The origins of Byzantine glass from Maroni Petrera,Cyprus

Nineteen glasses from Maroni Petrera, Cyprus, dating to the sixth–seventh centuries ad, have been analysed by energy‐dispersive X‐ray analysis in the scanning electron microscope for major and minor elements. A subset of 15 glasses was also analysed for trace elements, using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Two groups are identified. The majority is made of glass produced in the coastal region of Syria–Palestine. The smaller group is of high iron, manganese and titanium (HIMT) glass, a widespread type of uncertain origin at the present time. The glasses appear to have undergone relatively minor mixing and recycling, and the glass material is likely to have arrived in Cyprus in the form of raw glass chunks or relatively fresh vessel cullet.     

Integrated geological,petrologic and geochemical approach to establish source material and technology of Late Cypriot Bronze Age Plain White ware ceramics

Late Cypriot Bronze Age Plain White Wheelmade ware samples from several Cypriot excavation sites and the northern Canaanite coast were studied to ascertain their production centres and details of their manufacturing processes and post-depositional alteration. The investigation of the ceramics, using combined geoscientific analytical techniques (XRF, ICP-MS, XRD and EPMA) allowed four groups of pottery to be distinguished based on their common raw-material sources and/or technological analogies. Sediments that were sampled in East Cyprus (eastern Mesaoria Plain) for comparative purposes indicated that most of the investigated ceramics were produced from raw materials available around the ancient settlement of Enkomi. Appraising technological variations and discriminative raw-material characteristics, several pottery producing workshops in ancient Enkomi (Eastern Cypriot coast) have been identified that merchandised their commodities on Cyprus and, in all probability, also overseas.     

COPPER AND COPPER ALLOYS IN ANCIENT IRAQ,SYRIA AND PALESTINE: SOME NEW ANALYSES

In a pilot-programme to increase evidence for the history of copper-alloying in ancient Iraq, Syria and Palestine 128 objects in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, were tested with a point-source linear X-ray spectrometer for tin, arsenic and antimony. These analyses showed the gradual introduction of tin-copper alloys into Iraq after ca. 2750 b.c. (Early Dynastic IIIA), into Syria a little later and into Palestine by the end of the third millennium b.c. , though numerous artefacts continue to be of copper or arsenical-copper until well into the second millennium b.c. at least. With the appearance of tin-copper alloys the percentage of arsenic in the copper objects noticeably declines indicating that the earlier arsenical-coppers were deliberately produced under controlled conditions.     

Reviews

Abstract

An analysis of a group of underglaze-painted stonepaste vessels produced in Bilad al-Sham (Greater Syria) is presented. Decorated in turquoise and black pigments under a colourless glaze, this ware was probably manufactured for a relatively limited period in the mid to late fourteenth century. The strong stylistic affinities exhibited in the underglaze painting and vessel profiles of the surviving corpus indicate that the bulk of the 'turquoise and black' ware was made by a single workshop. Comparisons are drawn with fourteenth-century decorated stonepaste wares recovered from excavations in Iraq. In the conclusion, it is speculated that Iraqi potters may have travelled west in the mid fourteenth century and established new workshops in Syria.     

INSIGHTS INTO NORTH MESOPOTAMIAN ‘METALLIC WARE’*

With the aim of shedding new light on the still poorly understood North Mesopotamian metallic ware, ceramic and soil samples from Tell Beydar (northeastern Syria, third millennium bc ) were investigated using a range of analytical techniques, including optical microscopy, SR–XRD and SEM–EDX. The objective of this work was to differentiate calcareous metallic ware from non‐calcareous ware without the aid of chemical analyses and to find further validation of the existing hypothesis that the former group is an imitation of the latter. A third group of metallic wares from Tell Beydar is believed to be of non‐local, still regional origin.     

