Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

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

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

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.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. This is a detailed overview of the project, and its results are provided at www.jerichomafjarproject.org.

References

  • Antonaras AC (2010) Glassware in Late Antique Thessalonike (third to seventh centuries C.E.). In: Nasrallah L, Bakirtzis C, Friesen SJ (eds) From Roman to Early Christian Thessalonike: studies in religion and archaeology, Harvard Th. Harvard university press, U.S.A, p 437

  • Arinat M, Shiyyab A, Abd-allah R (2014) Byzantine glass mosaics excavated from the Cross Church, Jerash/Jordan: an archaeometrical investigation. Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry 14:43–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Barag D (1978) Hanita, Tomb XV. A tomb of the third and early fouth century CE. ‘Atiqot English Series 13:1–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Bimson M, Freestone IC (1985) The discovery of an early Islamic glassmaking site in Middle Egypt, Annales du 10e Congrès de l’Association Internationale pour l’Histoire du Verre Amsterdam: Association International pour l’Histoire du verre, pp 237–43

  • Brill RH (1999) Chemical analyses of early glass, The Corning Museum of Glass, New York

  • Carboni S (2001) Glass from Islamic lands, Thames & Hudson, London

  • Carboni S, Whitehouse D (2001) Glass of the sultans, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

  • Ceglia A, Cosyns P, Nys K, Terryn H, Thienpont H, Meulebroeck W (2015) Late Antique glass distribution and consumption in Cyprus: a chemical study. J Archaeol Sci 61:213–222. doi:10.1016/j.as.2015.06.009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cirelli E, Zagari F (2000) L’oasi di Gerico in età bizantina ed islamica. Problemi e proposte di ricerca. Archeologia Medievale 27:365–367

    Google Scholar 

  • Clairmont CW (1963) The excavations at Dura-Europos: the glass vessels. Dura-Europos Publications, New Haven

  • Crowfoot JW (1957) The glass. In: Crowfoot JW, Birnbaum SA, Crowfoot GM, Kenyon KM (eds) Samaria-Sebaste III: the objects from Samaria. Palestione exploration fund, London (UK), pp 403–422

  • Cutler A (2001) Gifts and gift exchange as aspects of the Byzantine, Arab, and related economies. Dumbarton Oaks Papers 55:247–278

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dussart O (1995) Les verres de Jordanie and Syrie du sud du IVe au VIIe siecle, nouvelle donnés chronologiques. In: Foy D (ed) Le verre de l’antiquite tardive et du haut moyen age, Musee archeologique departmental du val d’Oise, Guiry-en-Vexin, pp 343–59

  • Dussart O (1998) Le verre en Jordanie et en Syrie du Sud. Institut francais d’archeologie du Proche-Orient, Beirut

  • Dussart O, Velde B, Blanc PM, Sodini JP (2004) Glass from Qal’at Sem’an (Northern Syria): the reworking of glass during the transition from Roman to Islamic compositions. Journal of Glass Studies 46:67–83

    Google Scholar 

  • Fiori C (2015) Production technology of Byzantine red mosaic glasses. Ceram Int 41:3152–3157. doi:10.1016/j.ceramint.2014.10.160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foster HE, Jackson C (2009) The composition of naturally coloured late Roman vessel glass from Britain and the implications for models of glass production and supply. J Archaeol Sci 36:189–204. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2008.08.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foy D (2012) Le verre d’Al-Hadir. In: Rousset M-O (ed) Al-Hadir. Estude archéologique d’un hameau de Qinnasrin (Syrie du Nord, VIIe-XIIe siècles), TMO 59, Lyon, pp 129–138

  • Foy D, Picon M, Vichy M (2003) Verres Omeyyades et Abbassides d’origine Egyptienne: les termoinages de l’archeologie et de l’archeometrie. In: Annales du 15e Congrès de l’Association Internationale pour l’Histoire du Verre Corning, Association International pour l’Historire du verre, pp 138–43

  • Freestone IC, Gorin-Rosen Y, Hughes M (2000) Primary glass from Israel and the production of glass in Late Antiquity and the Early Islamic period. In: Nenna M-D (ed) La route du verre. Ateliers primaires et secondaires du second millénaire av. J.-C. au Moyen Age. TMO 33, Lion, pp 65–83

  • Freestone IC, Ponting M, Hughes M (2002) The origins of Byzantine glass from Maroni Petrera, Cyprus. Archaeometry 2:257–272. doi:10.1111/1475-4754.t01-1-00058

