Window Glass from the Excavations in the Seljuk Palace at Alanya

Abstract

This article concerns a small group of crown glass fragments recovered in the excavations of the Palace built inside the inner citadel of Alanya, Turkey. It was constructed during the reign of the Seljuk Sultan ‘Ala’-al-Dın Kay- Qubad I around 1221-1223 and used until 1246. This makes the dates for the utilization of the glass known, if not the date of their production. The studied glass was recovered during the first period of the excavations conducted by Prof. Dr. Oluş Arık and his team between 1985-1992. Fragments of glass for everyday use, glass with prunts, and a few fragments from the so-called luxury glass enameled beakers, all recovered in the same context, were published by the author in two earlier papers. This group of glass was possibly used for the windows of the private chambers of the elite. Reference is also made to three archaeometry studies that helped in establishing the material properties of the glass finds.