Jabal Bishr: Collectors of Clay

Date: Thirteenth century

Yaqut (d. 1229) reports in his geographical encyclopaedia that a special clay was gathered from Jabal Bishr. This clay was sent to Aleppo for making crucibles in iron foundries. See also: Clay merchant; Potter; Blacksmith.

Citation: Yaqut al-Hamawi, Kitāb Muʿjam al-buldān, ed. Ferdinand Wüstenfeld (title: Jacut’s geographische Wörterbuch) (Leipzig: F. A. Brockhaus, 1866-70), I, p. 631. See also: Marcus Milwright, “Pottery in written sources of the Ayyubid-Mamluk period (c. 567-923/1171-1517)”, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 62.3 (1999), p. 508.