A Group of Alkaline Glazed Ceramics from the Mardin Museum

Year 2025, Issue: 32, 196 - 212, 25.07.2025

Murat Tosun

https://doi.org/10.26650/anar.1587423

Abstract

This study investigates nine alkaline-glazed ceramics housed in the Mardin Museum, comprising four bottles, one pot, and four vases. The glaze characteristics of the bottles exhibit notable diversity: two feature a variegated greenish-blue glaze, one is double-glazed with a turquoise upper section and a dark blue lower section, comple mented by vertical dark blue stripes beneath the turquoise glaze, and one is dark green. In contrast, the pot and vases are uniformly characterized by a turquoise glaze. The alkaline glaze was applied to the outer surfaces of the ceramics and extended to the necks on the inside. However, it was not used for the inner surfaces or certain base sections of some specimens. Based on analogical research, the bottles classified under Type 1 are dated between the 3rd/2nd century BCE and the 3rd century CE (Seleucid/Parthian–Early Sasanian periods). Meanwhile, those under Types 1.2 and 1.3 span from the 3rd/2nd century BCE to the first quarter of the 3rd century CE (Seleucid/Parthian periods). The pot, classified as Type 2, is dated to the 2nd century BCE–2nd century CE. The vases, categorized under Type 3, are attributed to the 1st–2nd century CE.

Keywords

Alkaline Glaze , Seleucid-Parthian-Sasanian , Bottle , Pot , Vase

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