|
POTTERY OF THE ISLAMIC PERIOD ON THE
KARAK PLATEAU Note: Use
this map to make yourself familiar with the places mentioned in
this section. A glossary of technical terms used in the
discussion of Islamic pottery is provided at the end of this
section. Introduction
Why is pottery important? The study of pottery is a key
discipline in the archaeological investigation of the Middle
East. Ceramic sherds are amongst the most common finds on excavations and
field surveys. The ubiquitous presence of pottery can be
attributed to a number of factors: first, the materials needed
to make pottery are generally cheap and readily available;
second, pots are easily broken; third, unlike organic materials
such as textiles or leather and inorganic materials like metal,
pottery sherds are not prone to decay in the soil; and fourth,
unlike metal or glass, baked ceramic cannot be melted down or
recycled. Thus, of all forms of manufactured artefact, it is
pottery that is most commonly found. The shapes of vessel and
the modes of decoration change through time, and so pottery can
be used to understand the periods during which a site was
occupied. In addition, pottery was traded (either for itself or
because it was used as a container for other products such as
wine or oil), and so the presence of imported objects on a site
can tell us about the way in which the inhabitants of the site
were involved in trade with other regions.
 Islamic pottery and archaeology. The issues outlined above
are relevant to the study of archaeological pottery from all
pre-Historic and Historic periods. The same concerns can also be
applied to the study of the ceramics of the Islamic period (a
period from the seventh century C.E. to the present day),
although other issues also need to be considered. Perhaps the
most important issue is the disparity between what is considered
to be “Islamic pottery” by archaeologists and art historians. If
you visit many of the major museums in USA, Europe and the
Middle East, or read most of the general guides to Islamic
pottery, you will encounter examples of glazed and decorated
vessels produced in different regions of the Islamic world from
the ninth to the nineteenth century. The quality and the
range of techniques employed in the manufacture of such pottery
has, quite rightly, led art historians and collectors to regard
the Islamic period as one of the most important in the
development of fine glazed ceramics. It is important to
recognize, however, that these decorated objects were only a
tiny proportion of the total amount of pottery produced. The
vast majority were much simpler unglazed wheel thrown vessels
meant to perform a wide range of functional tasks. This
situation is vividly described by a fifteenth-century Egyptian
historian, Maqrizi. Discussing the Egyptian capital of Cairo, he
remarks:
They said that the rubbish that was thrown
into the rubbish heaps of Cairo each day was worth a thousand
gold coins (Arabic: dīnār). They were referring to the
utensils used by milk merchants, the cheese dealers and the
food tradesmen. These are red clay bowls into which milk and
cheese are put, or in which the poor eat their food in the
cook shops.
We must be aware, therefore, that the
beautifully decorated glazed pottery seen today in museums was
made largely for the wealthier social groups in the cities and
towns of the Islamic world. As we will see, the specialized
products of the urban centers of the Middle East did find
their way in small numbers on the Karak plateau, but the
archaeologist working in this region, and other parts of
southern Jordan, has to spend much more time looking at more
humble unglazed or monochrome glazed sherds. Throughout the
Islamic period, the Karak plateau was a predominantly rural
area and this fact is reflected in the types of pottery found
there. |
