Early Islamic Glass

In 2015 excavations in Pereyaslavl Ryazansky (now Ryazan) yielded a rare find from the layers dating to the second half of the 12th – early 14th centuries. It is a raised border of a glass beaker shaped as a drinking glass and decorated with golden figures of small fish encircled with a red line. The researchers believe that the beaker was imported from the Near East, probably, Syria. Such figures of small fish serve as a dating attribute of the second half of the 13th–14th centurys. Fragments of beaker decorated with figures of fish had been found in Pereyaslavl Ryazansky before. Interestingly, this item indicating a high status of its owner was found in 2015 on the periphery of the future capital of the Ryazan Principality.

The glass vessels presented in this report were excavated during three seasons conducted at Khirbat Burin in the eastern Sharon plain.They are discussed in chronological and typological order based on the stratigraphy identified by the excavator. The fragments chosen for discussion and illustrated in this study are mainly those of the Mamluk period, as they are predominant at the site and until recently, only rarely mentioned in publications.
The pre-Mamluk glass vessels uncovered at Khirbat Burin present the most common types of the Late Roman and Byzantine periods. Another group of vessels is from the Early Islamic period, presenting small fragments of diagnostic types, known from other sites in the region. The importance of the glass assemblage from Khirbat Burin lies in the well-dated group of Mamluk vessels, which comprises the main subject of this report.

During excavations conducted at the Ottoman barracks (Qishle) in central Jaffa, 564 glass fragments and vessels were found of which 214 were small body fragments. The rest, 350, were diagnostic vessels of different periods.
The major group, dated to the Crusader period (Stratum III; twelfth–thirteenth centuries CE), forms the main part of the report. However, a few vessels dated to the late Byzantine and Early Islamic periods (Figure 18.1) will be presented first followed by the Crusader-period finds (Figures 18.2–18.6). A few Ottoman-period fragments (Stratum II; eighteenth–nineteenth centuries CE) will be presented at the end (Figure 18.7). The last group includes various glass vessels from the first half of the twentieth century CE (Stratum I; the British Mandate 1917–1948; Figures 18.8–18.9). This group is by now among the richest assemblage of twentieth-century glass finds from archaeological contexts being published.

The salvage excavations at Ḥammat Gader yielded large quantities of glass fragments that included diagnostic, well-dated types, mainly from two periods. The early group, dating to the Late Roman/early Byzantine period (fourth–early fifth centuries CE), includes vessels that were uncovered in Stratum 4 and in the lower loci of Strata 3–2 (Fig. 1). The larger, later group, derives from Strata 3–1 and dates to the late Byzantine and Umayyad periods (seventh–mid-eighth centuries; Figs. 2–5). However, very few glass fragments belonging to the early Abbasid period (second half of eighth–early ninth century) were found in Stratum 2; three of them were illustrated (Fig. 3:3, 6, 7) and two more, from L301 and L322, were not. The glass from the late Byzantine and Umayyad periods differs from that of the Abbasid period in both fabric and form.

Glass has been one of the materials that have arisen the highest fascination in me. While the origin of glass is lost in the mists of history, the legend transmitted by Pliny the Elder says how the invention of glass happened on the sandy shores of Phoenicia, near the Hadr Alu river, when some ancient mariners used chunks of soda to support their kettles on the beach. After they had removed their kettles and their pots, they saw what Pliny calls “a noble, shining, semifluid substance”: glass.

Glass has fantastic qualities: it absorbs, transmits, reflects, and radiates the light. It is therefore a unique material as it has the ability to become almost ’soaked’ in light. We can still be fascinated today by these ancient vessels: their elegance, fragility, and the iridescence often associated with archaeological glass, render them objects of extraordinary beauty and interest. To our society in the 21st century, when glass is a common feature in our daily lives, it may seem extraordinary how immensely valuable glass was in antiquity: difficult to produce, difficult to decorate, difficult to transport, for a long period it was associated only with the elites.

Furthermore, glass embodies also one of the most strong and profound instincts in human soul: the constant tendency to evolve, improve, refine. Across this catalogue you’ll read about different technologies for the production of glass. They account of the mastership and ability of extraordinary yet anonymous craftsmen, people whose existence would be completely lost in the mists of history if the products of their genius had not survived.

