No abstract

No abstract

A portable x-ray fluorescence spectrometer equipped with a silicon drift detector (SDD) and a digital signal processor (DSP) was developed for in-field analysis of archeological samples at an excavation site. This spectrometer allows us to carry out highly sensitive analyses of various elements with atomic numbers down to Na in air by using two monochromatic x-ray sources obtained by doubly bent toroidal monochromators of graphite (0002) (Pd Ka for medium-heavy elements) and PET (200) (Pd La for light elements) and white x-rays with a Zr filter excited at 40 kV for heavy elements. The detection limit was 0.31% for Al and 4 ppm for Sr in a standard cement sample. The spectrometer was set in a room of the excavation laboratory at al-Tur Sinai in the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt in the summer of 2001. The Middle Eastern Culture Center has been conducting an excavation of the sites in al-Tur al-Kilani and Raya, which were important port cities of Red Sea trade from early Islamic periods: al-Tur (A.D.14-20) and Raya (A. D.8-12). The instrument was operated without any problems and 222 glass objects, 26 pottery sherds, seven pigments and 88 metallic objects were analyzed non-destructively during a 1 month stay. Since this was the first chemical analysis done at the sites, many important archaeological findings were obtained in the present study. Glass objects were successfully classified based on their chemical compositions. Characterization of stained (luster) glasses was conducted.

Ancient glass vessel fragments belonging to the seventh to ninth centuries ad, from the Ko Kho Khao, Laem Pho and Khuan Lukpad sites in southern Thailand, were studied. The glass vessel fragment samples are a collection belonging to the Department of Archaeology, the 15th Regional Office of Fine Arts of Thailand. The chemical compositions of the glasses were analysed using a modified portable energy‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence spectrometer (OURSTEX 100FA‐II) by the introduction of a MOXTEK® AP3.3 polymer window (5 mm2∅) to the KETEK silicon drift detector for the measurement of light elements. The non‐destructive analysis was performed at the National Museum, Phuket, in Thailand. It is shown that the glass chemical compositions belong to mineral and plant‐ash based soda–lime–silicate glass. The origins of the glass artefacts are discussed in terms of raw materials and glass decoration, and compared with previously reported similar typological glasses from sites in the port city of Rāya and the Monastery of Wadi al‐Tur in Egypt.

More than ten thousand pieces of Islamic glass were found from the fort of Raya in the five excavations between 1987 and 2001 by the Middle Eastern Culture Center in Japan (directed by Dr. Mutsuo Kawatoko). An intact flaring beaker with the pseudo-script design by cut technique which was found in the upper part of Room No. 12-6 in the fifth excavation in 2001 is worthy to be called a masterpiece among them. As a result of the examination, I have reached the following conclusions. 1) The flaring beaker excavated from Raya can be dated to the second half of the tenth century by the composition of high potassium, the peculiar shape and style of decoration. 2) The close relationship between the flaring beaker and the long-necked bottle with cut decoration for the set of drinking vessels can be pointed out. Both of them were traded over a wide area, but unearthed in limited sites in local powerful cities of the Islamic period. On the other side, a cylindrical beaker and a coarse large bottle in pale bluish-green were used for practical use. 3) The Iraqi influences under the Abbasid dynasty and the technical traditions of Syro-Palestine can be seen in the Raya finds, so it is worth noting that this beaker related to the Fatimid dynasty of the latter half of the tenth century appeared under these circumstances. This suggests that some power changes or changes of trading system occurred right in Raya.