|
POTTERY OF THE ISLAMIC PERIOD ON THE
KARAK PLATEAU Early Islamic Pottery
(seventh-eleventh century) The
interpretation of the pottery of the Early Islamic period on the
Karak plateau has proved to be difficult for several reasons
[reference link]. Although large quantities of Islamic pottery have been
collected on sites all over the plateau by the J. Maxwell Miller
survey, the dating of the finds requires comparison with
reliably dated pottery from excavations. Unfortunately, very few published
excavations on the Karak plateau have preserved material from
the Early Islamic centuries and so archaeologists have to seek
comparisons with sites north of the plateau (such as `Amman
citadel, Dhibān and Hasbān), south of the plateau (such as
Gharandal and `Aqaba), and in the Jordan valley (such as Pella,
Tal Abū Qa`dān and Bet She’an). The problem with this method is
that we do not know if the new styles of pottery found at these
sites were also used in the more remote area of the Karak
plateau. It is probable, in fact, that many of the settlements
continued to use pottery forms corresponding to types known from
the Byzantine period. As a result, surveys and excavations often
identify these archaic types as being of Byzantine rather than
Early Islamic date.
 In the first century of
the Islamic occupation (up to c.750) the inhabitants of the Karak plateau seem to have continued to use the sorts of
unglazed wheel thrown pottery that were common in the Byzantine
period. Surveys and excavations have found examples of basins,
casseroles and pots used for the preparation and serving of
food. The color of the glazed ceramic may vary from brick red,
to orange or grey. A characteristic feature of the grey pottery
is the corrugation of the exterior surface of vessels. In
addition, there are a few thin-walled sherds carrying decoration
applied in colored slip paint. This sort of freely-applied
painted decoration is common in late seventh- and eighth-century
deposits from places such as Pella in the Jordan valley. A few
sherds of relief-molded pottery are found from the period up to
c.900. These can take the form of beakers or jugs with
delicately molded patterns. The other common molded form
of this period are oil lamps. This type of simple lamp
(sometimes known as a “slipper lamp”) was made all over Jordan,
Syria and Palestine at this time
[
Photo]. Some examples have
short inscriptions written in Arabic. From the end of the eighth
century one starts to find very small numbers of sherds with
coloured glazes. Typically, the glazes are yellow, green or
purple in color. In some cases, a decorative effect is achieved
by dripping or splashing more than one color on a single bowl.
The technique of adding a glaze to pottery was to become much
more common on the Karak plateau in the Middle Islamic period. |