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freestone IC, Leslie KA, Thirlwall M, Gorin-Rosen Y (2003) Strontium isotopes in the investigation of early glass production: Byzantine and early Islamic glass from the near East. Archaeometry 45:19–32. doi:10.1111/1475-4754.00094

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freestone IC, Jackson-tal RE, Tal O (2008) Raw glass and the production of glass vessels at Late Byzantine Apollonia-Arsuf, Israel. Journal of Glass Studies 50:67–80

    Google Scholar 

  • Freestone IC, Jackson-Tal RE, Taxel I, Tal O (2015) Glass production at an Early Islamic workshop in Tel Aviv. J Archaeol Sci 62:45–54. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2015.07.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gautier-Van Berchem M (1969) The mosaics of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and of the Great Mosque in Damascus. In: Creswell K A (ed) Early Muslim architecture, vol. I, Oxford, pp 211–327

  • Gibb ARH (1958) Arab-Byzantine relations under the Umayyad caliphate. Dumbarton Oaks Papers 12:219–233

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gorin-Rosen Y (2006) An Umayyad glass assemblage from Ramla. ‘Atiqot 86:41–57

  • Gorin-Rosen Y (2008) The glass finds from Khirbet ‘Adasa. ‘Atiqot 58:123–134

    Google Scholar 

  • Gorin-Rosen Y (2010) The Islamic glass vessels. In: Gutfeld O (ed) Ramla. Final report on the excavations north of the White Mosque The Hebrew University Of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, pp 213–264

  • Gorin-Rosen Y, Katsnelson N (2005) Glass finds from the salvage excavation at Ramla. ‘Atiqot 49:101–114

    Google Scholar 

  • Gorin-Rosen Y, Katsnelson N (2007) Local glass production in the Late Roman-Early Byzantine periods in light of the glass finds from Khirbet el-Ni’ana. ‘Atiqot 57:73–154

  • Grabar O (1955) The Umayyad Palace of Khirbet al-Mafjar. Archaeology 8:228–235

    Google Scholar 

  • Grabar O (1963) Umayyad ‘Palace’ and the Abbasid ‘Revolution’. Stud Islam 18:5–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grabar O (1993) Umayyad Palaces reconsidered. Ars Orientalis 23:93–108

    Google Scholar 

  • Gratuze B, Barrandon J-N (1990) Islamic glass weights and stamps: analysis using nuclear techniques. Archaeometry 32:155–162

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greiff S, Keller D (2014) Changes in glass supply in southern Jordan in the later first millennium AD. In: Keller D, Price J, Jackson C (eds) Neighbours and successors of Rome, Oxford, pp 162–176

  • Hadad S (2005) Islamic glass vessels from the Hebrew University excavations at Bet Shean, The Institute of Archaeology, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem

  • Harden DB (1936) Roman glass from Karanis: found by the University of Michigan Archaeological expedition in Egypt, University of Michigan Press 1924–29

  • Hattstein M, Delius P (2001) Islam: arte e architettura, Könemann, Koln

  • Hawari M (2010) Archaeological landscape survey at Khirbet al-Mafjar—2009 and 2010. Bulletin of the Council for British Research in the Levant 5:21–32. doi:10.1179/175272710X12828116505955

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henderson J (2002) Tradition and experiment in first millennium A.D. glass production—the emergence of early Islamic glass technology in late antiquity. Acc Chem Res 35:594–602. doi:10.1021/ar0002020

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henderson J (2013) Ancient glass: an interdisciplinary exploration, University Press, Cambridge

  • Henderson J, McLoughlin SD, McPhail DS (2004) Radical changes in Islamic glass technology: evidence for conservatism and experimentation with new glass recipes from early and middle Islamic Raqqa, Syria. Archaeometry 46:439–468. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4754.2004.00167.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • James J (2006) Byzantine glass mosaic tesserae: some material considerations. Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies 30:29–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jarosewich E (2002) Smithsonian microbeam standards. J Res NIST 107:681–685

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kato N, Nakai I, Shindo Y (2009) Change in chemical composition of early Islamic glass excavated in Raya,Sinai Peninsula, Egypt: on-site analyses using a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. J Archaeol Sci 36:1698–1707. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2009.03.020

