rgzm – tagungen 30 (mainz 2017)€¦ · rgzm – tagungen band 30 alexandra hilgner · susanne...

Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum

Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Archäologie

Verlag des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 2017

OFFPRINT

RGZM – TAGUNGEN Band 30

Alexandra Hilgner · Susanne Greiff · Dieter Quast (eds)

GEMSTONES IN THE FIRST MILLENNIUM AD

MINES, TRADE, WORKSHOPS AND SYMBOLISM

International Conference, October 20th - 22nd, 2015

Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Mainz

Redaktion: Alexandra Hilgner, Claudia Nickel (RGZM);

Carola Murray-Seegert, Won Andres

Satz: Dieter Imhäuser, Hofheim a. T.

Umschlag: Claudia Nickel (RGZM); detail from the Catalan Atlas

(AD 1375) showing Marco Polo’s family travelling by camel cara-

van (image: public domain via Wikimedia Commons).

Bibliografische Information

der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek

Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in

der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie: Detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.d-nb.de abrufbar.

ISBN 978-3-88467-271-6

ISSN 1862-4812

© 2017 Verlag des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums

Das Werk ist urheberrechtlich geschützt. Die dadurch begründe-

ten Rechte, insbesondere die der Übersetzung, des Nachdrucks,

der Entnahme von Abbildungen, der Funk- und Fernsehsendung,

der Wiedergabe auf fotomechanischem (Fotokopie, Microkopie)

oder ähnlichem Wege und der Speicherung in Datenverarbei-

tungsanlagen, Ton- und Bildträgern bleiben, auch bei nur aus-

zugsweiser Verwertung, vorbehalten. Die Vergütungsansprüche

des §54, Abs.2, UrhG. werden durch die Verwertungsgesellschaft

Wort wahrgenommen.

Druck: Beltz Bad Langensalza GmbH

Printed in Germany.

Das Vorhaben »Weltweites Zellwerk – Umbrüche in der kultu-

rellen Bedeutung frühmittelalterlichen Edelsteinschmucks vor

dem Hintergrund von Wirtschaftsgeschichte sowie Ideen- und

Technologietransfer« (FKZ: 01UO1313A) wird im Rahmen des

Programms »Die Sprache der Objekte – Materielle Kultur im

Kontext gesellschaftlicher Entwicklungen« vom Bundesminis-

terium für Bildung und Forschung gefördert.

V

CONTENTS

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VII

Mines and Trade

Dieter Quast · Alexandra Hilgner · Susanne GreiffIntroduction: Mines and Trade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Borayin LariosElusive Gemstone Mines: the Red Garnet Industry in Contemporary Rajasthan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Brigitte BorellGemstones in Southeast Asia and Beyond: Trade along the Maritime Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Eivind Heldaas SelandGemstones and Mineral Products in the Red Sea / Indian Ocean Trade of the First Millennium . . . . . . . . 45

Dieter QuastAmber and Beaver Furs: Trade with Raw Material for the Production of Luxury Goods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Helena HamerowThe Circulation of Garnets in the North Sea Zone, ca. 400-700 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Gemstone Working

Judith Jordan · Elke Nieveler · Michael SchmauderIntroduction to Gemstone Working . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

John Ljungkvist · Jonna Sarén Lundahl · Per FrölundTwo Workshops with Garnet Crafts in Gamla Uppsala . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Mark Horton · Nicole Boivin · Alison Crowther · Ben Gaskell · Chantal Radimilahy · Henry WrightEast Africa as a Source for Fatimid Rock Crystal. Workshops from Kenya to Madagascar . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Elise Morero · Jeremy Johns · Hara Procopiou · Roberto Vargiolu Hassan ZahouaniThe Manufacturing Techniques of Fatimid Rock Crystal Ewers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Manfred Burianek · Thomas HöltkenA Rock Crystal Workshop from Cologne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

VI

The Value and the Symbolic Meaning(s) of Gemstones

Kerstin SobkowiakAn Introduction to the Value and the Symbolic Meaning(s) of Gemstones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Lisbet ThoresenArchaeogemmology and Ancient Literary Sources on Gems and their Origins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

James McHughThe Symbolism of Gemstones in Indian Religions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Michelle BeghelliFrom the Bible to the Liber Pontificalis. Gems and Precious Stones in the Early Medieval Churches:

Combinations, Colours and Contexts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Nils C. RitterGemstones in Pre-Islamic Persia: Social and Symbolic Meanings of Sasanian Seals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Antje Bosselmann-RuickbieThe Symbolism of Byzantine Gemstones: Written Sources, Objects and

Sympathetic Magic in Byzantium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Poster Session

Kerstin Sobkowiak · Dieter Quast · Stefan Albrecht · Jörg DrauschkeGemstones as Insignia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Jörg Drauschke · Annette Frey · Antonio Juárez Villena · Dieter QuastBetween Fashion and Meaning – Red Garnet and Style Changes from the 5th to the 7th Century . . . . . 310

Stefan Albrecht · Jörg Drauschke · Michael Franz · Dieter Quast · Jörg Gengnagel · Kerstin Sobko-wiak · Borayin Larios · Judith Jordan · Elke Nieveler · Michael Schmauder · Eszter Horváth · Zsófia Rácz · Sonngard Hartmann · Michael Rychlicki · Susanne GreiffGarnet: Crisis along Trade Routes in the 7th Century? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312

Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson · Alexandra Hilgner · Antonio Juárez VillenaGarnet on the Peripheries of the Centres of Fashion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314

Stefan Albrecht · Julia Bolotina · Kerstin SobkowiakGemstones in Heaven and Earth: Rivers of Opulence in Historical Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316

Elke Nieveler · Judith Jordan · Jutta Geisweid · Christiane Stempel · Eszter HorváthQuality by its Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

List of Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320

VII

PREFACE

The conference »Gemstones in the First Millennium AD« was organised in October 2015 in Mainz, Ger-

many, within the scope of the project »International Framework – Weltweites Zellwerk – Changes in the

cultural significance of early medieval gemstone jewellery considered against the background of economic history and the transfer of ideas and technologies«. The project, the conference and this volume are gener-

ously sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The project focuses on

garnet jewellery, a European phenomenon of the early Middle Ages. On the one hand, the social and sym-

bolic character of this jewellery style is scrutinised, while another part of the project focuses on eco-historical

questions. While the project’s results will be published in a separate volume, the present proceedings are

a collection of essays, mostly by external authors. Researchers from different countries, such as Germany,

England, the United States, Sweden, Norway and Italy and from various fields, such as archaeology, history, philology as well as the natural sciences, contribute to this volume: they present their results on worldwide

gemstone research – including, but not focusing on garnet. These speakers, now authors, were selected to

help the project members widen their views and »think out of the box« for their own research as well as to

integrate their individual research results within a wider context. Trade flows and production methods, but also utilisation and perception were discussed in a cross-cultural and diachronic approach, using gemstones

as an example. The conference aimed at three main questions that formed the sessions: »Mines and Trade«,

»Gemstone Working« as well as »The Value and the Symbolic Meaning(s) of Gemstones«. The structure

of this volume follows the structure of the conference. The chairs of the sessions and the editors of this

volume present each of these three chapters with an introduction to the topic. The chairs were chosen as

representatives of the three project’s joint-partners: The Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum (RGZM) in

Mainz, The LVR-LandesMuseum in Bonn and the South Asia Institute of Heidelberg University (SAI). The

RGZM has a strong background in provenancing garnets and thus presents the chapter »Mines and Trade«.

