RED GLASS VESSELS FROM JERUSALEM¹

Abstract

Only a few well-preserved glass vessels made from opaque red glass have been published from the Islamic period. However, numerous red- glass fragments are known, some of which come from excavations, such as at Corinth, Hama and Fustat. This paper focuses on red glass vessels found in two groups uncovered in Jerusalem in the Old City's Jewish Quarter. One was uncovered in the course of official excavations conducted in the 1970s by the late Prof. N. Avigad, under the auspices of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The Second is part of a group of artifacts purchased by the L. A. Mayer Museum for Islamic Art, Jerusalem, reported to have been found in the Jewish Quarter. Among the material in the excavated group, eleven fragments of red vessels were found. The Islamic Museum collection contains forty-three fragments, including a bowl that has been almost completely restored. An in-depth examination of these fragments reveals three different types of red glass: 1) vessels made from opaque red glass; 2) vessels madefrom greenish colorless glass painted with red enamel, which represent a new discovery in Islamic glass research; and 3) vessels in which red glass was mixed into greenish or yellowish colorless glass. The Islamic Museum collection includes all three types, while the excavated finds belong solely to the type painted with red enamel.
All the fragments belong to vessels that were probably produced in Jerusalem datable to the Mamluk period, thirteenth to fifteenth century CE.