Islamic Pottery Research Articles

The late medieval and early modern ceramics in the city of Córdoba (Andalusia, Spain). Christian productions under the Islamic tradition

The archaeological knowledge of the material culture in the city of Córdoba (Andalusia, Spain) during the late medieval and early modern periods is very scarce. Urban rescue excavations and archive sources evidence that the so-called Barrio de las Ollerías (potters’ quarter) was the main ceramic production area from the early medieval period until the end of the early modern period. Nevertheless, there is a total lack of archaeological and archaeometric studies since research has traditionally focused on Seville city and other production centres closer to the Atlantic Coast. However, archaeological and archaeometric studies concerning Islamic pottery have increased in Córdoba in the last years, although there is a lack of studies on the late medieval and early modern ceramic production. This article aims to contribute to filling this gap through an exhaustive study of the ceramic production of Córdoba in this period. As a first objective, studying the ceramics recovered from the workshops will enable us to define the chemical reference groups (RG). The second step will be the approach to the technology used by the potters for the elaboration of the different products. With these objectives in mind, 120 individuals have been chemically characterised using x-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF) and mineralogically through x-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). The sample includes tin-lead glazed vessels, coarse and cooking ware vessels, and storage and transport jars dated from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries.

دخول السلام بلاد السودان قبيل القرن السادس عشرالميلادي

This paper highlights on one of the most periods of the history of the Sudan “Islamicperiod”. It extends from the seventh century AD up to the period precedes the sixteencentury AD-the beginning of the entry of Islam to Sudan, i.e before the establishment ofthe Funj Kingdom.There are no enough studies on this important period. The paper investigates the beginning of the entry of Islam to Sudan and the establishment of the small Islamic Kingdoms (Al-Sukkrab, Al-Umari, and Al-giddyat) by using archaeological remains cemetries, domes, mosques, shrines, tombstones, inscriptions, and Islamic pottery.

Evidence for local, regional and interregional exchange networks on Failaka: Some remarks on late Islamic pottery from Kharaib al‐Dasht

AbstractThe site of Kharaib al‐Dasht, located on the northern coast of Failaka, is a late Islamic settlement with an extensive fishing infrastructure. It has been excavated since 2013 by the Kuwaiti‐Polish Archaeological Mission. The ceramic assemblage collected so far exceeds 18,000 fragments. The sherds underwent technological and typological analyses, which demonstrated a wide diversity of local common kitchen wares, consistent with the needs of households specialised in fishing. A considerable percentage of imported vessels was brought to Failaka from the Arabian Gulf and Persia, though Far Eastern luxury tableware was also attested. This paper demonstrates the socioeconomic role of Kharaib al‐Dasht in the context of trade exchange on the microregional (Kuwait) and macroregional (the Gulf, South and Eastern Asia) scales in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The Early Islamic Pottery from the Monastery at al-Qusur

The pottery discovered at al-Qusur (Failaka Island, Kuwait) is of first importance to clarify thedating of the Christian settlements of the Arab-Persian Gulf. Firstly attributed to the Sasanianperiod by their excavators on the base of pottery and stucco studies, theses sites were thenattributed to the Early Islamic period by other scholars according to the artefacts published.Complete catalogues of the materiel unearthed on these sites are still lacking. This article offers afirst overview of the pottery discovered at al-Qu??r by the French Mission in Kuwait in 1988–1989and in 2007–2009 in two buildings identified as two churches (A1 and A2), two courtyard houses(B1 and B8), and seven isolated buildings (B2–B7 and B9). The corpus was incomplete due to theloss of sherds from 1988 and 1989 campaigns during the Gulf war and to the treatment of partof the pottery discovered from 2007 to 2009. If quantification was meaningless and petrographyimpossible, this corpus reflects the cultural proximity of the site with Mesopotamia and Persiaand diagnostic sherds such as pitchers with gouged lines or pointed circles with incised lines andgouged motifs, stamped sherds, carinated turquoise-glazed cups, attest that the main occupationof the site is related to an Early Islamic period. This dating is consistent with other Christian sitesin the region, contradicting both Arabic and Syriac sources that propounded the disappearanceof Christianity as soon as the beginnings of Islam.