COOKING WARES IN ANCIENT SYRIA (FIRST TO 10TH CENTURIES ad): RECONSTRUCTING THE PRODUCTION CONTEXTS FROM THE CONSUMPTION SITES

This paper deals with Brittle Ware, a cooking ware product that appears to have been highly standardized and widely distributed in Syria during the Roman and the Byzantine periods. The study intends to determine the distribution of Brittle Ware through time and space, by combining typology and a thorough examination of the fabrics in the field, using binocular microscopy (n = 2807 diagnostic fragments). Based on the fabric groupings, petrological and chemical analyses were then undertaken. Resting on an archaeological background and several analytical methods, this paper aims at going beyond a limited provenance study, by characterizing the Brittle Ware production system and thus providing some insights into the economy of ancient Syria.     

Two Late Roman Wrecks from Southern Cyprus

Two scattered Late Roman shipwrecks were discovered in the course of underwater survey at Cape Zevgari and Avdimou Bay off the southern coast of Cyprus. Each was transporting a primary cargo contained in amphoras, in one case either local or from nearby Syria or Cilicia, and the other certainly from the southern Levantine coast. The two wrecks offer insight into regional maritime exchange networks within the socio-economic context of late antique commerce around the island. Both sites also contribute to a greater understanding of the utility of systematic shallow-water survey to shipwreck archaeology.
© 2007 The Author     

The Maronite Leadership’s Approach toward Syria, 1970–2011: Between Integration,Separation, and Pragmatism

The Maronite–Syria relationship is troublesome, and one can say that the two sides are diametrical opposites. The Maronites, in general, represent the aspiration for an independent Lebanon, while Syria considers Lebanon a part of “Greater Syria” and aspires to annex the Lebanese territories. The Maronite community has consistently resisted these aspirations. However, the Maronite community is not a coherent one, which is reflected in its approach toward Syria. In fact, the Maronite leadership has adopted three different approaches toward Syria: an integrative one that aspires to full cooperation with Syria; a separatist one that strongly considers Lebanon and Syria to be separate states; and a pragmatist one that adheres to intimate or unfriendly ties according to local Lebanese interests. This article introduces the three Maronite approaches and claims that one cannot disassociate these approaches, especially the pragmatist one, from the Syrian policy toward Lebanon, which includes changing alliances according to Syria’s political interests. Moreover, the article suggests that these approaches will remain in place regardless of which Maronite leader supports each one and regardless of who will rule in Syria.     

The Source Provenance of Bronze Age and Roman pottery from Cyprus

Archaeological interpretations of ancient economies have been strengthened by chemical analyses of ceramics, which provide the clearest evidence for economic activity, and comprise both the objects of exchange and its means. Pottery is often manufactured from local materials, but its compositional diversity typically prevents significant patterns of resource utilization from being identified. Centrally located and positioned on traditional shipping routes, Cyprus maintained ties with and supplied a variety of distinctive ceramic products to the major commercial centres in the eastern Mediterranean throughout Antiquity. We analysed two Cypriot .ne wares and a variety of utilitarian pottery, as well as samples of extant Cypriot clays to determine source provenance. These chemical analyses provide an objective indication of the origins of ancient (Bronze Age and Roman) ceramics manufactured on Cyprus. The distribution of the probable clay sources and the links between pottery style and the material environment also afford a perspective on the spatial organization of large‐scale pottery production on the island. Compositional analysis provides the means to assemble geographies of pottery production and to unravel the interregional system of exchange that operated in Antiquity, but the ability to accomplish these tasks is predicated on systematic analyses of ceramic products and raw materials that are found far beyond the bounds of individual archaeological sites.     

The relationship between enamelling on ceramics and on glass in the Islamic world

In a recent paper, Mason et al. (2001) demonstrated that enamels on mina’i ware, a Persian ceramic of the 12th century, were applied using a special firing of short duration. A similar principle was exploited to enamel glass, beginning in Syria in about the same period. This gives new credence to the long‐standing idea that the origin of enamelling on glass resulted in part from an interaction between glass workers and potters.     

