Drafts by Negar Abdali
In April of 2014 the Ministry of Heritage and culture invited a team to consider a new archaeolog... more In April of 2014 the Ministry of Heritage and culture invited a team to consider a new archaeological project. The ministry had conducted emergency excavation on Omani Dibba and at al-Safah, some 45 km east of the border to Abu Dhabi emirate. Contact with Prof Maurizio Tosi resulted in an opportunity to conduct a study visit to the Sultanate. The object of the visit was to do first recording of the fascinating finds from al-Safah, and Early Iron Age (EIA) production site in the Mintiqah al-Dhahirah. Of the numerous finds (c. 667) from that site Yule photographed, drew, and otherwise recorded 143, in order to judge the amount of time needed catalogue the finds. He documented some 220 finds in May 2015. Negar Abdali recorded some with the Breuckmann 3D scanner and edited them with the program Gigamesh. This project goes by the name of the Heidelberg University ‒ Ministry of Heritage and Culture Virtual Museum Project. Most interesting is the occurrence of the finds in what appears to be a single-period context. Never before have we had a context like this one. Artefacts of pre EIA date evidently were taken as a source for metal production. Numerous new artefact classes occurred. Moreover, a large selection of miniature votive weapons occurred. Francesco Genchi provided the report and a database of the finds. Since then, one third of the finds were restored and can be drawn, photographed and otherwise studied. The site is of EIA date to judge from the finds and radiocarbon dates. We took the opportunity together with ministry inspectors to visit the Samad Late Iron Age (LIA) sites of al-ʿAtqiyah/J. Ṣunsunah and al-ʿAtqiyah/J. Nejd.
The Heidelberg University ‒ Ministry of Heritage and Culture Virtual Museum Project, 2015
Conference Presentations by Negar Abdali
Broadening horizons 6 conference; Freie Universität Berlin, 2019
Complementary to the study of the northwestern Iranian glazed objects during my PhD dissertation,... more Complementary to the study of the northwestern Iranian glazed objects during my PhD dissertation, samples of the Achaemenid glazed bricks became available through the official channels from the Persepolis and Susa museums. To illuminate the technology of manufacture including colorant agents, flux and the fabrication of the adhered glazed bodies, we applied petrochemical analysis on the Achaemenid glazes by means of electronprobe microanalyses (EPMA) and optical microscopy (OM) in the Steinmann-Institute of Bonn University. In addition to interpreting the manufacturing technology of theses glazed samples, the analytical results also serve to compare the technologies which used to produce the glazed artefact in two major Achaemenid sites at Susa and Persepolis. The glazes from both sites are of silica-soda-lime type similar to the glazed artefacts from Mesopotamia. However, in contrast to the Mesopotamian ones, i.e. Babylonia and Assyria which are manufactured with clay-based terra cotta bodies, the Achaemenid glazed brick consist of different ceramic bodies. The body chemistry of glazed artefacts from Persepolis is similar to those from Susa, and is silica-rich (sintered quartz powder or faience), clay-poor and low in alumina.
This poster was presented at the 8th conference for computer applications and quantitative method... more This poster was presented at the 8th conference for computer applications and quantitative methods in archaeology sponsored by the Interdisciplinary Centre for Scientific Computing of Heidelberg University. It deals with a scanning project centered in the new National Museum in Muscat. Negar Abdali scanned finds from the EIA metal working site ʿUqdat al-Bakrah just inside the Empty Quarter. A silver phiale probably attributable to the PIR, said to come from the al-Juba, also was scanned and rendered. The scans provided a new valorising of these finds.
Erfassung von Funden aus al-Ṣafa, Oman, durch den 3D-Scanner Die Dokumentation und Virtualisierun... more Erfassung von Funden aus al-Ṣafa, Oman, durch den 3D-Scanner Die Dokumentation und Virtualisierung von Artefakten zum Erhalt des Kulturerbe gewinnt aufgrund der derzeitigen politischen Lage im Nahen Osten, insbesondere in Iraq, Syrien und Yemen, zunehmend an Bedeutung. Die Erfassung von Artefakten zur Identifikation, Interpretation und Bewahrung ist daher unabdingbar.
Glaze Technology Transfer from Susa to Persepolis? New Petrochemical Evidence; BANEA Conference, Glasgow, 4-6 January 2017
Achaemenid Period craftsmen manufactured polychrome glazed panels at Susa with their well-known a... more Achaemenid Period craftsmen manufactured polychrome glazed panels at Susa with their well-known archers, griffins, phyllomorphic and geometric motives. A few years later at Persepolis glazed tiles and bricks come into production to decorate palaces and villas. The question arises, on one hand, when we observe that the glaze industry more developed in Susa. On the other, both share a common iconography. After completing their work, did the craftsmen in Susa move to Persepolis to take up production there, of did they just transfer their technology?