An Introduction to the Epistemology of Sassanian and Islamic Pottery in the Naein Shirkooh Area, Central Plateau of Iran

An Introduction to the Epistemology of Sassanian and Islamic Pottery in the Naein Shirkooh Area, Central Plateau of Iran

Islamic Pottery from Ancient Termez (Uzbekistan): New Archaeological and Archaeometric Data

The study deals with the Islamic pottery from Termez (southern Uzbekistan), with a special focus on the wares dated to the 9th-12th centuries. The city was a major urban settlement, along one of the routes of the Silk Road. Ceramics, both glazed and unglazed, were produced in several workshops located in the lower city (shahristan) and its suburbs (rabad). Glazed and unglazed wares, including cooking pots, two pottery moulds and two sphero-conical vessels from two excavated areas at Termez are examined by X-ray Fluorescence, X-ray Diffraction, and petrographic thin section analysis. Clayey sediments from different areas of the site are incorporated as a local reference for comparison. The aim is to examine the provenance of the vessels and to determine the production techniques. The results reveal that all the vessels were produced by using calcareous clays and most of them exhibit similar geochemical composition; nevertheless, several chemical groups and petrographic fabrics were identified. XRD points that firing temperatures were generally between 800 and 1000-1100°C, being the latter prevalent. The results of this study are remarkable since archaeometric researches on Central Asian pottery are still few.

A Basic Research on the Characteristics of Medieval Islamic Pottery- About Physical Characteristics of Islamic Pottery Excavated from Remains of Salbir, Azerbaijan -

A Basic Research on the Characteristics of Medieval Islamic Pottery- About Physical Characteristics of Islamic Pottery Excavated from Remains of Salbir, Azerbaijan -

مكتشفات جديدة من الفخار المطلي المملوكيبجبل أسيوط الغربي

On Western Assiut Mountain, the joint expedition of Sohag University, Egypt, Gutenberg University (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) and Berlin University (Freie Universität Berlin), Germany, discovered many kinds of Islamic earthenware and ­pottery, glazed and unglazed earthenware, painted, overlaid ceramics, uni-color glazed ­ceramics, ceramics imitating the art of the Tang Dynasty, Chinese porcelain and imitations thereof. A great deal of research has been conducted on the objects found.This study is part of a series by the author on the Islamic pottery objects discovered on Western Assiut Mountain. Twenty-five fine, Mamluk glazed earthenware objects discovered there are published in the study, indicating the existence of this kind of Mamluk glazed earthenware on Western Assiut Mountain and examining these objects as regards to where they were excavated, their material, their dimensions, their painting and decoration styles, their colors and the kind of decoration thereon, including plant and geometric designs as well as inscriptions. The study also compares these decorations to those found on other artistic pieces from the Mamluk period.

تفسير طبيعة البريق الفلزي في الخزف الإسلامي تبعا لتطبيقات تكنولوجيا النانو = Interpretation of Islamic Pottery 's Luster According to Nano Technology Applications

مقدمة : طبيعة البريق الفلزى من الأمور التى شغلت کثيرا من الباحثين فى مجال الخزف ، وينفرد تاريخ الفن الإسلامى بالصفة الدينية بين فنون البشر ؛ لأنه نجح بقول : آرنست جروب فى التعبير عن العقيدة الإسلامية , تحول الطين بين يدى الخزاف الإسلامى إلى ذهب وفضة ونحاس وبرونز ومعادن لم ترها عين من قبل حين استطاع الخزاف أن يکسو الأوانى بألوانها المعدنية ، يقول المؤرخون: إن تاريخ البشر مسطور على شظايا الخزف وبقايا الفخار. مشکلة البحث : دراسة طبيعة طبقة البريق الفلزى فى الخزف الإسلامى. هدف البحث : 1- توضيح الجوانب العلمية فى الاختزال فى الخزف الإسلامى. 2- وضع أسس لإجراء تجارب ناجحة فى مجال البريق الفلزى. حدود البحث : الخزف الإسلامى بمصر والعراق فى العصرين العباسى والفاطمى. منهج البحث : المنهج الوصفى التحليلى. ملخص البحث يعد التصوير بالألوان المعدنية ، على الخزف الإسلامى إسهاما جوهريا ، فى تحقيق مضمون السمو بالخزف ، وإزالة طابعه المادى ، ومنح الأشياء صفة روحية . العصر الذهبى للتصوير على الخزف الإسلامى کان أيام الفاطميين . يتخيل بعض مصورى الخزف أن البريق المعدنى بسيط للغاية ، بتصاعد الکربون الذى يختزل الأکاسيد المعدنية من الألوان , إلا أن الأمر أخطر من ذلک بکثير. تم عمل فحوصات نظرية ، للخواص البصرية لخزف البريق المعدنى لإثبات دور تأثير البناء السطحى فى العملية اللونية ، واعتمد هذا النموذج أو التفسير على النسبة بين النحاس والفضة، الحجم الحبيبى , کثافة الحجم الحبيبى , طبيعة الطلاء الزجاجى المستخدم فوقه الزخرفة ، وهذا يعطى نتائج جيدة للألوان الملاحظة فى تشتت الضوء. عند دراسة تأثير الحجم الحبيبى على البناء السطحى ، تم تمييز نظامين يعتمدان على مدى حجم حبيبات النانو : الحبيبات الصغيرة التى هى أصغر من الطول الموجى للضوء , بقطر حوالى حتى (أصغر من) 50 نانوميتر والحبيبات الأکبر بحجم حبيبى يقترب من الطول الموجى ، وهو أعلى أو يساوى 50 نانوميتر. وهذا النظام – بالتالى –له دور فى امتصاص الحزمة الضوئية , حيث إن القوة المختزنة بظأهرة السطوح , ترتبط يالشحنة المجمعة فى السطح. أيضا شکل الحبيبات له تأثير يجب أن يؤخذ فى الإعتبار فى ظاهرة التداخل اللونى. دراسة تفسير خزف البريق المعدنى هى وجود بناء جزئى متعدد الطبقات ، يوضح أن التداخل بين الطبقات له تأثير واضح على لون البريق المعدنى, والتغير اللونى للبريق المعدنى من الأزرق للأخضر.