The LVR-LandesMuseum is focusing on technological questions within the project and therefore describes

»Gemstone Working«. The partners from the SAI are philologists and hence qualified to discuss »The Value and the Symbolic Meaning(s) of Gemstones«.

Starting with the idea of bringing together experts from different fields and continents as well as positioning ourselves within the scientific community, we received more than we had dared to wish for: with top-rank-

ing researchers from the wider field of gemstone studies, this conference included interesting presentations in fields that, in the past, were often characterised by isolated research carried out by only few experts. The stimulating discussions during the sessions created new networks and led to the exchange of thoughts

across the disciplines.

This conference was organised by colleagues from the RGZM, but our project partners from the SAI and

the LVR-LandesMuseum in Bonn played an important role in searching for and selecting the speakers. We

are very thankful for their support. We would also like to thank our student assistants Anna-Maria Bojzak,

Michael Franz and Andrea Bersch, for helping to organise the conference days. Thanks are also due to

Carola Murray-Seegert for proofreading, Dieter Imhäuser for designing the layout, Won Andres for help-

ing with copy-editing, and to the publishing house of the RGZM. Of course, our special thanks go to the

speakers and authors whose essays created this volume. We are now fortunate to be able to present these

contributions to a wider public.

The Editors Alexandra Hilgner, Susanne Greiff & Dieter Quast

Gemstones in the First Millennium AD 103

MARK HORTON · NICOLE BOIVIN · ALISON CROWTHER · BEN GASKELL CHANTAL RADIMILAHY · HENRY WRIGHT

EAST AFRICA AS A SOURCE FOR FATIMID ROCK CRYSTAL.

WORKSHOPS FROM KENYA TO MADAGASCAR

Among the greatest treasures of the medieval Islamic world are the extraordinary rock crystal vessels that

were crafted in Fatimid Cairo between the 10th-11th centuries 1. While debate has focussed on the techno-

logical aspects of the production of these great works of art, less attention has been given to explaining the

source of the crystal from which they have been made. In this paper we want to set out the evidence that it

may have come from northeastern Madagascar, via long distance maritime trade routes that integrated the

Swahili coast of East Africa with the Gulf, the Red Sea and Nile Valley.

Crystal quartz is one of the world’s most common minerals, made from silicon dioxide. In its pure form it is

known as clear quartz, hyaline quartz or rock crystal 2. Other crystalline types can include rose quartz, milky

quartz, amethyst and citrine, coloured through the inclusion of impurities. It can be found in a variety of

geological conditions, and major modern sources of crystal have been the Minas Gerais state in Brazil and

the Alpine regions of Europe. Late medieval and early modern sources included the Tirolean Alps, Black For-

est and Saarland 3 but in the ancient and early medieval worlds, most crystal quartz was probably obtained

from much further afield entral Asia, Sri anka and southern India, and Africa. Two particular features of atimid crystal objects are noteworthy and generally rare. The first is the extreme clarity of the crystal, which frequently contains few visible inclusions or internal fractures. Most rock crystal

is cloudy, coloured or fractured, whereas the Fatimid crystal is predominantly clear, a feature noted by the

Persian mineralogist and polymath al-Biruni 4. Secondly, Fatimid crystal objects can be very large in size and

have to been carved from a single block. One of the most famous, the al-Aziz piece in the Treasury of San

Marco, is 230 mm × 125 mm while the largest in the St. Denis piece in the Louvre is 240 mm high 5. This

would have required a single crystal at least twice this dimension. Material of this size and quality is rare and

difficult to obtain. There has long been a suspicion that these large crystals derived from Africa not least because the main authority on early Islamic gems and minerals, al-Biruni, said so in the 11th century 6. In a paper published

in »Scientific American« in , it was suggested that the port-cities of East Africa had an important role in the trade of crystal quartz into the Islamic world . At that stage, a few waste fragments had been

excavated from the th-14th-century port site of Shanga on the Kenya coast, and we thought that the

crystal might have come from the East African interior, possibly the Rift Valley, where small deposits of

crystal are found . eanwhile, further research in East Africa since has shown that this was unlikely, with sporadic evidence of early coastal contact found so far inland. Further excavations on island sites on

an ibar, emba and the omoros have reported more finds of crystal beads and waste materials, with increasing concentrations moving southwards. The key Madagascar port-city of Mahilaka, occupied from

the 11th-14th century, has so far produced the largest concentration of waste crystal, strongly suggesting a

Madagascar source .

adagascan crystal is noteworthy for its high purity and translucency deriving from single crystals that can weigh about 300 kg, and up to one metre. These very large lumps can be largely free of imperfections and

are therefore ideal for carving the size of pieces found in the Islamic world. To transport large rocks to Cairo

104 M. Horton et al. · East Africa as a Source for Fatimid Rock Crystal. Workshops from Kenya to Madagascar

would have involved considerable effort and organisation, and while the Fatimid ewers are the most famous

pieces, there were several workshops producing many thousands of pieces on a less spectacular scale, de-

manding a sustainable source of high-quality crystal. Rock crystal may also have been used as a source of

silica in glass production where clear glass of exceptional quality was required; quartz pebbles were used in

the production of the later Venetian cristallo 10.

DOCUMENTARY SOURCES

As with many exotic and luxury commodities, the documentary sources are generally silent as to their ori-

gin. This is partly because they may have come from remote places, for which geographical knowledge was

fragmented, but also because secrecy and rarity added to their value. The East African coast is itself poorly

documented, even though it was largely Muslim and therefore literate from the 10th century 11. Between

then and the 14th century there are only two eyewitness accounts al- as udi in 12, and Ibn Battuta in

1332 13, neither of whom mention crystal specifically. ther geographical descriptions are second-hand and fragmentary, and do not mention crystal as a significant export concentrating instead on the better-known gold and ivory, both obtained from southern Africa in a region known as Sufala 14.

