Maʿarrat al-Nuʿman: Glazed-Pottery Manufacturers

Date: Late eleventh century

A group of glazed ceramics said to come from the site of Tal Minis, near Maʿarrat al-Nuʿman, have been the subject of scientific analysis and art historical study. The Tal Minis group includes wasters and kiln furniture. The most important pieces are lustre-painted and suggest technical and stylistic affinities with lustre wares from Fatimid Egypt. The Tal Minis group appears to date from the late eleventh century. See also: Potter; Glass worker; Glass blower.

Citation: Porter, Venetia and Oliver Watson, “Tell Minis wares”, in James Allan and Caroline Roberts, eds, Syria and Iran: Three Studies in Medieval Ceramics, Oxford Studies in Islamic Art 4 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987), pp. 175-248; Mason, Robert, “Defining Syrian stonepaste ceramics: Petrographic analysis of pottery from Maʿarrat al-Nuʿman”, in James Allan, ed., Islamic Art in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford Studies in Islamic Art 10, pt. 2 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), pp. 1-18; Mason, Robert, Shine like the Sun: Lustre and associated Pottery from the Medieval Middle East, Bibliotheca Iranica: Islamic Art and Architecture Series 12 (Costa Mesa CA and Toronto: Mazda Publishers and Royal Ontario Museum, 2004), p. 106.