Within the late Nineties, throughout archaeological excavations at Caerlaverock Fort, three small fragments of Islamic glass have been found.
However what well-kept secret can these tiny shards inform that have been discovered on the Maxwell stronghold which was famously besieged by Edward I in the course of the Wars of Scottish Independence?
A singular discovery
The little shards most probably have been a part of a ingesting beaker. You possibly can nonetheless see that the fragments are embellished with Arabic inscriptions. The most important piece consists of a part of the phrase “everlasting” which suggests the inscription on the ingesting beaker may have been an extract from the Qur’an.
Nowhere else in Scotland have archaeological excavations uncovered glass of this kind and origin! The query is: the place did it come from?
By way of the glass of time
Manufactured glass dates again to round 2500BC and it first appeared in Northern Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq). The Center East continued to be the primary producer of glass till the later Center Ages.
The Islamic glass fragments that have been discovered at Caerlaverock Fort date to the twelfth or thirteenth century and should have been made in modern-day Syria, Iraq or Egypt.
Maybe the ingesting beaker may have come to Scotland by commerce. Or somebody preventing within the crusades might have introduced it again right here.
Scientific evaluation has proven that there would as soon as have been crimson and gold decorations in addition to the blue and white traces that are nonetheless seen. These colors have been generally used for glass ornament on the time.
Our Utilized Conservation Supervisor with photogrammetry tools capturing a bit of the glass.
Beneath the (scientific) wanting glass
By way of funding from the AHRC Functionality for Collections Fund, we have been capable of improve the heritage science tools to a conveyable X-ray fluoresce (pXRF) instrument. The X-ray fluorescence (XRF) method allowed our consultants to determine the chemical parts of the fragment supplies with out damaging them.
Our Conservation Science Supervisor makes use of pXRF tools with a bit of Islamic glass on the Engine Shed in Stirling
We have been capable of decide the chemical parts of the glass which gave additional clues to the origin of the fragments.
We found that soda, lime and silica glass are the essential make-up of the glass. That is very typical for glassmaking within the Center East within the thirteenth century.
The origin of the soda within the glass could possibly be a second clue about the place the glass is from. There are two sorts of glass on this type. One sort of glass is made utilizing soda from the ashes of crops. The opposite sort makes use of soda from natron… which is a naturally occurring salt from Wadi Natrun in Egypt!
A spot in time
In partnership with Glasgow-based Muslim ladies’s centre Amina, Edinburgh Muslim Scouts group eighth Braid Salaam Scouts and digital artist Alice Martin, we delved deeper into Scotland’s connections to Islam and the Center East in our previous, current and future.
Collectively, the group realized extra concerning the origin of the items of glass and explored Muslim heritage and identification in Scotland right this moment.
The younger folks from the eighth Braid Salaam Scouts explored the historical past and scientific discoveries of the Islamic glass
It is a journal entry that one of many members from Amina wrote. It’s a artistic writing piece from the angle of the glass vessel:
نمیدونم اهل کجا هستم در بچگی زمان جنگ من رو از خانوادو کشورم دور کردن ولی از نشانه های
روی بدنم به نظر میاد عرب باشم
من الان در گلاسگو هستم از یه طرف خوشحالم که دارن تلاش میکنن اصالت منو پیدا کنن
از یه طرفم نگران که شاید هیچ وقت به نتیجه نرسن
Translation:
Hey, I’m a glass fragment that you just visited the opposite day. My identify is Plate.
To be trustworthy I don’t know the place I’m from. As a baby, I used to be separated from my household and nation. However from the markings on my physique, I think about I’m Arab. I’m in Glasgow now.
On one hand, I’m completely satisfied that scientists are looking for my origins; alternatively, they might by no means succeed.
I’ve a sense that items of my physique are buried, maybe if they’re discovered, it may be the start of discovering me.
One of many key questions our group contemplated was after all, how the glass ended up in Scotland. However we additionally wished to search out out what the ingesting beaker might need seemed like.
With the scientific pXRF evaluation, historic context and different discoveries of 12th-13th century Center Jap ingesting vessels Alice was capable of create a 3D reconstruction of the glass. Have a more in-depth look!
On the lookout for extra?
Working with Amina and the eighth Braid Salaam Scouts, our Everlasting Connections mission used funding from the Arts and Humanities Analysis Council’s Functionality for Collections Fund to search out out extra concerning the fascinating discovery of the Islamic glass at Caerlaverock Fort.
Whereas we might by no means understand how the fragments ended up in Scotland, they will function a wanting glass into our shared historical past with the Center East.
There’s rather more to discover! Discover out extra concerning the thrilling discover of the glass and the Everlasting Connections mission on our ThingLink.
Click on right here to view the accessible model of this interactive content material
Header picture: © Crown Copyright Reserved Historic Scotland.
There are numerous extra fascinating objects in our archaeological collections and you may proceed the exploration on our weblog.