The first suggestion that East Africa, or the land of the anj as it was known, was a supplier of crystal comes from the encyclopaedist al- iruni. is » ost omprehensive nowledge of recious Stones« was written ca

- , but was probably based on observations made around years earlier, in the area of modern Iran and Afghanistan. He was, however, well informed on African trade and has also left a reasonably accurate

description of the conduct of the gold trade in southern Africa 15. Referring to rock crystal:

»[…] it is brought from the islands of Zanj and other islands ( az ʾir al-Zanj wa-l-Dibajat) to

Basra, where vessels are made. Large and small pieces are collected at one place. Instructions

are tagged upon pieces that are to be cut and shaped and the types of vessels that are to be

made from them. They are then handed over to the artisans who follow the instructions and

collect high wages. These wages are far higher than those of the persons who measure the

pieces and put down the instructions. There is considerable difference between knowledge

and the practice of that knowledge. This crystal possesses the tenuity of the air and the trans-

parency of water. If a hole, knot, or cloudiness falls upon its transparency, it is masked by some

etched design or inscription, requiring considerable expertise. Should this defect engulf the

whole piece and remove its transparency, it is denoted as rim billur the dross of the crystal « 16.

Noteworthy is that, at this date, the trade seems to have been between Basra, at the northern end of the

Persian Gulf, and the islands of the Zanj with the rather obscure az ʾir al-Zanj wa-l-Dibajat, which could

be translated as »islands of the anj by the Dibajat aldives «. According to the geographical knowledge of the time, this might mean the Comoros or other East African islands. Basra was a major urban centre

and port during the early Abbasid period and the residence of Kharijite merchants, who were involved in

the Zanj slave trade and thus already had extensive knowledge of East Africa . Al-Biruni continued with a

further observation on the exceptional quality of the African crystal:

»[Crystal] is brought from Kashmir also. Some sections are uncut and some are used in the

making of vessels and utensils, goblets and cups, chess pieces and counters, and pieces as large

as a soap-nut. But this variety does not approach the Zanji kind nor is the quality of the work-

manship of these people of ashmir as finished as that of the asrans. Its sections are found in mountains as well. It is found in plenty in Wakhan and adakhshan but is not exported« .


Two encyclopaedists follow al-Biruni listing sources for rock crystal, although it is unclear how reliable these

are. Al-Akfani ca provides a list that includes anj, along with ashmir, adakhshan, itilis, Armenia, Sri Lanka, Morocco and the land of the Franks . A Spanish source, »The apidary of Alfonso V« records that it is found in many parts, »but the best of all is found in the land of Ethiopia« 20.

The other major historical source is Nasir-i Khusraw, a Persian who left an important narrative of his travels

through the iddle East between - . In about , while visiting ld airo, he observed that:»on the north side of the mosque (al-Hakim) is a market called the Lamp Market and no one

ever saw such a market anywhere else. Every kind of rare good from all over the world can be

had there. I saw tortoise-shell implements such as small boxes, combs, knife handles and so on.

I also saw extremely fine crystal, which the master craftsmen etch most beautifully. This crystal had been imported from the Maghreb although they say that near the Red Sea (Bahr al-Qul-zum crystal even finer and more translucent than the ahghrebi variety had been found« 21.

He also adds that in the market there were also extremely large elephant tusks from Zanzibar (200 maunds,

at least lbs kg the largest recorded in modern times from East Africa, the famous ilimanjaro tusks, were only and kg 22), a leopard skin and type of peacock from Ethiopia. It does seem curious

that his informants made clear where the ivory came from but were more vague as to the source of the crys-

tal. No other account gives the Red Sea as a source and there are no known deposits of rock crystal here. As

we shall see, this was most likely the transhipment point for Madagascar crystal via southern Arabian ports.

The Cairo Geniza documents, written to and from the Jewish communities in Aden during the 11th and

12th centuries, are conspicuous in their lack of reference to East Africa or indeed any trade in crystal. The

published sections of the »India ook« contain a single reference to a crystal container used for kohl, as a private possession of a Jewish merchant 23.

ABBASID AND FATIMID TRADE WITH EAST AFRICA (fig. 1)

Quart crystal is a consistent but generally rare find on the ports of the East African coast. These sites have been quite widely excavated since the pioneering work of ames irkman at Gedi in the s hittick s work at ilwa and anda in the s was followed by orton s work at Shanga, and on an ibar, Tum-

batu and Pemba as well as the work of many others. Pierre Vérin, Claude Allibert and Henry Wright docu-

mented related sites on the Comoros and Madagascar 24. More recently European Research Council-funded

Sealinks roject has revisited several of these sites on an ibar, emba, afia, the omoros and adagas-car 25. These sites span the early th century through to the 16th century. They are major indigenous trade

communities that developed stone architecture and many urban features. Study of the ceramics and glass

provide an indication of main flows of trade, although imports rarely exceed of the total assemblages of ceramic sherds 26. As participants in the Indian Ocean monsoon-based networks, it is unsurprising that the

majority of evidence for contact lies with the Gulf, and to a lesser extent with western India and southern

Arabia particularly in the th and 14th centuries . Considerable quantities of Tang and Song Chinese

ceramics were also found, although these are most likely arriving via the Indian and Gulf ports.

The ports of East Africa participated in the maritime trade of the Western Indian Ocean from at least the

late th century if not before . Key radiocarbon dated sequences from Unguja Ukuu and Fukuchani on

an ibar have identified a wide range of imports from the Gulf from ca onwards, with hinese stone-

wares arriving by at least . Connections with South Asia are evident from the glass beads 30. Other East

African trade sites securely dated to the th century include Shanga and Manda in the Lamu archipelago and


Tumbe on Pemba island 31. Several early sites such

as Dembeni and Old Sima are known from the Co-

moros, but probably date from around 32. While

the imports cover the same range as those found on

the coast, the local pottery on the Comoros has dis-

tinctive features as well as some common features 33,

suggesting that the Comoros communities were dis-

tinct from mainland Africa and may have included

an Austronesian component.

The settlement of Madagascar and its connection

with the Indian Ocean world remains unresolved 34.

Both genetic and linguistic evidence indicates that

the island was settled from Indonesia or elsewhere

in the Austronesian-speaking world. The archaeo-

logical evidence, however, remains ambiguous. The

earliest known coastal sites, including Ampasima-

havelona, near to Vohémar, and Nosy Mangabe,

near Maroantsetra, have radiocarbon dates from

the th century 35. Ampasimahavelona does not have

imports in the earliest levels, only coarse oxidised

ceramics that are among the earliest recognisable

ceramics in Madagascar and have no readily iden-

tifiable cultural association. The oldest major urban site is that of Mahilaka on the northwestern coast,

established by the 11th century and continuing until

the 14th century. The local Mahilaka ceramics have

some similarities with contemporary material in the

Comoros 36.

