The city of Raqqa, situated on the Euphrates River in present-day Syria, had its first Islamic flowering in the late eighteenth century, when it was the residence of the legendary Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid. It experienced a resurgence during the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, but was destroyed in 1265. Little is mentioned about Raqqa in Muslim sources after its medieval renaissance, but interest in the city was kindled in the West at the end of the nineteenth century, when curiosity about the Islamic world was inspired by travel to the Middle East and by the vast travel literature that it spawned. Interest was also fueled by the translation into French and English of the Arabic literary classic The Thousand and One Nights, in which Harun al-Rashid was a central character. As this collection of stories was becoming a best seller in the West, ceramic objects were being brought out from Raqqa that dealers and auction houses were connecting to this very caliph, and a buying spree for the ware ensued. Among the wealthy collectors who developed a passion for these objects were two important donors to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Louisine and Horace Havemeyer, and eventually a large number of ceramic objects from their collection were given to the Museum, helping to make the Metropolitan's holdings of this ware the world's most important. What follows in these pages is the often mesmerizing chronicle of ceramic objects unearthed in Raqqa in the first quarter of the twentieth century. Marilyn Jenkins-Madina, Curator Emerita of Islamic Art at the Metropolitan Museum, describes the dramatic journey of these ceramics from their discovery in the medieval city to the emporiums of Paris and New York, the drawing rooms of the great collectors, and the galleries of the Metropolitan Museum. Using art-historical detective work, archival documents, and scientific data, the author convincingly establishes provenance and dating, placing these objects—some of the most exquisite ever produced by Islamic potters—in a secure historical context for the first time.

Stonepaste—also called fritware or siliceous ware—is made primarily of finely ground quartz obtained from pebbles or sand that is mixed with small amounts of liquefied glass (glass frit or glass fragments) and refined clay for greater malleability and structure.

Three leading archaeologists examine the impact of the destruction of cultural heritage during recent conflicts in Iraq and Syria.

Explore the relationship between contemporary artists’ use of archaeological materials in their work and attempts to understand the historical context in which the ancient works were first produced.

Stonepaste production expanded significantly in the twelfth century, as witnessed by a substantial increase in production centers; advances in established techniques and the development of new ones, especially underglaze painting; a greater sophistication in decoration; and a more marked stylistic divergence between Syrian and Iranian productions.

After independence, artists in Iraq, Jordan, and Syria experimented with a variety of techniques and styles irrespective of the current international trends.

The situation in Syria is both grave and deeply troubling. In the midst of such striking human suffering, all other concerns can easily get lost in the shadows. But we must believe that there will be a time when peace returns to Syria, and when that moment arrives, it would be tragic to find that most of the country's heritage had been lost.