Note on a Use of Sphero-conical Vessels in Mamluk Era Damascus
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jia.v3i2.32826Keywords:
Sphero-conical vessels, pottery, kizan, Mamluk, DamascusAbstract
This paper returns to a theory positing that some sphero-conical vessels discovered at medieval sites in the Islamic world were used to hold beverages. Using historical sources about Damascus dating from the 14th and 15th centuries, the author argues that some of these objects should be considered as bottles designed to hold fuqq'a (a sparkling beverage) and provides new evidence about the period in which they were used and produced in Syria.
References
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1870. Kit?b al-raw?atayn f? akhb?r al-dawlatayn al-N?riyya wa-l-?al??iyya. Cairo: ?Atabat w?d? al-N?l bi-Mi?r al-Q?hira.
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1978. Anselmi Adournes Itinerarium. Translated by J. Heers and G. De Groër. Paris: CNRS.
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1948. Viaggio di Lionardo di Niccolo di Frescobaldi (Journey of Leonardo di Niccolo Frescobaldi). Translated by Theophilis Bellorini and Eugène Hoade. Jerusalem: Franciscan Press.
Ibn Ba????a, Ab? ?Abdallah Mu?ammad.
1853. “Ri?la.” In Voyages d’Ibn Batoutah (Travels of Ibn Batoutah). Edited and translated by C. Defrémery and B. R. Sanguinetti. Paris: Imprimerie Imperiale.
al-Jazar?, Mu?ammad Ibr?h?m ?bn Ab? Bakr.
1998. H?aw?dith al-zam?n wa-wafay?t al-ak?bir wa-l-a?y?n min abn??ih. Edited by ?Abd al-Sal?m al-Tadmur?. Saida-Beirut: al-Maktabat al-?Asriyya.
Ibn Kath?r, ?Im?d al-D?n Ab? al-Fid?? ?Ism???l.
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Cytryn-Silverman, K.
2010. “The ceramic evidence.” In Ramla Final Report on the Excavations north of the White Mosque, 97 – 212. Qedem 51. Jerusalem: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
De Laborde, L.
1872. Glossaire français du Moyen Âge à l’usage de l’archéologue et de l’amateur. Paris: Adolphe Labitte.
De Saulcy, F.
1874. “Note sur des projectiles à main creux et en terre cuite de fabrication arabe.” Mémoires de la Société Nationale des Antiquaires de France 4(5): 18–34.
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1965. “Eolipiles.” Syria 42(1): 75–79. https://doi.org/10.3406/syria.1965.5836
Ettinghausen, R.
1965. “The uses of sphero-conical vessels in the Muslim east.” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 24: 218– 229. https://doi.org/10.1086/371816
Eychenne, M.
2013. “La production agricole de Damas et de la Gh??a au XIVe siècle. Diversité, taxation et prix des cultures maraîchères d’après al-Jazar? (m.739/1338).” Journal of Economic and Social History of the Orient 56: 569–630. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685209-12341334
Fehervari, G.
2000. Ceramics of the Islamic World in the Tareq Rajab Museum. London: Tauris.
Gayraud, R.-P., J.-C. Treglia and L. Vallauri.
2009. “Assemblages de céramiques égyptiennes et témoins de production, datés par les fouilles d’Istabl Antar, Fustat (IXe-Xe siècles).” Actas del VIII Congreso Internacional de cerámica medieval en el Mediterráneo, edited by J. Zozaya et al., 171–191. Ciudad: Real-Almagro.
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1992. “A sphero-conical vessel as fuqqa?a, or a gourd for ‘beer’.” Muqarnas 9: 72–92. https://doi.org/10.2307/1523137
Hildburgh, W. L.
1952 “Aeolipiles as Fire Blowers.” Archaeologia 94: 27-55. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261340900007207
Keall, E. J.
