Jug inscribed with Persian love poem unearthed in JerusalemA fragment of a Persia pottery vessel that dates back to the 12th or 13th centuries has been discovered in an archaeological dig in the Old City of Jerusalem.
The fragment is treated with a turquoise glaze and is adorned with an inscription from the Persian love poem, the Rubaiyat by the poet Omar Khayyam. The inscription, which reads “Was once the embrace of a lover that entreat”, was discovered by Rivka Cohen-Amin, of the Israel Antiquities Authority, and consists of a line that was taken from a quatrain by Khayyam, an astronomer, mathematician, and one of the most famous Persian poets of the Middle Ages.
The phenomenon of a Persian pottery vessel inscribed with a poem is known elsewhere in the world; however, this is the first occurrence of such a vessel in Israel.