Sirjan, One of the Glassmaking Centers in Southeast Iran in Early Islamic Centuries: Classification and Typology of the Glassware of Old City of Sirjan

The Old City of Sirjan site that is located about 11 km southeast of present-day Sirjan is the remains of the city from the Sassanid period to Middle Islamic centuries, which has been mentioned in historical and geographical sources as the capital of Kerman Province. All written historical sources highlight the political and cultural significance of this city in southeastern Iran in early Islamic centuries. Despite the fact that the Old City of Sirjan played a key role in the early Islamic centuries as the seat of Kerman province, archaeological studies on this city are still very rare. Written sources provide valuable information regarding this era; however, issues such as social structure, economic and cultural activities of the residents have been neglected. During the studies carried out by the authors of this paper on the arena of the city, considerable and variety of cultural material including pottery and glassware pieces were discovered. The volume variety of these discoveries raised questions as to the time and place of crafting, living of the craftsmen, industrial workshops, crafting and decoration techniques and artistic aspects of these remains. Current study aims to present the classification, typology and relative chronology of the glassware found in the arena of Old City of Sirjan this is done in order to determine their technical and decorative characteristics and compare the acquired data with those of the adjacent areas in the early Islamic centuries. The data were obtained through systematic surface survey and were evaluated using a descriptive-analytical methodology. The study revealed that the Old City of Sirjan glassware were produced through free blowing or blowing into the mould and were decorated through techniques such as moulded patterns, sculpture, carvings and stamping. The mass production of glassware in the old Sirjan proves that during 3rd - 5th AH, the city of Sirjan acted as the great prosperity center for glassware products