Byzantine or Crusader Bowl with Kufic Inscription (DO BZ.1985.23)
This (restored) ceramic bowl has a pale buff colored body, a white slip with reddish-gold iridescent luster, and an underglaze cobalt blue decoration. The exterior has concentric lines and two wide bands; between the bands are diagonal lines ending on a thin line just above lower wide band. Inside the foot ring (on one fragment) there is a row of continuous arched lines, or petals. Pseudo-inscriptions suggest this is a Byzantine, Crusader, or Frankish attempt to imitate Islamic production.