Sphero-conical Vessels from Baalbek
A Diverse and Challenging Collection
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jia.v3i2.32828Keywords:
Middle Islamic Period, Islamic Ceramics, Sphero-conical vessels, military conflict, Islamic BaalbekAbstract
Recent archaeological excavations in the area of Bustan Nassif, south of the citadel of Baalbek, by the DAI-Berlin, BTU-Cottbus and DGA-Lebanon, have brought to light an important urban sector occupied during the Middle Islamic period with public buildings (mosque, hamm?m, kh?n) and private houses, crossed by a main arterial road connecting one of the city gates to the city centre. A significant quantity of ceramics has been unearthed in this sector, documenting the history of common ware and fine ware productions on the site from the 12th through the early 15th centuries. Among these are numerous sphero-conical vessels from the north-eastern area, which bears witness to an important military destruction. In addition to the assemblage from Bustan Nassif, the site of Baalbek has produced numerous sphero-conical vessels from unstratified and secondary contexts. This material is particularly rich and varied, in terms of fabric, form, and surface treatment, also including some glazed items. An important sub-group of these vessels is incised with inscriptions or symbols, executed after firing, providing new perspectives on object use. The rich variety of the Baalbek assemblage recovered from good stratigraphic contexts provides new clues for understanding the function(s) of sphero-conical vessels.
References
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Adahl, K.
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Ayalon, D.
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Albaum, L. I.
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Avissar, M. and E. Stern.
2005. Pottery of the Crusader, Ayyubid and Mamluk Periods in Israel. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority 26.
Bagatti, P. B.
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Brosh, N.
1980. “A re-examination of Islamic ceramic grenades.” ?Atiqot 14, 114–115. Jerusalem: Department of Antiquities and Museums.
Chester, G. J.
1871. “On the Pottery and Glass Found in the Excavations”, In The Recovery of Jerusalem, a Narrative Exploration and Discovery in the City and the Holy Land, edited by C. Warren and W. Whiston, 480-1. London: British Library.
Djanpoladian, R. M.
1958. “Vases sphéroconiques de Dvin et de Ani.” Sovietskaya Archeologiya I: 201–213.
Dumarçay, J.
1965. “Éolipiles?.” Syria 42: 75–79.
Ettinghausen, R.
1965. “The use of sphero-conical vessels in the Muslim East.” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 24, N. 3: 218-229. https://doi.org/10.1086/371816
Fischer-Genz, B., H. Lehmann and V. Vezzoli.
2010. “Pots in a corner: Ceramics and glass from a closed medieval context in ‘Bustan Nassif (Baalbek)’.” Bulletin d’Archéologie et d’Architecture Libanaises 14: 289–305.
François, V.
1999. Céramiques médiévales à Alexandrie. Cairo: Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale.
Galieva, S.
2000. “Sphero-conical vessels of Central Asia: Their typology and chronology.” In Proceedings of the International conference dedicated to the 50th Anniversary of G. V. Shishkina’s Scholarly Activity, 52–61. Moscow: State Oriental Museum.
Ghouchani, A. and C. Adle.
1992. “A sphero-conical vessel as Fuqq??a, or a Gourd for ‘Beer’.” Muqarnas 9: 72–92. https://doi.org/10.2307/1523137
Goitein, S. D.
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Israeli, S.
2008. “Chapter 10. Area E: Stratigraphic details and the pottery from the asped building.” In Paneas vol. 1, The Roman to Early Islamic Periods Excavations in Areas A, B, E, F, G and H, edited by V. Tzaferis and S. Israeli, 155–172. Israel Antiquities Authority Reports, 37. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority.
Jenkins, M.
1984. “Mamluk underglaze-painted pottery: Foundations for future study.” Muqarnas 2: 95–114. https://doi.org/10.2307/1523059
Lane, A. S.
1947. Early Islamic Pottery. London: Faber and Faber.
Lehmann, H.
2014. “Das grabungsareal bustan Nassif.” In Baalbek-Heliopolis, edited by M. van Ess and K. Rheidt, 168–171. Darmstadt: Verlag Philipp von Zabern.