1993. “One man’s Mede is another man’s Persian; One man’s coconut is another man’s grenade.” Muqarnas 10: 275–285. https://doi.org/10.2307/1523192
Kazimirski, A.
1860. Dictionnaire arabe-français. 2 vols. Paris: Maisonneuve.
Lane, A.
1947. Early Islamic Pottery: Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Persia. London: Faber and Faber.
Lewicka, P.
2011. Food and Foodways of Medieval Cairenes. Leiden: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004194724.i-626
Loiseau, J.
2012. “Les investissements du sultan al-Mu?ayyad Šay? à Damas d’après son acte de waqf (823/1420)
Édition commentée.” Bulletin des Etudes Orientales 61: 163–189. https://doi.org/10.4000/beo.896
Mercier, M.
1952 Le feu grégeois, les feux de guerre depuis l’antiquité, la poudre à canon. Paris: Geuthner.
Milwright, M.
2008 The Fortress of the Raven: Karak in the Middle Islamic Period (1100–1650). Islamic History and Civilization Studies and Texts 72. Leiden: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004165199.I-445
Nasrallah, N.
2007. Annals of the Caliph’s kitchen, Ibn Sayy?r al-Warr?q’s Tenth-Century Baghdadi Cookbook. Leiden: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004158672.i-907
Partington, J. R.
1960 A History of Greek Fire and Gunpowder, Cambridge: JHU Press.
Pentz J.
1988. “A medieval workshop for producing “greek fire” grenades.” Antiquity 62: 89–93. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00073531
Quatremère, E.
1850. “Observations sur le feu grégeois.” Journal Asiatique 15: 214 – 274.
Riis P. J. and V. Poulsen.
1954. Hama, fouilles et recherches de la Fondation Carlsberg 1931–1938, vol. 4, part 2: Les verreries et poteries médiévales. Nationalmuseets Skrifter, Sterre Beretninger III. Copenhagen: National Museum.
Sadan, J.
“Mashrubat.” In Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Edited by P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis,
C. E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W. P. Heinrichs, vol. 6, 720–723. Leiden: Brill.
Sarre, M.
1925. Keramik und andere Kleinfunde der islamischen Zeit von Baalbek. Berlin: W. de Gruyter.
Savage-Smith, E.
1997 “Sphero-conical vessels: A typology of forms and functions.” In Science, Tools and Magic, Part Two: Mundane Worlds, Volume XII Part 2, edited by E. Savage-Smith, 324 – 333. Oxford: The Nasser D. Khalily Collection of Islamic Art.
Sauvaget, J.
1949. “Flacons à vin ou grenades à feu grégeois?” Annuaire de l’Institut de philologie et d’histoire orientales et slaves, Mélanges Henri Grégoire, vol. 1, 525–530. Bruxelles: Secre?tariat de l’Institut.
Serjeant, R. B.
1946. “Review of Excavation at Samarra.” Ars Islamica 12: 203–204.
Seyrig, H.
1959. “flacons, grenades ou eolipiles.” Syria 31: 81–89.
Sharvit, J.
2008. “The sphero-conical vessels.” In Paneas II: Small Finds and Other Studies, edited by V. Tzaferis, and S. Israeli, 101–112. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority.
Stacey, D.
2004. Excavations at Tiberias, 1973–1974: The Early Islamic Periods. Israel Antiquities Authority Reports 21. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority.
Wilkinson, C. K.
1973. Nishapur. Pottery of the Early Islamic Period. New York: The Metropolitan Museum.
Wilson, C. W., R. E Warren, et al.
1871 Recovery of Jerusalem: A Narrative of Exploration and Discovery in the City and the Holy Land. London: Bentley.
Ab? Sh?ma, Shih?b al-D?n ?Abd al-Ra?m?n.
1870. Kit?b al-raw?atayn f? akhb?r al-dawlatayn al-N?riyya wa-l-?al??iyya. Cairo: ?Atabat w?d? al-N?l bi-Mi?r al-Q?hira.
Adorno, Anselme.
