The early Islamic glass from Ṣīr Banī Yās, UAE

Authors

  • Matt Phelps
  • St John Simpson
  • Ian C. Freestone

Keywords:

Сīr Banī Yās, electron microprobe analysis, glass, early Islamic, church

Abstract

Detailed studies of the pottery and stuccoes of the church and associated complex at Ṣīr Banī Yās indicate they date to the seventh and eighth centuries. This paper examines the only other significant set of finds, namely the glassware. Several other churches and monasteries have been excavated in the Persian Gulf and western desert of Iraq, but this is the first occasion when the glass assemblage has been studied in detail and has included a comprehensive scientific analysis of the glass compositions. Analysis by electron probe microanalysis of eighty-five samples has identified four compositional groups. The largest is relatively high in lime and alumina, and could not be related to previously analysed groups. Two groups are compositionally like Mesopotamian glass of the Sasanian and early Islamic periods, corresponding to Mesopotamian Types 1 and 2 of Phelps (2016), and suggest trade in glass from Mesopotamia to Ṣīr Banī Yās. A final group is small and shares similarity to three contemporaneous samples from Kush. The sparse use of manganese oxide (MnO) as a decolourant in the glass as opposed to its ubiquitous use in ninth-century Abbasid glass suggests an early Islamic seventh- to eighth-century date for this assemblage, consistent with the ceramic dating.

References

Adams R.McC. 1970. Tell Abu Sarifa. A Sassanian-Islamic Ceramic Sequence from South Central Iraq. Ars Orientalis 8: 87–119.

Aldsworth F., Haggarty G., Jennings S. & Whitehouse D. 2002. Medieval glassmaking at Tyre, Lebanon. Journal of Glass Studies 44: 49–66.

Andersen S.F. 2007. The Tylos period burials in Bahrain 1. The glass and pottery vessels. Manama: Culture and National Heritage, Kingdom of Bahrain in association with Moesgaard Museum and Aarhus University.

Beech M. 2004. In the land of the ichthyophagi. Modelling fish exploitation in the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman from the 5th millennium BC to the late Islamic period. (British Archaeological Reports, International Series, 1217; Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey Monographs, 1). Oxford: Archaeopress.

Bin Seray H.M. 1996. Christianity in eastern Arabia. Aram 8: 315–317.

Brill R.H. 1995. Appendix 3: Chemical analyses of some glass fragments from Nishapur in the Corning Museum of Art. Pages 211–233 in J. Kröger (ed.), Nishapur: Glass of the early Islamic period. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Brill R. 1999. Chemical analyses of early glasses. New York: Corning Museum of Glass.

Carter R. 2008a. Christianity in the Gulf after the coming of Islam: Redating the churches and monasteries of Bet Qatraye. Pages 311–330 in C. Robin & J. Schiettecatte (eds), L’Orient à la veille de l’Islam: Évolution du peuplement (IVe–VIIIe siècles). Paris: de Boccard.

Carter R. 2008b. Christianity in the Gulf during the first centuries of Islam. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 19/1: 71–108.

De Langhe K. 2008. Early Christianity in Iraq and the Gulf: A view from the architectural remains. Pages 603–610 in J-M. Córdoba, M. Molist, M. Carmen Pérez, I. Rubio & S. Martinez (eds), Proceedings of the Fifth International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, 3–8 April 2006. i. Madrid: UA Ediciones.

Elders J. 2001. The lost churches of the Arabian Gulf: Recent discoveries on the islands of Sir Bani Yas and Marawah, Abu Dhabi Emirate, United Arab Emirates. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 31: 47–57.

Elders J. 2003. The Nestorians in the Gulf: Just passing through? Recent discoveries on the island of Sir Bani Yas, Abu Dhabi Emirate, U.A.E. Pages 230–236 in D. Potts, H. Al-Naboodah & P. Hellyer (eds), Archaeology of the United Arab Emirates. First International Conference on the Archaeology of the U.A.E. London: Trident Press.

