Ceramic Plate Featuring a Gazelle Design

The Ceramic Plate Featuring a Gazelle Design is a small archaeological artifact made of metallic-luster ceramic. It was discovered in al-Rabatha Historical Area, one of the significant archaeological sites along the Hajj route from Kufa to Makkah al-Mukarramah. The site is located approximately two hundred km east of al-Madinah al-Munawwarah, along the western edge of the Hejaz Mountains, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

A section of the plate’s rim and body is missing. It is made of fine yellow clay, with a rim slanting outward and a shallow depth. A tin-white glaze layer covers both surfaces, while the rim is glazed in olive green. At the center of the plate, a gracefully posed gazelle is depicted with long antlers, illustrated with remarkable precision in olive green color. The image is enclosed within a framing band and surrounded by scattered dots forming horizontally aligned vertical lines. The outer surface features plant motifs inside circles, executed in olive green on a white background. The base is flat. The plate has a diameter of 12.3 cm at the rim and a height of 4.1 cm.

The ceramic plate dates back to the Islamic period between the first and second centuries CE. It was used for serving food and was discovered as part of the findings from archaeological surveys and excavations conducted by the antiquities and museums sector in Saudi Arabia over the past years, as well as discoveries made by Saudi archaeologists and scientific expeditions.

The ceramic plate is registered under number 123 R 8 and is preserved at the Department of Archaeology Museum at King Saud University in Riyadh. It was exhibited as part of a diverse collection of archaeological discoveries from Saudi Arabia at the Archaeological Masterpieces Through the Ages Exhibition.

The discovery of the ceramic plate featuring a gazelle design signifies trade connections between al-Rabatha Historical Area and Iraq, as this type of pottery is known as Samarra ware.