This paper discusses the results from recent archaeological investigations at the Monastery of St Antony in Egypt, including the remains of a number of building phases predating the current church, locally produced pottery, and manuscript... more
This paper discusses the results from recent archaeological investigations at the Monastery of St Antony in Egypt, including the remains of a number of building phases predating the current church, locally produced pottery, and manuscript fragments written in Coptic, Arabic, Hebrew, and Ge'ez.
In the first part of this article I outlined the historical and technological background to the production of “Fusṭāṭ Fāṭimid sgraffito” wares (“FFS”) between the 11th and 12th centuries, trough a selection of material now kept in the... more
In the first part of this article I outlined the historical and technological background to the production of “Fusṭāṭ Fāṭimid sgraffito” wares (“FFS”) between the 11th and 12th centuries, trough a selection of material now kept in the International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza (from the so-called “Martin Collection”) and in other important museum collections worldwide. In the second part I discussed the technical, morphological, and stylistic aspects of “FFS” within a plausible chronological framework, based on the same material. In this third and final part, I will concentrate on the evidence for trade of “FFS” within Egypt and across the Mediterranean, and on the impact that this distinctive production had on the Syrian and Iranian incised frit-wares of the 12th century and beyond.
The archaeological approach to the study of medieval pottery from northern Israel and its division into four distinct pottery assemblages enables us to gain a better understanding of chronology, typology, production and distribution of... more
The archaeological approach to the study of medieval pottery from northern Israel and its division into four distinct pottery assemblages enables us to gain a better understanding of chronology, typology, production and distribution of ceramics in medieval Levant. The sets presented here date from the late Fatimid, the Crusader and the Mamluk periods (late 11th to 15th centuries). In the first stage they were defined on the basis of solid data from well-stratified archaeological excavations. In the second stage they were studied as a group and as individual pottery types. These ceramic assemblages sometimes show continuity in pottery types and at other times they indicate a change.
Paper presented at the 13TH INTERNATIONAL ANAMED ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM: GLAZED WARES AS CULTURAL AGENTS IN THE BYZANTINE, SELJUK, AND OTTOMAN LANDS: EVIDENCE FROM TECHNOLOGICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH. 6,7 .12 2018. Koc University... more
Paper presented at the 13TH INTERNATIONAL ANAMED ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM: GLAZED WARES AS CULTURAL AGENTS IN THE BYZANTINE, SELJUK, AND OTTOMAN LANDS: EVIDENCE FROM TECHNOLOGICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH. 6,7 .12 2018. Koc University RESEARCH CENTER FOR ANATOLIAN CIVILIZATIONS , İstanbul / Turkey
The Levantine Alkaline Glazed Ware often remains unidentified in the southern Levant. Vessels of this ware have a limited distribution and were produced for only a short time. The name indicates the production and consumption area and the... more
The Levantine Alkaline Glazed Ware often remains unidentified in the southern Levant. Vessels of this ware have a limited distribution and were produced for only a short time. The name indicates the production and consumption area and the type of glaze used. It appeared at a dramatic transitional moment in this region: its manufacture began during the Fatimid rule in the southern Levant (modern-day northern Israel and southern Lebanon) and continued during the first decades of the Crusader period. Levantine Alkaline Glazed Ware may serve as an excellent case study for the examination of influence and cultural interactions between the Franks and the Fatimids, as well as other religious and ethnic minorities coexisting and interacting in this region, as this ware was clearly manufactured and used by these different eastern Mediterranean societies in a transition period. Produced over a relatively short time span, roughly from the mid-eleventh to the mid-/late twelfth centuries, the Levantine Alkaline Glazed Ware was apparently not widely circulated. This ware is rather unknown in the eastern Mediterranean arena, or even in the Levant, despite its local origin. The reasons that it often remains unidentified are its simple, monochromatic decoration lacking a painted design and its resemblance to glazed bowls from the Early Islamic period. Typological and archaeometric studies of pottery from various excavations in Beirut and in Acre (‘Akko) and villages in its rural hinterland presented the opportunity to define the Levantine Alkaline Glazed Ware.
