Made in Iraq or Egypt
Ceramic with monochrome luster decoration over an
Diam: 8 7/16 in. (21.4 cm)
Benaki Museum, Athens (1157)
Not on view
Animals—a popular theme during the Byzantine era—continued to appear in early Islamic art. Hares represented plenty and the hunt, a popular activity of the elite for centuries.Three alert hares alternate with stylized palmettes in an interlocking pattern. The overall design resembles the beveled style of carving found at Samarra, briefly the Abbasid capital.