2015. Baalbek in nachantiker Zeit: Untersuchungen zur Stadtbaugeschichte vom 5. bis zum 20. Jahrhundert, Orient-Archäologie 35. Rahden: Verlag Marie Leidorf GmbH.
Lenz, W.
1912-1914. “Handgranaten oder quecksilber gefazze?.” Zeitschrift für Historisch Waffenkunde 6: 367–376.
Hildburgh, W. L.
1951. “Aeolipiles as fire blowers.” Archaeologia 94: 27–55. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261340900007207
Kubiak, B. and G. T. Scanlon.
1979. “Fustat expedition: Preliminary report.” Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 16: 103–124. https://doi.org/10.2307/40000321
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Mercier, M.
1952. Le feu grégeois. Les feux de guèrre depuis l’Antiquité. La poudre à canon. Paris: Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner – Librarie Aubanel Ainé.
Mostafa, M.
1959. “Neuerwerbungen des museums für Islamische Kunst in Kairo, Aus der Welt des Islamischen Kunst.” In Aus der Welt der islamischen Kunst: Festschrift für Ernst Kühnel, edited by R. Ettinghausen: 91–92. Berlin: Gebr. Mann.
Nuretdinova, A.
2015. “Sphero-conical vessels of Volga Bulgaria.” Global Pottery 1: International Congress on Historical Archaeology and Archaeometry for Societies in Contact, Barcelona, 7–9 May 2012, edited by J. Buxeda i Garrigós, M. Madrid i Fernández, J. G. Iñañez, 103–115. BAR International Series 2761.
Pentz, P.
1988. “A medieval workshop for producing ‘Greek-fire’ grenades.” Antiquity 62(234): 89–93. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00073531
Prag, K.
2008. Excavations by K.M. Kenyon in Jerusalem 1961-1967, Vol. V, Discoveries in Hellenistic to Ottoman Jerusalem, Oxford: Oxbow Books: 265-269.
Rogers, M.
1969. “Aeolipiles again.” In Forschungen zur Kunst Asiens in Memoriam Kurt Erdmann, edited by O. Aslapana, R. Naumann and K. Erdmann, 147–158. Istanbul: Baha Matbaasi.
Riis, P. J. and V. Poulsen.
1957. Hama, fouilles et recherches de la Fondation Carlsberg IV, 2. Les verreries et poteries médiévales. Copenhague: Fondation Carlsberg.
Salamé-Sarkis, H.
1980. Contribution à l’Histoire de Tripoli et de sa region à l’époque des croisades. Paris: Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner.
Sarre, F.
1925. Keramik und andere Kleinfunde der islamischen Zeit von Baalbek, Berlin und Leipzig: Verlag vor Walter de Gruyter.
Sauvaget, J.
1949. “Flacons à vin ou grenades à ‘feu grégois’?” Mélanges Henri Grégoire I, 525–530. Bruxelles: Annuaire de l’Institut de Philologie de d’Histoire Orientales et Slaves, Université Libre de Bruxelles, IX.
de Saulcy, F.
1874. “Note sur des projectiles à mai, creux et en terre cuite de fabrication arabe.” Mémoires de la Société Nationale des Antiquaires de France 25: 25–34.
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.
Seyrig, H.
1959. “Flacons? Grenades? Éolipiles?” Syria 36: 81–89.
Sezgin, F. and E. Neubauer.
2010. “Chapter 12: Military Technology.” In Science and Technology in Islam, Vol. 5, edited by F. Sezgin: 91-138. Frankfurt am Main: Institut für Geschichte der Arabisch-Islamischen Wissenschaften an der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität.
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 Reports.
Shishkina, C. C. and L. V. Pavchinskaja.
1992. «La production céramique de Samarcande du VIIIe au XIIIe siècle.” In Terres secrètes de Samarcande, Céramiques du VIIIe au XIIIe siècle, 47–73. Paris: Imprimerie moderne de Lyon.
Stern, E.
2012. ‘Akko I: The 1991–1998 Excavations, the Crusader Period Pottery. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority Reports 51/1.
van Ess, M. and K. Rheidt.
