The Marvdasht Silver Cup.

This  re-imagined  upscaled artifact - pencil holder is an incredible piece of Bronze Age history, officially known in the archaeological corpus of Linear Elamite texts as "Item Q". It dates back to roughly 2200 to 2000 BCE and was discovered relatively recently in 1996 near Persepolis in the Marvdasht region of Iran.

The original silver vessel measures 9.3 cm (about 3.6 inches) in height, with a 9 cm top rim diameter and a slightly wider 10.5 cm base diameter.

• The Clothing: Both figures are wearing a kaunakes. This was a very specific type of ancient royal or ceremonial dress made from woven wool or goat hair. The tufted, leaf-like texture represents thick layers of overlapping woolen fleece.

• The Standing Figure: The woman on the front wears a headband or tiara and holds two flat, rod-like objects in her hands, which archaeologists suspect are headless scepters.

• The Seated Figure: The woman on the back is seated (likely a goddess or high-ranking elite) wearing a three-strand necklace, a single bracelet on her right wrist, and her hair is tied high in a braid.

• The Decorative Bands: Those repeating geometric patterns are not just abstract borders; they are actually stylized representations of mountain peaks.

The Deciphered Text

Because of the breakthrough in deciphering Linear Elamite, we actually know exactly what the inscription at the top of your model says. According to the recent translation by François Desset, the single line of geometric text across the rim reads:

"For the Lady of Marapsha, (named) Shuwar-asu, I made this silver vase."

The artifact is currently housed in the National Museum of Iran in Tehran. It is considered one of the most perfectly executed examples of Linear Elamite ever found.

Designer Notes: This is my first test piece using a new technique in Blender to honestly recreate cylinder shaped artifacts using  orthogonal depth maps.  It is flawed... But I spent so much time getting to this point I figured Id post it.