Orient

Note from the Editors:

Tomoko Masuya

2004 Volume 39 Pages 1
Published: 2004
Released on J-STAGE: March 24, 2008

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5356/orient1960.39.1

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GLASS IN EARLY ISLAMIC SOCIETY- TOWARD A GREATER UNDERSTANDING

Patricia L. BAKER

2004 Volume 39 Pages 3-17
Published: 2004
Released on J-STAGE: March 24, 2008

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5356/orient1960.39.3

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Our knowledge of glass production in the Mediaeval Islamic Middle East has been augmented by recent archaeological excavations in the region, although we still await the publication of a number of reports, describing in detail the significant vessels and furnace finds. This article suggests that investigation of the early and mediaeval literary sources from the Arab world could also lead us to a greater appreciation of how glass was valued and appreciated in those times, and of what qualities were deemed more aesthetically important by the purchases and collector. Yet these very qualities were for some reason set aside by the fourteenth century, when highly decorated enamelled and gilded work on poor quality glass had become the fashion at the Mamluk court.

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THE ISLAMIC GLASS BEAKER WITH WHEEL-CUT DECORATION FROM RAYA, SOUTH SINAI

Yoko SHINDO

2004 Volume 39 Pages 18-38
Published: 2004
Released on J-STAGE: March 24, 2008

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5356/orient1960.39.18

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More than ten thousand pieces of Islamic glass were found from the fort of Raya in the five excavations between 1987 and 2001 by the Middle Eastern Culture Center in Japan (directed by Dr. Mutsuo Kawatoko). An intact flaring beaker with the pseudo-script design by cut technique which was found in the upper part of Room No. 12-6 in the fifth excavation in 2001 is worthy to be called a masterpiece among them.
As a result of the examination, I have reached the following conclusions. 1) The flaring beaker excavated from Raya can be dated to the second half of the tenth century by the composition of high potassium, the peculiar shape and style of decoration. 2) The close relationship between the flaring beaker and the long-necked bottle with cut decoration for the set of drinking vessels can be pointed out. Both of them were traded over a wide area, but unearthed in limited sites in local powerful cities of the Islamic period. On the other side, a cylindrical beaker and a coarse large bottle in pale bluish-green were used for practical use. 3) The Iraqi influences under the Abbasid dynasty and the technical traditions of Syro-Palestine can be seen in the Raya finds, so it is worth noting that this beaker related to the Fatimid dynasty of the latter half of the tenth century appeared under these circumstances. This suggests that some power changes or changes of trading system occurred right in Raya.

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ISLAMIC GLASS VESSELS EXCAVATED FROM TOMBS DATED 1018 AND 1020 OF THE LIAO DYNASTY

Takashi TANIICHI

2004 Volume 39 Pages 39-51
Published: 2004
Released on J-STAGE: March 24, 2008

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5356/orient1960.39.39

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This paper concerns Islamic glass vessels excavated in China, especially from tombs in Inner Mongolia and Liaoning, dating from the Liao period (916-1125 A.D.). Some views concerning these vessels have been presented already after the final excavation report was published and some of the glass vessels were chemically analyzed by the Chinese Research Institute.
Unfortunately an overview of these Islamic glass materials from China is rather unknown to European and American scholars. I will offer a catalogue of such materials and compare them with similar examples excavated in West Asia.

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RED GLASS VESSELS FROM JERUSALEM¹

Na'ama BROSH

2004 Volume 39 Pages 52-68
Published: 2004
Released on J-STAGE: March 24, 2008

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5356/orient1960.39.52

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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.

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FIFTEENTH-CENTURY ENAMELED AND GILDED GLASS MADE FOR THE MAMLUKS: THE END OF AN ERA, THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ONE

Stefano CARBONI

2004 Volume 39 Pages 69-78
Published: 2004
Released on J-STAGE: March 24, 2008

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5356/orient1960.39.69

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The present article deals with fifteenth-century production of enameled and gilded glass in the Mamluk period, a little known aspect of an industry that saw its heyday during the late thirteenth century and the first half of the fourteenth. Usually dismissed as virtually non-existent after the turn of the fifteenth century, the scale and technical and artistic qualities of Mamluk glass unquestionably declined; four surviving mosque lamps, however, help to reconstruct an essential history of the craft in Cairo from the 1410s to the 1470s. These four lamps, which are very similar to the well-known fourteenth-century production in shape, dimensions, and decorative program, include enameled and gilded inscriptions that mention the names of their patrons and can therefore be studied in an appropriate context. Two lamps are dedicated to the Mamluk sultan al-Mu'ayyad Abu Nasr Shaykh (r. 1412-21) and were specifically made for his madrasa (Qur'anic school) built in 1410-15. The third one carries the name of the powerful emir Qani-bay al-Jarkasi (d. 1462), who served in various important positions under the rule of the sultan al-Malik al-Zahir Jaqmaq (r. 1438-53). The last lamp is in the name of the sultan al-Malik al-Ashraf Qait-bay (r. 1468-96). While there is no question that the first three lamps were made in a Cairene workshop, thus offering evidence of both a continuity of production and an obvious artistic decline, the object in Qait-bay's name has always been regarded as an export of European origin (Venice or, more recently, Barcelona) on the basis of its decoration and of the presumed disappearance of the industry in Egypt in the late fifteenth century. In the article, I suggest that, after all, Qait-bay's lamp may represent the swan song of a declining production in Cairo before the demise of the Mamluks and the Ottoman conquest.