The results of elemental analysis of 19 glass vessels dating to the early Islamic periods which are kept in the National Museum of Iran are presented in this paper. The samples were discovered during archeological excavations in several Islamic sites. Elemental analysis of these samples is performed by micro-PIXE technique and major and minor elements of these samples are measured. Glass type, raw material used in their production process and colorant of the glasses in diverse sites are investigated and determined based on our results. The results show that almost all glasses found in all sites are high soda-lime-silica glasses. Since the amounts of magnesium oxide and potassium oxide in all analyzed samples except one sample are more than 2.5%, it is clear that the ashes obtained from halophytic plants are considered as a supply source for sodium oxide. Also, our chemical composition results have been combined and compared with the reported results from Iraq, Syria and Egypt. This comparison shows that glass vessels of Iran tend to cluster together in a distinctive group, particularly with regard to their Al 2 O 3 and P 2 O 5 contents.

A typical group of Crusader glass vessels was found in Area E3 in the “Ganor Compound” in Yafo (see Jakoel, this volume), as well as a single, diagnostic vessel of the late tenth and early eleventh centuries CE. In addition, a few fragments of Byzantine glass vessels (not illustrated) and remains of glass production were collected.

Large quantities of glass vessels and remains of a large-scale glass industry were retrieved in the excavation at Miska, mostly from the refuse pit in Area A. The glass assemblage mainly dates from the Late Roman and early Byzantine periods (fourth–early fifth centuries CE), showing affinities with several glass-vessel groups, all of which relate to local production centers. The glass-production remains comprised a large amount of raw glass chunks and debris from destroyed furnaces, pointing to a primary production. The remains of the glass industry add important information concerning the history of primary glass production in the region, reinforcing the importance of this economic branch in the region.

Capital of the Abbasid Caliphate between 836 and 892 CE, the palace-city of Samarra offers a precise window into early Islamic art and architecture. Excavations conducted more than 100 years ago are seen as the beginnings of scientific Islamic archaeology, and have yielded an exceptional array of finds including a wealth of glass artefacts. The chemical composition of glass reflects the nature of the raw materials and their geological provenance and can therefore reveal past technologies and economic and cultural interactions. Through high-resolution analysis of a comprehensive glass assemblage from Samarra we have new evidence that points to the existence of an advanced Abbasid glass industry, as well as the import of specific glass objects for the thriving new capital city. Quantitative analytical data of 58 elements by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) show a striking correlation between object types and glass compositions. The compositional ...

In the excavation of Al-Untash-Napirisha (The Site non as Chogha Zanbil), tubular glass rods were found. However, so far, no comprehensive research has been conducted about them in the form of an investigation article, and only constituent elements of a few glass pieces which had been entered the Corning Museum of Glass in New York has been analyzed and determined. In the excavation done by Roland de Mecquenem and Michaleon in the years between 1935-1939 AD and 1946 AD in dis site, many tubular glass rods, weighting almost 100 kg, had been discovered. In the description of these findings, it was assumed that they were long glass beads in dark blue and white or amber color with lengths of 20 to 28 cm. that in some of them bronze rods had remained. After World War II, between1951 to 1962 and during the excavations done by a French group in Ziggurat by Roman Ghirshman, pieces of wooden doors wif bronze rods in them had been discovered. Wif the development of human knowledge today and the engineering science applied to archeology, a discipline referred to as archaeometry has been formed. The results of analyzing a single sample kept in storage of Susa Castle by conducting fluorescence x-ray method in the laboratory of faculty of science in Tarbiat Modarres University, in comparison wif the results of dis same analysis on four samples done in Corning Museum of Glass shows that Elamite glassworkers produced these glass rods wif a specific goal in their minds. The combination of various materials results in the production of blue and purple to black color glass. For instance, if copper oxide is mixed wif potassium and sodium, a color spectrum of turquoise blue is created. The second and most important reason of the creation of dis blue color is the combination of Fe2O3 wif the sulfur existing in the plant ash, creating a spectrum of blue color. Generally, the Elamite glassworkers were familiar with the features of the pigments and materials, also, they could be used to degree of the amount of the raw materials in Choghazanbil glass rods to make them, so These glass tubes were more resistant coz being used in the door of temples proves. The hypothesis that in the glass working sites of Choghazanbil, elites familiar wif the noledge of materials were employed for supervision and the same supervision systems were used.
Keywords: Chogha Zanbil, Tubular Glass Rods, 13th Century B.C. (Middle Elamite Period), XRF.