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kato N, Nakai I, Shindo Y (2010) Transitions in Islamic plant-ash glass vessels: on-site chemical analyses conducted at the Raya/al-Tur area on the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. J Archaeol Sci 37:1381–1395. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2009.12.042

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Katsnelson N (1999) Glass vessels from the Painted Tomb at Migdal Ashqelon. ‘Atiqot 37:67–82

  • Keller D, Lindblom J (2008) Glass finds from the church and the chapel. In: Fiema ZT, Frosén J (eds) Petra—The Mountain of Aaron I. The Church and the Chapel Helsinki, pp 331–375

  • Longerich HP, Jackson SE, Gunther D (1996) Inter-laboratory note. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric transient signal data acquisition and analyte concentration calculation. J Anal At Spectrom 11:899–904

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lyliquist C, Brill RH (1993) Studies in Early Egyptian Glass, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

  • Marii F, Rehren T (2009) Archaeological coloured glass cakes and tesserae from the Petra Church, Annales du 17e Congres del’Association Internationale pour l’Histoire du verre Anvers pp 295–300

  • Mirti P, Pace M, Negro Ponzi MM, Aceto M (2008) ICP-MS analysis of glass fragments of Parthian and Sasanian epoch from Seleucia and Veh Ardašīr (Central Iraq). Archaeometry 50:429–450. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4754.2007.00344.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moropoulou A, Zacharias N, Delegou ET et al (2016) Analytical and technological examination of glass tesserae from Hagia Sophia. Microchem J 125:170–184. doi:10.1016/j.microc.2015.11.020

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nenna M-D (2014) Egyptian glass abroad: HIMT glass and its markers. In: Keller D, Price J, Jackson C (eds) Neighbours and successors of Rome. Oxbow Books, Oxford, pp 177–193

    Google Scholar 

  • Nenna M-D (2015) Primary glass workshops in Graeco-Roman Egypt: preliminary report on the excavations of the site of Beni Salama, Wadi Natrun (2003, 2005–9). In: Bayley J, Freestone IC, Jackson C (eds) Glass of the Roman world. Oxbow Books, Oxford, pp1–22

  • Neri E, Verità M, Biron I, Guerra MF (2016) Glass and gold: analyses of 4th-12th centuries Levantine mosaic tesserae A contribution to technological and chronological knowledge. J Archaeol Sci 70:158–171. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2016.05.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neri E, Jackson M, O’Hea M, Gregory T, Blet-Lemarquand M, Schibille N (2017) Analyses of glass tesserae from Kilise Tepe: new insights into an early Byzantine production technology. Journal of Archeological Science: Reports 11:600–612. doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.12.036

    Google Scholar 

  • Paynter S (2008) Experiments in the reconstruction of Roman wood-fired glassworking furnaces: waste products and their formation processes. Journal of Glass Studies 50:271–290

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearce JG, Perkins WT, Westagate JA, Gorton MP, Jackson SE, Neal CR, Chenery SP (1997) A compilation of new and published major and trace element data for NIST SRM 610 and NIST SRM 612 glass reference materials. Geostand Newslett 21:115–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phelps M, Freestone IC, Gorin-Rosen Y, Gratuze B (2016) Natron glass production and supply in the late antique and early medieval Near East: the effect of the Byzantine-Islamic transition. J Archaeol Sci 75:57–71. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2016.08.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Picon M, Thirion-Merle V, Vichy M (2008) Les verres au natron et le verres aux cendres du Wadi Natrun (Egypte). Bulletin de l’Association Française pour l’Archéologie du Verre 22:36–41

  • Pouchou JL, Pichoir FMA (1988) Determination of mass absorption coefficients for soft X-rays by use of the electron microprobe. In: Newbury DE (ed) Proceedings of the 23rd Annual Conference of the Microbeam Analysis Society Milwaukee: San Francisco Press, pp 319–324

  • Robertshaw P, Wood M, Melchiorre E et al (2010) Southern African glass beads: chemistry, glass sources and patterns of trade. J Archaeol Sci 37:1898–1912. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2010.02.016

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schibille N, McKenzie J (2014) Glass tesserae from Hagios Polyeuktos, Costantinopole: their early Bizantine affiliations. In: Keller D, Price J, Jackson C (eds) . Neighbours and Successors of Rome, Oxford, pp 114–127

    Google Scholar 

  • Schibille N, Meek A, Tobias B, Entwistle C, Avisseau-Broustet M, Da Mota H, Gratuze B (2016) Comprehensive chemical characterisation of Byzantine glass weights. PLoS One 11(12):e0168289. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0168289

