12th century AD terra cotta raqqa jug with filter
Ar-Raqqah (Arabic: الرقة), also called Rakka / Raqqa, is a city in Syria, located on the north bank of the Euphrates River, about 160 kilometres east of Aleppo. It was inhabited from the Babylonian times on (2500 BC) and experienced several periods of blossoming; the last of these took place during the Zangid and Ayyubid period in the 12th and first half of the 13th century, when the city’s pottery (the so-called Raqqa ware) made its fame. The most precious specimen are glazed ceramics in blue or lustre-ware.
Correspondent: J.M.Criel, Antwerpen.
Source: Wikipedia.