Mould-Blown Glass Vessels in Diyarbakır Museum

Abstract

I have studied 583 glass vessels from Diyarbakır Museum Glassware Collection. Nearly all of these glass vessels which have a great variety of forms are in good conditions and have been well preserved so far. According to the scientific researches, it was found out that the glass vessels in Diyarbakir Museum’s glass collection were generally produced between 6th century B.C and 13th century A.D. It was investigated whether the glass vessels having rich forms of diversity were the production of a centre in the region and incase of the existence of such a centre, it was investigated by which production centres it was affected. In addition, it was aimed to find new information about glass trade of Diyarbakır province located in the crossroads of trade routes of antique period. The vessels at issue were classified under the headings of oinochoe, aryballos, alabastron, amphoriskos, unguanteria, bottles, bowls, plates, cups, candles, spreaders, jar, glass and amulets and were evaluated individually. With regard to technique, the glass vessels concerned were produced with core formed technique, rod formed technique, free blowing technique and mould blowing technique and were decorated with different decoration techniques such as feather, upsetting and pinching. The vessels which will be mentioned in this presentaion include seventy four glass vessels which were produced by using mould blown technique. These glass vessels include Date-shaped Bottle, Grape Cluster-shaped Bottle, Head-shaped Bottle, Sprinkler, Ribbed Bottle and Hexagonal Bottle with Jewish Symbols. The earliest one of these bottles is Date-shaped Bottle which dates back to 1st century A.D. The latest one of these samples is Hexagonal Bottle with Jewish symbol which dates back to 5th and 6th centuries A.D.