LEAD ISOTOPIC ANALYSIS FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF LATE BRONZE AGE POTTERY FROM HALA SULTAN TEKKE (CYPRUS)

Lead isotopic compositions were measured for 65 sherds from five pottery wares (Plain White, Coarse, Canaanite, White Slip and Base‐ring) excavated from the Late Bronze Age site of Hala Sultan Tekke (Cyprus). The elemental composition and isotopic signature of the sherds were compared with those of 65 clay samples collected in south‐east Cyprus, mainly in the surroundings (<20 km) of Hala Sultan Tekke. This work shows the effectiveness of using lead isotopic analysis in provenance studies, along with other analytical techniques, such as X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with an energy dispersive X‐ray detection (EDX) facility, to identify the composition of pottery wares and the clay sources used for pottery ware production.     

A PILOT STUDY IN NON-CONTACT LASER PHOTOTHERMAL ARCHAEOMETRY OF ANCIENT STATUARY PEDESTAL STONES FROM CYPRUS

Several samples of geological stones from statuary pedestals found in various archaeological sites in Cyprus have been characterized using non-contact laser infrared photothermal radiometry. Thermal diffusivities and effective optical absorption coefficients were calculated using a one-dimensional thermal-wave model. The mean values and standard deviations were tabulated and comparisons were made with lithographic and petrographic studies of the samples. Good correlations were found, thus demonstrating that laser photothermal archaeometry is a promising methodology for the accurate, potentially non-destructive and convenient characterization of the origins of ancient stones in Cyprus and other geological and archaeological sites.     

AN EARLY CELTIC POTTERY WORKSHOP IN NORTH WESTERN HUNGARY: SOME ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL EVIDENCE

Summary. Excavations at the settlement site of Krautacker in the outskirts of Sopron (NW Hungary) have produced evidence of pottery manufacture from LT B to LT C. Three kilns of updraught type were discovered. Their technology is discussed. Stamp-decorated wheel-turned ware was produced throughout. The contexts and distribution of these vessels are considered.     

Electron Microprobe Analysis of 9th–12th Century Islamic Glass from Córdoba,Spain

Twenty‐six samples from domestic assemblages of 9th–12th century Córdoba were subjected to electron microprobe analysis. The results reveal two main compositional types. The first, encountered in 13 of the samples, seems to result from the combination of plant ashes with high‐impurity sand, and has some contemporary parallels from Syria and Egypt. The second type is a lead–soda–silica glass, encountered in a relatively high proportion of the glasses (11 of the 26 sampled), possibly formed by the addition of lead metal to existing glasses and with very few known parallels. These are among a very small number of results available to date on the chemical composition of glasses from medieval Spain, and the presence of a high proportion of lead–soda–silica glasses is particularly interesting, possibly indicating a technological practice unique to, or originating in, the western Muslim world.     

Turkish foreign policy since 2002: between a‘post‐Islamist’government and a Kemalist state

This article discusses Turkish foreign policy over the past four years, since the election of a ‘post‐Islamist’ administration. It argues that although this period has been ‘Huntingtonian’, in terms of the diff erent political values and origins of the government on the one hand and the largely Kemalist state on the other, in the realm of foreign policy at least the relationship has been more cooperative and complementary than confictual. By focusing on seven areas of Turkey's foreign relations, as diverse as the EU, Cyprus, Syria and the Israeli—Palestinian conflict, the article identifies four types of experience in the overall conduct of policy: convergence; contained disharmomy; managed ideological divergence; and neutrality. It concludes by arguing that, providing Turkey's political institutions remain robust, there is no reason why this surprisingly successful cohabitation should not continue into the next parliament after 2007.     

COPPER AND COPPER ALLOYS IN ANCIENT TURKEY: SOME NEW ANALYSES

This note presents some new analyses for 13 early copper and bronze artefacts from Turkey in the Collection of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. They were not included in a small programme of early copper and bronze objects from Iraq, Syria and Palestine (Moorey and Schweizer 1972, Archaeometry 14 (2), 177–198) and conclude this pilot-project.     

