Glass

The Seljuk Han of Anatolia

Seljuk Glass

Glass plate found at Kubadabad Palace, with an inscription bearing the name of Sultan Giyaseddin Keyhüsrev II (1237-1247). Konya Karatay Museum

Although as old as civilization itself, very little ancient glass has been discovered in archeological sites in Turkey. Glass-making does not appear to have ever been an important industry in Anatolia. Remains of glass ovens, dating from the 6th c. BC, were found at the famous Lydian capital city of Sardis, but seemingly nowhere else.

Intact glass objects from antiquity are rare, due to the fragile nature of the material. Little glass from the Seljuk period has come down to us. However, the underwater archaeology expeditions of the Serce Limani shipwreck off the Turkish coast at Bodrum, dated to the 11th century, have shown that glass was an important maritime trading commodity in the area. In all probability, glass was imported by ship to Turkish ports along the Mediterranean from Syria and Iraq, the two major centers of glass production of the Islamic period. However, it is hard to believe that glass production, even on a small scale, did not exist in some form in Anatolia during the Seljuk period, much as it did in the other parts of the Near East at that time. Lamps and other daily implements were readily fabricated out of clay, but glass luxury items, such as beakers and platters, must have been cherished by those able to afford them.

The excavations of the site of Alaeddin Keykubad's palace of Kubadabad on Lake Beyşehir have provided many fragments of plain and stained window glass, as well as beakers and bottles. Several buildings in Konya also give evidence that colored glass was used in stucco panels in this stained-glass fashion. In addition, transparent of yellow, greenish blue, and dark red glass wine goblets, glasses, and cups were found at Kubadabad and at the Alanya Iç Kale. The most important glass object to come down to us from this era was the magnificent luster glass platter found during the excavations at Kubadabad and which is now conserved at the Konya Karatay Museum. It bears an inscription to Sultan Giyaseddin Keyhüsrev II, and was most probably an Iraqi or Syrian import.