TEHRAN – Iranian police have recovered two rare rhytons, which are estimated to date from Sassanid era (224–651). 

The objects were confiscated from a band of illegal antique dealers and smugglers in Garmeh, North Khorasan province, CHTN reported on Thursday.

A couple of days ago, the law enforcement officers stopped two suspected cars in which the rhytons had been concealed. The culprits were detained and handed over to judicial system for further investigation, the report added.

A is a roughly conical container from which fluids were intended to be drunk or to be poured in some ceremony such as libation, or merely at table. They are typically formed in the shape of an animal's head, and were produced over large areas of ancient Eurasia, especially from Persia to the Balkans. Many have an opening at the bottom through which the liquid fell; others did not, and were merely used as drinking cups, with the characteristic that they could not usually be set down on a surface without spilling their contents.

AFM/MG