Damascus: Artisans of Silver

Date: fourteenth century

Artisans of Damascus mass produced highly valuable silver goods. Items that would be crafted out of this material include basins and pitchers that would be ornamented with figures and foliage. It is a craft that is passed from father to son, and these items are sold in shops across the city. As noted by Italian traveller, Simone Sigoli, many foreign merchants would come to the city to purchase these highly sought after goods.

Citation: Bellorini, Theophilus and Eugene Hoade (trans.), Visit to the Holy Places of Egypt, Sinai, Palestine and Syria in 1384 by Frescobaldi, Gucci & Sigoli, Publications of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum 6 (Jerusalem: Franciscan Press, 1948), p. 86.