of the pieces distributed among the royalty of Sassanid era, then transported along the Silk Road, and finally offered to the Great Buddha at Tôdaiji in the eighth century.
Iran’s ambassador to Japan Abbas Araqchi and Iran’s cultural attaché Mohammad Ayatollahi paid a visit to the exhibit on Friday, but prior to visiting the exhibit, Araqchi held talks with Kenichi Yuyama, the Executive Director of the Nara National Museum.
They both stressed boosting bilateral cooperation, and developing relationships between the museums of the two countries.
Araqchi also donated a tableau bearing a copy of an old Iranian map to Yuyama.
They also visited the side-section photo exhibit of Iran’s historical monuments taken by Yomiuri Shimbun’s staff during their journey to Iran.