Name of Object:

Four basalt reliefs

Location:

Irbid, Jordan

Holding Museum:

Museum of Jordanian Heritage, Yarmouk University

Current Owner:

Department of Antiquities, Jordan

Date of Object:

Thought to be hegira 2nd century / AD first half of the 8th century

Museum Inventory Number:

A829, A825, A827, A822

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Carved basalt.

Dimensions:

a: Height 13 cm, width 46 cm, depth 18 cm; b: Height 41.5 cm, width 47.5 cm, depth 19 cm; c: Height 34 cm, width 45 cm, depth 13 cm; d: Height 52 cm, width 58.5 cm, depth 17.5 cm

Period / Dynasty:

Thought to be Umayyad

Provenance:

Al-Azraq, Jordan.

Description:

Four Basalt reliefs that are fine illustrations of the 'minor arts' and which borrow their themes from the classical world prior to the Islamic conquest: a hunting dog; a griffon; a Pegasus and an amphora decorated with flowers. Such images find their parallels not only in earlier Byzantine mosaic church floors and in contemporary mosaics of the AH 1st–2nd / AD 7th–8th centuries, but earlier than that, in the periods from which they originate: the Greek, Roman and Sassanid. The skill used to make these carvings has given them a lively, even playful, appearance. It seems that these reliefs, along with others still in situ at Qasr al-Azraq, formed an arch over a viewing platform where spectators would sit to watch the water sports played out in the water reservoirs near Qasr al-Azraq.

Four basalt reliefs from an arch over a viewing platform where spectators would watch the water sports played out in the water reservoirs near Qasr al-Azraq. Probably Umayyad, the images depicted have late Byzantine and Umayyad parallels but they originate in the Greek, Roman and Sassanid periods.

How date and origin were established:

The date of production for these reliefs is uncertain, but stylistic analysis of the griffon identifies it as an image used decoratively in other Umayyad palaces: Khirbat al-Mafjar in Jericho, Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi in Syria, al-Mushatta and al-Hallabat in Jordan, and this may give vital clues to the accurate dating of these objects. The same thing could be said about the Pegasus which is a Sassanid decorative element but also represented in Umayyad palaces. Historical sources also mention that al-Walid ibn Yazid (or Walid II, d. 126/ 744) spent time at Qasr al-Azraq.

How Object was obtained:

The reliefs were recovered in the course of reed clearance in the water reservoirs near Qasr al-Azraq in 1983. They were then put on loan to the Museum of Jordanian Heritage from the Department of Antiquities in 1988.

How provenance was established:

The reliefs were found in a one of the water reservoirs near Qasr al-Azraq in 1983.

Selected bibliography:

بيشة. غازي، "ملاحظات متفرقة حول إكتشافات أثرية أموية حديثة"، حولية دائرة الآثار العامة، المجلد 30، 1986، ص 12-14 ، اللوحات 11-أ ، 12-أ،ج.

Gesichter des Orients: 10,000 Jahre Kunst und Kultur aus Jordanien, exhibition catalogue, Bonn, 2004, p.242, fig. 11.9.

Kennedy. D. L., 'Archaeological Explorations on the Roman Frontier in North-East Jordan', BAR International Series , 134, Oxford, 1982, pp.96–107, Plates XXIII-B, XXIX-B (for more information on the water reservoirs).

Citation of this web page:

Aida Naghawy "Four basalt reliefs" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2026.
https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;jo;Mus01_C;18;en

Prepared by: Aida NaghawyAida Naghawy

Aida Naghawy is an archaeologist and the Director of Jordan Archaeological Museum. She studied archaeology at the University of Jordan where she gained her MA. She was affiliated to the Jordanian Department of Antiquities from 1974 as a curator of Jordan Archaeological Museum. In 1981 she became inspector of Jerash antiquities and co-ordinator of the Jerash International Rehabilitation project. She was also head of the archaeological awareness section at the Department of Antiquities. Aida is the author of numerous publications on Islamic coins. She has carried out excavation work in Jerash and is the founder of Jerash Archaeological Museum and the Islamic Museum of the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs.
Copyedited by: Mandi GomezMandi Gomez

Amanda Gomez is a freelance copy-editor and proofreader working in London. She studied Art History and Literature at Essex University (1986–89) and received her MA (Area Studies Africa: Art, Literature, African Thought) from SOAS in 1990. She worked as an editorial assistant for the independent publisher Bellew Publishing (1991–94) and studied at Bookhouse and the London College of Printing on day release. She was publications officer at the Museum of London until 2000 and then took a role at Art Books International, where she worked on projects for independent publishers and arts institutions that included MWNF’s English-language editions of the books series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean. She was part of the editorial team for further MWNF iterations: Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean Virtual Museum and the illustrated volume Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean.

True to its ethos of connecting people through the arts, MWNF has provided Amanda with valuable opportunities for discovery and learning, increased her editorial experience, and connected her with publishers and institutions all over the world. More recently, the projects she has worked on include MWNF’s Sharing History Virtual Museum and Exhibition series, Vitra Design Museum’s Victor Papanek and Objects of Desire, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s online publication 2 or 3 Tigers and its volume Race, Nation, Class.

MWNF Working Number: JO 36