Critical to the argument that Madagascar was the

main source of the Fatimid crystal is evidence for Fa-

timid or Red Sea trade with East Africa in the 10th and 11th centuries. In many ways, this is problematic,

as the many excavated sites contain very limited material from the Red Sea or Egypt during this period. In

contrast to the many thousands of sherds from the Persian Gulf that have been found on the East African

sites, not a single sherd of Fatimid or related ceramic has been excavated (except one possible one from Ma-

hilaka which has similarities to some early Islamic Egyptian wares) and only a few pieces of possible painted

glass . This is in contrast to evidence from the mid-13th to mid-14th century, when East African trade with

Aden is represented by significant quantities of yellow-gla ed mustard wares, from kilns near Aden .

Trade between East Africa and the Red Sea and Egypt was not as simple as the monsoon-directed bilateral

trade with the Gulf, in which ships could undertake the voyage directly. It is difficult to sail from the ed Sea to East Africa in a single season, and this can be shown on the monsoon dates, recorded by the 15th

and 16th century navigators according to Ibn ajid, ships left the ed Sea ports between August and September 11 with a wind that carried them all the way to India. However, when reaching the southern

Arabian ports they would be confronted by the contrary southwest monsoon for the African voyage and

would have to await the change in monsoon in November the optimal dates for sailing from alindi to Madagascar are January 25-February 15, possibly reaching Madagascar by April. The return journey

Fig. 1 Principal 10th-11th century port sites in East Africa, where

rock crystal has been excavated, with possible trade routes to Cairo

and Basra.

Gemstones in the First Millennium AD

would begin in September, reaching the coasts of southern Arabia by November, and the Red Sea ports

in December or anuary a voyage of up of months duration. It is hardly surprising that the ports of the southern Arabian coast, from Dhofar to Aden, acted as an entrepôt, where East African goods could

be stored and transferred 40. Ibn al-Mujawir describes the voyage to Aden from Madagascar, stating that

normally it takes three monsoons to reach Madagascar, »but some people would turn the three mon-

soons into one: in AD a ship sailed from adagascar making for ilwa but dropping anchor in Aden« 41. The ships they sailed in are described as having paddles (ajnihah), possibly outrigger boats

of Austronesian design. The survivors of this voyage were living in reed huts in a wadi near to Aden. He

also describes a community of East Africans living in Aden, who subsequently forced these sailors from

Madagascar out of town to live in this wadi. After they died out, the settlement was later taken over by

people emigrating from Siraf 42.

These ports of the southern Arabian and Dhofar coast may have acted as entrepôts for East African com-

modities feeding into the Indian Ocean trading networks. One such entrepôt has been suggested at Sharma,

on the Arabian coast, dating from ca - 43. The excavators describe the site as a transit entrepôt,

founded by emigrant refugees from Siraf who moved there in the late 10th century, after the collapse of Siraf

as the main centre for international trade 44. owever there was also a significant East African community resident at Sharma, as is evident from the large quantity of African ceramics found there between and of the total ungla ed assemblage, peaking at around 45. The ceramics are a very close

match to those from the Pemba site of Mtambwe Mkuu, indeed so close as to suggest that this is the origin

of East African community at Sharma 46. Other commodities are also found at Sharma including gum copal,

chemically linked to two sources: Madagascar and continental East Africa . Similar copal has been found

associated with an incense burner from the th- th century Zanzibar port of Unguja Ukuu . The range of

Islamic glazed ceramics from the Gulf, unglazed Indian pottery and Chinese wares is notably similar to that

found in contemporaneous East African ports, and very few ceramics from Sharma can be attributed to an

Egyptian or Red Sea origin . The carbonised food remains included both sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and

Asian rice (Oryza sativa L.) (though only a few grains), which may have been imported from the East African

ports 50. While no rock crystal has been reported from Sharma, Madagascan chlorite-schist is present 51.

The ceramic connection between Sharma and tambwe kuu is particularly significant, as from this site on Pemba a hoard of over 2000 locally produced silver coins and at least 13 gold dinars were found 52. Eight

of the latter were from atimid mints, the latest of which was dated AD . rom the hoard, eight coins were from atimid mints, but three were »imitation« atimid coins that could have been locally minted in East Africa or on the Arabian coast; these bore nonsensical Arabic inscriptions, in a bulls-eye design found

on the coins of al- ustansir - . These »imitation« atimid coins have been found farther south one from isimani afia on afia island, and two hoards of probable identical coins from »Diego Suare « 53

and Mananara in northern Madagascar 54. This distribution pattern of Fatimid-style coins is remarkable and

provides a trail from Egypt to the northern coast of Madagascar in the 11th century.

Fatimid knowledge of East Africa has recently been highlighted by the acquisition by the Bodleian Library of

»The ook of uriosities«, a compilation of world geographical knowledge dating to the s and prob-

ably assembled in Cairo 55. In one section it provides a list of places down the East African coast, described

as the lands of anj, recording ikhanah twapa unjuawah Unguja Ukuu anfiya afia ilwalah (Kilwa), an island; ... Island of ... d-l-h; Q-d-x-h, a Bay; Khawr al-Amir (Bay of the Amir); K-l-n-k-w, a strong-

hold and Susmar, an island » rocodile island« . Susmar might refer to one of the omoro Islands which once had an indigenous crocodile population and significant occupation during this period 56. While it is not

possible to identify places beyond Kilwa, this list indicates that there was some Fatimid knowledge of the

coast and islands far to the south.

M. Horton et al. · East Africa as a Source for Fatimid Rock Crystal. Workshops from Kenya to Madagascar

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE (tab. 1)

The majority of finds of crystal on archaeological sites in East Africa comes from waste flakes and cores, discarded waster beads, complete beads, and occasional artefacts. The flakes and cores provide the most convincing evidence for trade in the bulk raw material, suggesting that some crystal was being actively

worked. Complete crystal beads could have been made and traded from elsewhere, but discarded waster

beads suggest local manufacture, likely using a Madagascan source. This is a list of currently known or

published crystal.

Shanga

46 crystal beads were excavated from Shanga; most were spheroid, and some were faceted. Eight were

discarded wasters , suggesting that there was a local bead making industry . There were also small

quantities of pure crystal waste seven discarded cores fig. 2). Other evidence for working crystal was a

half-worked cone, a cube and button that had been discarded half finished. A single piece of this crystal was found in the site hase , around , but the majority of both beads and waste occurred between sites hases and mid- th to mid-13th century).

Zanzibar and Pemba Islands

During the s, a number of sites were excavated on an ibar and emba islands . The earliest site to

contain crystal was Unguja Ukuu, which new Sealinks research securely dates from the late th century to

the 11th century. A single piece of waste crystal was found deeply stratified in a probable th century level.

