من آثار الفدين | اناء طبخ | المفرق
2:13 م
ابن المفـرق
Cooking pot
- Title/name : Cooking pot
- Production place : Al-Fudayn (al-Mafraq), Jordan
- Date / period : Seventh – eighth century
- Materials and techniques : Carved stone, engraved decoration
- Dimensions : H. 15 cm ; D. 29 cm
- Conservation town : Amman
- Conservation place : Jordan Archaeological Museum
- Inventory number : J 19308
- Inscription : “for Nawwar ?”
This cooking pot is one of
ten pieces, which were among the treasure of artifacts discovered in the
Umayyad palace of
Al-Fudayn.
The large body, nearly
cylindrical, has two simple broad handles. The surface is totally covered with
geometric designs such as horizontal or perpendicular bands, which contained
crossed lines in the shape of an X or net decoration. On the handle is a zigzag
decoration, above which there are short perpendicular strokes. In the interior
of the pot there is an inscription in kufic reading the word li-nawwar (reading uncertain) “for Nawwar (?)”. It is not clear whether the phrase
implies the owner or the manufacturer of the pot. However it seems that the same
craftsman made this group of pots (note the unified decoration). Two similar
pots of dark gray steatite have been found in a storage connected with the
palace, one of them decorated with rectangular bands containing concentric
circles with dots.
A similar pot was found in
one of the palaces of Umm al-Walid (diameter: 25 cm) ; other ones have been
discovered in Iran, during
excavations of Susa.
A censer from Amman had similar
decoration to that of Al-Fudayn, but with concentric circles with dots in
addition.
The use of cooking pots
made of steatite was common in the Umayyad period. Such pots without decoration
and with broad handles were uncovered in a number of Umayyad sites: Umm al-Walid,
Fahl, Amman, Siyagha and Ayla (Aqaba) in Jordan, El-Ezariyyah (Bethany)
in Palestine.
Pots, incense-burners, lamps made of stone, mostly steatite, were found in Susa and Nishapur (Iran).These pots may have been made locally, with or without decoration, for use in palaces and houses of the elite. The people viewed steatite, coming essentially from Arabia, as a precious material. An example shows signs of mending using iron rivets or white paste. Many of the pots had traces of fire on the base or body, thus, confirming their function for cooking. The body of such cooking pots has at the base a slight curve making a sharp angle with the straight body in order to distribute fire on the body surface uniformly.
REFERENCE BIBLIOGRAPHY
من آثار الفدين | فيل برونزي | المفرق
2:11 م
ابن المفـرق
Elephant mould
- Title/name : Elephant mould
- Production place : Al-Fudayn (al-Mafraq), Jordan
- Date / period : Umayyad
- Materials and techniques : Bronze, engraved inside
- Dimensions : H. 18 cm ; W. 21 cm ; Depth : 8,9 cm
- Conservation town : Amman
- Conservation place : Jordan Archaeological Museum
- Inventory number : J 16514
The mould consists of two symmetrical
parts; there are three hinges, two at the bottom by the feet, and one at
the top of the back. The hinges consist of rings connected through
fasteners, still existing at the legs. The fastener (lock?) at the back
top is not preserved.Various parts of the elephant body, such as ears,
eyes, feet and trunk, are engraved more vividly. It is clear that such
details were intended to appear in the final product.
The elephant mould was explained as a model for baking bread or cookies or for making children toys. The former interpretation is difficult to accept. Today, moulds for bakery are made of wood, and not metal, probably because of negative effects of the latter on the dough. Furthermore, there is in the ram an additional opening, which needs explanation. This opening does not seem suitable for squeezing dough inside the mould.
It is more plausible to see in the mould a model for making children toys, though the result, whatever material is used, would be relatively heavy and bulky and somehow inappropriate for children to play with. One expects toys to be smaller such as the clay figurines found in a child’s tomb from the Hellenistic period.
The elephant was a common theme in Levantine art. In Nabataean Petra it decorated capitals of the Great Temple. A hunter on an elephant was depicted on a mosaic from St. George Church in Madaba. Earlier examples are attested such as a small stone elephant from the Sasanian period. In the famous cave of Taq-i Kisraw, at Kermanshâh in Iran, an elephant hunting is carved on one of the walls (6th c.)
The elephant reflects the international trade relations between the ancient empires, which extended as far as India and China, and with Africa. The technique was used in manufacturing a small ram with the same function.
The elephant mould was explained as a model for baking bread or cookies or for making children toys. The former interpretation is difficult to accept. Today, moulds for bakery are made of wood, and not metal, probably because of negative effects of the latter on the dough. Furthermore, there is in the ram an additional opening, which needs explanation. This opening does not seem suitable for squeezing dough inside the mould.
It is more plausible to see in the mould a model for making children toys, though the result, whatever material is used, would be relatively heavy and bulky and somehow inappropriate for children to play with. One expects toys to be smaller such as the clay figurines found in a child’s tomb from the Hellenistic period.
The elephant was a common theme in Levantine art. In Nabataean Petra it decorated capitals of the Great Temple. A hunter on an elephant was depicted on a mosaic from St. George Church in Madaba. Earlier examples are attested such as a small stone elephant from the Sasanian period. In the famous cave of Taq-i Kisraw, at Kermanshâh in Iran, an elephant hunting is carved on one of the walls (6th c.)
The elephant reflects the international trade relations between the ancient empires, which extended as far as India and China, and with Africa. The technique was used in manufacturing a small ram with the same function.
الاشتراك في:
الرسائل (Atom)
