R
Collections & Research Staff
Robert Mason
Archaeological Science, Database Technician
B.A., Anthropology & Geology, University of Toronto, 1991
Ph.D., Archaeological Science, University of Oxford, 1994
Dr. Robert Mason is an archaeological scientist whose experience and research include art, technology, trade, and industry from the beginnings of time to the industrial revolution. One of his specializations is the material culture and archaeology of the Middle East and Europe, mostly Islamic and mediaeval periods (roughly 500 AD to the present). Another area of concentration for Dr. Mason is the Middle East, particularly Bilad al-Sham, the greater land of Syria, incorporating Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, and Antakya.
Using scientific analysis to determine how and where ceramics were manufactured, along with standard archaeological approaches to determine dating, Dr. Mason's work aims to understand the high-technology glazed ceramics of the Middle East made between c. 650 and 1700 AD. Recently, Dr. Mason has been involved with a number of excavations in Syria, particularly in the citadel of Aleppo. Presently, he directs the ROM project at the monastery of St. Moses, 90 km north of Damascus in the mountainous Syrian desert. This has led to a growing research interest in the archaeology of Christianity and monotheism generally in the Holy Land.
Robert Mason is responsible for the ROM's collections database and provision of cataloguing ROM Images for the Egyptian, Far Eastern, Textiles, and West Asian sections of the Department of World Cultures. Mason is appointed as an Associate Professor with the Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations Department at the University of Toronto, and is the Academic Director of the ROM's Friends of the Mediaeval Studies Society.
Publications
| 2009 | R. B. Mason Making the Pottery Cross at the Monastery of St. Moses the Abyssinian, Syria.Archaeological Newsletter, Royal Ontario Museum, Series IV, No. 5, May 2009. |
| 2009 | R. B. Mason The Monastery of St. Moses the Abyssinian (Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi), Syria. Antiquity Vol. 83 Issue 319, March 2009. |
| 2008 | Mason, R. B. Monks and Masons at the Monastery of St. Moses the Abyssinian, Syria. Archaeological Newsletter, Royal Ontario Museum, Series IV, No. 4, December 2008. |
| 2004 | Mason, R. B. Shine Like the Sun: Lustre-painted and Associated Pottery from the Medieval Middle East. Costa Mesa, California: Mazda Press and Toronto, Royal Ontario Museum. | 2003 | Mason, R. B. "Trade and Industry at Qal'at Halab: Petrographic analysis of the medieval pottery from the recent excavations at the Aleppo Citadel, Syria," The Old Potter's Almanac. Vol. 11, No. 1, March 2003: 1-5. |
| 2003 | Mason, R. B. and L. Golombek, "Petrography of Iranian Safavid Ceramics" Journal of Archaeological Science 30: 251-261. |
| 2003 | Mason, R. B. "Petrography of pottery from Kirman," Iran XLI: 271-8. |
| 2003 | Wolf, S, S. Stos, R.B. Mason, and M. S. Tite. "Lead Isotope Analyses of Islamic Pottery Glazes from Fustat, Egypt." Archaeometry, Vol. 45: 405-420. |
| 2001 | Mason, R. B., M. S. Tite, S. Paynter and C. Salter, "Advances in Polychrome ceramics in the Islamic world of the 12th century AD." Archaeometry, Vol. 43:191-209. |
| 2001 | Mason, R. B. "Petrography of Stonepaste Ceramics," Cahiers d'archéologie du CELAT, No. 10: 149-160. |
| 2000 | Mason, R. B. and J. Gonnella, "The Petrology of Syrian Stonepaste Ceramics: The View from Aleppo." Journal of Internet Archaeology, Vol. 9. |
| 2000 | Mason, R. B. "Petrology of Pottery from Mesopotamia: Towards a Predictive Model," Bulletin of the Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies, Vol. 35: 43-48. |
Publications List (PDF)
Galleries
Wirth Gallery of the Middle East
ROM Images
Ancient Near East
The Islamic World
ROM magazine
ROM's 40 Influential Research Projects
Research Projects
University of Toronto Field Projects
Excavations and other fieldwork
Other Links
Archaeological Newsletter - Making the Pottery Cross at the Monastery of St. Moses the Abyssinian, Syria.
Antiquity Quarterly Review of World Archaeology - The Monastery of St. Moses the Abyssinian (Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi), Syria
Archaeological Newsletter - Monks and Masons at the Monastery of St. Moses the Abyssinian, Syria
ROM Friends of the Medieval Studies Society (FMSS)
University of Toronto, Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations Faculty
University of Toronto, Ceramic Petrology Facility
Contact Information
Department of World Cultures
Royal Ontario Museum
100 Queen's Park
Toronto, ON
M5S 2C6
Dr. Robert Mason in the field.
Bowl, lustre-ware, "Tell Minis" style, Syria, about AD 1075-1100. Diameter: 19.8 cm. ROM 960.219.2
Shine Like the Sun: Lustre-painted and Associated Pottery from the Medieval Middle East Robert B. J. Mason, ISBN 978-1-56859-096-7. A description of the title and ordering information may be found at www.mazdapub.com.