Waste crystal was also found at Tumbatu, a later site spanning the 11th to 14th century, as well as a crystal

cube. The nearby site of Mkokotoni produced 24 pieces of waste crystal in a single cache, probably in a 13th

century context. Two other pieces of waste were found at Mtambwe Mkuu and Ras Mkumbuu. In addition,

eight spheroid beads found at Unguja Ukuu, Mkokotoni, Tumbatu and Mtambwe Mkuu were unpolished

and mis-drilled, suggesting local manufacturing, and were similar to carnelian beads found at Tumbatu.

Site Waste flakes Waste beads Complete beads Artefacts / blocks Date RangeShanga 46 3 , -Mtambwe Mkuu 1 2 2 -Ras Mkumbuu 1 3 -Tumbatu 4 4 1 1000-1300

Mkokotoni 24 2 1200

Unguja Ukuu 1 3

Kilwa 25 1 ? 1300

Dembeni 1 -Old Sima 1 -Vohemar ?? 1000-1500

Nosy Mangabe 1 -Mahilaka 2 10 1 1000-1300

Tab. 1 ock crystal finds from East African sites.


Altogether, these finds suggest early processing at Unguja Ukuu and 13th century crystal working at

Tumbatu and Mkokotoni.

Kilwa

The major excavations by Neville Chittick in the

s at ilwa produced very limited finds of crys-tal, partly because he did not sieve his deposits, and

so would have missed the majority of stone beads .

e lists crystal beads from his excavations and a further seven found on the beach plus a cube of

crystal. He also found a »large lump of amorphous

quart « at usuni ubwa in the southern court, dat-ing to around 1300. In the collections of the Ethnol-

ogisches Museum in Berlin, among many thousands

of beads collected in the late th century on the

beach only three were made of crystal 60.

Comoro Islands

laude Allibert s excavations at Dembeni in , an th-11th century site on ayotte, recorded crystal quart flakes in Dembeni hase th to 10th century) and a single bead 61. More recently, Stéphane Pradines

returned to the site and has claimed this to be a major distribution centre for rock crystal. He located a wall,

possibly forming an enclosure, and within it were numerous pieces of rock crystal, although exact counts

have not been supplied; a published photograph includes seven pieces, the largest with a length of 6 cm.

A later survey located pieces of crystal, the largest weighing g 62. The Sealinks fieldwork at ld Sima Anjouan in located a single flake in a th century context (fig. 3).

Mahilaka

The largest quantity of archaeological crystal was however found in the coastal site of Mahilaka, northwest

Madagascar 63. ere flakes were found, of which were clear, other colours included pink, white and light green. In addition, ten blocks of crystal two weighing g , three beads, and a prism-shaped object were found. Most of the crystal comes from the central fort-like structure (fig. 4), which probably

dates from the 11th century. The majority of pieces, however, were attributed to site Period IIa that may

date to the 12th and 13th centuries.

Fig. 2 Waste crystal flakes and mis-drilled beads from Shanga East Africa . hoto . orton .


Fig. 3 rystal flake from ld Sima Anjouan, omoros , from th century context. hoto . orton .

Fig. 4 Part of the central structure or fort at Mahilaka, that may have been used to store

high value commodities such as rock crystal. hoto . orton .

Fig. 5 Lump of crystal from Nosy Mangabe,

excavated from a th century context. hoto A. Crowther).

Fig. 6 Location of main rock crystal producing areas in Madagascar, with outputs re-

corded in taken from urdock . Village locations recorded by en Gaskell - .


Vohémar

This was once one of the main ports on the northeastern coast of Madagascar, although the modern town

nowadays covers the main occupation area of the ancient site. Most of the archaeological work has concen-

trated around the tombs on the edge of the town, which date to the 15th century. Crystal beads were found

in these tombs, and were buried as grave goods 64. In 2014, a large lump of pure quartz of unknown origin

was observed on the corniche and ornamental quartz is traded through Vohémar today.

Nosy Mangabe

On this small island in northeastern Madagascar, located in a sheltered bay, has some of the earliest evidence

for settlement on the island dating to the th or th century 65. The Sealinks excavations in 2015 relocated

these areas, which had been discovered by Pierre Vérin and Henry Wright. One piece of crystal weighing

almost kg was found in these lower early levels probably dating to the th century (fig. 5). From the same

levels were found a piece of Islamic white glazed ware and a single sherd of turquoise glazed ware (»Sasan-

ian Islamic« this is only the second piece found on adagascar, and dates to before the atimid period.

ROCK CRYSTAL SOURCES IN MADAGASCAR (fig. 6)

In early modern times, Madagascar was known as a source of crystal. In 1661, Flacourt, in his »Historie de la

Grande Isle adagascar«, identified a number of rivers in northeastern adagascar, opposite the Isle Sainte arie, where crystal could be located. ne is marked »sur le bord de ces ivi res il se treuve beau ristal«

and two others »icy se treuve ristal« 66. François Martin, Flacourt’s informant in the Fenoarivo area, wrote

at length about crystal in the 1650s and 60s, describing how access was made along the rivers . Modern

commercial mining of quart dates from around , mostly for optical and ornamental quart and from as a source of natural fusing quart . etween - , there was a significant export of natural

pie oelectric quart reaching a peak of tonnes in with production falling after quart crystal could be produced synthetically .

This industrial activity has resulted in the main sources of crystal being accurately mapped, covering ten

locations or regions. While the largest output from a single source comes from mines at Cristallina and

Antamboholehibe, operated the Sociéte le Quartz de Madagascar, the region to produce the largest quan-

tity of crystal was ananara with , kg recorded in , where rocks were found in alluvial sands and »picked up in a random fashion«. The underlying geology is predominantly recambrian mica-schists and feldspars. Murdock noted that within the deeply laterized zones can be found »eluvials and rounded

blocks of alluvials sometimes of very large si e« .

Nowadays, as in the past, the Mananara Avaratra region remains the main source for the export of block crys-

tal in Madagascar (fig. 7-8). It is used for carving ornamental objects such as crystal balls. One of the authors

G began trading in crystal here in the s, locating a number of villages inland where large pieces could be obtained. The villagers would go out into the forest and hunt for large pieces in the alluvial sands, river ter-

races and riverbeds. The blocks were then brought into the village by ox-drawn carts or on canoes wrapped in

cloth to protect them (fig. 9-10). Single pieces can sometimes weigh up to 500 kg and would be covered in a

stained cortex, often disguising the purity of the crystal. Today, much of the trade in rock crystal is conducted

by Indian and Chinese traders who come to the villages and buy material and arrange shipment to the coast .


Fig. 7 Typical small block of rock crystal

probably recovered from a riverine context,

showing outer cortex and clear quartz.

hoto ark orton, courtesy Gaskell Quartz).

Fig. 8 arger block of flawless rock crys-tal, typical of the raw material that was

suitable to manufacture the Fatimid ewers.

hoto ark orton, courtesy Gaskell Quartz).


