Maritime trade in early Islamic-period glass: New evidence from the Maʻagan Mikhael B shipwreck

“…The glass was fully sorted and categorised based upon typology and fabric as part of an MA project (Natan, 2020). Samples, selected to be representative of the assemblage, were removed from 23 objects, shown in Figure 1.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The number of complete glass vessels retrieved was low, and the presence of glass and glass production waste, as well as broken vessels, suggests that the glass assemblage largely represents a cargo of cullet, intended to be unloaded for remelting at some port of call (Natan et al, 2021). The present compositional analysis was carried out to determine the compositional affiliations of the glass in the cargo, with a view to determining its origin and to provide more information on the context of the wreck, the activities of the ship, as well as offering some interesting possibilities for future investigations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The wreck has been dated to the mid‐seventh–mid‐eighth centuries CE (Cohen & Cvikel, 2018; Creisher et al, 2019). More than 870 glass fragments were found in the ship, concentrated in the area between the mast step and the fore bulkhead, comprising chunks of glass, moils, vessels (e.g., bowls, bottles, and wine glasses), and oil lamps, most dating to the Late Byzantine and early Islamic periods in the region (for further discussion of the glass finds, see elsewhere: Natan et al, 2021). Although other glass cargos have been found off the coast of Israel (Galili et al, 2015), the Ma'agan Mikhael B assemblage is important because it was discovered within the confines of the ancient vessel, indicating that it represents a single cargo.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Composition and affinities of glass from the Ma'agan Mikhael B shipwreck, Israel

Benzonelli,

Natan,

Gorin‐Rosen

et al. 2023

Archaeometry

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Material recovered from the Ma‘agan Mikhael B shipwreck, off the coast of northern Israel, includes a significant assemblage of glass which appears to represent waste workshop material (cullet) collected for recycling. Twenty‐three samples were selected for analysis for major and minor elements using SEM‐EDS, to provide insight into the activities and dating of the ship. The glass corresponds to known primary glass types, comprising a high‐ and a low‐lime sub‐group of Levantine 1 (Apollonia type), and Egypt 1b. The assemblage is likely to date to the early part of the eighth century CE and, in conjunction with the radiocarbon dating of the ship, gives a possible date range for the wreck of 710‐740 C.E. All groups contain glass‐working waste, glass chunks and vessel fragments and the majority are likely to have been collected from one or more workshops. It is unclear whether this cargo represents the by‐products of several campaigns of a single workshop which used different consignments of raw glass, or material from different workshops, collected at different ports‐of‐call.

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“…The ship was found to hold numerous and diverse finds, including amphorae and ceramic ware, wooden artefacts, food and faunal remains, bricks and stones, glass fragments, and metal artefacts [20,21]. 14 C dates produced for wood and organic samples and typological analyses of the ceramic and glass assemblages place the shipwreck in the seventh-eighth centuries CE, the Early Islamic period in the region [20,22]. This was a period of transition in the Mediterranean.…”

Section: The Underwater Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

What You Clean Is What You Get: A Novel Chemical Cleaning Technique and the Interpretation of Corrosion Products Found in Late Roman Copper Alloy Coins Retrieved from the Sea

et al. 2022

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Thirteen Late Roman copper alloy coins with a dark concretion layer from the Early Islamic period Ma‘agan Mikhael B shipwreck were chosen to undergo an experimental chemical cleaning and polishing procedure for removing the concretion while limiting the damage to the surviving metal. These coins, and two more without concretion discovered on the beach nearby, were then subjected to a series of non-destructive analyses–visual testing, XRF, multi-focal light microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy–to determine their state of preservation, identify their corrosion products, and acquire information regarding their core material. An additional coin was examined by destructive metallographic light microscopy and SEM-EDS analyses to gain further information concerning the concretion cover. Preservation varied: For some chemically cleaned coins, a shiny orange-coloured metallic surface was exposed, while others were poorly preserved. Moreover, evidence of the stamping process was also observed. The results show that the suggested chemical cleaning treatment could be useful for processing other copper alloy objects retrieved from underwater environments; we propose a 12-step methodology to this effect.

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Maritime trade in early Islamic-period glass: New evidence from the Maʻagan Mikhael B shipwreck

Cited by 4 publications

References 13 publications

A glass workshop in ‘Aqir, Israel and a new type of compositional contamination

A glass workshop in ‘Aqir, Israel and a new type of compositional contamination

Composition and affinities of glass from the Ma'agan Mikhael B shipwreck, Israel

What You Clean Is What You Get: A Novel Chemical Cleaning Technique and the Interpretation of Corrosion Products Found in Late Roman Copper Alloy Coins Retrieved from the Sea

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