2014. Baalbek-Heliopolis. Darmstadt: Verlag Philipp von Zabern.
Vezzoli, V.
2013. “The Fustat ceramic collection in the Royal Museums of Art and History of Brussels: The Mamluk Assemblage.” Bulletin des Musées Royaux d’Art et d’Histoire 82: 119–168.
2015 “Baalbek during the Islamic Period: The ceramic assemblage from the area of Bustan Nassif.” In Proceedings of the 10th International Congress on Medieval Pottery in the Mediterranean, XAIECM2, Silves – Mertola (Portugal), 20–27 October 2012, edited by M. J. Gonçalves and S. Gomez-Martinez, 133–138. Silves: Càmara Municipal de Silves/Campo Arqueolégico de Mértola.
Walker, B. J.
2004. “Ceramic evidence for political transformations in early Mamluk Egypt.” Mamluk Studies Review 8: 1–114.
Warren, C.
1884. Plans, Excavations, Sections &c. shewing the results of the excavations at Jerusalem 1867–1870, Portfolio. Palestine Exploration Fund. London: Day and Son.
Watson, O.
2004. Ceramic from the Islamic Lands. London: Thames and Hudson.
Wiegand, T.
1925. Baalbek. Ergebnisse der Ausgrabubgen und Untersuchungen in den Jahren 1898 bis 1905, dritter Band. Berlin und Leipzig: Verlag vor Walter de Gruyter.
Wilkinson, C. K.
1973 Nishapur: Pottery of the Early Islamic Period. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Yeleuov, M., Y. S. Akymbek, C. Chang.
2014. “Sphero-conical vessels of Aktobe medieval ancient settlement.” Life Science Journal 2014 (11): 384–387.
Zelenko, S.
2011. “Mysterious spheroconical vessels—medieval finds in the Novy Svet bay.” Underwater World Magazine 3: 60–64.
1992. Terres secretès de Samarcande. Céramiques du VIIIe au XIIIe siècles. Paris: Institut du Monde Arabe.
Abel, A.
1930. Gaib? et les grandes faïenciers égyptiens d’époque mamelouke, avec un catalogue de leurs oeuvres conservées au Musée d’Art Arabe du Caire. Cairo: Publications du Musée arabe du Caire.
Adahl, K.
1997. “Seven Sphero-Conical Vessels in the Stockholm Museum.” Medelhavsmuseet Bulletin 30: 58-69.
Ayalon, D.
1978. Gunpowder and Firearms in the Mamluk Kingdom. A challenge to a Medieval Society, 2nd ed. London and New Jersey: Frank Cass.
Albaum, L. I.
1969. “Production des potiers à Afrasiab, Xe-XIe siècles.” Afrasiab I. Tachkent.
Avissar, M. and E. Stern.
2005. Pottery of the Crusader, Ayyubid and Mamluk Periods in Israel. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority 26.
Bagatti, P. B.
1953. “Bombe a ‘Fuoco Greco’ in Palestina.” Faenza 39: 35-38.
Brosh, N.
1980. “A re-examination of Islamic ceramic grenades.” ?Atiqot 14, 114–115. Jerusalem: Department of Antiquities and Museums.
Chester, G. J.
1871. “On the Pottery and Glass Found in the Excavations”, In The Recovery of Jerusalem, a Narrative Exploration and Discovery in the City and the Holy Land, edited by C. Warren and W. Whiston, 480-1. London: British Library.
Djanpoladian, R. M.
1958. “Vases sphéroconiques de Dvin et de Ani.” Sovietskaya Archeologiya I: 201–213.
Dumarçay, J.
1965. “Éolipiles?.” Syria 42: 75–79.
Ettinghausen, R.
1965. “The use of sphero-conical vessels in the Muslim East.” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 24, N. 3: 218-229. https://doi.org/10.1086/371816
Fischer-Genz, B., H. Lehmann and V. Vezzoli.
2010. “Pots in a corner: Ceramics and glass from a closed medieval context in ‘Bustan Nassif (Baalbek)’.” Bulletin d’Archéologie et d’Architecture Libanaises 14: 289–305.
