Waziristan, Pakistan
Indus Valley

Terracotta
500 BCE (mid first millennium)
Height: 4.5 inches
Idiophones – Struck Idiophones – Rattles

A late Indus Valley pottery rattle from Waziristan (between Afghanistan and Pakistan), dating to mid first millennium BCE.  This terracotta rattle is interpreted in the form of a seated lord with a large belly and floral tunic.  Terracotta is a type of earthenware (pottery) that is unglazed of a brownish-red color.  

Waziristan is the barren, mountainous geographic region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan.  It is named after the Wazir tribe.  This region includes part of the Sulaiman Range and is bounded north by the Kurram River, south by the Gumal River, and west by Afghanistan.  Today, it is populated by ethnic Pashtuns (historically known as Afghans).

Provenance: From the collection of Leo Sarkisian, archivist, anthropologist