LOOKING FOR CONNECTIONS BETWEEN ARABIA AND EAST ASIA: DIPLOMATIC GIFTS, LUXURY VESSELS AND UTILITARIAN WARES UNEARTHED AT THE CITY PORT OF AL-BALĪD, SULTANATE OF OMAN

In the broader context of relations between China and the Arabian Peninsula, few sites offer such a rich and significant assemblage as the settlement of al-Balīd (ancient Ẓafār), and few sites offer such remarkable leads for analysis of the connections between production, reception and use of Chinese porcelain during the Islamic period. This article focuses particularly on the period between 1279 and 1435, which saw the trade between China and Arabia, together with the consumption and impact of Chinese porcelain on the southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, at its most flourishing.