A study of the ceramic assemblage dating from the Mamluk and early Ottoman periods, which was found in Stratum II of the excavation on Ha-Eẓel Street, Ramla. In this article the fabrics and forms of local and imported wares were...
moreA study of the ceramic assemblage dating from the Mamluk and early Ottoman periods, which was found in Stratum II of the excavation on Ha-Eẓel Street, Ramla.
In this article the fabrics and forms of local and imported wares were explored to determine the geological source of the raw materials, in an attempt to pinpoint the production locales according to the geological source of the fabrics. It is hoped that this study will serve as a first step toward a reconstruction of the Ramla pottery industry in the Mamluk period. For the imports, the tracing of the fabric composition was based on previously published production centers.
The research methods used in this study are not the traditional typological ones for classifying pottery from historical periods, but rather, a study of the fabric composition, a method similar to those used in studying protohistoric assemblages. Due to budget constraints, we could not perform petrographic thin-section analyses; rather, we employed an intermediate solution to distinguish between fabrics. All the selected vessels were examined by the naked eye and the fabric color was described according to the Munsell Soil Chart (2000). Fresh breaks of the sherds were examined under a binocular microscope at magnifications of ×20–×40. The findings were subsequently compared with former results of previous petrographic and petrological investigations for contemporary periods and fabrics. Although the highest possible degree of precision was used in this study, association of pottery types with particular fabric groups should be taken with caution considering the limitations of visual observation with a binocular microscope; nonetheless, this study offers a good starting point for further research.
The study of the fabric composition of the Mamluk and early Ottoman-period ceramics from
Ha-Ezel Street in Ramla indicates that at least three different local workshops produced
pottery in Ramla and its vicinity during this time span. Among the imported wares, five
inter-regional fabrics from Greater Syria and Egypt, five Mediterranean fabrics from Cyprus
and Italy, and another four fabrics from distant, and thus far unrecognized regions, were
identified.