Freestone I.C. 2002. Composition and affinities of glass from the furnaces on the island site, Tyre. Journal of Glass Studies 44: 67–77.

Freestone I.C. 2006. Glass production in late antiquity and the early Islamic period: A geochemical perspective. Geological Society, London, Special Publications 257/1: 201–216.

Freestone I.C. (forthcoming). The composition of Sasanian and Islamic glass from Kush. In St J. Simpson et al., Excavations at Kush: A Sasanian and Islamic site in Ras al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. ii. The small finds and glassware: Catalogue, discussion and scientific analyses. Oxford: Archaeopress.

Freestone I.C., Gorin-Rosen Y. & Hughes M.J. 2000. Primary glass from Israel and the production of glass in late antiquity and the early Islamic period. Pages 65–83 in Nenna M-D. (ed.), La Route du verre: Ateliers primaires et secondaires du second millénaire av. J.-C. au Moyen Âge. Lyon: Maison de l’Orient Méditerranéen.

Ganio M., Gulmini M., Latruwe K., Vanhaecke F. & Degryse P. 2013. Sasanian glass from Veh Ardašīr investigated by strontium and neodymium isotopic analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science 40/12: 4264–4270.

Gratuze B. & Barrandon J.N. 1990. Islamic glass weights and stamps: Analysis using nuclear techniques. Archaeometry 32/2: 155–162.

Hellyer P. 1998. Hidden riches. An archaeological introduction to the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi: Union National Bank.

Hellyer P. 2001. Nestorian Christianity in pre-Islamic UAE and southeastern Arabia. Journal of Social Affairs 18/72: 79–99.

Henderson, J. 1999. Archaeological and scientific evidence for the production of early Islamic glass in Al-Raqqa, Syria. Levant 31/1: 225–240.

Henderson J., McLoughlin S. & McPhail D. 2004. Radical changes in Islamic glass technology: Evidence for conservatism and experimentation with new glass recipes from early and middle Islamic Raqqa, Syria. Archaeometry 46/3: 439–468.

Henderson J., Chenery S., Faber E. & Kröger J. 2016. The use of electron probe microanalysis and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry for the investigation of 8th–14th century plant ash glasses from the Middle East. Microchemical Journal 128: 134–152.

Keller D. (forthcoming). The glassware. In St J. Simpson et al. (eds), Excavations at Kush: A Sasanian and Islamic site in Ras al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. ii. The small finds and glassware: Catalogue, discussion and scientific analyses. Oxford: Archaeopress.

Kennet D. 1994. Jazīrat al-Дulayla — early Julfār. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 4/2: 163–212.

Kennet D. 2007. The decline of eastern Arabia in the Sasanian period. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 18/1: 86–122.

King G.R.D. 1997. A Nestorian monastic settlement on the island of Sir Bani Yas, Abu Dhabi: A preliminary report. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 60: 221–35.

King G.R.D. 1998. Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey, Season 1. An archaeological survey of Sir Bani Yas, Dalma and Marawah (21st March to 21st April 1992). London: Trident Press.

King G.R. 2001. The coming of Islam and the Islamic period in the UAE. Pages 70–97 in I. Al-Abed & P. Hellyer (eds), United Arab Emirates: A new perspective. London: Trident Press.

King G.R.D. & Hellyer P. 1998. The pre-Islamic monastery on Sir Bani Yas. Pages 42–49 in P. Hellyer (ed.), Filling in the blanks: Recent archaeological discoveries in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi: Motivate Publishing.

King G., Dunlop D., Elders J., Garfi S., Stephenson A. & Tonghini C. 1995. A report of the Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey (1993–4). Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 25: 63–74.

Lic A. 2017. Chronology of stucco production in the Gulf and southern Mesopotamia in the early Islamic period. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 47: 151–162.