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TENTATIVE CHRONOLOGICAL SEQUENCE OF BOW-TIE DESIGNS IN BABA JAN III PAINTED WARE

Takuro ADACHI

2004 Volume 39 Pages 79-95
Published: 2004
Released on J-STAGE: March 24, 2008

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5356/orient1960.39.79

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A peculiar painted pottery group, which was called Kite Ware, is known to have existed in Luristan. The excavation at Baba Jan by Clare Goff made it clear that the pottery group was dated about ninth - seventh century B.C., and she named them Baba Jan III Painted Ware. The purpose of this study is to investigate the regionality of Baba Jan III Painted Ware in the western part of Iran and to shed some light on the material cultures of the Iron Age in Luristan. Decorated designs of Baba Jan III Ware have been termed the "kite design" after their rhomb-shape designs. The most important point in this paper is the recognition that a rhomb and two triangles form two bow-tie-shaped designs. The kite design can also be considered an arrangement of bow-tie-shaped designs transversely. The bow-tie design is divided into ten patterns, the oldest pattern being the vertical bow-tie design (Pattern x) from around the Giyan II period (c. 1500-1200 B.C.). The bow-tie design is simplified from the early Baba Jan III phase to the late Baba Jan III phase. In the western part of the Iranian plateau and the Zagros Mountains, Gray Ware and beak-shaped spouted pottery began to be produced in about 1400 B.C. The new decoration style that came from outside of Luristan caused some important changes in the Luristan Iron Age culture. Yet the bow-tie design of Baba Jan III Painted Ware was an indigenous design in Luristan and lasted in the face of their new material cultures. The long tradition of the bow-tie designs suggests that the indigenous pottery culture survived despite repeated invasions by various ethnic groups into Luristan.

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SOME OBSERVATIONS ON SUMERIAN COMPOUND VERBS ¹

Fumi KARAHASHI

2004 Volume 39 Pages 96-110
Published: 2004
Released on J-STAGE: March 24, 2008

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5356/orient1960.39.96

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This paper focuses on the lexico-semantic and morphosyntactic aspects of Sumerian compound verbs, namely, the verbs that consist of a noun and a verb stem. They are very frequent in Sumerian, and the majority have a noun designating a part of the body as their nominal constituent, indicating the body-part's involvement in a given expression. I consider Sumerian compound verbs as a type of noun incorporation called lexical compounding whose constituents are formally discontinuous. The nominal constituent is semantically incorporated but, unlike typical cases of noun incorporation in other languages, it holds its syntactic status occupying the absolutive position. Therefore, it can regain its semantic independence in some constructions, thus allowing its referentiality to be manipulable. I believe that this study of the compound verbs, using a functional-typological approach, contributes to our understanding of some aspects of the Sumerian verbal system and to the typology of noun incorporation.

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Ga-til₃-e OF UR AND UET 9:1370

Magnus WIDELL

2004 Volume 39 Pages 111-121
Published: 2004
Released on J-STAGE: March 24, 2008

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5356/orient1960.39.111

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While the Ur III text UET 9:1370 was first published as a copy by D.Loding in UET 9, this is the first time this long text has been more thoroughly treated. The text represents a disbursement by the Ur official Ga-til₃-e of various oils, dairy products and fruits for a total period of four years.
While Ga-til₃-e is attested in around sixty different administrative and economic texts, all dating to the period between IS 6 and IS 8, his official function and title in the city remains enigmatic. Although he can frequently be found in transactions involving the city's important Nanna temple, it seems plausible that his role in the city was not connected to any specific office or household. Instead, he appears to have organized various large transports between the different institutions of the city.

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NOTIZEN ZU VERBEN IN YASNA 9 (HOM-YAŠT)

Toshifumi GOTO

2004 Volume 39 Pages 122-146
Published: 2004
Released on J-STAGE: March 24, 2008

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5356/orient1960.39.122

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Yasna 9 forms the main part of the text known as "Hom-Yašt" (Y9, 10, and 11, 1-12), the worship of Haoma, which must have been forbidden by Zaraθuštra himself. In order to gain insight into prehistory of the Haoma- Soma cult, the text is remaining still to be studied as a main source. It is written in a standard style of Young Avestan, and its investigation will contribute to establish the Avestan grammar more precisely. This article deals with the form and use of verbs in Yasna 9:
1. Preterit forms without augment: 1.1 ∂r^∂nauui; - 2. Y 9, 15, and the augmented forms: 2.1. apataii∂n, and the antecedent past; 2.1.1. Y 9, 11 araoδat; 2.2. Y 9, 15e-h; 2.2.1.abauuat, confirming statement; 2.2.2. Avestan forms in the function of confirming the facts in the past; 2.2.3. "injunctive" as (?); 2.2.3.1. Old Avestan as, ahuua; 2.2.3.2. Yt 10, 9; 2.2.4. Y 9, 15h damqn; 2.2.5. upait Y9, 1a-d; - 3. Y 9, 22.23, and the subjunctives: 3.1.aeⁱbiš, +baxšaⁱte; 3.2. taxš∂nti, +baxšaⁱte, baxšaⁱti, anh∂nte, subjunctive in the gnomic period; 3.3.azizanaⁱtibiš; - 4. Y 9, 24, raosta, the resultative inj. aor.; - 5. Y 9, 5, fracaroiθe, xšaiioit; - 6. dauuqⁱθiiå Y 9, 18. - (Injunctive of the "stative" verbs n.3; Instrumental P1. 3.1., 3.3., n. 57.)

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