Low cost system for visualization and exhibition of pottery finds in archeological museums

The objective of this project is to build a low-cost system for surveying, modeling, prototyping and interactive visualizing aimed at the enhancement of islamic pottery finds of X – XI centuries. The system will allow various applications: the creation of systems for displaying artifacts from the museum alongside the exhibition, the virtual view of restorations from fragments, including AR and VR, the physical reconstruction of the original form using 3D printer to show the pieces in their entirety, as well as the construction of interactive virtual archives to be made available to scholars and visitors.

From Ceramics to History

This paper discusses some results emerging from the study of the huge amount of pottery unearthed at the site of Ghazni. More specifically, it focuses on the evolution and changes of the ceramic productions identified within this Islamic pottery corpus between the 11th and the 16th-17th centuries.

A First Ceramic Chronology for the Late Islamic Arabian Gulf

Islamic archaeology in the Arabian Gulf has grown tremendously in recent years. However, a ceramic chronology for the Late Islamic Arabian Gulf has not yet been put forward. The present paper constitutes a first attempt at a refined periodization based on the occupational sequence of al-Ain, UAE. The study is based on the typological quantification of sherds from stratified excavations undertaken by the Historic Buildings and Landscapes Section of the Tourism and Culture Authority Abu Dhabi. It is broadly based on the methodology developed by Derek Kennet in his much-cited Sasanian and Islamic Pottery from Ras al-Khaimah (2004). The c. 13,500-sherd assemblage has been divided into six periods of thirty to seventy years spanning the later seventeenth to mid-twentieth centuries. The al-Ain assemblage is compared to published ceramics from contemporary sites in the Gulf region and further compared to relevant historical sources to draw out the wider implications of the findings. The present study constitutes an interim report and full publication of ceramics from al-Ain will appear in a multi-authored pottery handbook currently in preparation.

Lusterware Made in the Abbadid Taifa of Seville (Eleventh Century) and Its Early Production in the Mediterranean Region

This article presents a study of the expansion of Islamic lusterware across the Mediterranean before its production was fully consolidated in al-Andalus between the end of the twelfth and the thirteenth century. A number of examples are presented here that indicate a flourishing trade around the Mediterranean as early as the tenth century, including pottery as well as other luxury goods. A survey of lusterware found on the Iberian Peninsula has yielded relevant information on the complex technical history of local luster production. We present seven Andalusi luster fragments from the eleventh century that feature decoration on both sides, with one piece bearing epigraphic inscriptions naming two of the Abbadid rulers of Seville, al-Muʿtaḍid and al-Muʿtamid. Discovered in Spain (Seville and Palma del Rio) and Portugal (Silves and Coimbra), these fragments indicate the existence of a ceramic production center in Seville and another at the Abbadid palace during the second half of the eleventh century. These pieces indicate the direct and marked influence that the various centers of luxury luster production in the Islamic East and West exerted on one another, a phenomenon not uncommon in the history of Islamic pottery.

