A DISTINGUISHED GLASS VESSEL EXCAVATED FROM JERASH / GERASA, NORTHERN JORDAN: DAMAGE ASSESSMENT AND ARCHAEOMETRIC STUDY

Abstract

During the 2019 excavation works carried out by the University of Jordan in cooperation with the Department of Antiquities, at the archaeological site of Jerash, ancient Gerasa, Northern Jordan, a considerable collection of different objects of different materials, typologies and colours were uncovered in a Late Roman – Late Early Byzantine area. A distinguished intact and huge glass vessel was uncovered from this site, obviously subjected to intensive deterioration. X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) and optical digital microscopy (ODM) analysis of glass, and surrounding sediment tests were made to characterize and assess the damage and apply proper conservation actions. The results of the present case study indicated that this glass vessel is of soda-lime–silica type corresponding to the previously defined Levantine I glass group, archaeologically dated back to the Early Byzantine period (4th-5th Century AD).