CYPRIOT BLACK-ON-RED WARE: TOWARDS A CHARACTERIZATION

Chemical analysis of Early Iron Age sherds from Cyprus and the Levant using atomic absorption spectrometry shows that Black-on-Red ware was manufactured only in Cyprus. Two types of fabric are isolated, calcareous and non-calcareous, and their technological significance discussed. The presence of trade links between the Cypriot sites of Kition and Amathus and sites in the Levant is suggested.     

Considering the effects of the Byzantine–Islamic transition: Umayyad glass tesserae and vessels from the <Emphasis Type="Italic">qasr</Emphasis> of Khirbet al-Mafjar (Jericho,Palestine)

The paper reports and discusses data obtained by archaeological and archaeometric studies of glass vessels and tesserae from the qasr of Khirbet al-Mafjar (near Jericho, Palestine). Archaeological contextualisation of the site and chrono-typological study of glass vessels were associated to EPMA and LA–ICP–MS analyses, performed to characterise the composition of the glassy matrix (major and minor components as well as trace elements). Analyses allowed achieving meaningful and intriguing results, which gain insights into the production and consumption of glass vessels and tesserae in the near East during the Umayyad period (seventh–eighth centuries). Within the analysed samples, both an Egyptian and a Levantine manufacture have been identified: such data provide evidence of a double supply of glass from Egypt and the Syro-Palestinian coast in the Umayyad period occurring not only in the glassware manufacture but also in the production of base glass intended to be used in the manufacture of mosaic tesserae. Thus, the achieved results represent the first material evidence of a non-exclusive gathering of glass tesserae from Byzantium and the Byzantines in the manufacture of early Islamic mosaics.     

Clarity or ambiguity? The withdrawal clause of UN Security Council Resolution 242

Today the international community seems at a loss as to how to transact peace between Israel and Palestine (and Syria). UN Security Council Resolution 242 of 1967 provides the principles for that peace. Yet there has always been a perceived ambiguity about its withdrawal clause. Diplomatic and UN records show clearly what the Security Council intended in Resolution 242. Nine of 15 members wanted total withdrawal, and the minority saw the virtue of small adjustments to the 1949 Armistice Line to accommodate Israel's demand for ‘secure and recognized’ borders. Every Security Council member upheld the overarching principle, ‘the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force.’ Those who drafted Resolution 242 seem not to have checked that its terms were consonant with the Fourth Geneva Convention, even though they recognized the Convention applied. The Convention renders it illegal for those under occupation to agree terms with the Occupying Power which infringe the rights and protections of the Convention. Since the Convention remains in force until the end of occupation, no peace agreement which includes the adjustment of borders or ceding territory may be concluded until after a full withdrawal has taken place—a requirement fully consonant with Resolution 242's ‘inadmissibility’ principle, and removing any doubt regarding the requirement for a full Israeli withdrawal. To comply with it themselves and to avoid misapprehension, Quartet members must tell Israel, Syria and Palestine that they cannot recognize a peace agreement which would violate the Convention's terms.     

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ‘BEST RELATIVE FIT FACTOR’ WHEN EVALUATING ELEMENTAL CONCENTRATION DATA OF POTTERY DEMONSTRATED WITH MYCENAEAN SHERDS FROM SINDA,CYPRUS

Neutron activation analysis of pottery was established at Bonn in 1983 and has since become one of the primary archaeometry‐based analytical techniques at the facility. A brief history of the laboratory and a discussion of the best relative fit procedure for pottery is provided. When comparing concentration data for pottery, a best relative fit should always be considered. This mathematical procedure generally results in ‘sharper’ concentration patterns and improves the separability of chemically not very different compositional groups. This is demonstrated for a set of 30 Late Cypriot (Myc. IIIC1) pottery samples from Sinda, Cyprus, which allow formation of a good reference pattern for this site. Applying factors in the range of 0.82–1.43, a number of samples from Egypt and Palestine can be assigned with high probability to a Cypriot origin.