Inscribed Luxury Objects: The Spread of a Habit from Early Byzantium to Medieval Eurasia

Medieval silver, gold, and bronze vessels from across Eurasia (places as far afield as the British Isles and Islamic Central Asia) share a curious common feature: the presence of prominent decorative writing. For example, a liturgical silver lamp from the sixth-century Sion Treasure in southern Türkiye includes the name and prayer of a donor in large niello letters, wrapping around the neck of the lamp. The letters are carefully wrought, and some incorporate decorative flourishes. Likewise, an eleventh-century bronze pitcher from Nishapur (Khorasan, eastern Iran) features an interlaced Kufic inscription on the shoulder, wishing happiness and peace to the user. Inscribed objects such as this may look “normal” to us (because our visuality has been influenced by exposure to such medieval objects), but for ancient viewers, the presence of prominent writing on luxury objects would have been surprising: Roman imperial silver plate included little writing (usually only the owner’s name and the vessel weight, added post-production in an inconspicuous place); Persian and Central Asian silver was the same. But by the eighth century, even a hoard of ‘Avar’ gold, found in modern-day Romania, included plates with prominent inscriptions – in nonsense letters meant to look like Greek. In this paper, I trace the explosion of inscribed luxury objects in the early Byzantine world and the gradual adoption of this habit across a broad swathe of Eurasia. Rather than discussing simply the importance of the written word in medieval religions, I argue that it was the opportunity to show off technical mastery and creativity that encouraged artisans in and around Byzantium to incorporate writing on their vessels.