Name of Object:

Glass tumbler

Location:

Damascus, Syria

Holding Museum:

National Museum of Damascus

About National Museum of Damascus, Damascus

Original Owner:

Caliph al-Mu'tasim Billah (r. AH 218–27 / AD 833–42)

Date of Object:

Hegira 218–27 / AD 833–42

Museum Inventory Number:

ع 11403

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Incised glass.

Dimensions:

Height 8.2 cm, diameter 8.5 cm

Period / Dynasty:

Abbasid

Provenance:

Probably the Raqqa region, Syria.

Description:

Found in Palace B, a translucent, honey-coloured glass tumbler that is entirely decorated with floral and vegetal motifs organised in multiple horizontal bands along the edges and alternating vertical fields along the body. The decoration is incised into the glass, incorporating styles that are occasionally found on carved wood or metal from the period, but not usually on glass.
Technically speaking the tumbler is of great importance since the thin, engraved glass was worked with a sharp tool, and although the technique was known in the Roman period, it was usually used in tandem with other techniques. In the Islamic period, however, it was used as a stand-alone technique, and the incisions were cut deeper into the glass.
Raqqa, a region that lies between the Euphrates and Balikh rivers, flourished during the Abbasid period. A group of Abbasid palaces, parts of which were excavated during the 1950s and labelled with the letters A, B, C and D, are found there.

Although the production and ornamentation of glass in Syria has an ancient heritage, this glass tumbler reveals an example of delicate and precise decoration by incision, a technique which flourished under early Islamic rule.

How date and origin were established:

The tumbler is believed to be contemporary to Palace B, which has been dated to the period of Caliph al-Mu'tasim Billah (r. 218–27 / 833–41).

How Object was obtained:

The tumbler was found during archaeological excavations undertaken by a delegation from the Syrian General Directorate of Antiquities during the 1950s under the direction of Nasib Salibi.

How provenance was established:

The tumbler was found during an archaeological excavation at Raqqa. There is no way of establishing whether it was made locally or imported, as similar glass production flourished in both Baghdad and Damascus.

Selected bibliography:

Abu al-Faraj al-Ush, M., A Concise Guide to the National Museum of Damascus,
Damascus, 1969, p.253.
Abu al-Faraj al-Ush, M., “Incised Islamic Glass,” Archaeology 24:3, 1971, pp.202–
3.
Cluzan, S. et al (eds), Syrie: Mémoire et Civilisation, Paris, 1994, p.420; cat. no.
312.
Daiber, V., and Becker, A., Raqqa III, Mainz, 2004.
Kohlmeyer, K. (ed), Land des Baal, Mainz, 1982, pp.276–7; plate 251.

Citation of this web page:

Mona al-Moadin "Glass tumbler" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2026.
https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;sy;Mus01;8;en

Prepared by: Mona Al-Moadin
Translation by: Hilary Kalmbach (from the Arabic)
Translation 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: SY 14