imes
seem to have preserved some of the traditions of the potters of Assyria,
just as they inherited their skill; and the Assyrian device of raising
strong brown outlines round a design to control the flow of coloured
glazes, which is exemplified in the Frieze of Archers in the Louvre, was
carried on by them, for it appears unchanged in the tiles of the Mosque
of Mahommed I. built at Brusa in the 15th century. The intercourse
between the Persian and Byzantine empires at this time must have led to
a general diffusion of technical knowledge among the pottery centres of
the various countries round the eastern end of the Mediterranean, though
our knowledge is too fragmentary to furnish sufficient data for any
definite placing of the progress made. Our information is mainly derived
from the examination of the rubbish mounds at Fostat, or Old Cairo, in
Egypt, by Dr Fouquet, and by eager inquirers like Henry Wallis. Fostat
was built in A.D. 640 by Amr and destroyed in the 12th century;
partially rebuilt, it was given over to pillage in 1252 by a Mameluke
sultan, and all that remains is the Old Cairo of to-day, the rest of the
site being covered with accumulated rubbish heaps. In the same way
Rhagae or Rai, one of the ancient capitals of Persia, the site of which
lies a few miles east of Teheran, was destroyed about 1220 by Jenghiz
Khan. Like Fostat it was partially rebuilt, but was destroyed again in
the following century, so that its existence practically ceased in the
14th century. Rhagae was once an important centre of the ceramic
industry, but this was transferred to the neighbouring town of Veramin,
in the 13th century. Excavations have also been made on the site of
Rakka, near Aleppo, in Syria, and from all these sources, and a few
others of minor importance, much interesting light has been thrown on
the development of the potter's art in these countries during the period
between the 4th and 12th centuries. Yet, until systematic excavations
have been made in Persia, Anatolia, Syria and the Delta, on the same
scale as those which have proved so valuable in Greece, Crete, Cyprus
and the valley of the Nile, we cannot hope to possess sound
chronological data of the developments of the arts in these countries.
Meantime the exact share which should be allotted to each district for
its discoveries will remain ground of contention for scholars of
conflicting schools, though there can be little doubt that Egypt and the
southern pa