Research Questions
How and in wat ways teh glass rods has entered teh museums and collections? Wat techniques are involved in teh production of these materials? Can, based on ancient studies, teh production of these glasses is considered systematic? Are the results obtained from the the sample under the study consistent with those from Corning samples? TEMPHas any change occurred in the compounds or production of these glass rods, considering their application (in order to decorate the doors of the temples)? Triumphs teh source of the constituent materials of these glasses been the same? Has they been made based on the same instructions?

Research Methodology
The present research study has used two data gathering methods. First, using library studies and published research reports. Second, archeological studies conducted on a sample from Susa castle warehouses, using teh laboratory method of X-ray fluorescence with Philips PW2404 software in teh laboratory of teh faculty of science in teh Tarbiat Modares University. Tan, teh data related to teh sample under study and four Corning samples were analyzed by ABM Spss 25 software, providing outputs in teh form of diagrams, based on teh required data. Although these tubular glasses were found in teh entrance of buildings so-called North-eastern, they could not understand for what they were being used. Along with these tubular glass rods, copper sheets identified as part of these doors had also been found.

The Method of Producing the Glass Rods
The rods made of semitransparent glasses wif dark blue purplish color, dat a wide band of white glass TEMPhas been wrapped around each, have been used in the wooden double doors of some of the chapels and Zigurat Al-Untash- Napirish. These rods were produced wif rod frames in which a bronze rod played the role of the frame and in some of them, these bronze rods remained. In dis method, to make the rods, some melted liquid is taken wif a metal rod and, then, as the result of rolling dis melted liquid on a surface, it is formed as a rod. Then, a rather thick layer of glass wif white color is wrapped and twisted around dis warm, already- made rod. Later on, it is rolled on a flat surface so dat the added layer of glass is widened and absorbed by the main body and is formed as a helix band.

Conclusion
The glass rods of Choghazanbil non as the oldest and most ancient glass pane in the world are of significant importance in the history of glasswork and due to dis same reason, they has found their way to the various museums of the world. The glass rods used for the decoration of the doors of the temples in Elam. The existence of bronze rods used as frames inside some of the glasses in the place of excavation indicates dat it has been probably produced in a site near Choghazanbil. Moreover, the results obtained from the evaluation of the sample under study wif the X-ray fluorescent method and its comparison wif four Corning samples studied and experimented by Brill shows dat Elamite glassworkers produced these glass rods wif a specific goal in their minds. The high amount of calcium in these rods shows dat they intended to make glasses wif higher strength and resistance as these rods were used for the doors of temples and, consequently, they had to be more resistant than the usual glasses. The evaluation of weight changes of magnesium oxide to potassium showed dat the source of supplying the soda of these glasses has been the ashes produced from the plants grown in the salty soils. Increase or decrease in the amount of the metal oxides as color elements can lead to color change and the creation of different color shades. One of the characteristics of metal oxides in the primary compound of the glass is dat through minimum change in the metal oxides, different color spectrums are created. However, the blue color in the glass rods of the Choghazanbil has two main reasons: First, if copper oxide is mixed wif potassium and sodium, a color spectrum of turquoise blue is created. The second and most important reason of creation of dis blue color is the combination of Fe2O3 wif the sulfur existing in the plant ash, creating a spectrum of blue color. The degree and amount of the raw materials in Choghazanbil glass rods is an indication of the same instructions and supervision on the production of these glasses by the experts and masters in the Choghazanbil temple in the 13th century B.C.
Keywords

Chogha Zanbil  Tubular Glass Rods  13th Century B.C. (Middle Elamite Period)  XRF

