Glassmaking in Shām during Fourth/Tenth to Sixth/Twelfth Centuries

تاریخ و فرهنگ

Article 4, Volume 43, Issue 2 - Serial Number 87, March 2012   

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.22067/history.v0i0.12403

Authors

azam azam^* ; Mahdī Jalīlī

Abstract

There is disagreement about the antiquity of glassmaking industry in Shām. Some trace it back to the post-Islamic era and regard it as being inspired by the Roman artisans who had been employed for constructing buildings in the Umayyad reign. Others, however, believe that this industry is traced back to centuries before Islam entered Shām and was restored and developed by the support of the Caliphs and Amīrs during the Islamic era in the buildings constructed in the reign of the Umayyad and other Islamic governments in Shām.
Glassmaking industry reached its peak during the Fatimid and Zangid reigns so much that such cities as Damascus, Aleppo,
Tyrus, and Raqqa were known as the centers for glassmaking. In this era, glassware artifacts were highly flourished in terms of variety in decorating, enameling, and gilding on glass. Various glass products also included different kinds of utensils, vases, statues, spice and perfume containers, and even the chess pieces.
In the Fatimid period, clear and white glassware with fine quality and without line was produced and was welcomed by the wealthy class and the merchants. As one of the significant products of Shām, It was also exported to all parts of the world, from Islamic East to the Western Europe.

Keywords

glass; glass decoration; Shām