Lilyquist C., Brill R. & Wypyski M. 1993. Studies in early Egyptian glass. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Mirti P., Davit P. & Gulmini M. 2002. Colourants and opacifiers in seventh and eighth century glass investigated by spectroscopic techniques. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry 372/1: 221–229.

Mirti P., Pace M. & Malandrino M. 2009. Sasanian glass from Veh Ardašīr: New evidence by ICP-MS analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science 36: 1061–1069.

Mirti P., Pace M., Negro Ponzi M. & Aceto M. 2008. ICP–MS analysis of glass fragments of Parthian and Sasanian epoch from Selucia and Veh Ardašīr (Central Iraq). Archaeometry 50/3: 429–450.

Negro Ponzi M.M. 1987. Late Sasanian glassware from Tell Baruda. Mesopotamia 22: 265–275.

Nenna M-D. 2011. Le matériel en verre du tell d’Akkaz/The glass objects from Tell Akkaz (Kuwait). Pages 289–295 in J. Gachet-Bizollon (ed.), Le Tell d’Akkaz au Koweït/Tell Akkaz in Kuwait. (Travaux de la Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée, 57). Lyon: Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée.

Payne R. 2011. Monks, dinars and date palms: Hagiographical production and the expansion of monastic institutions in the early Islamic Persian Gulf. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 22/1: 97–111.

Phelps M. 2016. An investigation into technological change and organisational developments in glass production between the Byzantine and early Islamic periods (7th–12th centuries) focussing on evidence from Israel. PhD thesis, University College London. [Unpublished].

Phelps M. 2018. Glass supply and trade in early Islamic Ramla: An investigation of the plant ash glass. Pages 206–247 in D. Rosenow, M. Phelps, A. Meek & I. Freestone (eds), Things that travelled: Mediterranean glass in the first millennium CE. London: UCL Press.

Phelps M., Freeston I. C., 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. Journal of Archaeological Science 75: 57–71.

Sasaki T. & Sasaki H. 1998. 1997 Excavations at Jazirat Al-Hulayla, Ras Al-Khaimah, U.A.E. Bulletin of Archaeology, The University of Kanazawa 24: 99–196, pls 1–94.

Sayre E.V. 1963. The intentional use of antimony and manganese in ancient glasses. Pages 263–282 in F.R. Matson & G.E. Rindone (eds), Advances in glass technology, Part 2. New York: Plenum Press.

Schreurs J.W.H. & Brill R.H. 1984. Iron and sulphur-related colours in ancient glass. Archaeometry 16: 199–209.

Simpson St J. 2014. Sasanian glass: An overview. Pages 200–231 in D. Keller, J. Price & C. Jackson (eds), Neighbours and successors of Rome: Traditions of glass production and use in Europe and the Middle East in the later first millennium AD. Oxford: Oxbow/Association for the History of Glass.

Simpson St J. 2018. Christians on Iraq’s desert frontier. Al-Rafidan 39: 1–30.

Steve M-J. 2003. L’Île de Khārg: Une page de l’histoire du Golfe persique et du monachisme oriental. (Civilisations du Proche-Orient. Série I, Archéologie et environnement, 1). Ed. H. Gasche. Neuchâtel: Recherches et Publications.

Van Ess M. & Pedde F. 1992. Uruk: Kleinfunde II. Mainz: von Zabern.

Wypyski M.T. 2015. Chemical analysis of early Islamic glass from Nishapur. Journal of Glass Studies 57: 121–136.

Zarins J., al-Mughannam A.S. & Kamal M. 1984. Excavations at Dhahran South — The Tumuli Field (208–92), 1403 AH/1983. A preliminary report. Atlal 8: 25–54.

Published

01/01/2018

How to Cite

Phelps, M., Simpson, S. J., & Freestone, I. C. (2018). The early Islamic glass from Ṣīr Banī Yās, UAE. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 48, 249–269. Retrieved from https://archaeopresspublishing.com/ojs/index.php/PSAS/article/view/1025

Similar Articles

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.