Glazed Ceramic Jar

This small ceramic jar is decorated in a turquoise-blue glaze. As the glaze covers the outside as well as the inside, liquids such as water, vinegar, oil and so on could be transported and conserved in the vessel. The jar has a short neck with a wide flat rim, allowing for a lid or flexible cover of fabric or leather to be fastened to it. Two small handles, one of which has broken off, indicate the jar could have been carried or suspended.

This type of turquoise-glazed pottery is very common on archaeological sites dating to the early Islamic period. These wares were produced in the workshops of Basra in southern Iraq and then exported all around the Abbasid empire and beyond. Examples have been found around the Indian Ocean region, including East Africa, Sri Lanka, and Cambodia.