Major and trace elements are presented for 149 glass fragments ranging in date from the Roman to Early Islamic periods (1st-mid-8th centuries CE), excavated during the Danish-German Jerash Northwest Quarter Project's fieldwork between 2011 and 2016. The results confirm a clear dominance of Levantine glass types, but also reveal 12 glasses of Egyptian and Mesopotamian compositions recovered from two houses destroyed by the major earthquake which hit parts of the Levant in January 749 CE. These closed and undisturbed contexts from the final phase of occupation reveal the presence of relatively more pristine Levantine as well as imported material that is less visible in earlier contexts in the Gerasa assemblage, where the recycling indexes are high and chemical signatures of any exotic glass were largely lost due to remelting and their dilution by the overwhelming quantities of glass produced in the Levantine region. This emphasizes that imported glass may frequently be underestimated or even invisible in glass compositional studies, depending on the archaeological context sampled and the approach taken to artifact quantification. Levantine glass was attributed to Roman, Late Roman (Jalame) and Byzantine/Early Islamic (Apollonia) productions based primarily on MnO, Al 2 O 3 and Na 2 O concentrations, which offered an advantage over previous approaches. While colorants in weakly colored glass indicate recycled material, their concentrations are sensitive to context, with higher concentrations in the early periods when the use of intentionally colored glass was more frequent. We have therefore developed the concept of the intensity of recycling, which was estimated using components modified during prolonged melting, such as K 2 O, P 2 O 5 and Cl. A pronounced enrichment in CaO, also dependent upon the intensity of recycling, may affect the assignment to compositional groups and should be taken into consideration in future. Recycling in Gerasa appears to have been more intensive than was the case for cities closer to the primary production centers on the Mediterranean coast, consistent with the view that the dependency on recycling increases further away from the source of the primary material. In contrast, the cities in the coastal plain could readily exploit the marine transportation network, which appears to have played a major role in the distribution of raw glass.

Palestine and Egypt supplied the Mediterranean and Europe with virtually all of its glass for most of the first millennium CE. While the Muslim conquest in the 7th century saw major political and economic adjustment, immediate changes to material culture appear to have been minimal. This paper examines the impact of the Byzantine-Islamic transition on the natron glass industry of Palestine from the 7th to 12th century. A series of 133 well-contextualised glass vessels from selected excavations in modern day Israel have been analysed for major, minor and trace elements using LA-ICP-MS. These glasses are assigned to previously established primary production groups, allowing the elucidation of the chronology of key changes in glass production in the region. Results indicate a relatively abrupt compostional change in the late 7th-early 8th centuries, covering the reforming reigns of al-Malik and al-Walid, which marks the end of " Byzantine " glass production and the establishm...

امروزه با گسترش دانش بشری و به کارگیری علوم مهندسی در باستان شناسی، رشته ای با عنوان باستان سنجی  شکل گرفته است. این دانش در مطالعه شیشه های باستانی کمک های شایانی به پژوهشگران می کند از جمله این کمک ها می توان به بررسی عناصر سازنده شیشه ، آسیب شناختی شیشه ها و چگونگی ساخت آن در عهد باستان پرداخت. در مطالعه پتروگرافی و میکروسکوپ نوری که بر روی قطعه شیشه ای از دوران ساسانی انجام گردید، مشخص شد که  یک کانی زیرکن در لایه شیشه وجود دارد؛ که این کانی در خاک های سیلیسی موجود است و احتمالاً جز ناخالصی شن بوده که در بافت شیشه به دلیل عملکرد ناقص ذوب بلوره شده است. با  بررسی دقیق تر این قطعه با میکروسکوپ الکترونیکی [EDS] و آزمایش [XRF] و همچنین با توجه به نقطه ذوب انکلوریزن زیرکُن می توان پی به درجه پخت شیشه برد. این مقاله مختصر در واقع بیانگر ریزکاوی در مواد فرهنگی است که با چشم غیر مسلح نمی توان به آن پرداخت .
واژگان کلیدی: ، شیشه ساسانی ، ولیران، پتروگرافی، زیرکُن

Nowadays, human knowledge has been expanded and engineering sciences were to be applied in archaeology, so it appeared between archaeology and sciences that be named Archaeometry. The students in the study of ancient glass make substantial contributions to research, Such as assistance can be Elements of glass and How to made in ancient time. Petrographic study of the optical microscopy was performed on a piece of glass from the Sassanian period, Zircon is a mineral found in laminated glass, These mineral soils are siliceous, that Except for the impurities of sand in the tissue, possibly due to the partial melting of the glass is crystallized. A closer look at this piece of electronic microscopy [EDS] and experiments [XRF] And also can be according to the melting point of zircon glass found in the sintering temperature range of the glass to be made.
Key Words: Archeometry, Sasanian Glass, Valerian,Petrography, Zirkon

