Bottle, late 13th century; Mamluk
Probably Syria
Greenish colorless glass, free-blown, enameled, and gilded; tooled on the pontil; red, blue, green, yellow, purple, brown, pink, white, gray blue, and black enamels; and gold; H. 17 1/8 in. (43.5 cm), Diam. 36 5/8 in. (93 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Rogers Fund, 1941 (41.150)

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On September 3, 1260, the Mamluk Egyptian army met the Mongols on a spot in a Palestinian valley called Ayn Jalut—the "Spring of Goliath." The Mongols, pressing on from their triumphs in Iraq and Syria, were intent on completing their conquest of the Islamic Middle East by taking Egypt. But the Egyptian sultan rallied the forces with the cry of "O Muslims" and a headlong charge into the enemy ranks. The Mongol leader was killed and his soldiers were pursued and slaughtered. After the battle, the sultan praised Allah and sent the head of the Mongol leader to Cairo to proclaim his victory. The sultan's greatest commander was Baybars. Not long after the Battle of Ayn Jalut, disappointed with the reward for his pivotal role in this battle, Baybars killed the sultan and seized the throne. Within a short time, the Mamluks created the most powerful Islamic empire of the later Middle Ages. It included the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Its capital, Cairo, became the economic, cultural, and artistic center of the Arab Islamic world.