Roads of Arabia

14 Arabie US_p218-261.qxd 23/06/10 21:52 Page 248
ROADS OF ARABIA
The Oasis of Tayma
SLIP-TRAILING POTTERY
PLAIN POTTERY
GLAZED POTTERY
Some vessels made of medium to coarse reddish clay and with a polished
surface often bear an applied décor made of a calcareous white
material, poured in the lines, usually horizontal or wavy, incised on
the surface of the pottery. Over this “Barbotine” decoration, small
circles 1 to 2 millimetres in diameter were successively stamped at
more or less regular intervals. In some cases the thicker extremities
of these lines resemble serpent heads. The forms of these slip-trailing
pottery vessels are closed forms, bottles or small pots. Just like
Sana’iye pottery (or Tayma Painted Ware), slip-trailing pottery was
found in the cemeteries of Sana’iye and Tal’a, whereby a dating
between the first half and the middle of the 1st millennium BC is
possible. Isolated sherds of this type were also found in the graves of
Rujum Sa’sa. 1 A. H.
Specialists tended to neglect unpainted ceramic, favouring painted
ware. And yet unpainted pottery vessels are attested at Tayma for
every period, either the Early or Late Iron Age. After the disappearance
of Sana’iye ware (Tayma Painted Ware), that is, probably after
the mid-1st millennium BC the tradition of painted pottery was lost
and utilitarian pottery of the late 1st millennium BC up to the Pre-
Islamic period offers only surface treatments without painted decoration.
The décor consists merely of a limited number of incised
motifs. In their publication Winnett and Reed 1 already reproduced
several of these typical coarsely made, mineral-tempered sherds formerly
called “Granite Ware”. A. H.
1. Winnett and Reed 1970, pp. 175–76, fig. 85.
Closed forms, made of medium to coarse reddish clay, mineraltempered
and fired at a low temperature have been unearthed in different
contexts of the end of the Iron Age during the recent
excavations at Tayma. However, their distribution does not allow
their dating with assurance. The two bottles displayed here (cat. nos
94 and 95) only share with these vessels the surface treatment. The
form of the first has been rightly compared – by S. Rashid 1 who also
established parallels with Mesopotamia – to the Iron Age pottery tradition
of the Levant. The exact place in Tayma where these bottles
were found is not known, so an approximate dating to the 7th century
BC can only be established by comparison. They could possibly
be imported pieces. A. H.
1. Al-Rashid 1974.
1. Al-Taima’i 2006, p. 131, no.3.
92. Small jar
First half to mid-1st millennium BC
Ceramic
H. 19.5 cm; Max. diam. 11.5 cm
Tayma, Sana’iye
National Museum, Riyadh, 533
Small pottery jar with a globular body and wide neck made of a
medium to coarse reddish clay. The surface has been burnished and
is decorated with white material: three parallel, horizontal bands
have been set at the base of the neck, while three wavy ones are
located directly below them, on the upper part of the body. Small
circles have been impressed on the white lines. A. I.
93. Small jar
First half to mid-1st millennium BC
Ceramic
H. 11 cm; Diam. 7 cm
Tayma, Sana’iye
National Museum, Riyadh, 544
Bibliography: Hashim 2007, p. 149 and fig. 5T:26 p. 152.
Small jar, made of a coarse material, with a globular body, flat base
and short neck. Its exterior is smoothed, but the vessel is otherwise
undecorated. A. I.
94. Jar with red slip
c. 7th century BC
H. 34.5 cm; Max. diam. 16.5 cm
Ceramic
Tayma
National Museum, Riyadh, 21386
Bibliography: Al-Rashid 1974, pp. 160–62 and pl. 19.3.
Pottery jar with an oval body and long, cylindrical neck. This vessel
is covered by a red slip. A. I.
95. Jar with red slip
c. 7th century BC
Ceramic
Tayma
H. 26.5 cm; Max. diam. 15 cm
National Museum, Riyadh, 4791
Pottery jar with a globular body and large neck. A. I.
248
249