Unglazed earthenware is an inexpensive material, one that is well suited to storing water because its porous body allows liquid to evaporate and cool. The vast majority of ceramic finds at Islamic archaeological sites are unglazed earthenware water vessels, suggesting that they were widely used across the socioeconomic spectrum. Rarer examples like this elaborately decorated carafe—with its molded, pierced, and incised roundels encircling sphinxes—were probably produced for more affluent clients.