Micro-XRF for characterization of Moroccan glazed ceramics and Portuguese tiles

A set of enamelled terracotta samples (Zellij) collected from five different monuments in Morocco were object of study. With the aim of characterizing these typically Moroccan artistic objects, X-ray spectroscopic techniques were used as analytical tool to provide elemental and compound information. A lack of information about these types of artistic ceramics is found by the research through international scientific journals, so this investigation is an opportunity to fulfill this gap. For this purpose, micro-Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (μ-EDXRF), and wavelength dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (WDXRF) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) were the chosen methods. As complementary information, a comparison with other sort of artistic pottery objects is given, more precisely with Portuguese glazed wall tiles (Azulejos), based in the Islamic pottery traditions. Differences between these two types of decorative pottery were found and presented in this manuscript.

Portable X-ray powder diffractometer for the analysis of art and archaeological materials

Phase identification based on nondestructive analytical techniques using portable equipment is ideal for the analysis of art and archaeological objects. Portable(p)-XRF and p-Raman are very widely used for this purpose, yet p-XRD is relatively rare despite its importance for the analysis of crystalline materials. This paper overviews 6 types of p-XRD systems developed for analysis of art and archaeological materials. The characteristics of each system are compared. One of the p-XRD systems developed by the authors was brought to many museums as well as many archeological sites in Egypt and Syria to characterize the cultural heritage artifacts, e.g., amulet made of Egyptian blue, blue painted pottery, and Islamic pottery from Egypt, jade from China, variscite from Syria, a Japanese classic painting drawn by Korin Ogata, and oil paintings drawn by Taro Okamoto. Practical application data are shown to demonstrate the potential ability of the method for analysis of various art and archaeological materials.

Common ware production at Thamusida: dating and characterisation of Roman and Islamic pottery

Twenty-one samples of likely Roman, likely Islamic and unknown common ware from the archaeological site of Thamusida (Rabat, Morocco) were analysed in order to anchor selected types of pottery to a limited time span and, possibly, to a production area and technology. Analytical techniques were thermoluminescence, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray fluorescence. The results arising from this research are definitely useful for the study of the site of Thamusida as well as for all researchers involved in archaeological and archaeometrical research in Morocco. Chronologies proposed on a typological base have been denied twice: a likely Islamic cup dates back to the second century a.d.; vice versa, a stewpot, framed into the Roman period, resulted to be an eighth century a.d. production. Moreover, the identification of an eighteenth century ceramic production is of outstanding importance, as it characterises a completely unknown production. Regarding the production area, four samples of both Roman and Islamic periods have been recognised as local productions of Thamusida.

Ceramics from Islamic lands

1. Islamic Pottery: Art, Archaeology and Collecting 2. Making and Designing 3. Ceramic Families and Technical Traditions 4. Islamic Pottery to ad 1000 5. Islamic Pottery ad 1000 - 1400 6. Islamic Pottery from AD 1400 7. Restoration and Faking of Islamic Ceramics: Case Histories The Catalogue Table of Concordance of Inventory Numbers and Catalogue Numbers Bibliography, Glossary & Index.

Cobalt and Lustre: The First Centuries of Islamic Pottery, vol. 9, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art. Ernst J. GrubeCeramics of the Islamic World in the Tareq Rajab Museum. Géza Fehérvári

<i>Cobalt and Lustre: The First Centuries of Islamic Pottery, vol. 9, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art</i>. Ernst J. Grube<i>Ceramics of the Islamic World in the Tareq Rajab Museum</i>. Géza Fehérvári

Fakes and Forgeries in Islamic Pottery

Fakes and Forgeries in Islamic Pottery

Islamic pottery in the Middle Nile

The Islamic period is the least studied in Nubian archaeology and its ceramics the least understood, although this is beginning to change with an increasing interest in study of the period in the Sudan itself. Virtually no excavation or publication of post-Christian sites has yet been conducted, nor any publication ofpost-Christian ceramics even for the usual purpose of dating the site and its limited stratigraphy. No Islamic pottery development—forms, fabrics, decoration, or geographical distribution and delimitation—has been considered. John Alexander's major focus of interest has always been the Islamic period, often in defiance of majority scholarly focus on earlier periods, and it seems fitting that this very tentative introduction to the Islamic pottery recovered in the upper half of the Third and Fourth Cataracts, during the Southern Dongola Reach Survey in 1997–2000, should be directed towards a publication in his honour.