The city of al-Raqqa in north central Syria rivalled early Baghdad in scale, and was briefly during the ‘Abbasid caliphate the imperial capital of an empire stretching from North Africa to Central Asia. Now largely levelled the multifaceted Islamic cityscape is revealed by aerial and satellite imagery. It is at this site that the evidence of innovative Islamic industries has been revealed by excavations undertaken by the Raqqa Ancient Industry project since 1994. Here they discuss the production models for glass and ceramics in their socio-economic contexts.