François, V.
1999. Céramiques médiévales à Alexandrie. Cairo: Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale.
Galieva, S.
2000. “Sphero-conical vessels of Central Asia: Their typology and chronology.” In Proceedings of the International conference dedicated to the 50th Anniversary of G. V. Shishkina’s Scholarly Activity, 52–61. Moscow: State Oriental Museum.
Ghouchani, A. and C. Adle.
1992. “A sphero-conical vessel as Fuqq??a, or a Gourd for ‘Beer’.” Muqarnas 9: 72–92. https://doi.org/10.2307/1523137
Goitein, S. D.
1983. A Mediterranean Society: The Jewish Communities of the Arab World as Portrayed in the Documents of the Cairo Geniza, Vol. IV, Daily Life. Los Angeles: University of California.
Hauser, W. and Ch. K. Wilkinson.
1942. “The museum’s excavations at Nishapur.” Bullettin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 34: 81–119.
Israeli, S.
2008. “Chapter 10. Area E: Stratigraphic details and the pottery from the asped building.” In Paneas vol. 1, The Roman to Early Islamic Periods Excavations in Areas A, B, E, F, G and H, edited by V. Tzaferis and S. Israeli, 155–172. Israel Antiquities Authority Reports, 37. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority.
Jenkins, M.
1984. “Mamluk underglaze-painted pottery: Foundations for future study.” Muqarnas 2: 95–114. https://doi.org/10.2307/1523059
Lane, A. S.
1947. Early Islamic Pottery. London: Faber and Faber.
Lehmann, H.
2014. “Das grabungsareal bustan Nassif.” In Baalbek-Heliopolis, edited by M. van Ess and K. Rheidt, 168–171. Darmstadt: Verlag Philipp von Zabern.
2015. Baalbek in nachantiker Zeit: Untersuchungen zur Stadtbaugeschichte vom 5. bis zum 20. Jahrhundert, Orient-Archäologie 35. Rahden: Verlag Marie Leidorf GmbH.
Lenz, W.
1912-1914. “Handgranaten oder quecksilber gefazze?.” Zeitschrift für Historisch Waffenkunde 6: 367–376.
Hildburgh, W. L.
1951. “Aeolipiles as fire blowers.” Archaeologia 94: 27–55. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261340900007207
Kubiak, B. and G. T. Scanlon.
1979. “Fustat expedition: Preliminary report.” Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 16: 103–124. https://doi.org/10.2307/40000321
Mason, R. B.
online www.museumsecrets.tv, http://www.museumsecrets.tv/dossier.php?o=53
Mercier, M.
1952. Le feu grégeois. Les feux de guèrre depuis l’Antiquité. La poudre à canon. Paris: Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner – Librarie Aubanel Ainé.
Mostafa, M.
1959. “Neuerwerbungen des museums für Islamische Kunst in Kairo, Aus der Welt des Islamischen Kunst.” In Aus der Welt der islamischen Kunst: Festschrift für Ernst Kühnel, edited by R. Ettinghausen: 91–92. Berlin: Gebr. Mann.
Nuretdinova, A.
2015. “Sphero-conical vessels of Volga Bulgaria.” Global Pottery 1: International Congress on Historical Archaeology and Archaeometry for Societies in Contact, Barcelona, 7–9 May 2012, edited by J. Buxeda i Garrigós, M. Madrid i Fernández, J. G. Iñañez, 103–115. BAR International Series 2761.
Pentz, P.
1988. “A medieval workshop for producing ‘Greek-fire’ grenades.” Antiquity 62(234): 89–93. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00073531
Prag, K.
2008. Excavations by K.M. Kenyon in Jerusalem 1961-1967, Vol. V, Discoveries in Hellenistic to Ottoman Jerusalem, Oxford: Oxbow Books: 265-269.
Rogers, M.
1969. “Aeolipiles again.” In Forschungen zur Kunst Asiens in Memoriam Kurt Erdmann, edited by O. Aslapana, R. Naumann and K. Erdmann, 147–158. Istanbul: Baha Matbaasi.