We sampled Achaemenid glazed bricks from the Susa and Persepolis site museums. SEM and EMPA studies took place in the Steinmann Institute/Bonn University. In this preliminary study we are going to compare the results of those analyses and archaeological studies to answer the question raised above and shed the light on the vitreous industry at these two key Achaemenid sites.
We sampled Achaemenid glazed bricks from the Susa and Persepolis site museums. SEM and EMPA studies took place in the Steinmann Institute/Bonn University. In this preliminary study we are going to compare the results of those analyses and archaeological studies to answer the question raised above and shed the light on the vitreous industry at these two key Achaemenid sites.
“Glazed artefacts in NW Iran and Elam: A common technology?” Elam and its Neighbors. Recent Research and New Perspectives'. Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, September 21-23, 2016.
Abstract: Middle Elamite craftsmen in south-western Iran conceived large wall panels consisting o... more Abstract: Middle Elamite craftsmen in south-western Iran conceived large wall panels consisting of glazed brick on the sintered quartz surfaces (in contrast to Mesopotamia with the tradition of applying glaze on the clay surface) which display figural and ornamental designs (Amiet 1967: 27; Caubet 2003: 326). In the later first millennium still in Khuzistan, Neo-Elamite builders continued glazed decoration applied to siliceous bricks. The technique served also for tiles, knobs and other objects in Elamite public buildings (Heim 1992: 203).
Some 30 years ago glazed artefacts came to the light on a massive scale first in Qalaichi and later in Rabat from the illegal clandestine excavation and reached the art market. From 1999 to 2006 Yaghmaee and Kargar carried out official excavations in Qalaichi. In 2005 at Rabat, Kargar and Heidari excavated two architectural stages, Iron II & III (8th & 7th centuries). Both Qalaichi and Rabat are located in the ancient polity of Mannea. The glazed artefacts from Qalaichi and Rabat manifest yellow, white, green, blue, black and ochre glazes bonded onto the terracotta surface.
There can be little doubt that the imagery of ‘Mannean’ art stands under Neo-Assyrian influence, but there have been no focussed studies regarding the comparative glazing technologies. The analysis of the petrographic studies of samples from NW, and SW Iran is our main topic.
Some 30 years ago glazed artefacts came to the light on a massive scale first in Qalaichi and later in Rabat from the illegal clandestine excavation and reached the art market. From 1999 to 2006 Yaghmaee and Kargar carried out official excavations in Qalaichi. In 2005 at Rabat, Kargar and Heidari excavated two architectural stages, Iron II & III (8th & 7th centuries). Both Qalaichi and Rabat are located in the ancient polity of Mannea. The glazed artefacts from Qalaichi and Rabat manifest yellow, white, green, blue, black and ochre glazes bonded onto the terracotta surface.
There can be little doubt that the imagery of ‘Mannean’ art stands under Neo-Assyrian influence, but there have been no focussed studies regarding the comparative glazing technologies. The analysis of the petrographic studies of samples from NW, and SW Iran is our main topic.
'Glazed architectural decoration from 1st millennium BCE north-western Iran, Urmia Museum' ICAANE Conference, Vienna, April 25-29, 2016
ICAANE Conference, Vienna, April 25-29, 2016
Papers by Negar Abdali
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
Glazed decoration in Iran from the Middle Elamite to the Achaemenid periods includes world art mi... more Glazed decoration in Iran from the Middle Elamite to the Achaemenid periods includes world art milestones. With the exception of Hasanlu IVB, for most sites, comprehensive chemical and mineralogical data are lacking, owing to the generally profound alteration of the vitreous material. To bridge the information gap, and to enable to reconstruct operation production chains in a diachronic fashion, thirty-six glazed artefacts from Qalaichi, Rabat, Hasanlu, Ziwiye, Chogha Zanbil, Susa and Persepolis are studied. The microstructural make-up and alteration phenomena of glazes are characterized by petrographic microscopy, back-scattered electron (BSE) imaging and electron probe microanalysis (WDS-EPMA) on high-quality polished thin sections. Pristine glaze domains at all sites show plant ash soda-lime glass compositions and indicate the use of regionally specific halophyte species for soda production. A distinct feature in the composition of white and turquoise glazes from Qalaichi, Ziwiye...
