An introduction to the ceramics of the Middle or Near East from the time of Alexander until recent times. A particular emphasis will be the elite glazed wares of the mediaeval and Islamic periods. Apart from providing a history of the production of ceramics and their social and archaeological context, this course is intended to train archaeologists and art-historians in the fundamental field recognition and identification of the various types and their production origins, and the course will rely heavily on the collections of the ROM.