Considering the effects of the Byzantine–Islamic transition: Umayyad glass tesserae and vessels from the qasr of Khirbet al-Mafjar (Jericho, Palestine)

Sara Fiorentino,Rossella Arletti,Tania Chinni,Enrico Cirelli,Sonia Conte,Mariangela Vandini

doi:10.1007/s12520-017-0495-4

Abstract

The paper reports and discusses data obtained by archaeological and archaeometric studies of glass vessels and tesserae from the qasr of Khirbet al-Mafjar (near Jericho, Palestine). Archaeological contextualisation of the site and chrono-typological study of glass vessels were associated to EPMA and LA–ICP–MS analyses, performed to characterise the composition of the glassy matrix (major and minor components as well as trace elements). Analyses allowed achieving meaningful and intriguing results, which gain insights into the production and consumption of glass vessels and tesserae in the near East during the Umayyad period (seventh–eighth centuries). Within the analysed samples, both an Egyptian and a Levantine manufacture have been identified: such data provide evidence of a double supply of glass from Egypt and the Syro-Palestinian coast in the Umayyad period occurring not only in the glassware manufacture but also in the production of base glass intended to be used in the manufacture of mosaic tesserae. Thus, the achieved results represent the first material evidence of a non-exclusive gathering of glass tesserae from Byzantium and the Byzantines in the manufacture of early Islamic mosaics.

Highlights

Research over the last decades has led to the emergence of quite a colourful and complex picture 551238 concerning manufacture and supply of early Islamic glass (7th – early 9th centuries) in the Near East. 5339 Previous studies have demonstrated that a remarkable change in glass technology started occurring at the beginning of the 9th century in the Near East, when plant ash was reintroduced as main fluxing agent in substitution to natron and the production of glass objects with distinctive Islamic features began (Henderson 2002; Whitehouse 2002; Henderson et al 2004; 558943 Shortland et al 2006; Henderson 2013)
342-360: text was improved, with the opinion that this paragraph is useful to valorise the achieved data concerning this peculiar set of tesserae, belonging to the Egypt I category. 388-446: authors do not state that the raw glass necessarily indicate the production area of the tesserae, but of the raw materials employed in the base glass manufacture. 436-446: authors are aware that in the quoted references Levantine compositional categories occur with others; changes were made in the text to make this statement clearer. 444: authors apologise for having quoted the study case of Sagalassos
The obtained results enhanced the knowledge of glass provenance, manufacture and consumption in the Umayyad period, shedding, in particular, an entirely new light on the mosaic tesserae

Summary

Introduction

Research over the last decades has led to the emergence of quite a colourful and complex picture 551238 concerning manufacture and supply of early Islamic glass (7th – early 9th centuries) in the Near East. 5339 Previous studies have demonstrated that a remarkable change in glass technology started occurring at the beginning of the 9th century (or slightly earlier) in the Near East, when plant ash was reintroduced as main fluxing agent in substitution to natron and the production of glass objects with distinctive Islamic features began (Henderson 2002; Whitehouse 2002; Henderson et al 2004; 558943 Shortland et al 2006; Henderson 2013). 5339 Previous studies have demonstrated that a remarkable change in glass technology started occurring at the beginning of the 9th century (or slightly earlier) in the Near East, when plant ash was reintroduced as main fluxing agent in substitution to natron and the production of glass objects with distinctive Islamic features began (Henderson 2002; Whitehouse 2002; Henderson et al 2004; 558943 Shortland et al 2006; Henderson 2013) Prior to this change, the glass industry of 7th and 8th centuries 6044 had been strongly influenced by both Sasanian and Roman-Byzantine traditions (Carboni 2001; Carboni and Whitehouse 2001; Tait 2012; Henderson 2013). The need to introduce new traditions can be recognizable 752 in the early experimentation of both new forms, like the so-called “dromedary flasks” or the malletand bell-shaped flasks, and decoration, as pincered glasses and the re-elaborated version of the Roman “gold-glass” (Tait 2012; Whitehouse 2012)

Results

Discussion

Conclusion