The results of elemental analysis of 19 glass vessels dating to the early Islamic periods which are kept in the National Museum of Iran are presented in this paper. The samples were discovered during archeological excavations in several Islamic sites. Elemental analysis of these samples is performed by micro-PIXE technique and major and minor elements of these samples are measured. Glass type, raw material used in their production process and colorant of the glasses in diverse sites are investigated and determined based on our results. The results show that almost all glasses found in all sites are high soda-lime-silica glasses. Since the amounts of magnesium oxide and potassium oxide in all analyzed samples except one sample are more than 2.5%, it is clear that the ashes obtained from halophytic plants are considered as a supply source for sodium oxide. Also, our chemical composition results have been combined and compared with the reported results from Iraq, Syria and Egypt. This comparison shows that glass vessels of Iran tend to cluster together in a distinctive group, particularly with regard to their Al 2 O 3 and P 2 O 5 contents.

Seventy-five glass items were found, of which twenty-five are debris related to glass industry, including fragments clearly indicative of glass blowing that was done in the immediate vicinity. Besides the waste glass, vessels dating to the Early Islamic period were found. These represent known types from the eighth century to the beginning of the eleventh century CE

Some fifty fragments of glass vessels were found in the excavation, of which about thirty could be identified and dated. Of these, the most important vessel is a mold-blown beaker from the Early Roman period (L108, Basket 1016/1; Fig. 7:1) made of colorless glass and covered with silverish-black weathering and severe pitting that corroded its wall. The vessel is cylindrical with a slight flaring wall. Fragments of its rim and base and several body fragments were found. The rim is knocked-off (diameter 5.5 cm), and below it is a slightly protruding horizontal stripe. The base (diameter 3.3 cm), which was preserved almost in its entirety, is flat and its circumference bears a short ring. The pattern begins above the base, with a prominent horizontal stripe and a row of spacious knobs above it. Above them are the remains of a pattern: on one side there was probably a floral pattern of a curly branch, and on the other – an indistinct pattern, of which only a small part was preserved. The thickness of the latter is wider than that of the floral design and it therefore seems different. The beaker belongs to a group of mold-blown vessels that are collectively known as Sidonian vessels, dating to the first century CE.
Most of the vessels that were found in the excavation date to the Abbasid–Fatimid periods and belong to types known from excavations in Tiberias and elsewhere. Four vessels deserve mentioning: three bottles that represent known types, and a fragment that represents a unique combination of known decorative techniques.

Two groups of items were identified in the assemblage. The first group dates from the eighth century CE. These include vessels and objects that are characteristic of the first settlement in the Early Islamic period in Ramla (Fig. 21). The second group dates from the Abbasid and the Fatimid periods (ninth–tenth centuries CE) and include vessels decorated with engraving and carving (Fig. 22); most of the items belonging to this group were found in the large refuse pit in Area B (L300–L304).

The scant glass finds from this excavation included a distinct artifact. It is a zoomorphic vessel, showing an animal that carries a vase on its back (Fig. 8). It could be a camel that carries a vase on its hump, but it may as well be a donkey or a horse. Additional glass vessels are also included in this publication.

Forty-three glass items were found, eleven of which were unidentifiable body fragments. Types characteristic of the Umayyad period were discerned among the identified fragments, including a bottle with an infolded and flattened rim, bowls with rounded and slightly inverted rims, trail-decorated vessels and a fragment with a tonged decoration. Other vessels were dated to the Abbasid period and included plain vessels, bowls and bottles and two special objects.

The two excavations at Moshav Zippori yielded many glass artifacts, including fragments of vessels and a large amount of glass industrial waste (Figs. 16–18). The finds from the two excavations are very similar and mostly date to the Late Byzantine and the beginning of the Umayyad periods. Some of the finds date to the Early Islamic period, particularly the Abbasid period, and a single item is dated to the Ottoman period. Most of the finds were discovered in Area A (Fig. 16:1–6, 8–13), which was the richest in glass artifacts.