1978. Anselmi Adournes Itinerarium. Translated by J. Heers and G. De Groër. Paris: CNRS.
Frescobaldi Lionardo, Giorgio Gucci and Simone Sigoli.
1948. Viaggio di Lionardo di Niccolo di Frescobaldi (Journey of Leonardo di Niccolo Frescobaldi). Translated by Theophilis Bellorini and Eugène Hoade. Jerusalem: Franciscan Press.
Ibn Ba????a, Ab? ?Abdallah Mu?ammad.
1853. “Ri?la.” In Voyages d’Ibn Batoutah (Travels of Ibn Batoutah). Edited and translated by C. Defrémery and B. R. Sanguinetti. Paris: Imprimerie Imperiale.
al-Jazar?, Mu?ammad Ibr?h?m ?bn Ab? Bakr.
1998. H?aw?dith al-zam?n wa-wafay?t al-ak?bir wa-l-a?y?n min abn??ih. Edited by ?Abd al-Sal?m al-Tadmur?. Saida-Beirut: al-Maktabat al-?Asriyya.
Ibn Kath?r, ?Im?d al-D?n Ab? al-Fid?? ?Ism???l.
2015. al-Bid?ya wa al-Nih?ya. Edited by ?Abd al-?am?d al-Hind?w?. Saida-Beirut: al-Maktabat al-?Asriyya.
Secondary sources
Adahl, K.
1997. “Seven sphero-conical vessels in the Stockholm Museum.” Medelhavsmuseet Bulletin 30: 58–69.
Brosh, N.
1980. “A re-examination of Islamic ceramic grenades.” ?Atiqot 14, 114–115. Jerusalem: Department of Antiquities and Museums.
Cytryn-Silverman, K.
2010. “The ceramic evidence.” In Ramla Final Report on the Excavations north of the White Mosque, 97 – 212. Qedem 51. Jerusalem: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
De Laborde, L.
1872. Glossaire français du Moyen Âge à l’usage de l’archéologue et de l’amateur. Paris: Adolphe Labitte.
De Saulcy, F.
1874. “Note sur des projectiles à main creux et en terre cuite de fabrication arabe.” Mémoires de la Société Nationale des Antiquaires de France 4(5): 18–34.
Dumarçay, J.
1965. “Eolipiles.” Syria 42(1): 75–79. https://doi.org/10.3406/syria.1965.5836
Ettinghausen, R.
1965. “The uses of sphero-conical vessels in the Muslim east.” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 24: 218– 229. https://doi.org/10.1086/371816
Eychenne, M.
2013. “La production agricole de Damas et de la Gh??a au XIVe siècle. Diversité, taxation et prix des cultures maraîchères d’après al-Jazar? (m.739/1338).” Journal of Economic and Social History of the Orient 56: 569–630. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685209-12341334
Fehervari, G.
2000. Ceramics of the Islamic World in the Tareq Rajab Museum. London: Tauris.
Gayraud, R.-P., J.-C. Treglia and L. Vallauri.
2009. “Assemblages de céramiques égyptiennes et témoins de production, datés par les fouilles d’Istabl Antar, Fustat (IXe-Xe siècles).” Actas del VIII Congreso Internacional de cerámica medieval en el Mediterráneo, edited by J. Zozaya et al., 171–191. Ciudad: Real-Almagro.
Government of Iraq, Department of Antiquities.
1940. Excavation at Samarra 1936–1939, vol. 1. Bagdad, Department of Antiquities.
Gouchani, A. and C. Adle.
1992. “A sphero-conical vessel as fuqqa?a, or a gourd for ‘beer’.” Muqarnas 9: 72–92. https://doi.org/10.2307/1523137
Hildburgh, W. L.
1952 “Aeolipiles as Fire Blowers.” Archaeologia 94: 27-55. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261340900007207
Keall, E. J.