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2022
Glazed decoration in Iran from the Middle Elamite to the Achaemenid periods includes world art mi... more Glazed decoration in Iran from the Middle Elamite to the Achaemenid periods includes world art milestones. With the exception of Hasanlu IVB, for most sites, comprehensive chemical and mineralogical data are lacking, owing to the generally profound alteration of the vitreous material. To bridge the information gap, and to enable to reconstruct operation production chains in a diachronic fashion, thirty-six glazed artefacts from Qalaichi, Rabat, Hasanlu, Ziwiye, Chogha Zanbil, Susa and Persepolis are studied. The microstructural make-up and alteration phenomena of glazes are characterized by petrographic microscopy, back-scattered electron (BSE) imaging and electron probe microanalysis (WDS-EPMA) on high-quality polished thin sections. Pristine glaze domains at all sites show plant ash soda-lime glass compositions and indicate the use of regionally specific halophyte species for soda production. A distinct feature in the composition of white and turquoise glazes from Qalaichi, Ziwiye and Achaemenid Susa is the employment of sodium-antimonate as white colourant and opacifier. Inter-diffusion and dissolution-precipitation are identified as regionally and temporally contrasting alteration processes.
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2018
This study aims to characterize the Neolithic ceramics (Mushki, Bashi and Jari wares) of the Kur ... more This study aims to characterize the Neolithic ceramics (Mushki, Bashi and Jari wares) of the Kur River Basin and reconstruct the origin of the raw materials and manufacturing technology. Neolithic ceramics from thirteen different sites have been studied with handheld X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (hXRF) and thin section petrography. The geochemical signature of these ceramics was defined and four compositional groups were determined. The variation in these compositional groups most likely relates to the ceramic wares for the Mushki and Bashi ceramics and to the site or group of sites for the Jari ceramics. Additionally, sediment samples were studied with hXRF demonstrating the variability in the geochemistry of the area. To determine the composition of the slips used for Bashi and Jari ceramics and to compare them with the inner fabric of the vessels, μXRF spectroscopy was applied. The combination of these archaeometrical techniques indicated the use of unaltered, fine-grained and mainly alluvial clays without the addition of temper (except for chaff) for the production of the three studied wares and the use of different clay types through the Neolithic in the Kur River Basin.
Research Institute for Cultural Heritage and Tourism (RICHT) National Museum of Iran Kurdistan Province ICHHTO1398, 2019
Proceedings of the International Conference on
The Iron Age in Western Iran
and Neighbouring Regi... more Proceedings of the International Conference on
The Iron Age in Western Iran
and Neighbouring Regions;
2-3 Nov. 2019
Kurdistan University, Sanandaj, Iran
مجموعه مقالات همایش بی نالمللی عصر آهن د ر غرب ایران و مناطق همجوار
The Iron Age in Western Iran
and Neighbouring Regions;
2-3 Nov. 2019
Kurdistan University, Sanandaj, Iran
مجموعه مقالات همایش بی نالمللی عصر آهن د ر غرب ایران و مناطق همجوار
ELAMICA Volume 8, 2018
Elam and its Neighbors
Recent Research and New Perspectives.
Proceedings of the International Con... more Elam and its Neighbors
Recent Research and New Perspectives.
Proceedings of the International Congress Held at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, September 21-23, 2016
Recent Research and New Perspectives.
Proceedings of the International Congress Held at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, September 21-23, 2016
"Development of ceramic production in the Kur River Basin (Fars, Iran) during the Neolithic. A compositional and technological approach using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and thin section petrography" Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2019, vol. 11:4, p. 1241-1258
Volume 1 by Negar Abdali
Investigations on the glazed elements from Ziwiye, a Mannaean site in northwestern Iran, is compl... more Investigations on the glazed elements from Ziwiye, a Mannaean site in northwestern Iran, is complex and multi-facetted for different reasons. First an origin based to some degree on clandestine excavation and haphazard initial publication. It also results from their relatively late discovery and often insecure provenance decades after the recovery of related glazed materials in southwest -ern Iran and Mesopotamia. The foregoing work strives to study the technology of manufacture of glazed samples from the Iron Age site of Ziwiye in northwestern Iran. The glazed artefacts turned up in the international art market and museums derive first from illegal treasure seekers and later from the official archaeological investigations. Results of petrochemical analyses on two glazed samples from Ziwiye which were investigated by means of electronprobe microanalysis (EPMA), optical microscopy (OM) and back-scattered electron imaging (BSE) are presented below. Compared to Mesopotamia and southwestern Iranian glazes, the analyzed glazed samples from Ziwiye show more affinities with their counterparts from north western Iran especially with those from Qalaichi.