Ancient Mesopotamian Materials and Industries: The Archaeological Evidence

by P. R. S. Moorey

Overview

This 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781575060422
Publisher:	Penn State University Press
Publication date:	06/30/1999
Pages:	448
Product dimensions:	8.38(w) x 10.88(h) x 1.49(d)

Table of Contents

List of Plates

List of Figures

List of Maps

Notes for the Reader

1. Chronological Terminology

2. Problems in Historical Geography

INTRODUCTION

1. The Agricultural Foundations

2. Resource Procurement

3. Craft and Industry: Methods of Study

I. THE STONEWORKING CRAFTS: THE COMMON STONES

1. Introduction

2. Sculpture and Sculptors

3. Stone Vessel Manufacture

II. THE STONEWORKING CRAFTS: ORNAMENTAL STONES

1. The Materials

2. Manufacturing Techniques

III. WORKING WITH BONE, IVORY, AND SHELL

1. Antler

2. Horn

3. Bone

4. Wild Boar’s Tusk

5. Hippopotamus Ivory

6. Elephant Ivory

7. Ostrich Egg shells

8. Tortoiseshell

9. Marine and Freshwater Shells

IV. THE CERAMIC AND GLASSWORKING CRAFTS

1. The Craft of the Potter

2. Working with Faience

3. Working with Egyptian Blue

4. Glass and Glass-Making

V. METALWORKING

1. Specialist Terminology

2. Precious Metals

3. Base Metals

VI. THE BUILDING CRAFTS

1. Bricks and Brickmaking in Mud and Clay

2. Plasters and Mortars in Building

3. Bitumen in Building and Other Roles

4. Building in Stone

5. Building with Wood

6. Building with Reeds

Bibliography

Index