Bowl with Underglaze Painting from Otrar (excavated in 2018)

A bowl depicting a bird (presumably a steppe eagle¸ Aquila nipalensis), with underglaze painting and epigraphic décor, was found in a stratigraphic excavation in the northern part of the shakhristan of medieval city-site Otrar. The bowl was found in the layer of the X – XI centuries and refers to the Qarakhanid period. The article is presenting some analogies of the bird’s image and adding its ornithological attribution. The image of an eagle is not typical for glazed ceramics of the Qarakhanid period; the Otrar bowl is one of the rare and interesting finds.