Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T01:06:37.161Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Technical Examination of Neo-Assyrian Glazed Wall Plaques

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 August 2014

I. C. Freestone
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

In association with the investigation of Albenda (preceding paper) fragments from four polychrome glazed terracotta wall plaques (knob plates) were submitted for technical examination. All are believed to date to the ninth century B.C. and represent three sites: Nimrud (WA 131663), Ba'shiqa (Tell Billah) (WAN 2037, N2038) and Arban (WA91689). Technical information on the glazed ceramics of the Neo-Assyrian period is limited. In addition to providing basic information on the ceramic technology of the plaques, the purpose of the present study was to determine if stylistic differences noted between the ceramics from the three sites were in any way reflected in their technologies.

The plaques were examined using a binocular microscope, and small (millimetre-sized) samples of glaze with associated body were removed from the edges of the fragments. These samples were mounted in epoxy resin, ground flat, polished with diamond paste and the resulting cross sections examined in the scanning electron microscope (SEM). Elemental compositions were determined by energy dispersive x-ray analysis (EDXA) in the SEM.

Type
Research Article
Information
IRAQ , Volume 53 , 1991 , pp. 55 - 58
Copyright
Copyright © The British Institute for the Study of Iraq 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brill, R. H., 1970. The chemical interpretation of the texts. In Oppenheim, A. L.et al., Glass and Glassmaking in Ancient Mesopotamia. Corning, New York.Google Scholar
Fitz, S. C., 1982. The coloured glazes of neo-BabyIonian wall facings. Ceramic Forum International: Berichte Deutsch Keramischen Gesellshaft 59, 179–85.Google Scholar
Freestone, I. C., Hughes, M. J., 1989. Examination of ceramics from Qasrij Cliff and Khirbet Qasrij. In Curtis, J., Excavations at Qasrij Cliff and Khirbet Qasrij. BMP, London, 61–75.Google Scholar
Freestone, I. C., Meeks, N. D., Middleton, A. P., 1975. Retention of phosphate in buried ceramics: an electron microbeam approach. Archaeometry 27, 161–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hedges, R. E. M., Moorey, P. R. S., 1975. Pre-Islamic ceramic glazes at Kish and Nineveh in Iraq. Archaeometry 17, 25–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matson, F. R., 1971. A study of temperatures used in firing ancient Mesopotamian pottery. In Brill, R. H. (ed.), Science and Archaeology. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 65–79.Google Scholar
Matson, F. R., 1985. The brickmakers of Babylon. In Ancient Technology to Modern Science: Ceramics and Civilisation I (Kingery, W. D., ed.). American Ceramics Society, Columbus, Ohio, 61–75.Google Scholar
Matson, F. R., 1986. Glazed brick from Babylon—historical setting and microprobe analyses. In Technology and Style: Ceramics and Civilization II (Kingery, W. D., ed.). American Ceramics Society, Columbus, Ohio, 133–56.Google Scholar
Turner, W. E. S., 1954. Studies of ancient glasses and glass-making processes. Part II. The composition, weathering characteristics and significance of some Assyrian glasses of the eighth to sixth centuries B.C. from Nimrud. Trans. Soc. Glass. Tech. 38, 445T–456T.Google Scholar