en

Zoomorphic motifs on early Islamic scratch-engraved glass from Alexandria: a case study

2022, 31, Vol. 31, Regular Issue

University of Warsaw, Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology

University of Warsaw, Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, Centrum Archeologii Śródziemnomorskiej


Publication date

30.12.2022

Publishing model

open access

License type


Field

Humanities

Discipline

archeology

Language of publication

English

Downloads

PDF 2 MB

Article

Number of views:241

Number of downloads:98

Crossref citations:0

Altmetric score:0


Abstract

The two pieces of scratch-engraved glass presented in this article, one with lion and the other with camel imagery, are to date the only examples of animal representations executed in this technique that are known from the archaeological excavation of the Kom el-Dikka site in Alexandria (Egypt). As such, they contribute significantly to the still very small assemblage of scratch-engraved glass with zoomorphic themes from the Islamic world, so far made up of altogether no more than seven fragments, including these two. The shards come from cylindrical cups, a popular form in use in the Early Islamic period, dated to the 8th–9th centuries.

Keywords:

Bibliography

Adey, E.J. (1993). A study of the iconography of the lion in Islamic art I–II (Ph.D. diss.). University of Edinburgh

Ancient glass from the Shlomo Moussaieff collection: Wednesday 6 July 2016. (2016). London: Christie’s

Brosh, N. (2003a). Cut and engraved decoration. In Y. Israeli, Ancient glass in the Israel Museum: The Eliahu Dobkin collection and other gifts (pp. 361–370). Jerusalem: The Israel Museum

Brosh, N. (2003b). Vessels with applied decoration. In Y. Israeli, Ancient glass in the Israel Museum: The Eliahu Dobkin collection and other gifts (pp. 330–338). Jerusalem: The Israel Museum

Bulliet, R.W. (1975). The camel and the wheel. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press

Carboni, S. (2001). Glass from Islamic lands. New York: Thames & Hudson

Carboni, S. and Whitehouse, D. (2001). Glass of the sultans. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Catalogue of the Constable-Maxwell collection of ancient glass. (1979). London: Sotheby Parke Bernet

Clairmont, C.W. (1977). Catalogue of ancient and Islamic glass. Athens: Benaki Museum

Cullen, C.L. and Lledó, B. (2009). Disk-rim bottles. In G.F. Bass, B. Lledó, S. Matthews, and R.H. Brill, Serçe Limani II. The glass of an eleventh-century shipwreck (pp. 191–213). College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press

Foy, D. (2001). L’héritage antique et byzantin dans la verrerie islamique: exemples d’Istabl ’Antar-Fostat. Annales Islamologiques, 34, 151–178

Foy, D. (2020). Le verre de Sabra al-Mansuriya: Kairouan, Tunisie milieu Xe–milieu XIe siécle. Production et consommation vaisselle – contenants – vitrages (=Archaeology of the Maghreb 1). Oxford: Archaeopress

Goldstein 1995

Kitson-Mim Mack, J. (2009). Beakers. In G.F. Bass, B. Lledó, S. Matthews, and R.H. Brill, Serçe Limani II. The glass of an eleventh-century shipwreck (pp. 41–75). College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press

Kröger, J. (2005). Scratched glass. In S.M. Goldstein, Glass: From Sasanian antecedents to European imitations (=Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art 15) (pp. 140–155). London: The Nour Foundation

Kucharczyk, R. (2009). Islamic scratch-engraved glass from Alexandria (Kom el-Dikka). Journal of Glass Studies, 51, 40–52

Mahler, R. (2021). Changing life in Egyptian Alexandria. The testimony of the Islamic cemetery on Kom el-Dikka (=Polish Publications in Mediterranean Archaeology 3). Leuven–Paris–Bristol, CT: Peeters

Majcherek, G. (2001). Kom el-Dikka, excavations, 1999/2000. Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean, 12, 23–34

Majcherek, G. (2002). Kom el-Dikka, excavations, 2000/2001. Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean, 13, 31–43

Majcherek, G. (2005). Kom el-Dikka: Excavation and preservation work, 2003/2004. Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean, 16, 17–30

Majcherek, G. (2007). The late Roman auditoria of Alexandria: An archaeological overview. In T. Derda, T. Markiewicz, and E. Wipszycka (eds), Alexandria: Auditoria of Kom el-Dikka and late antique education (=Journal of Juristic Papyrology Supplement 8) (pp. 11–50). Warsaw: Raphael Taubenschlag Foundation

Majcherek, G. (2010). The auditoria on Kom el-Dikka. A glimpse of late antique education in Alexandria. In T. Gagos and A. Hyatt (eds), Proceedings of the 25th International Congress of Papyrology Ann Arbor, July 29–August 4, 2007 (pp. 471–484). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Library, Scholarly Publishing Office

Morero, E., Johns, J., Procopiou, H., Vargiolu, R., and Zahouani, H. (2017). The manufacturing techniques of Fatimid rock crystal ewers (10th–12th centuries AD). In A. Hilgner, S. Greiff, and D. Quast (eds), Gemstones in the first millennium AD: mines, trade, workshops and symbolism: International Conference, October 20th–22nd, 2015, Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Mainz (pp. 119–135). Mainz: Verlag des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums

The treasury of San Marco, Venice. (1984). Milan: Olivetti

Unseen treasures from the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar. (2010). Doha: Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation

Whitehouse, D. (2010). Islamic glass in the Corning Museum of Glass I. Objects with scratch-engraved and wheel-cut ornament. Corning, NY: Corning Museum of Glass

Whitehouse, D. (2014). Islamic glass in the Corning Museum of Glass II. Mosaic glass, blown vessels without decoration; vessels with mold-brown or pincered decoration; objects with applied decoration; gold glasses; bracelets; miscellaneous objects; and molds. Corning, NY: Corning Museum of Glass

Similar publications