2-739-241 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Rhyton: The Buffalo-Slayer Goddess, 500-700. Because the woman's widely set, heavy-lidded eyes suggest Indian facial types, she may well represent a Sasanian goddess who was associated with the cult of the Indian god Shiva. Known in India as Durga, Shiva's wife, and in Iran as Nana, she decapitated a demon who appeared in buffalo form. This was found crushed flat in tombs; its reconstruction took many months to complete.