Fig. 9 kg block of rock crystal being transported into a village on a cart. hoto en Gaskell .

Fig. 10 A large lump of rock crystal being carried in northeast adagascar. hoto . Gaskell .


DISCUSSION

A number of lines of evidence point to northeastern Madagascar being the principal source of rock crystal

for the early Islamic world. Documentary evidence points to East Africa as the region from where it was

traded, and we can pinpoint Madagascar as the most viable source where large and very pure specimens

can be readily found, without the need for elaborate mining technology. We can also locate a credible trade

route, with two sites in adagascar containing Islamic imports, where crystal has also been found a-

hilaka from the late 10th century and Nosy angabe from as early as the th century. Stratified crystal from Dembeni, ld Sima, Shanga and Unguja Ukuu confirms that crystal was traded from the later th century

onwards, and it can be presumed that this crystal went to the Gulf region. The re-alignment of trade routes

in the late 10th century towards the Mediterranean via the Red Sea may help to explain the arrival of large

pieces of crystal in atimid airo, shipped via ports such as Sharma that was itself established ca . Sev-

eral ports may have specialised in the trade finds in the omoros might indicate one such area where the specimens may have been collected for shipment. Pemba Island may have been another, with its close links

to southern Arabia. The blocks may have been trimmed to reduce their weight, and to provide raw material

for local stone bead industries.

More work remains to clarify the role of Madagascar and East Africa more broadly in the early crystal trade.

One area of debate is why rock crystal working declines in Egypt in the later 11th century. Crystal continues

to be found in the East Africa coastal towns until the 13th century, while sites such as Sharma survive into

the later 12th century, so it is unlikely to be a supply issue from East Africa that explains the Fatimid decline.

It is more likely that internal political instability and civil war in the Fatimid regime led to the closure of the

workshops .

Hypotheses about crystal provenance will also need to be tested through modern, geochemical methods.

Recent work on the fake crystal carved skulls has employed methods of dating quartz carving using hydra-

tion methods . Provenancing the crystal material will always be problematical, because of its purity but also

because of the exceptional value of the museum pieces will restrict access for even non-destructive meth-

ods. ourier transform infrared spectroscopy TI might be a method to fingerprint rock crystal sources, but at present, there is little data with which to characterise sources, either in Madagascar or elsewhere.

Notes

1) There is no complete corpus of discoveries of crystal attributed

to the atimid workshops since amm . Erdmann ex-

tends the list to pieces. There have been several exhibition catalogues, including inder-Wilson , that included a wider selection for the »Arts of Islam« Arts ouncil and Al-couffe in »The Treasury of San arco Venice« ritish u-

seum . ecent discussions include ontadini ohnsMorero 2013; Morero et al. in this volume.

Anthony et al. , s. v. Quart . Deer owie ussman , - .

oeppe Giusti , - . See also orero et al. and ltken Burianek in this volume.

ontadini , . Said , f.

Alcouffe , .

Said , f.

orton .

Gregory .

adimilahy , . .

ehren reestone , .

orton . orton et al. forthcoming.

ellat - . reeman-Grenville , - .

Gibb , - .

Trimingham for a discussion on the locations mentioned.

Said , .

Said , f. with emendations.

orton for a discussion of the Ibadi harijite activity be-

tween East Africa and Basra in the ninth century.

Said , .

ited by ohns orero , .


ari o , f. ohns orero , . The designation Ethiopia was often used to refer to Eastern Africa in a wider

sense during the medieval period.

Thackston , .

unted around , they caused quite a sensation in an i-bar and there is a fine photograph of them in the collections of the Zanzibar National Archives. The tusks are now in the

National History Museum, London.

Goitein riedman , .

irkman . hittick . orton orton et al. forthcoming. Allibert Argant Argant . V rin . Wright et al. .

orton rowther oivin . rowther et al. . Crow ther et al. 2016a.

orton . leisher aViolette . Wood et al. .

orton .

orton iddleton .

orton et al. forthcoming.

30) Wood et al. 2016.

orton . Wood et al. . leisher aViolette .

32) For the most recent dates see Crowther et al. 2016b. Recent

work at Membeni (Grande Comore) has suggested occupation

in the th century AD.

Wright et al. .

34) Boivin et al. 2013.

Dewar Wright .

adimilahy , .

adimilahy , pl. . a, illustrates the possible Egyptian sherd from ahilaka. hittick , .

orton , .

Tibbetts , table of monsoon dates loose

orton .

Smith , .

The possibility that the Austronesians or the alagasy, as they became may have been the carriers of rock crystal to the Comoros, Pemba or even southern Arabia might be con-

sidered. The recent discovery of the 10th century Cirebon ship-

wreck off the coast of Sumatra, containing both worked and

unworked rock crystal, suggests some may have even reached

Southeast Asia. iebner , - .

43) Rougeulle 2004; 2015.

Vallet , .

ougeulle ollinet artin , - .

orton .

egert et al. , .

rowther et al. .

ougeulle , - .

Dabrowski et al. , f.

ougeulle , f.

orton rown ddy . orton .

53) There is no known early occupation at Diego Suarez, and

these coins, which were reported by a dealer, may have come

from the 10th-13th century site of Ampasin’i Andriana nearby.

Wright undertook a sounding here in 2015. The site is around

3 ha in size, and contains 11th-12th century Gulf sgraffiato pot-tery and chlorite schist.

The isimani afia coin is otherwise unreported but there is a photograph of it in the British Institute in Eastern Africa ar-

chives in Nairobi. The whereabouts the Diego Suarez hoard is

not currently known. or ananara, see: V rin , . A smaller Fatimid coin was also recorded at Vohémar along with

a possible Abbasid coin, but probably in a 15th century burial.

Another possible Fatimid coin is known from Benevony, Vérin

, . In the past all these finds have been dismissed as of »no positive significance«.

apoport Savage-Smith , .

enkel Schmidt , . Wright et al. . Wright .

orton , f.

orton .

hittick , . .

60) This is based on a visit to the museum’s collections in 2015.

Allibert Argant Argant , f. Also Wright et al. .

radines . radines erviaux .

adimilahy , . .

V rin , . f.

Dewar Wright . V rin .

lacourt . See also: http: gallica.bnf.fr ark: bt-v b b.r flacourt . ct. .

Dewar et al. , .

urdock , .

When enry Wright first visited ananara in , he ob-

served a small piezo-crystal industry continuing with local peo-

ple testing and discarding inadequate crystal flakes. There are no reliable figures for the industry after Independence in .

urdock , .