Riis, P. J. and V. Poulsen.
1957. Hama, fouilles et recherches de la Fondation Carlsberg IV, 2. Les verreries et poteries médiévales. Copenhague: Fondation Carlsberg.
Salamé-Sarkis, H.
1980. Contribution à l’Histoire de Tripoli et de sa region à l’époque des croisades. Paris: Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner.
Sarre, F.
1925. Keramik und andere Kleinfunde der islamischen Zeit von Baalbek, Berlin und Leipzig: Verlag vor Walter de Gruyter.
Sauvaget, J.
1949. “Flacons à vin ou grenades à ‘feu grégois’?” Mélanges Henri Grégoire I, 525–530. Bruxelles: Annuaire de l’Institut de Philologie de d’Histoire Orientales et Slaves, Université Libre de Bruxelles, IX.
de Saulcy, F.
1874. “Note sur des projectiles à mai, creux et en terre cuite de fabrication arabe.” Mémoires de la Société Nationale des Antiquaires de France 25: 25–34.
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.
Seyrig, H.
1959. “Flacons? Grenades? Éolipiles?” Syria 36: 81–89.
Sezgin, F. and E. Neubauer.
2010. “Chapter 12: Military Technology.” In Science and Technology in Islam, Vol. 5, edited by F. Sezgin: 91-138. Frankfurt am Main: Institut für Geschichte der Arabisch-Islamischen Wissenschaften an der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität.
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 Reports.
Shishkina, C. C. and L. V. Pavchinskaja.
1992. «La production céramique de Samarcande du VIIIe au XIIIe siècle.” In Terres secrètes de Samarcande, Céramiques du VIIIe au XIIIe siècle, 47–73. Paris: Imprimerie moderne de Lyon.
Stern, E.
2012. ‘Akko I: The 1991–1998 Excavations, the Crusader Period Pottery. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority Reports 51/1.
van Ess, M. and K. Rheidt.
2014. Baalbek-Heliopolis. Darmstadt: Verlag Philipp von Zabern.
Vezzoli, V.
2013. “The Fustat ceramic collection in the Royal Museums of Art and History of Brussels: The Mamluk Assemblage.” Bulletin des Musées Royaux d’Art et d’Histoire 82: 119–168.
2015 “Baalbek during the Islamic Period: The ceramic assemblage from the area of Bustan Nassif.” In Proceedings of the 10th International Congress on Medieval Pottery in the Mediterranean, XAIECM2, Silves – Mertola (Portugal), 20–27 October 2012, edited by M. J. Gonçalves and S. Gomez-Martinez, 133–138. Silves: Càmara Municipal de Silves/Campo Arqueolégico de Mértola.
Walker, B. J.
2004. “Ceramic evidence for political transformations in early Mamluk Egypt.” Mamluk Studies Review 8: 1–114.
Warren, C.
1884. Plans, Excavations, Sections &c. shewing the results of the excavations at Jerusalem 1867–1870, Portfolio. Palestine Exploration Fund. London: Day and Son.
Watson, O.
2004. Ceramic from the Islamic Lands. London: Thames and Hudson.
Wiegand, T.
1925. Baalbek. Ergebnisse der Ausgrabubgen und Untersuchungen in den Jahren 1898 bis 1905, dritter Band. Berlin und Leipzig: Verlag vor Walter de Gruyter.
Wilkinson, C. K.
1973 Nishapur: Pottery of the Early Islamic Period. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Yeleuov, M., Y. S. Akymbek, C. Chang.
2014. “Sphero-conical vessels of Aktobe medieval ancient settlement.” Life Science Journal 2014 (11): 384–387.
Zelenko, S.
2011. “Mysterious spheroconical vessels—medieval finds in the Novy Svet bay.” Underwater World Magazine 3: 60–64.
Published
2017-02-15
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Vezzoli, V. (2017). Sphero-conical Vessels from Baalbek: A Diverse and Challenging Collection. Journal of Islamic Archaeology, 3(2), 209-231. https://doi.org/10.1558/jia.v3i2.32828
