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In the present case study, the manufacturing technology for glazed pottery was investigated, with particular focus on the great variety of colours and glaze recipes used in Western Anatolia and East Asia and observed in finds from rescue excavation sites in Greece. An assemblage of 40 ceramic fragments dating from the Late Byzantine and Islamic to the Ottoman/Venetian periods was examined for their decoration, surface treatment, and production technology. The peculiarities of the colour recipes applied on the glazed pottery of different assumed origins of production were investigated, focusing on glaze technology and employing colourants. This was achieved by the use of an analytical workflow that considered the compositional details of pigments, slip coatings, and glazes. The chemical evaluation was carried out utilising X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (pXRF) and Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). Raman Spectroscopy provided information about the compositional variation, and the microscopic examination via Optical Microscopy (OM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM-EDS) yielded information about the sample stratigraphy of the examined ceramic sections. Through a wide range of colour and glaze recipes, this study of glazed ceramics was able to define and express the essential elements of each pottery workshop’s perception of colour.

The Sasanian Empire was one of the most important periods in ancient Iran and one that experienced flourishingof the Zoroastrian religion. As the official religion in the Sasanian to post-Sasanian period, Zoroastrianism can beunderstood better by studying evidence of the religion’s impact on artifacts such as glassware, coins, silver vessels,pottery, and textiles. This paper shows the importance of “Zoroastrian sacred numbers” on glass fabrication andits impact on a specific type of glassware. Based on his assumption that glassware designs reflect the beliefsof artisans, the author focuses on the number of the facets on the related glassware. To test this hypothesis, theSasanian glassware is compared to other concomitant objects such as royal necklaces and flower petals used inthe Zoroastrian Pahlavi manuscripts. This religion-inspired decorative technique continued into the Early Islamicperiod, during which Shiism strongly preserved the Zoroastrian legacy in glassware.

Excavation at the site of Kharaib el-Desht on Failaka Island, Kuwait, began in 2013 and continued in 2015 and 2016. The second season focused on the northwestern part of the site, namely Areas 1 and 4. In the third season, work also encompassed the southeastern part of the site, Area 3, where the exploration of a stone structure was resumed. A fragment of a residential complex was also unearthed in this area. Test trenches, opened inside the stone structure and below the foundation level of the residential remains, confirmed the existence of an earlier phase, predating the Desht settlement.

The analytical study of 63 unpublished clay lamps allowed us to review all the existing typologies of a crucial period for the Egyptian lamp workshops, i.e. from the late Byzantine times to the Islamic era, paying special attention to the transition types and to the very first Islamic lamps. We discuss here the categories of lamps fitting perfectly the established typologies, as well as the categories for which the existing classifications are not satisfactory. The second aim of the article is to focus on the influence of the Near Eastern production and imports on the Egyptian lamp manufacturers, mainly during the Byzantine-Islamic transition period, which is an important key to understanding lamp types that will often have a very broad expansion, from Maghreb area to all Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea shores, influencing even Byzantine manufacturers.

This is an overview of the houses in southern Portugal, at the final stages of the Islamic period, using Mértola as the case study. Recent archaeological works, performed in different places, give us information on the houses’ organization, as well on the daily life of the population. Alimentary habits have been disclosed through a series of analyses.