ABSTRACT
The Maqsura and the Mihrab are one of the most important locations of the Mosque of Cordoba (Spain), built during the expansion of the Mosque by the caliph Al-Hakam II (962- 965 AD). The main goal of this study was to identify the glass tesserae from the different historical restorations. The mosaics from the Mihrab, the Sabat chamber and ceiling mosaics presented different types of tesserae spread along the two doors and the ceiling attributed to the different campaigns. However, the mosaics from the Bab Bayt al-Mal chamber presented different glass compositions because it was completely removed and an exact replica was installed in 1916.
The chemical analysis detected a glass with high contents of PbO, mainly in the replacement tesserae, and in the green and yellow original tesserae. The original tesserae were classified into five different groups: tesserae with gold leaf, with inclusions, with bubbles, homogeneous opaque tesserae and red opaque tesserae.
