Zoomorphic motifs on early Islamic scratch-engraved glass from Alexandria: a case study Cover Image

Zoomorphic motifs on early Islamic scratch-engraved glass from Alexandria: a case study
Zoomorphic motifs on early Islamic scratch-engraved glass from Alexandria: a case study

Author(s): Renata Kucharczyk
Subject(s): Archaeology, Cultural history, Local History / Microhistory, 6th to 12th Centuries
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: scratch-engraved glass; zoomorphic motifs; lion; camel; Alexandria;

Summary/Abstract: The two pieces of scratch-engraved glass presented in this article, one with lion and the other with camel imagery, are to date the only examples of animal representations executed in this technique that are known from the archaeological excavation of the Kom el-Dikka site in Alexandria (Egypt). As such, they contribute significantly to the still very small assemblage of scratch-engraved glass with zoomorphic themes from the Islamic world, so far made up of altogether no more than seven fragments, including these two. The shards come from cylindrical cups, a popular form in use in the Early Islamic period, dated to the 8th–9th centuries.

  • Issue Year: 1/2022
  • Issue No: XXXI
  • Page Range: 385-398
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: English