There may also be a link with the exploitation of chlorite-schist that is also found in northeast Madagascar, although a little

to the north in the region of Vohémar (which was also a small

scale source of rock crystal). The quarries were located and

studied by ouren ouaix and most recently restudied by V rin , - . The sources of chlorite-schist extend along km of coast from north of Voh mar to south of Mananjary on the East Coast, but only a few areas have been

intensively studied. This chlorite-schist was traded to the East

African coastal towns, and large concentrations were found at

Mtambwe Mkuu in 10th-11th century levels. It is also found at

Sharma, where both Arabian and Madagascan chlorite schist

is found ougeulle , .

In - , , pieces of crystal and glass were looted from the atimid treasury in airo, Ettinghausen Gruber en-

kins-Madina 2001, 200.

alligaro et al. .


References

Alcouffe : D. Alcouffe, Islamic hardstone carving. In: D. uck-

ton (ed.), The Treasury of San Marco Venice. British Museum

ondon - .

Allibert Argant Argant : . Allibert A. Argant . Argant, Le site de Bagamoyo (Mayotte, Archipel des Comoro). Études

c an Indien , , - .

: . Allibert A. Argant . Argant, e Site de Dembeni ayotte, Archipel des omores. Etudes c an Indien , , - .

Anthony et al. : . W. Anthony . A. ideaux . W. ladh M. C. Nichols (eds), Handbook of Mineralogy III. Halides, Hydrox-

ides, Oxides. Mineralogical Society of America (Chantilly 2001).

oivin et al. : N. oivin A. rowther . elm D. G. uller, East Africa and Madagascar in the Indian Ocean world. Journal

of World rehistory , , - .

alligaro et al. : T. alligaro . oquinot I. eiche . asta-

ing . Salomon G. errand . e ur, Dating study of two rock crystal carvings by surface microtopography and by ion beam

analyses of hydrogen. Applied hysics A , , - .

hittick : . N. hittick, ilwa. An Islamic Trading ity on the East African oast Nairobi .

: . N. hittick, anda: Excavations at an Island ort on the enya Nairobi .

Contadini 2015: A. Contadini, Facets of Light: The Case of Rock

rystals. In: . loom S. lair eds , God is the ight of the eav-

ens and the Earth. Light in Islamic Art and Culture (New Haven,

CT 2015) 121-155.

rowther et al. : A. rowther .-A. Veall N. oivin . or-ton A. otarba- orley D. G. uller T. enn . aji . D. Matheson, Use of Zanzibar copal (Hymenaea verrucosa Gaertn.)

as incense at Unguja Ukuu, Tan ania in the - th century CE:

chemical insights into trade and Indian Ocean interactions. Jour-

nal of Archaeological Science , , - .

a: A. rowther . aulkner . rendergast E. Quintana orales . . orton E. Wilmsen A. otarba- orley A. . hristie N. etek . Tibesasa . Douka . icornell-Gelabert . arah N. oivin, oastal subsistence, maritime trade and the

colonization of small offshore islands in eastern African prehis-

tory. ournal of Island and oastal Archaeology , , -.

b: A. rowther . ucas . elm . . orton . Ship-

ton . T. Wright S. Walshaw . . awlowic . adimi-lahy . Douka . icornell-Gelabert D. Q. uller N. oivin, Ancient crops provide first archaeological signature of the west-ward Austronesian expansion. Proceedings of the National Acad-

emy of Sciences of the United States of America , , 6635-6640.

Dabrowski et al. : V. Dabrowski . Tengberg D. Guille-

marre h. ouchaud, Analyse carpologique Sharma: produc-

tion et circulation des produits végétaux. In: A. Rougeulle (ed.),

Sharma. Un entrepôt de commerce médiéval sur la côte du Ha-

dramawt men, ca - . ritish oundation for the Study of Arabia onographs xford - .

Deer owie ussman : W. A. Deer . A. owie . ussman, An Introduction to the ock orming inerals ondon .

Dewar Wright : . Dewar . T. Wright, The culture history of adagascar. ournal of World rehistory , , - .

Dewar et al. : . Dewar adimilahy . D. asolofomam-

pianina . T. Wright, Early Settlement in the region of ena-

rivo Atsinanama. In: . adimilahy N. ajaonarimanana eds , Civilisations des mondes insulaires: Madagascar, Îles du canal de

Mozambique, Mascareignes, Polynésie, Guyanes. Mélanges en

l honneur de rofesseur laude Allibert aris , - .

Erdmann : . Erdmann, Neue islamische ergkristalle. Ars rientalis , , - .

Ettinghausen Gruber enkins- adina : . Ettinghausen . Grabar . enkins- adina, Islamic Art and Architecture -1250 (New Haven 2001).

Flacourt 1661: É. de Flacourt, Historie de la Grande Isle Madagscar

(Paris 1661).

leisher aViolette : . leisher A. aViolette, The early Swa-

hili trade village of Tumbe, emba Island, Tan ania, AD - . Antiquity , , - .

reeman-Grenville : G. S. . reeman-Grenville, The East Afri-can Coast. Select Documents from the First to the Earlier Nine-

teenth entury xford .

Gibb : . A. Gibb, The Travels of Ibn attuta - . Vol. akluyt Society second series ondon .

Goitein riedman : S. D. Goitein . A. riedman, India Trad-

ers of the Middle Ages. Documents from the Cairo Geniza »India

ook« eiden .

Gregory : . W. Gregory, The rift valleys and geology of East Africa: an account of the origin & history of the rift valleys of East

Africa & their relation to the contemporary earth-movements

which transformed the geography of the world ondon .

enkel Schmidt : .-W. enkel W. Schmidt, Amphibians and Reptiles of Madagascar, the Mascarenes, the Seychelles and the

Comoros Islands (Malabar FL 2000).

orton : . orton, The Swahili orridor. Scientific American , , - .

: . orton, Shanga. The Archaeology of a uslim Trading ommunity on the oast of East Africa ondon .

2004: M. Horton, Islam, Archaeology and Swahili Identity. In:

D. Whitcomb (ed.), Changing Social Identity with the Spread of

Islam: archaeological perspectives. Oriental Institute Seminar 1

hicago - .

2013: M. Horton, Ibadis in East Africa: archaeological and his-

torical evidence. In: . offmann- uf A. al-Salimi . Gaube eds , man and verseas T bingen - .

: . orton, East Africa and man. In: A. al-Salimi E. Sta-

ples (eds), The Ports of Oman (Hildesheim 2016).

