The Samples

5.2.2 The Samples

A total of 292 glass samples were taken from 19 excavated sites from 11 locations (Figure 5.1) following the criteria discussed above. Sampling was performed at the IAA stores in Jerusalem under the guidance of Yael Gorin-Rosen, Head of the Department for Glass. Sample collection was performed in two stages, the first in May 2013 with the collection of 96 samples from six excavations; Ahihud, Bet Shean, Ramla (Licences A-4740; A-4768; A-5947) and Sepphoris. The second stage was in November 2014 when 196 samples were collected from a further 11 excavations: Ashdod Yam,

Caesarea (W2S3; A-6194), Ha-Bonim, Jerusalem (A-3825; A-5125), Nahal Shoval, Ramla (A-3592; A-3897; A-6297; A-6490), Tel Rosh and Tiberias.

Figure 5.1. Map of modern day Israel with sampling sites marked and labelled.

Each glass fragment was photographed before a small piece was removed using wire cutters or pliers. Pieces were scored using a glass cutter if required. Sample size was typically 5mm. Site licence, loci and basket number were recorded for each fragment, and each was linked to a drawing within the published or pre-publication literature where available. Export permits were provided by the IAA before the glass samples were shipped to the UK.

5.2.2.1 Dating

The dating of the glass samples was principally via typology and fabric first, the date was then further constrained with reference to sample context and stratigraphy. The use of ceramics and coin finds in association with glass containing contexts helped to increase the precision of the dating, narrowing the potential date range. The typological dating of these vessels came primarily from publication or pre-publication reports written by glass specialists at the IAA (see Table 5.1). Further information on published and unpublished pieces, as well as guidance, was provided by Yael Gorin-Rosen, with additional information from IAA glass specialists Tamar Winters, Natalya Katsnelson and Brigitte Ouahnouna.

Figure 5.2. Vessel frequency sorted by date and sampling location.

The dating of the samples was split into six dating categories; Late Byzantine-Umayyad (7^th); Umayyad (early-mid 8^th); Early Abbasid (mid-8^th-early 9^th); Mid Abbasid (9^th-10^th (but also probably includes material from late 8^th); Abbasid-Fatimid (10^th-early 11^th) and Fatimid-Crusader (mid-11^th-13^th). A break-down of vessel dating by site is given in

Location Site License/Area N Date range Excavation report Glass report

Ha-Bonim Ha-Bonim Castle A-3032 23 8^th-11^th Barbé et al 2002 Katsnelson forthcoming A

Jerusalem

and Great Causeway A-5125; A-5570 31 7^th-11^th Onn et al. 2011 Katsnelson forthcoming B

Nahal

Shoval Nahal Shoval A-6362 10 8^th-11^th Daniel 2005 Winter forthcoming C

Ramla

Ramla A-3592 6 7^th-11^th Gorin-Rosen forthcoming B

Danny Mass Street A-3897 8 10^th-11^th Shmueli 2012; 2016 Katsnelson 2016

Ma'asiyaha Junction A-4740 13 8^th-13^th Haddad 2013 Gorin-Rosen 2013

Lod-Na'an railroad track A-4768 11 8^th-late 11^th Haddad 2010 Gorin-Rosen 2010B

Ha-Nevi'im Nursery School A-5947 31 8^th-12^th Haddad 2011 Gorin-Rosen 2011

Ha-Etzel Street A-6297 16 8^th-11^th Toueg 2013 Winter 2013

Ha-Hez Street A-6490 12 8^th-early

11^th

Toueg and Torgë

2015 Winter 2015

Sepphoris Moshav Zippori A-3791; A-3821 16 7^th-10^th Tepper 2010 Gorin-Rosen 2010C

Tel Rosh A-6055 4 7^th-9^th Winter forthcoming D

Tiberias Roman Theatre A-5583 30 7^th-11^th Atrash 2010 Gorin-Rosen forthcoming C

Table 5.2. The numbers of vessels of each dating category for locations. Note that samples dated to the 9^th-early 11^th date range are averaged across the 9^th -10^th and 10^th-early 11^th date categories.

Period Date Ahihud Ashdod

Yam

Bet

Shean Caesarea

Ha-Bonim Jerusalem Nahal

Shoval Ramla Sepphoris Tiberias Tel

Rosh Total Late

Byzantine/Early Umayyad

7th 0 0 0 3 0 25 0 1 12 3 2 46

Umayyad early 8th 13 0 0 0 2 6 5 27 0 2 0 55

Early Abbasid mid

8th-9th 0 1 0 0 2 2 0 9 1 1 2 18

Mid Abbasid 9th-10th 0 11.5 2 10 12 6.5 4.5 28 3 9.5 0 87

Abbasid-Fatimid

10th- early 11th

0 7.5 1 7 6 2.5 0.5 29 0 14.5 0 68

Fatimid-Crusader

11th-13th 0 1 9 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 14

Table 5.2 and in Figure 5.2. While great care was taken on the accuracy of the dating it is inevitable there will be overlaps between these groups due to misdating of long-lived forms, curation of vessels in which earlier vessels appear in later contexts (for example RAM 3592-01) or simply due to a lack of adequate detailed information.

Consequently, in certain cases choices had to be made. For example, most samples from Wilson’s Arch, Jerusalem (JER-5124; discussed below) were identified as typologically 7-8^th Late Byzantine-Umayyad (Katsnelson forthcoming B), meaning they could be 7^th or 8^th century, however the appearance of some earlier forms (wineglass JER 5124-11; trailed decoration JER 5124-11) and fabrics more similar to earlier dates meant that these samples were given a 7^th century date, but it is possible that some of these vessels continued in use into the early 8^th century. This contrasts with vessels from Ramla which have an 8^th century and later date due to the founding of Ramla in c.

715 giving a terminus post quem for the Umayyad glass. In other cases, choices had to be made with long-lived types, for example, AY 2989-05 (Fig. 5.6c) was a type that first appeared in the Umayyad period but was most common in the Abbasid period, this dating, along with its context, meant that this piece was given a 9^th-10^th century date rather thanearlier.

A large quantity of long-lived forms dated to the 9^th-early 11^th century. This is particularly apparent in material from Tiberias, but also some samples from Caesarea.

This time range covers the 9^th-10^th and 10^th-early 11^th dating categories. In this case the vessels are averaged evenly across both date groups; this will be taken into account in the discussion. Also note that there is liable to be overlaps in dating between the 10^th -early 11^th century and the 11^th-13^th century groups. The types described as ‘Serçe Limanı’ (see vessel descriptions Appendix C) are placed in the 10^th-early 11^th date group. Vessels described as Crusader, Ayyubid and Mamluk are categorised into the later 11^th-13^th date group.

Finally, the late 8^th century category needs particular explanation. This group contains samples which are identified as Umayyad-Abbasid or Early Abbasid types, or which can be identified from specific contexts (e.g. AY 2989-01, HB 3032-03, 04), nevertheless, this is not a definitive group and it is likely that this group overlaps with the 9^th-10^th century glass, and vessels present in the 9^th-10^th century could have originated in the

late 8^th century. Therefore, while this time period seems to have fewer vessels, this is artificial. Moreover, this statement is equally true for the entire vessel selection; any differences in absolute quantities of glass between dating groups is due to sampling strategy and choice of site and cannot be taken as representative of quantities of glass available in that period.

Individual sample information, including description, photograph and drawing (where available), as well as contextual information (site, context, colour, dating) can be found in Appendix C and D.