Pouring vessel

This pouring-vessel is three-footed. The legs imitate animal hoofs, as in an incense burner from Mafraq[1]. The spout is like a short, slightly curved tube and the handle is exceptionally long and ending with a small knot. The raised legs indicate that the kettle would be placed above the coal in a brazier, in order to keep the liquid contained in the kettle hot without boiling. Today various forms similar to the Umayyad pouring vessel are widespread in the Arab World and used to pour coffee during ceremonies. 

The kettle and incense burner were among special objects discovered in al-Fudayn, around 70 km northeast of Amman. The collection includes artifacts of high artistic quality, including other metal objects (J16514, J16515, J15710). It also includes objects made of ivory (J15708), steatite (J.19308), basalt and glass. The most outstanding among the metal objects is a brazier lavishly decorated with human and animal figures. On the sides, the cycle of life is rendered under arcades.

In a storage area connected with the palace a relatively large quantity of objects of daily life were uncovered. These include cooking pots, jars, and some objects related to board games (J16515). On the interior of a lid belonging to a complete jar is written: « To the mother of Sa‘îd, son of Sa‘îd ».

Historical sources identify Al-Fudayn as a castle of the Umayyad period. However, the site is similar to a mansion or “small palace” as the Arabic dictionaries explain the word. The secondary word Mafraq arose in the Ottoman period reflecting the location of the site on crossroads connecting the steps (the Badiyah) in the east with the cultivated areas in the north, south and southeast. The denomination Al-Fudayn is still used today by the inhabitants.

Sa‘îd ibn Khâlid has chosen the Al-Fudayn mansion as residence. He is the great-grandson of ‘Uthman ibn Affan (d. 656), the third caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate. He is also father-in-law of the Umayyad Caliph Hisham ibn ‘Abd al-Malik.

Sa‘îd enjoyed great powers, hence, the sources labeled him sometimes as the “Fudaynian”. Most probably he was responsible for administrating the vast fertile lands surrounding the palace.  

The objects discovered in al-Fudayn were part of the domestic repertoire of the palace. They were found in a fill of a passage leading to an earlier monastery, which at one point was integrated within the Umayyad palace. The site included also a bath and a mosque, the walls of which carry fine stucco decoration. The jar with inscription already alluded to confirms that the palace was occupied mainly by Sa‘îd.    

Bronze artifacts, partly of special quality, appeared in Jordan in a number of sites with Umayyad remains, such as Ayla (Aqaba) in the south and Umm Al-Walîd in the center (M4866). A large bronze vessel with two horseshoe-shaped handles and a fenestrated ring was found in Tabaqat Fahl in the north. From Caesarea and Tiberias in Palestine two large caches of bronze artifacts were uncovered, though mainly Fatimid, but obviously having prototypes in earlier periods. Presumably bronze craftsmanship still goes back to earlier origins. There are similar examples from Sassanian periods. It should be mentioned that the female figure of the Al-Fudayn brazier has a parallel in a decoration on silver vases also from the Sassanian period.

The Umayyad bronzes from Jordan are extremely important, for they reflect the early beginnings of bronze work, which will develop into the most productive and diversified industry of the Islamic world.

[1] Jordan Archaeological Museum, J15710.