: . orton, an ibar and emba. The Archaeology of an Indian Ocean Archipelago. British Institute in Eastern Africa (Lon-

don .

orton iddleton : . orton . iddleton, The Swahili: the Social Landscape of a Mercantile Society (Oxford 2000).

orton rown ddy : . orton . W. rown W. A ddy, The tambwe hoard. A ania , , - .


orton rowther oivin : . orton A. rowther N. oi-vin, Facing Mecca from Africa: Islam and globalization on the

Swahili coast during the first millennium E and beyond. In: . Seetah ed. onnecting ontinents: Archaeology and istory

in the Indian Ocean (Athens 2016).

orton et al. forthcoming: . orton S. restman A. rowther N. Boivin, The ceramics from an East African Indian Ocean Port

(Oxford forthcoming).

ohns orero : . ohns E. orero, The diffusion of rock crystal caving techniques in the Fatimid Mediterranean. Paper

delivered to Beyond the Western Mediterranean: Materials,

Techniques and Artistic Production. Symposium held at The

Courtauld Institute of Art, Saturday 20 April 2013 (proceedings

unpublished).

irkman : . S. irkman, The Arab ity of Gedi: excavations at the Great osque, architecture and finds ondon .

oeppe Giusti : W. oeppe A. Giusti, Art of the oyal ourt. Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe (New York

.

amm : . . amm, ittelalterliche Gl ser und Steinschnitt-arbeiten aus dem Nahen Osten. Forschungen zur islamischen

unst erlin .

Liebner 2014: H. H. Liebner, The Siren of Cirebon. A Tenth-Century

Trading Vessel Lost in the Java Sea [unpublished PhD thesis Uni-

versity of Leeds 2014].

ari o : . . ari o ed. , El rimer lapidario de Alfonso el Sabio: s. h. I. de la iblioteca de El Escorial adrid .

ouren ouaix : A. ouren . ouaix, Industrie ancienne des objets en pierre de Vohémar. Bulletin de l’Académie mal-

gache, II , , - .

urdock : T. G. urdock, ineral esources of the alagasy Republic. US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines infor-

mation circular Washington .

ellat - : . ellat, ujuj al-Dhahab wa- a adin al- auhar of al- as udi text and translation by . arbier de eynard . de

ourteille, es rairies d or, revised ed. aris - .

inder-Wilson : . inder-Wilson, ock-crystal and ade. In: Arts ouncil of England. The Arts of Islam ondon -130.

radines erviaux : S. radines G. erviaux, Demb ni, un site urbain bipolaire? Mayotte, rapport intermédiaire 2014. Ny-

ame Akuma , , - .

Pradines 2013: S. Pradines, The rock crystal of Dembeni, Mayotte

ission report . Nyame Akuma , , - .

adimilahy : . de . adimilahy, ahilaka. An Archaeologi-cal Investigation of an Early Town in Northwestern Madagascar.

Studies in African Archaeology Uppsala .

apoport Savage-Smith : . apoport E. Savage-Smith eds and trans.), An eleventh-century Egyptian Guide to the Universe:

the Book of Curiosities (Leiden 2014).

ehren reestone : T. ehren I. . reestone, Ancient glass: from kaleidoscope to crystal ball. Journal of Archaeological Sci-

ence 56, 2015, 233-241.

egert et al. : . egert T. Devi se A.-S. e A. ou-

geulle, Reconstructing ancient Yemeni commercial routes during

the Middle Ages using structural characterization of terpenoid

resins. Archaeometry , , - .

: . egert . offet-Salque T. Devi se A.-S. e , es résines végétales de type copal et encens: caractérisation, exploi-

tation et circuits commerciaux. In: A. Rougeulle (ed.), Sharma.

Un entrepôt de commerce médiéval sur la côte du Hadramawt

men, ca - . ritish oundation for the Study of Ara-

bia onographs xford - .

Rougeulle 2004: A. Rougeulle, Le Yémen entre Orient et Afrique:

Sharma, un entrepôt du commerce médiéval sur la côte sud de

l Arabie. Annales Islamologiques , , - .

2015: A. Rougeulle (ed.), Sharma. Un entrepôt de commerce

m di val sur la c te du adramawt men, ca - . ri-tish oundation for the Study of Arabia onographs xford 2015).

ougeulle ollinet artin : A. ougeulle A. ollinet N. ar tin, es c ramiques non gla ur es. In: A. ougeulle ed. , Sharma. Un entrepôt de commerce médiéval sur la côte du Ha-

dramawt men, ca - . ritish oundation for the Study of Arabia onographs xford - .

Said : akim . Said trans. The ook ost omprehensive in Knowledge on Precious Stones (Kitab-al-Jamahir Fi Ma’rifat

Al- awahi by Abu ayhan al- eruni New Delhi .

Smith : G. . Smith trans. A Traveller in thirteenth-century Arabia: Ibn al-Mujawir’s Tarikh al-Mustabsir. Hakluyt Society third

series ondon .

Thackston 2001: W. M. Thackston, Nasir-i Khusraw’s Book of Trav-

els: Safarnamah (Costa Mesa 2001).

Tibbetts : G. . Tibbetts, Arab Navigation in the Indian cean before the coming of the ortuguese ondon .

Trimingham : . S. Trimingham, The Arab geographers and the East African coast. In: . N. hittick . I. otberg eds , East Africa and the rient. Africana New ork - . -

.

Vallet 2015: E. Vallet, Sharma et l’essor du commerce islamique

dans l oc an Indian occidental - II si cle . In: A. ougeulle (ed.), Sharma. Un entrepôt de commerce médiéval sur la côte

du adramawt men, ca - . ritish oundation for the Study of Arabia onographs xford - .

V rin : . V rin, The istory of ivilisation in North adagascar otterdam .

Wood et al. : . Wood S. anighello E. . rsega . obert-shaw . T. van Elteren A. rowther . orton N. oivin, an ibar and Indian cean trade in the first millennium E: the

glass bead evidence, Archaeological and Anthropological Sci-

ences , - D I . s - - - .

Wright : . T. Wright, Early Islam, oceanic trade and town de-

velopment on Nzwani: the Comorian Archipelago in the XIth-XVth

centuries AD. A ania, , , - .

Wright et al. : . T. Wright . Sinopoli . Wojnaroski E. S. offman S. . Scott . W. edding S. . Goodman, Early sea-

farers of the Comoro Islands: the Dembeni phase of the IXth-Xth

centuries AD. A ania, , , - .

M. Horton et al. · East Africa as a Source for Fatimid Rock Crystal. Workshops from Kenya to Madagascar

Summary

Fatimid rock crystal objects are among the most extraordinary achievements of the medieval Islamic world. Distinguished

by both their size and the absolute purity and high clarity of the crystal, there has been surprisingly little debate around

the origins of the raw material, and how it reached Cairo. In this paper, we aim to identify a likely source of Fatimid

rock crystal as the ananara Avaratra ay of Antongil area of northeastern adagascar and set out a credible trade route that might explain how the material reached Cairo, in a journey that involved 4000-mile sea voyages. We will

set this trade in the context of the settlement of Madagascar, and argue that the trade in Madagascan crystal began

in the th century as part of a well-developed Indian Ocean trading network and continued into the 14th century.