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shortland A, Schachner L, Freestone IC, Tite M (2006) Natron as a flux in the early vitreous materials industry: sources, beginnings and reasons for decline. J Archaeol Sci 33:521–530. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2005.09.011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silvestri A, Tonietto S, Molin G, Guerriero P (2014) The palaeo-Christian glass mosaic of St. Prosdocimus (Padova, Italy): archaeometric characterisation of tesserae with copper- or tin-based opacifiers. J Archaeol Sci 42:51–67. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2013.10.018

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simpson J (2014) Sasanian glass: an overview. In: Keller D, Proce J, Jackson C (eds) . Neighbours and Successors of Rome, Oxford, pp 200–231

    Google Scholar 

  • Tait H (2012) 5000 years of glass. The British Museum, London

  • Tal O, Jackson-Tal R E, Freestone I C (2004) New evidence of the production of raw glass at late Byzantine Apollonia-Arsuf, Israel. Journal of Glass Studies 46:51–66

  • Vandini M, Fiori C, Cametti R (2006) Classification and technology of Byzantine mosaic glass. Ann Chim 96:587–599. doi:10.1002/adic.200690060

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verità M (2010) Glass mosaic tesserae of the Neonian Baptistry in Ravenna: nature, origin, weathering causes and processes. Ravenna Musiva Ravenna, Ante Quem, pp 89–103

    Google Scholar 

  • Wedepohl KH (1995) The composition of the continental crust. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 59:1217–1232

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wedepohl KH, Simon K, Kronz A (2011) Data on 61 chemical elements for the characterization of three major glass compositions in late antiquity and the middle ages. Archaeometry 53:81–102. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4754.2010.00536.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weinberg GD, Goldstein SM (1988) The glass vessels. In: Weinberg GD (ed) Excavations at Jalame. Site of a glass factory in Late Roman Palestine. University of Missouri Press, Columbia, pp 38–104

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitcomb D (1988) Khirbet al-Mafjar reconsidered: the ceramic evidence. Bullettin of the American School of Oriental Reserach 271:51–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitcomb D (2013) Jericho Mafjar Project. Annual Report for the Oriental Institute http://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/ar/11-20/11-12/11_12_Mafjar.pdf

  • Whitcomb D (2014) From the field. Remote sensing and personal contacts. The 2014 season of the Jerico Mafjar Project. The Oriental Institute News & Notes 223:18–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitcomb D, Taha H (2013) Khirbet al-Mafjar and its place in the archaeological heritage of Palestine. Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies 1:55–65

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitehouse D (2002) The transition from natron to plant ash in the Levant. Journal of Glass Studies 44:193–196

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitehouse D (2012) Glass. A short history. The British Museum Press, London

Download references

Acknowledgements

Authors would like to thank the directors of the Jericho Mafjar Project, Prof. Donald Whitcomb (Oriental Institute University of Chicago, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations) and Prof. Hamdan Taha (Palestinian Department of Antiquities) for having authorised the present study. They are also grateful to Bernard Gratuze (IRAMAT-CEB Orléans) for providing data for discussion and to Raul Carampin (CNR-IGG, Padova, Italy) for his kind collaboration on EPMA analyses.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Via degli Ariani, 1, 48121, Ravenna, Italy

    Sara Fiorentino & Mariangela Vandini

  2. Department of History and Cultures, University of Bologna, Piazza S. Giovanni in Monte, 2, 40124, Bologna, Italy

    Tania Chinni & Enrico Cirelli

  3. LMU Institüt für Vorund Frühgeschichte und Provinzialrömische Archäeologie, Scholl-Platz 1, 80539, Munich, Germany

    Enrico Cirelli

  4. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Turin, via Valperga Caluso, 35, 10125, Turin, Italy

    Rossella Arletti & Sonia Conte

Authors
  1. Sara Fiorentino
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tania Chinni
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Enrico Cirelli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Rossella Arletti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Sonia Conte
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Mariangela Vandini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mariangela Vandini.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Fiorentino, S., Chinni, T., Cirelli, E. et al. Considering the effects of the Byzantine–Islamic transition: Umayyad glass tesserae and vessels from the qasr of Khirbet al-Mafjar (Jericho, Palestine). Archaeol Anthropol Sci 10, 223–245 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-017-0495-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-017-0495-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation