Artifact of the month

Name: Weaving shuttle
Description: Boat shaped piece with a middle cavity into which the bobbins are placed with the rolled up yarn. In weaving, the shuttles carry the thread across the loom weft.
Materials: Wood
Provenance: Mértola
Location: Weaving workshop

Bibliography: LUZIA, Ângela; MAGALHÃES, Isabel; TORRES, Cláudio (1984) - Mantas tradicionais do Baixo Alentejo, Mértola, Cadernos do Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, Campo Arqueológico de Mértola.

Name: Glass unguentarium
Description: Clear glass unguentarium, very iridescent and with many air bubbles. It has a low circular body and a tall cylindrical neck. This piece originates from the spoils of an incineration grave, which identifies it as a funeral offering. The unguentaria served as containers for perfumes, essential oils or ointments.
Material: Glass
Chronology: Roman – 1st century AD
Provenance: Mértola – Alves Redol St. – Incineration necropolis
Location: Museum of Mértola – Roman Centre

Bibliography: 
GÓMEZ, Susana (ed.) (2008) Mértola Arqueológica: 2003-2008 Mértola, Cadernos de Mértola, Câmara Municipal de Mértola, p. 50.

Name: Decorated bowl
Description: Bowl with interior decoration of a bird surrounded by unidentifiable phytomorphic motifs. The colours used in the decoration are white, green and amber.
Chronology: 12th century
Provenance: Citadel of the Castle of Mértola
Location: Museum of Mértola – Islamic Centre

Bibliography:
TORRES, Nádia (2011): O desenho na cerâmica islâmica de Mértola, Mértola : Campo Arqueológico, p. 111.

Name: Late hispanic terra sigillata fragment with Chi Rho
Description: Fragment of paleochristian pottery with an annular foot and with a sigillum on its bottom: a Chi Rho within a circle
Chronology: 6th century
Provenance: Museum of Mértola – Paleochristian Basilica
Location: Deposits of the Museum of Mértola

Bibliography:
LOPES, Virgílio (2003) - Mértola na Antiguidade Tardia : a topografia histórica da cidade e do seu território nos alvores do cristianismo. Mértola: Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, pp. 57.

Name: Inkwell
Description: Small cylindrical inkwell with seven holes, also cylindrical, which must have been used to hold ink. In between these reservoirs there are smaller carved openings with the approximate shape of an inverted pyramid.
Chronology: Second half of the 12th century / first half of the 13th century
Dimensions: height 20mm, width 70mm
Provenance: Citadel of the Castle of Mértola
Location: Museum of Mértola – Islamic Centre

Taken from:
TORRES, Cláudio; MACIAS, Santiago (ed.) (2003): Museu de Mértola: arte islâmica. Mértola: Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, pp.172.

Name: Terra sigillata fragment
Description: Late period sigillata fragment with a flat surface.
Decoration: Stamped bird (dove - Hayes style E).
Chronology: 6th century
Provenance: Paleochristian basilica
Location: Museum of Mértola – Paleochristian centre

Bibliography:
Torres, C; Macias, S., (ed.) (1993): Museu de Mértola - Basílica Paleocristã. Mértola, Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, p.86.

Name: Roof tile with markings
Description: A near complete tile made of reddish paste, with a smooth exterior and a very irregular inner part. Three engraved lines were drawn in the exterior, with the clay still fresh, across the tile’s width, and a curved line across its length. On one side there are six smaller lines and a word written in Arabic.
Chronology: 12th century
Dimensions: Height: 72mm, Width: 200mm, Length: 72mm
Provenance: Alcaria Longa
Location: Museum of Mértola

Taken from:
GÓMEZ MARTÍNEZ, Susana (ed.) (2011) - Os signos do quotidiano: gestos, marcas e símbolos no Al - Ândalus. Mértola: Campo Arqueológico, p.53.

Name: Crossbow nuts
Description: A pair of bone crossbow nuts of cylindrical shape and circular horizontal cross-section, with a round opening at the centre and a rectangular groove on the middle.
Function: This object fitted a crossbow as part of its firing mechanism.
Chronology: 11th-12th centuries
Provenance: Citadel of Mértola
Location: Museum of Mértola - Islamic Museum Hub

Taken from:
TORRES, Claudio; MACIAS, Santiago (ed.) (2003): Museu de Mértola: arte islâmica. Mértola: Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, pp.172.

Name: Fistellus epitaph.

Transcript: Jug with palmette, cross inside a circular crown, and jug with palmette.
Fistellus (hedera) V (IR) (hedera) HON (ES) T (US) (hedera) VIXIT(hedera) NA(NOS) (hedera) LXX(hedera) REQ (U) IEVIT (hedera) IN PACE(hedera) D(IE) (hedera) VIII (hedera) KAL(ENDAS) (hedera) DECEMB(RES) (hedera) ERA XLVIII (CROSS)
Which in English means: Fistellus, man of high rank, lived for 70 years, rested in peace on the 8th day of the calends of December, Era 548 (which in our calendar is the 24th of November of 510 AD).
Provenance: Paleo-christian Basilica
Location: Museum of Mértola - Paleo-christian Basilica

Taken from:
Torres, C; Macias, S., (ed.) (1993): Museu de Mértola - Basílica Paleocristã. Mértola, Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, p.117.

Name: Bronze earrings

Description: A pair of simple bronze hoop earrings, with a thicker decorated extremity and a thinner pointy extremity, which slips inside the first one.
Decoration: The thicker extremity is decorated
Chronology: 5th-7th centuries
Provenance: Grave 10 - Monastery
Location: Monastery - Monte Mosteiro

Taken from:
LOPES, Virgílio [et al.] (2011): O mosteiro do Monte Mosteiro. Mértola: Câmara Municipal, p.17.

Name: Oil lamp

Description: A single nozzle oil lamp with a pouring hole at the centre of the discus. Circular ribbon handle with a small central groove. It has a flat bottom and compact texture made of white paste.
Decoration: The discus is decorated with a rosette of sixteen petals. At the bottom there are two concentric circles with the potter's mark “AC(...)” on the inside. Within the pouring hole lays an iron wire typical of Roman funeral rites.
Chronology: Late 1st century AD - 2nd century AD
Origin: Roman Necropolis of Rossio do Carmo
Location: Museum of Mértola - Paleo-christian Basilica

Taken from:
Torres, C; Macias, S., (ed.) (1993): Museu de Mértola - Basílica Paleocristã. Mértola, Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, p.83.

Name: Insignia depicting Horse and Rider

Description: Carved bronze plaque depicting horse and rider, probably used as an insignia or amulet.
Material: Bronze
Chronology: 12th century
Provenance: Beira Rio Guest House - Mértola
Location: Museum of Mértola

This artefact is part of the exhibition "Signs of Everyday Life – Gestures, Markings and Symbols in the al-Ândalus", held until September 2011 at the Exhibitions Gallery of Mértola’s Archaeological Site – “Casa Amarela”.
 

Name: Statue of a togaed figure, 1st century AD

Description: Male statue dressed in a tunic and in a large toga, whose drapery pleats follow the imperial fashion of the 1st century A.D. The head, the right arm, the wrist and the left hand are missing. As usual in togaed statues, the left arm – the only preserved one - bows and turns forward holding the long toga’s drapery. This item, together with the remaining ones of which André de Resende and Amador Arrais spoke in the 16th century, might include a statuary iconographic programme. Often, this type of full-length sculpture depends on architecture, being placed at a niche with a wall behind it.
Material: Marble
Chronology: Roman Period. 1st century AD
Provenance: Found in Mértola in the 16th century
Location: Museum of Mértola - Roman Centre

Link:
http://www.mnarqueologia-ipmuseus.pt/?a=3&x=3&i=155

Name: Bronze Plate.

Description: A bronze plate with chiselled decorations in which several concentric calligraphic patterns and geometric decoration surround a central medallion where two deers entwine their necks. The plate may have an Oriental origin, although the writings were attributed to an Almohad workshop.
Material: Bronze
Chronology: first half of the 12th century.
Provenance: Citadel of Mértola
Location: Museum of Mértola - Islamic Museum Hub

Retrieved from: TORRES, Cláudio; MACIAS, Santiago (ed.) (2003): Museu de Mértola: arte islâmica. Mértola: Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, pp.170

Note: The decoration of this plate was used as the symbol of the 6th Islamic Festival of Mértola - 2011

Name: Silver ring.

Description: A silver ring with a glass stone embedded in a quadrangular socket, also of silver. A clamp on one of the sides holds the orange stone in place.
Material: Silver and orange glass stone.
Provenance: Citadel of Mértola.
Chronology: 12th century
Location: Museum of Mértola.

Retrieved from: TORRES, Cláudio [et al.] (1989): Mértola: vila museu, 3ª ed., Mértola: Câmara Municipal: Campo Arqueológico de Mértola: Associação de Defesa do Património de Mértola, p52.

Name: “Ric-rac” board game
Description: A board game engraved in a slab of shale. Only three rectangles linked together by a line are partially visible, as part of its surface was damaged.
Material: Slab of shale.
Provenance: Chapel of Achada de S. Sebastião
Location: Museum of Mértola - Chapel of Achada de S. Sebastião.
Dimensions: Lenght: 28cm, width: 25 cm, thickness: 7 cm.

Retrieved from: LOPES, Virgílio; BOIÇA, Joaquim (ed.) (1999): “Museu de Mértola - A Necrópole da Achada de S. Sebastião”, Mértola, Campo Arqueológico de Mértola e Escola Profissional Bento de Jesus Caraça, p.179.

Name: Glass cup

Description: Cup with thin walls whose form was obtained by constraining the area around the base. The base is circular, conical in shape, and the rim is straight and rounded.
Material: Yellow-brown glass.
Technique: Manufactured by blowing into a closed mould; relief decoration - veins rising from base to edge, often forming spirals.
Provenance: Mértola’s Castle (1996).
Location: Museum of Mértola - Islamic Art.
Chronology: 11th century.

Retrieved from:
RAFAEL, Lígia; PALMA, Maria de Fátima (2010): “Os Vidros Islâmicos de Mértola (Séc. XI-XIII): Técnicas decorativas”, in Arqueologia Medieval nº11, Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, Mértola, pp.69-77.

Name: Plaque with inscription

Provenance: The hillside of the Castle of Mértola
Location: Museum of Mértola / Islamic Art Museum
Description: A rectangular plaque with polished surfaces, where an inscription was made. The inscription consists of a sequence of Arabic letters, painted in black, and repeated five times, meaning "for him”. These plaques covered small boxes or decorated chests with metal ornaments.
Dimensions: Length: 61mm, width: 17mm.
Chronology: 11th century / first half of the 12th century.

Retrieved from: TORRES, Cláudio; MACIAS, Santiago (ed.) (2003): Museu de Mértola: arte islâmica. Mértola: Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, pp.173.

Name: Cancellus

Provenance: Mértola
Location: Museum of Mértola. Museum of Islamic Art
Description: A cancellus made of medium grained grey marble, partially destroyed to fit in a 16th century door jamb. The side facing the faithful was decorated by a set of intersecting circles with knobs on the centre, and two concentric circles on each of the knobs. The inlaid quatrefoils stand out in relief. A slot on one side would have fit in the pilaster, which bounded the cancellus.
Dimensions: Height: 54cm, length: 48cm, width: 12cm.
Chronology: 7th century

Retrieved from:
TORRES, Cláudio [et al.] (1991) Museu de Mértola: núcleo do castelo: catálogo; Mértola: Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, p.43.

Name: Bowl with hunting scene (symbol of Mértola’s Archaeological Site)

Provenance: Citadel of Mértola. Crypto-porticus
Location: Museum of Mértola. Museum of Islamic Art
Description: A large bowl with a flat rim, semi-spherical body and convex base with a tall, annular foot. The exterior has grooves and a nearly transparent glaze. The inner side depicts, in green and manganese, a hunting scene in which a greyhound and a falcon attack a gazelle.
This artefact belongs to a series of bowls of identical form, technique and decorative style scattered over several points on the Western Mediterranean (Cartagena, Alicante, Mallorca, Pisa and Kairowan). Most studies refer to the latter Tunisian city as the place of origin, although recent studies based on paste analysis do not exclude the possibility of their production in the Iberian Peninsula.
Dimensions: Height 135mm, diameter 392mm
Chronology: Second half of the 11th century

Retrieved from:
TORRES, Cláudio; MACIAS, Santiago (ed.) (2003): Museu de Mértola: arte islâmica. Mértola: Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, pp.109.

Name: Impost

Description: The three decorated sides of the impost have a frieze of lozenges with knobs on the centre, formed by two small circles. Ivy leaves fill the remaining space.
Chronology: 7th-8th centuries
Material: Medium grained white marble
Dimensions: Height: 17cm; max. width: 40cm, min. width: 36cm.
Provenance: Church of Mértola
Location: Museum of Mértola / Castle of Mértola Museum Hub

Retrieved from: TORRES, Claúdio [et al.] 1991 - Museu de Mértola : núcleo do castelo : catálogo; Mértola: Campo Arqueológico de Mértola.

Name: Adornment from small chest

Provenance: Mértola
Location: Museum of Mértola. Museum of Islamic Art
Description: Small quadrangular adornment from a chest with plant-form decoration: two flowers with light blue and greyish green enamelled petals, surrounded by white enamel and the remaining spaces filled with light blue. This object was used to decorate small chests covered with bone or marble sheets.
Dimensions: Height 37mm, larg.16mm
Chronology: Late 11th century / first half of the 12th century

Retrieved from:
TORRES, Cláudio; MACIAS, Santiago (ed.) (2003): Museu de Mértola: arte islâmica. Mértola: Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, pp.176.

Name: Small jug

Provenance: Citadel of Mértola. Crypto-porticus.
Location: Museum of Mértola. Museum of Islamic Art
Description: Small jug with a rounded mouth, cylindrical neck and globular body. The base was not preserved. A single vertical handle of circular cross section joined the mouth to the body. The paste is white with medium-sized shale fragments. The object is decorated with three horizontal sets of dots of greenish lead glaze.
Its small size and capacity enable us to classify this piece as an item of recreational or symbolical use, most possibly a toy.
Dimensions: Height 74mm, width 77mm
Chronology: Second half of the 12th century XII / first half of the 13th century

Retrieved from: GOMEZ MARTINEZ, Susana; DÉLÈRY, Claire (2002): Museu de Mértola: Cerâmica em corda seca de Mértola. Mértola: Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, pp.91.

Name: Gravestone of Abu Bakr Yaḥyã ‘Abd Allâh Ibn al - Huwãrī

Provenance: From the collection of Estácio da Veiga, who in 1877 found it wedged on the Northeast walls of the Castle.
Location: Museum of Mértola. Museum of Islamic Art
Description: Rectangular gravestone, slightly wider at the top, nearly filled by an epigraph with thirteen lines carved in compact cursive without diacritics, with a careless and irregular paging.
Dimensions: 445x260x70mm
Chronology: Era 598 / 1202 AD

Retrieved from: TORRES, Cláudio; MACIAS, Santiago (ed.) (2003): Museu de Mértola: arte islâmica: guia do museu. Mértola: Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, pp.184.

Name: St. John the Baptist

Provenance: Igreja da Misericórdia (“Church of Mercy”) at Mértola
Location: Museum of Sacred Art
Description: St. John the Baptist holding in his hands a circular disk with the Divine Lamb. The head tilts slightly to the left side, with his long hair falling on the back and shoulders. The figure wears a long orange robe, which leaves the bare right foot uncovered. On the back lies a blue mantle with the edge held around the waist and fastened on his left shoulder. The figure is set in a semi-circular base.
Dimensions: Height 102cm
Chronology: 16th century (2nd half)

Retrieved from: BOIÇA, Joaquim Manuel Ferreira (ed.) (2001): Museu de Mértola - Porta da Ribeira. Arte Sacra. Mértola, Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, p.180.

Name: Single gold earring

Provenance: Grave No. 163 (next to the third vertebra) – Paleo-christian basilica
Location: Museum of Mértola. Paleo-christian basilica
Description: A single gold earring with thin overlapping extremities, increasingly thick towards the centre, and with a circular cross section. The fastening mechanism consists of joining both extremities.
Dimensions: Diameter: 11mm, thickness 2mm
Chronology: 6th-7th centuries

Retrieved from:
Torres, C; Macias, S., (ed.) (1993): Museu de Mértola - Basílica Paleocristã. Mértola, Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, p.72.

Name: Jar with plant-form motifs in full “dry string” technique

Provenance: Citadel of Mértola. Crypto-porticus
Location: Museum of Mértola. Museum of Islamic Art
Description: Small jar resting on a ring base. The body has a globular shape with a single handle, which was not preserved, together with neck and mouth. The interior is covered with a greenish, honey-coloured glaze and the exterior is decorated in full “dry string” technique, in green, honey-colour and white. The main motif consists of eight lotus flowers formed by two opposing palmettes.
Similar findings: Almería
Dimensions: Height 111mm, diameter 135mm
Chronology: 12th century

Retrieved from: GÓMEZ MARTÍNEZ, Susana; DELERY, Claire (2002): A cerâmica em corda seca de Mértola. Mértola, Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, pp. 68.

Name: Pottery skillet

Provenance: The hillside of the Castle of Mértola
Location: Museum of Mértola. Museum of Islamic Art
Description: Open container with everted rim and a very small spout to pour its contents. It has a curved cylindrical body with two horizontal handles pasted on the sides, and a convex base. It features a thick honey-colour glaze.
Dimensions: Height 82mm, width 235mm
Chronology: Second half of the 12th century / first half of the 13th century

Retrieved from: TORRES, Cláudio; MACIAS, Santiago (ed.) (2003): Museu de Mértola: arte islâmica: guia do museu. Mértola: Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, pp.154.

Name: Bronze buckle

Provenance: Paleo-christian basilica
Location: Museum of Mértola. Paleo-christian basilica
Description: A bronze buckle with a hard, lyre-shaped plate. It is incomplete, lacking the frame and prong. An animal-form motif fills the central part, which is lined by small grooves carved with a file.
Dimensions: Length 4.2 cm, width 2.1 cm; thickness 0.9 cm
Chronology: 7th century

Retrieved from: Torres, C; Macias, S., (ed.) (1993): Museu de Mértola - Basílica Paleocristã. Mértola, Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, p.70.

Name: Bowl representing a bird in full “dry string” technique

Provenance: Citadel of Mértola. Crypto-porticus.
Location: Museum of Mértola. Museum of Islamic Art
Description: A bowl with rounded rim, frustoconical and carinated body, and convex base with annular foot. The interior is decorated in full “dry string” technique in white, green, turquoise and honey-colour. The central motif, representing a bird, is surrounded by a frieze of opposing leaves and palmettes. In 12th century pottery there was a change in the depiction of birds, which lost many distinguishing elements.
Chronology: 12th century

Retrieved from: TORRES, Cláudio; MACIAS, Santiago (ed.) (2003): Museu de Mértola: arte islâmica: guia do museu. Mértola: Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, pp.128.

Name: Cooking pot

Provenance: Citadel of Mértola
Location: Museum of Mértola
Description: A cooking pot with inverted rim, grooved globular body and convex base with two vertical handles of oval cross section with a central ridge. The pot is fully covered with a honey-coloured lead glaze.
Chronology: Second half of the 12th century. Early 13th century.
Dimensions: 7.3 x 11 cm

Retrieved from: EUSÉBIO, Maria de Fátima; SOALHEIRO, João (ed.) - Arte, poder e religião nos tempos medievais: a identidade de Portugal em construção. Catálogo da exposição realizada no Museu Grão Vasco, entre 14 de Agosto e 14 de Novembro de 2009. Viseu: Câmara Municipal de Viseu, 2009, p.112.

Name: Oil lamp

Provenance: Citadel of Mértola
Location: Islamic Museum of Mértola
Chronology: Late 12th century / first quarter of the 13th century
Description: A bronze oil lamp consisting of a globular chamber leading to a frustoconical nozzle. The lamp has a semi-circular handle, with a stylised lotus flower ornament, leading from the rim to the flat circular base.
Dimensions: Height 55mm; length 115mm; width 40mm

Bibliography: TORRES, Cláudio; MACIAS, Santiago (ed.) - Museu de Mértola : arte islâmica: guia do museu. Mértola: Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, 2003.

Name: Hilarinus epitaph

Transcript:
                 HILARINUS
                 FAM(U)L(US) DEI
                 VIXIT AN (NO)
                 UNO M(ENSIBUS) V
                 D(IEBUS) V REQ(U)I-
                 EVIT IN PA-
                 CE D(IE) NONAS
                 IUNIAS ERA

Which in English means: Hilarinus, servant of God, lived a year, 5 months and 5 days; rested in peace on the Nones of June, Era 604 (which in our calendar is the 5th of June of 566 AD).
Location: Museum of Mértola / Paleo-christian Basilica.
Chronology: 6th century.
Material: Grey and white marble.

Retrieved from: Torres, C; Macias, S., (ed.) (1993) – Museu de Mértola - Basílica Paleocristã. Mértola, Campo Arqueológico de Mértola.

Name: Distaff

Provenance: Citadel of Mértola
Location: Islamic Museum of Mértola.
Chronology: 11th century / first half of the 12th century.
Description: Decorated part of a distaff, made from carved bone, with an upper circular horizontal section and lower quadrangular horizontal section. This piece has elaborate incised decorations grouped in circles and arranged in lines or in clusters. This object corresponds to the most decorated part of the distaff, which was an extremely important tool used in traditional hand spinning.

Bibliography: TORRES, Cláudio; MACIAS, Santiago (ed.) - Museu de Mértola: arte islâmica: guia do museu. Mértola: Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, 2003.

Name: Pottery neck fragment with applied decoration

Provenance: Citadel of Mértola (1992)
Location: CAM Deposit - VD-DV7.107.
Dimensions: Max. width. 23 mm, max. height 23 mm, weight 1.41 g.
Chronology: 12th-13th centuries.
Materials: Green glass with turquoise applied decoration
Technique: Mould-blown with relief decoration – applied parallel lines of turquoise-blue glass paste.
Condition: Good

Bibliography: RAFAEL, Lígia; PALMA, Maria de Fátima (2007), «Os Vidros Islâmicos de Mértola (Séc. XI-XIII): Técnicas decorativas», in Arqueologia Medieval nº11, Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, Mértola (No Prelo).

Name: Gold Medal

Provenance: Necropolis of the Chapel of Achada de S. Sebastião - Mértola
Location: Chapel of S. Sebastião Museum Hub
Chronology: 4th-5th century AD
Description: Small gold medal consisting of a Chi Rho (early Christianity monogram corresponding to the Greek initials of the words “Jesus Christ”). In the horizontal arm of the cross the Alpha and Omega are represented, meaning that Christ is the beginning and end of creative evolution. At the top of the medal a ring connects to the three entwined links of a chain, also of gold.
The object was found in the grave of a child / young person.
Dimensions: Weight: 1.5 grams, max. diameter 18mm

Bibliography: LOPES, Virgílio; BOIÇA, Joaquim (1999): “Museu de Mértola - A Necrópole da Achada de S. Sebastião”, Mértola, Campo Arqueológico de Mértola e Escola Profissional Bento de Jesus Caraça.

Name: Portable stove decorated with horseshoe arches

Provenance: The hillside of the Castle of Mértola
Location: Islamic Museum of Mértola.
Chronology: 12th century
Description: A portable stove consisting of an upper chamber or fire chamber (of which only a small part was preserved), a convex grate with circular openings, and a lower chamber or ash collector in a frustoconical shape with openings in the form of twin doors with horseshoe arches, with an incised frame. In addition to the aesthetic treatment applied to the latter openings, the piece was richly decorated with an indented string between the two chambers, and with a pattern of lozenges in the inferior wall.
The architectural motifs are an important element in the renewal of iconography which took place during the period of African empires in the al-Ândalus.
Conservation status: The object has been restored from fragments.
Dimensions: Height 159 mm., Max. diameter 195mm

Bibliography: TORRES, Cláudio; MACIAS, Santiago (ed.) - Museu de Mértola : arte islâmica: guia do museu. Mértola: Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, 2003.

Name: Large bowl in partial “dry string” technique

Provenance: The hillside of the Castle of Mértola.
Location: Museum of Mértola - Islamic Art.
Chronology: 12th century
Description: Large bowl with a flat base and cylindrical body, missing the upper part. This object was decorated in partial “dry string” technique, with shades of white, green and honey-colour. The interior was covered with a honey-coloured glaze. The decorative motif consists of a strip of opposing palmettes.
Dimensions: Height 210 mm., Max. diameter 620mm
Conservation status: The object has been restored from fragments.

Bibliography: TORRES, Cláudio; MACIAS, Santiago (ed.) - Museu de Mértola : arte islâmica: guia do museu. Mértola: Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, 2003

Name: St. Sebastian

Provenance: Parish Church of S. Pedro de Sólis
Location: Museum of Mértola - Porta da Ribeira - Sacred Art
Chronology: 16th century (2nd half)
Materials: Polychrome terra-cotta
Description: St. Sebastian held against the tree trunk of his martyrdom, preserving only the upper part of the original figure (head, torso and arms). The arms are positioned behind his back, with hands crossed and tied to the narrow tree trunk. The face has a serene expression, globular eyes and protruding hair with a rounded cut. In the torso, three of the seven traditional martyrdom wounds are marked.
Dimensions: Height 42 cm
Conservation status: Terra-cotta and colours in reasonable condition. The lower half of the image is missing.

Bibliography: BOIÇA, Joaquim Manuel Ferreira (ed.) - Museu de Mértola: Porta da Ribeira. Arte Sacra. Mértola, Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, D. L. 2001, p.186.

Name: Water pot with glaze and stamped decoration

Provenance: Citadel of Mértola
Location: Museum of Mértola - Islamic Art.
Chronology: Second half of the 12th century / first half of the 13th century
Description: A pot intended to carry water, broken at the rim. It features a cylindrical neck, globular body with two triangular vertical handles, flat walls and base. The vessel is partially coated with an outer layer of green glaze. It is decorated with a series of Hamsa (hands of Fatima) stamped on the clay while it was still fresh. The pot has a stand which gave it stability, but mostly was used to gather spills, pouring them into another container through a spout.
Dimensions: Max. height 70cm; Max. width 53cm.
Decoration: A stamped horizontal pattern shows the following motifs under the glaze: Hamsa, vegetable elements and eight-pointed star.
The figure shows the Hamsa with five open fingers, relating to the five Pillars of Islam - faith, prayer, fasting, charity and pilgrimage - the mandatory ritual rites which identify the Muslim faith.
In these objects, as with others, in addition to its function as an amulet and talisman the Hamsa also serves to attain spiritual protection.
This "talisman" was named in honour of Fatima, daughter of the Prophet Muhammad.

Bibliography:

KHAWLÎ, Abdallah; “Introdução ao estudo das vasilhas de armazenamento da Mértola islâmica”, Arqueologia Medieval 2, Mértola / Porto, CAM / Afrontamento, 1993,
pp. 63-78, pp. 68-69.

IDEM, “A Mão de Fátima e a sua representação na arte hispano-muçulmana. Cerâmica Estampilhada de Mértola”, Actas do Encontro ‘Arqueologia en el entorno del Bajo Guadiana’, Universidade de Huelva,
1994, pp. 605-618.

MAÇARICO, Luís; “A função antropológica da aldraba: da origem simbólica à morte funcional”, Arqueologia Medieval 8, Mértola / Porto, CAM /Afrontamento, 2003, pp. 301-312.

TORRES, Cláudio; MACIAS, Santiago (coord.) - Museu de Mértola : arte islâmica: guia do museu. Mértola: Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, 2003.

Name: Epitaph of Orania

Transcript:
ORANI-
A P (A)M (U)L (A) DEI VIXIT
ANN(OS) TES REQUIEVIT
IN PACE D (IE) IDUS
NOVEMB(RES) ER-
A LAS

Which in English means:
Orania, servant of God, lived for three years;
Rested in peace on the (first) day of the Ides of November of Era 541 (which in our calendar is the 13th of November of 503 AD)

Provenance: Found in a tombstone facing the Chapel of Santo António dos Pescadores in the 19th century by archaeologist Estácio da Veiga.
Materials: Marble
Description: Gravestone topped by the Chi Rho on the right and equal-armed cross on the left. A wreath surrounds the inscription.
Conservation status: Good

Retrieved from: Torres, C; Macias, S., (Coord.) (1993) – Museu de Mértola - Basílica Paleocristã. Mértola, Campo Arqueológico de Mértola.

Object Type - Oil lamp
Chronology - Almohad (1160-1212)
Decorative technique - monochrome glaze
Provenance - Mértola, Old Fire Station, 2007.