THE Joint Expedition to Persia has now completed the first season of excavations at Rayy, and has also made brief reconnaisances in southern Luristan and in a valley just west of Kermanshah. During the seven months spent at Rayy the expedition, besides making many finds of considerable importance in themselves, has particularly achieved its principal purpose of locating the most fertile parts of the great site, so that future seasons may be planned to be as productive as possible.
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Finds dating from the Islamic, Parthian, and Prehistoric periods have been discovered. Among the more notable objects may be mentioned two plaques depicting a falcon attacking a duck, numerous coins of copper, bronze and gold, and, of course, a variety of pottery, including what is evidently the prototype of the famous Rhages pottery. An early Islamic mosque and a Buwaihid-Seljuk tomb tower are among the principal architectural remains so far investigated.
The closing weeks of the season brought forth a flood of beautiful Early and Middle Islamic objects-pottery, glass, various kinds of ornaments, and coins; and, thanks to the variety of the pottery, it will now be possible for the expedition staff to work up a chronology of the Islamic pottery of north Persia.