Ancient Mesopotamian Materials and Industries: The Archaeological EvidenceThis is the first systematic attempt to survey in detail the archaeological evidence for the crafts and craftsmanship of the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians in ancient Mesopotamia, covering the period ca. 8000-300 B.C.E. As creators of some of the earliest farming and urban communities known to us, these people were among the first pioneers of many crafts and skills that remain fundamental to modern ways of life. Many of the raw materials for crafts had to be imported from outside the river valley of the Tigris and Euphrates, providing an unusually sensitive indicator of the commercial and cultural contacts of Mesopotamia. In this book, Dr. Moorey reviews briefly the textual evidence, and then goes on to examine in detail the material evidence for a wide range of crafts using stones, both common and ornamental, animal products--from hippopotamus ivory to ostrich egg-shells--ceramics, glazed materials and glass, metals, and building materials. With a comprehensive bibliography, this will be a key work of reference for archaeologists and those interested in the early history of crafts and technology, as well as for specialist historians of the ancient Near East. |
Contents
INTRODUCTION | 1 |
2 Resource Procurement | 5 |
i ROUTES | 6 |
b To the east and northeast | 8 |
c To the south | 10 |
b By land | 12 |
Methods of Study | 13 |
ii INVESTIGATING THE MATERIAL RECORD FOR CRAFT AND INDUSTRY | 17 |
b Changes in the production of glass c16501150 bc | 192 |
c Revival of glass production from about 9oo bc | 198 |
ii TECHNOLOGY AND COMPOSITION | 202 |
b Mixing and melting | 203 |
d Composition | 206 |
e Provenance studies | 210 |
THE ANCIENT TEXTS AND MODERN ANALYSES | 212 |
v THE PROBLEM OF ENAMEL | 214 |
THE STONEWORKING CRAFTS THE COMMON STONES | 21 |
2 Sculpture and Sculptors | 23 |
i HISTORICAL SURVEY OF STONES USED FOR SCULPTURE | 24 |
ii SCULPTORS AT WORK | 30 |
a Workplaces and quarries | 31 |
b The sculptors methods | 33 |
3 Stone Vessel Manufacture | 36 |
i CONCISE NOTES ON THE STONES USED FOR VESSELS | 37 |
ii HISTORICAL SURVEY OF STONES USED FOR VESSELS | 38 |
iii MANUFACTURE | 55 |
b Workshops | 56 |
d The pattern of production | 58 |
2 British Museum | 59 |
a Flint | 60 |
3 Hoes and ploughshares | 63 |
c Rock crystal | 71 |
THE STONEWORKING CRAFTS ORNAMENTAL STONES | 74 |
ii FOR BEADS AMULETS AND PENDANTS | 77 |
a Historical survey | 79 |
2 Manufacturing Techniques | 103 |
ii BEADS | 106 |
foreign beads in Mesopotamia | 109 |
iii inlays | 110 |
WORKING WITH BONE IVORY AND SHELL | 111 |
3 Bone | 112 |
i TOOLS | 113 |
ii PERSONAL ORNAMENTS AND COSMETIC ARTICLES | 114 |
4 Wild Boars Tusk | 115 |
6 Elephant Ivory | 116 |
ii THE ELEPHANT IN MESOPOTAMIA | 119 |
iv METHODS OF MANUFACTURE | 125 |
v CHEMICAL STUDIES | 127 |
8 Tortoiseshell | 128 |
9 Marine and Freshwater Shells | 129 |
i SOURCES | 130 |
ii THE REPERTORY OF USES | 132 |
b Bangles and rings | 133 |
d Seals | 135 |
e Spindlewhorls | 136 |
g Ritual and votive use of shells | 137 |
i Select checklist of specialist shell identification | 138 |
k Motherofpearl | 139 |
THE CERAMIC AND GLASSWORKING CRAFTS | 141 |
ii ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE | 143 |
iii A HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE POTTERS CRAFT IN MESOPOTAMIA | 149 |
c55003000 bc | 151 |
1 Unglazed wares | 157 |
ASPECTS OF THE WIDER REPERTORY | 162 |
2 Working with Faience | 166 |
i THE EMERGENCE OF GLAZED MATERIALS | 168 |
ii A HISTORICAL SURVEY OF FAIENCE IN MESOPOTAMIA | 171 |
b The historic period | 173 |
iii METHODS OF MANUFACTURE | 181 |
a Cores and manufacture | 182 |
b Methods of glazing Vandiver 1983 Tite et al 1983 | 184 |
d Notes on analyses of Mesopotamian faience | 186 |
ii COMPOSITION AND MANUFACTURE | 188 |
iii ANALYSES OF EGYPTIAN BLUE FROM SITES IN MESOPOTAMIA | 189 |
i HISTORICAL SURVEY | 190 |
METALWORKING | 216 |
2 Precious Metals | 217 |
c Refining and assaying | 218 |
d Sources | 219 |
e The repertory of objects and uses | 221 |
J Techniques | 225 |
iii SILVER | 232 |
silver as money | 237 |
e Manufacture | 238 |
f Select analyses | 239 |
3 Base Metals | 240 |
iii COPPER AND ITS ALLOYS | 242 |
b Sources | 245 |
c Mechanical properties and varieties | 249 |
d The repertory of objects | 254 |
e Workshops and manufacturing equipment | 265 |
f Techniques | 269 |
g The use of metal tools | 276 |
iv IRON | 278 |
b Manufacture of smelted iron | 283 |
c The problem of cast iron | 285 |
e The development of ironworking in Mesopotamia | 286 |
f The repertory of iron objects | 291 |
v LEAD | 292 |
b Sources | 293 |
vi NICKEL | 297 |
b The pattern of trade and the identification of sources | 298 |
c Objects | 301 |
THE BUILDING CRAFTS | 302 |
i THE EMERGENCE OF MUDBRICKS | 304 |
b Kilns | 306 |
iii DECORATIVE TECHNIQUES IN MUDBRICK ARCHITECTURE | 309 |
b Unglazed fancy brickwork | 310 |
c Glazed brickwork | 312 |
d Wallpainting | 322 |
2 Plasters and mortars in building | 329 |
ii GYPSUM AND LIMESTONE PLASTER | 330 |
iii MORTAR | 331 |
iv GYPSUM BRICKS | 332 |
i AVAILABILITY | 333 |
ii RANGE OF USE | 334 |
4 Building in Stone | 335 |
ii HISTORICAL SURVEY | 337 |
b The historic period | 339 |
5 Building with Wood | 347 |
ii SOURCES OUTSIDE MESOPOTAMIA | 349 |
b In the eastern Taurus and the Zagros | 351 |
c In the Gulf and regions beyond to the Indus Valley | 352 |
iii ILLUSTRATIONS OF TIMBER PROCUREMENT AND WORKING METHODS | 353 |
iv TIMBER IN BUILDING | 355 |
b Walls | 356 |
c Columns | 357 |
e Internal fittings | 358 |
v WOOD IDENTIFICATIONS FOR MESOPOTAMIAN SITES PREHISTORIC TO SELEUCID | 360 |
vi WOOD IDENTIFICATIONS FOR LEVEL IVB AT HASANLU NORTHWEST IRAN Harris MV 1989 | 361 |
i REED IDENTIFICATIONS | 362 |
BIBLIOGRAPHY | 363 |
407 | |