1993. “One man’s Mede is another man’s Persian; One man’s coconut is another man’s grenade.” Muqarnas 10: 275–285. https://doi.org/10.2307/1523192
Kazimirski, A.
1860. Dictionnaire arabe-français. 2 vols. Paris: Maisonneuve.
Lane, A.
1947. Early Islamic Pottery: Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Persia. London: Faber and Faber.
Lewicka, P.
2011. Food and Foodways of Medieval Cairenes. Leiden: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004194724.i-626
Loiseau, J.
2012. “Les investissements du sultan al-Mu?ayyad Šay? à Damas d’après son acte de waqf (823/1420)
Édition commentée.” Bulletin des Etudes Orientales 61: 163–189. https://doi.org/10.4000/beo.896
Mercier, M.
1952 Le feu grégeois, les feux de guerre depuis l’antiquité, la poudre à canon. Paris: Geuthner.
Milwright, M.
2008 The Fortress of the Raven: Karak in the Middle Islamic Period (1100–1650). Islamic History and Civilization Studies and Texts 72. Leiden: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004165199.I-445
Nasrallah, N.
2007. Annals of the Caliph’s kitchen, Ibn Sayy?r al-Warr?q’s Tenth-Century Baghdadi Cookbook. Leiden: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004158672.i-907
Partington, J. R.
1960 A History of Greek Fire and Gunpowder, Cambridge: JHU Press.
Pentz J.
1988. “A medieval workshop for producing “greek fire” grenades.” Antiquity 62: 89–93. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00073531
Quatremère, E.
1850. “Observations sur le feu grégeois.” Journal Asiatique 15: 214 – 274.
Riis P. J. and V. Poulsen.
1954. Hama, fouilles et recherches de la Fondation Carlsberg 1931–1938, vol. 4, part 2: Les verreries et poteries médiévales. Nationalmuseets Skrifter, Sterre Beretninger III. Copenhagen: National Museum.
Sadan, J.
“Mashrubat.” In Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Edited by P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis,
C. E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W. P. Heinrichs, vol. 6, 720–723. Leiden: Brill.
Sarre, M.
1925. Keramik und andere Kleinfunde der islamischen Zeit von Baalbek. Berlin: W. de Gruyter.
Savage-Smith, E.
1997 “Sphero-conical vessels: A typology of forms and functions.” In Science, Tools and Magic, Part Two: Mundane Worlds, Volume XII Part 2, edited by E. Savage-Smith, 324 – 333. Oxford: The Nasser D. Khalily Collection of Islamic Art.
Sauvaget, J.
1949. “Flacons à vin ou grenades à feu grégeois?” Annuaire de l’Institut de philologie et d’histoire orientales et slaves, Mélanges Henri Grégoire, vol. 1, 525–530. Bruxelles: Secre?tariat de l’Institut.
Serjeant, R. B.
1946. “Review of Excavation at Samarra.” Ars Islamica 12: 203–204.
Seyrig, H.
1959. “flacons, grenades ou eolipiles.” Syria 31: 81–89.
Sharvit, J.
2008. “The sphero-conical vessels.” In Paneas II: Small Finds and Other Studies, edited by V. Tzaferis, and S. Israeli, 101–112. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority.
Stacey, D.
2004. Excavations at Tiberias, 1973–1974: The Early Islamic Periods. Israel Antiquities Authority Reports 21. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority.
Wilkinson, C. K.
1973. Nishapur. Pottery of the Early Islamic Period. New York: The Metropolitan Museum.
Wilson, C. W., R. E Warren, et al.
1871 Recovery of Jerusalem: A Narrative of Exploration and Discovery in the City and the Holy Land. London: Bentley.
Published
2017-02-15
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Vigouroux, E. (2017). Note on a Use of Sphero-conical Vessels in Mamluk Era Damascus. Journal of Islamic Archaeology, 3(2), 187-193. https://doi.org/10.1558/jia.v3i2.32826
